An Analysis of the Correlation Between Socioeconomic Status and Obesity Essay

Conflict theory is based entirely in power and how those in power do all they can to hold the majority of the population down and to keep them from gaining power, so as to secure their own position. Conflict theorists would say that obesity is a product of the living conditions, stress and poor quality of food and health education. Obesity is seen as deviant and problematic and therefore conflicts with the ideal society of being fit and thin. The more obese the less power and stature you have in society. Conflict theorists might say that those that are in power, law makers, Fortune 500 CEO’s, for example, make cheaper good, make goods more unhealthy, and so the poor might only be able to afford cheap, unhealthy bulk food and become susceptible to obesity. Conflict theorists might say that food education might be controlled by larger government forces, for example the Food and Drug Administration and the United States Department of Agriculture. These are the members of society who look out for their own bottom line and corporate interests from sponsors and lobbyists. They might limit education about food intake and what is healthy and unhealthy, they might suggest certain foods like beef or milk is healthy to appeal to the dairy industry, to keep our politicians funded with billions of dollars in donations. There is also the argument that by keeping people obese it allows for discrimination at work, in which they must work harder at getting raises because they cannot keep up with their thinner counterparts. Obese people have difficulty with their social lives and early death and numerous health complications that might further ensure the status of the powerful few at the top of the food chain. The Structural Functionalism theory argument is that obesity is a necessary part of society. Functionalist’s major argument is that everything that exists must have a meaning and must be useful towards society as a whole. Functionalists might argue that obese people will bring attention to the problems in health care and obesity might help in teaching those in power more our emotional connection to food and to further explore man’s relationship with eating and nourishment. The obese population might inspire others to be healthier and might inform and educate society as a whole about the dangers of obesity and its overall impact. Functionalist would say that to the obese would be bring an overall benefit to society. The symbolic interactionist theory demonstrates the effects towards obese people when they feel they are being perceived in a negative or unflattering way. The verbal and nonverbal cues that a fit or thin person demonstrates might create an obese person to withdraw even further from society and or turn to food as a coping mechanism thereby increasing weight. Obesity is most correlated to social discrimination and a feeling of being unworthy or weak due to the inability to resist food, for personal and emotional reasons. Obesity in society is a symbol of unhealthiness and unattractiveness which produces feelings of disgust, but obesity is a symbol in and of itself because our society makes us associate those things with obesity. There are cultures and societies around the world where being obese means status and power and it was seen as sexy and desirable. Everything we do is socially constructed as is our reactions and treatment of obese people.

Core Indian Values – an Advertising Perspective

INDIAN CONSUMER: CORE VALUES We are all consumers. Everyday, we consume goods and services as individuals, families, groups and organizations. With every passing year, the consumer has not only become smarter but also choosier with his purchase. On top of that, the fact that the competition and the variety of products available in the market only add to the marketers’ woes. To succeed in this dynamic and increasingly complex marketing environment marketers have an urgent need to learn and anticipate whatever they can about consumers.The better they know and understand consumers the more advantageous it would prove when accomplishing their organizational objectives. In a diverse country like India, which is slowly shedding its conservative nature and is opening up to new possibilities on the marketorial front, it becomes even more difficult for an advertiser to understand his consumer’s behaviour. The Indian mentality is more complex and layered than our western counterp arts. The culture of this country is very different from most others for it is home to various religions, languages, customs and values.This amalgamation has led to the Indian consumer having various layers of reasoning behind every action. There are certain values that play a very important role while purchasing a product from the point of the view of the Indian consumer. An advertiser should keep these values in mind while targeting their Indian audience. 1. Family The Indian society is a family oriented one. Elder members of the family are considered to be the head of the family. Though joint families have now disintegrated into nuclear ones, the bond and importance of family remains the same.Family is by far the most important reference group. The family is a major influence on the consumption behaviour of its members and generally the target market for most products. The consumption patterns of family members are seldom independent from those of other family members. There is a n interdependent relationship between the members of the family. An advertiser selling family oriented products must target it for the benefit of every member of the family. Eg. Tata Ventura ad. 2. Peace Peace  is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict.It also represents cosmic harmony. An individual seeks peace when he wishes to establish a personal relationship with the cosmos. India is country where different sects coming together causes chaos and conflict. Hence, peace is highly sought after both personally and internationally. An advertiser while selling a product, depending on its nature, must keep in mind the fact that his product must not invoke chaos in any form. He must try as much as possible to maintain decorum while advocating a product. Eg. Taj holidays. 3. Health India is slowly growing to be a very health conscious nation.Indian food offers a diversity of dishes that are very tasty and each provide a different delight. But at the same time . Some of them can be very heavy and unhealthy with continuous consumption. In the fast paced of today’s times, health has become of utmost importance. Various fitness centers are being set up everywhere and maintaining a healthy lifestyle has become very important to the average Indian consumer. Advertisers target this aspect of the Indian consumer while promoting various health related products. Eg. Saffola ads. D cold total ads 4. Time Time is of utmost importance in the Indian society. Natural time regulates ctivities with a â€Å"now† orientation. Indians have always factored in on time before starting or ending any event, both metaphysically and metaphorically. Time is considered to be an auspicious and important aspect for Indians. While making major purchases, time is factored in majorly. An advertiser can either portray the time factor majorly in his advertisement or he can portray it subtlely with respect to the product. Time also reflects the era the people live in and its dynamic nature. Eg. Hindustan times â€Å"It is time† campaign. 5. Will power. Will power is the strength to achieve the impossible or the difficult.Indians consider will power to be a treasurable value as it may lead to various achievements. If one gets over their fears and has the will power to achieve what many consider to be impossible then that person is highly respected. Without will power, one cannot alter events or restore it to the original post. India’s history has been witness to the importance of will power among the Indian public. Advertisers can theme their ads on the basis of will power thereby promoting their product and also gain popular vote for encouraging strength. Eg. Mountain Dew Darr Ke Aage jeet hai ads 6. SecurityA sense of security is very important in both a family and a community. Usually, the male member of the family is considered to be responsible for the security of the female counterparts in India. Females are especially protected in this society. But along with physical security, financial security has also become important for the modern Indian family. Many make investments so that the family is always financially secure. Protection of community is also a very important aspect as Indians are very community bound. Members of the same community usually have a sense of belonging and protection towards their other members.Eg. LIC jeevan bima policy ad. 7. Age Since time old, age has played a very important role in the Indian society. A person’s age has been synonymous with the amount of respect given to them. Even today, older people are treated with utmost respect and obedience is expected of the younger ones. Wisdom and experience of a person is calculated in terms of his age. In today’s times, the youth are very instrumental to the decision making process while purchasing a product. On the basis of the product, the advertiser must carefully target his age group and center the ad arou nd the mentality of the age group selected.Eg. Raymond teacher ad. 8. Care Since the familial values are very strong in the Indian system, love and affection play an important role. Love and care for others is considered to be an important value especially with the members of family and friends. Unlike their western counterparts, Indian children live with their parents even after reaching adulthood and are duty bound to serve their parents in their old age as a token of their affection. Parents fuss over their children and take care of them protectively from a tender age and even beyond adulthood.This feeling of care and affection is largely targeted by marketers to sell their products for they hit a soft spot among the Indian audiences with this value. Eg. Vicks ads. 9. Prestiege There is nothing more important to an Indian household than the family’s honour and prestiege. Indians bank a lot on social approval and the sense of prestiege they gain from it. That sense of prest iege even comes from indulging in luxury and living a high life. A lot of luxury related products target this aspect of the Indian audience and cater to their value of prestiege. Eg. Reid and Taylor Amitabh Bacchan ad. 10. OwnershipEver since the olden days, a personal home has been of epitome importance to the average Indian household. It is a matter of protection and pride to own a home. In this tight spaced urban world, it has become even more difficult to own a home. But nevertheless, Indians continue to strive for ownership of a home for both themselves and their loved ones. It ione of the most important consumer values. A lot of options are considered and a lot of research is conducted before a home purchase. A bevy of home loans have also eased the process of a purchase of a home. Marketers also target this aspect while advertising their product.They arouse temptation to own a home which coincides with the consumer’s desire of the same. Eg. Asian paints Bird ad 11. Ada ptability In spite of being from a conservative background, Indians have changed their behaviour with the changing times. People have adapted to the different languages in the country and different lifestyles with ease. This reflects the dynamic nature of the Indian population along with their ability to adapt to the changing times and the environment. This value is considered to be a sign of progress. Many advertisers wish to promote this value through their ads and encourage this aspect among the Indian public.The ads based on adaptability have proved instrumental in shaping the minds of the Indian audience as a whole. Eg. Aircel ad. Idea cellular Language ad 12. Religion This is by far the most important consumer value among Indians. Religion plays a very important role in India. There are people of numerous faiths and religions residing in this country. It is one the sure shot ways to get attention from the Indian audience through advertisements. But is also important to not off end the sentiments of the Indian audience as they are very sensitive when it comes to their religion.One has to be very careful while welding advertisements with religion. the Indian public adheres to their traditions and customs and is very dedicated towards maintaining their culture. Festivals are considered to be the best time for promotion of products in a religious theme. Eg. Tanishq ads (wedding) Aisanpaints pngal ad 13. Pleasure Pleasure relates to being happy and cheerful towards oneself and their surroundings. Everyone likes to indulge in pleasure after strenuous work. Indians especially like to please themselves with various pleasurable activities and believe in balancing work with play.The idea of pleasure, according to most Indians, is to spend time with their loved ones and engage in leisurely activities. While targeting this value of the Indian consumer, the advertiser has to keep in mind the mentality of the consumer and the nature of the product and blend both of the m. It could be themed around pleasure with intensity or pleasure with lightheartedness. Eg. Scooty pep+ ads Cadbury’s life ka swaad ads 14. Work Since the urbanization of Indian society, there has been an evermore increase in the job opportunities especially for the youth. The youth of the country have become very ambitious and aim high.The education levels have gone up and the literacy rate has also shot up. Having a high paying job has become very important to the average Indian consumer as his salary corresponds with his buying prowess. Advertisers should start aiming at this progressive value of the Indian audience and design their ads to suit this aspect as well as promote their products. Encouraging progress in terms of education and work has become a very important aspect in current Indian society and especially among the youth. Eg. The Sikkim Manipal University distance education ads. Bibliography Core Indian Values – an Advertising Perspective INDIAN CONSUMER: CORE VALUES We are all consumers. Everyday, we consume goods and services as individuals, families, groups and organizations. With every passing year, the consumer has not only become smarter but also choosier with his purchase. On top of that, the fact that the competition and the variety of products available in the market only add to the marketers’ woes. To succeed in this dynamic and increasingly complex marketing environment marketers have an urgent need to learn and anticipate whatever they can about consumers.The better they know and understand consumers the more advantageous it would prove when accomplishing their organizational objectives. In a diverse country like India, which is slowly shedding its conservative nature and is opening up to new possibilities on the marketorial front, it becomes even more difficult for an advertiser to understand his consumer’s behaviour. The Indian mentality is more complex and layered than our western counterp arts. The culture of this country is very different from most others for it is home to various religions, languages, customs and values.This amalgamation has led to the Indian consumer having various layers of reasoning behind every action. There are certain values that play a very important role while purchasing a product from the point of the view of the Indian consumer. An advertiser should keep these values in mind while targeting their Indian audience. 1. Family The Indian society is a family oriented one. Elder members of the family are considered to be the head of the family. Though joint families have now disintegrated into nuclear ones, the bond and importance of family remains the same.Family is by far the most important reference group. The family is a major influence on the consumption behaviour of its members and generally the target market for most products. The consumption patterns of family members are seldom independent from those of other family members. There is a n interdependent relationship between the members of the family. An advertiser selling family oriented products must target it for the benefit of every member of the family. Eg. Tata Ventura ad. 2. Peace Peace  is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict.It also represents cosmic harmony. An individual seeks peace when he wishes to establish a personal relationship with the cosmos. India is country where different sects coming together causes chaos and conflict. Hence, peace is highly sought after both personally and internationally. An advertiser while selling a product, depending on its nature, must keep in mind the fact that his product must not invoke chaos in any form. He must try as much as possible to maintain decorum while advocating a product. Eg. Taj holidays. 3. Health India is slowly growing to be a very health conscious nation.Indian food offers a diversity of dishes that are very tasty and each provide a different delight. But at the same time . Some of them can be very heavy and unhealthy with continuous consumption. In the fast paced of today’s times, health has become of utmost importance. Various fitness centers are being set up everywhere and maintaining a healthy lifestyle has become very important to the average Indian consumer. Advertisers target this aspect of the Indian consumer while promoting various health related products. Eg. Saffola ads. D cold total ads 4. Time Time is of utmost importance in the Indian society. Natural time regulates ctivities with a â€Å"now† orientation. Indians have always factored in on time before starting or ending any event, both metaphysically and metaphorically. Time is considered to be an auspicious and important aspect for Indians. While making major purchases, time is factored in majorly. An advertiser can either portray the time factor majorly in his advertisement or he can portray it subtlely with respect to the product. Time also reflects the era the people live in and its dynamic nature. Eg. Hindustan times â€Å"It is time† campaign. 5. Will power. Will power is the strength to achieve the impossible or the difficult.Indians consider will power to be a treasurable value as it may lead to various achievements. If one gets over their fears and has the will power to achieve what many consider to be impossible then that person is highly respected. Without will power, one cannot alter events or restore it to the original post. India’s history has been witness to the importance of will power among the Indian public. Advertisers can theme their ads on the basis of will power thereby promoting their product and also gain popular vote for encouraging strength. Eg. Mountain Dew Darr Ke Aage jeet hai ads 6. SecurityA sense of security is very important in both a family and a community. Usually, the male member of the family is considered to be responsible for the security of the female counterparts in India. Females are especially protected in this society. But along with physical security, financial security has also become important for the modern Indian family. Many make investments so that the family is always financially secure. Protection of community is also a very important aspect as Indians are very community bound. Members of the same community usually have a sense of belonging and protection towards their other members.Eg. LIC jeevan bima policy ad. 7. Age Since time old, age has played a very important role in the Indian society. A person’s age has been synonymous with the amount of respect given to them. Even today, older people are treated with utmost respect and obedience is expected of the younger ones. Wisdom and experience of a person is calculated in terms of his age. In today’s times, the youth are very instrumental to the decision making process while purchasing a product. On the basis of the product, the advertiser must carefully target his age group and center the ad arou nd the mentality of the age group selected.Eg. Raymond teacher ad. 8. Care Since the familial values are very strong in the Indian system, love and affection play an important role. Love and care for others is considered to be an important value especially with the members of family and friends. Unlike their western counterparts, Indian children live with their parents even after reaching adulthood and are duty bound to serve their parents in their old age as a token of their affection. Parents fuss over their children and take care of them protectively from a tender age and even beyond adulthood.This feeling of care and affection is largely targeted by marketers to sell their products for they hit a soft spot among the Indian audiences with this value. Eg. Vicks ads. 9. Prestiege There is nothing more important to an Indian household than the family’s honour and prestiege. Indians bank a lot on social approval and the sense of prestiege they gain from it. That sense of prest iege even comes from indulging in luxury and living a high life. A lot of luxury related products target this aspect of the Indian audience and cater to their value of prestiege. Eg. Reid and Taylor Amitabh Bacchan ad. 10. OwnershipEver since the olden days, a personal home has been of epitome importance to the average Indian household. It is a matter of protection and pride to own a home. In this tight spaced urban world, it has become even more difficult to own a home. But nevertheless, Indians continue to strive for ownership of a home for both themselves and their loved ones. It ione of the most important consumer values. A lot of options are considered and a lot of research is conducted before a home purchase. A bevy of home loans have also eased the process of a purchase of a home. Marketers also target this aspect while advertising their product.They arouse temptation to own a home which coincides with the consumer’s desire of the same. Eg. Asian paints Bird ad 11. Ada ptability In spite of being from a conservative background, Indians have changed their behaviour with the changing times. People have adapted to the different languages in the country and different lifestyles with ease. This reflects the dynamic nature of the Indian population along with their ability to adapt to the changing times and the environment. This value is considered to be a sign of progress. Many advertisers wish to promote this value through their ads and encourage this aspect among the Indian public.The ads based on adaptability have proved instrumental in shaping the minds of the Indian audience as a whole. Eg. Aircel ad. Idea cellular Language ad 12. Religion This is by far the most important consumer value among Indians. Religion plays a very important role in India. There are people of numerous faiths and religions residing in this country. It is one the sure shot ways to get attention from the Indian audience through advertisements. But is also important to not off end the sentiments of the Indian audience as they are very sensitive when it comes to their religion.One has to be very careful while welding advertisements with religion. the Indian public adheres to their traditions and customs and is very dedicated towards maintaining their culture. Festivals are considered to be the best time for promotion of products in a religious theme. Eg. Tanishq ads (wedding) Aisanpaints pngal ad 13. Pleasure Pleasure relates to being happy and cheerful towards oneself and their surroundings. Everyone likes to indulge in pleasure after strenuous work. Indians especially like to please themselves with various pleasurable activities and believe in balancing work with play.The idea of pleasure, according to most Indians, is to spend time with their loved ones and engage in leisurely activities. While targeting this value of the Indian consumer, the advertiser has to keep in mind the mentality of the consumer and the nature of the product and blend both of the m. It could be themed around pleasure with intensity or pleasure with lightheartedness. Eg. Scooty pep+ ads Cadbury’s life ka swaad ads 14. Work Since the urbanization of Indian society, there has been an evermore increase in the job opportunities especially for the youth. The youth of the country have become very ambitious and aim high.The education levels have gone up and the literacy rate has also shot up. Having a high paying job has become very important to the average Indian consumer as his salary corresponds with his buying prowess. Advertisers should start aiming at this progressive value of the Indian audience and design their ads to suit this aspect as well as promote their products. Encouraging progress in terms of education and work has become a very important aspect in current Indian society and especially among the youth. Eg. The Sikkim Manipal University distance education ads. Bibliography

Flatlands Questions Essay

1) Which did you like better – the movie or the book, and why? I liked the movie better. I personally did not really like the ending of the book. A. Square got to see the 3rd dimension, something no one except the council knew about. I thought there was going to be a big revelation at the end of the book, but instead he gets thrown into jail and basically forgotten. It was like nothing happened. Not even his grandson found out. 2) Provide 3 major differences between the movie and the book? In the book, all women were lines. However, the women could be squares, hexagons, or even circles. There was a monument given to Flatland that no one was allowed to be around in the movie, but there was no such thing in the book. Also, A. Square actually had people thinking and rebelling against the circles because of his trial in the movie. In the book he was locked up and forgotten. In the book, A. Square’s grandson later said that what he had said about other dimensions foolish, while in the movie, A. Square’s granddaughter went to go find out about the 3rd dimension herself and was thrown into space. 3) What outstanding questions exist from the movie? If there are the 4th, 5th, 6th, etc. dimensions, what would the new direction added be? What kind of important information has a higher authority hid from us commoners? What facts that we definitely consider true are actually false?

Persuasive speech - why people shouldn't eat fast food Essay

Persuasive speech - why people shouldn't eat fast food - Essay Example Not only that, these foods simply do not just promise to help save time and cost, but they simply provide good taste too. These are the common reasons why fast food are widely consumed from different walks in today’s fast-paced life. Fast foods simply provide advantages that are tantamount to resuscitating an individual from a hectic schedule, financial and economic needs and preferences on foods. However, it is important to consider that together with these advantages, there are also corresponding disadvantages associated with eating fast food. These disadvantages are enough to stand as reasons why people should not eat fast food. These reasons are the following. According to Hales (149) many fast foods are high in salt, fats and calorie but with very low content of beneficial nutrients. Although a person’s body also requires salt, fats and calorie, there is only minimal amount of them which is needed by the body. For instance, the National Research Council (11) stated that the sodium requirement of the human body especially for adult ranges from 0.15 to 0.30 mg because the daily requirement per kilogram body weight is 0.002 to 0.004 mg. Fats and calories on the other hand are necessary for the right body functioning but they must be in small amounts too (Hart and Grossman 66). Let us now build the very foundation of this argument. Freedman (14) reported that there is a strong association between eating fast food and the likelihood of acquiring obesity. This is supported by the claim of Lusted (33) based on a case study in which the respondent was able to gain around 11 kg in a 30-day experiment of eating consecutively McDonald’s foods. Although this experiment would point out that obesity and fast food is a case of personal responsibility, it cannot be substantially denied that fast food can ultimately help a person gain considerable weight. After all, as stated earlier, fast foods

Affecting Change Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Affecting Change - Research Paper Example This is particularly so as a result of the high volume of reports and referrals, together with budget cuts (Waldfogel, 1998). As a result, there are many instances in which some children at high risk of maltreatment are not identified and in other cases, too much attention is turned toward children who are not at a genuine risk of abuse or neglect (Waldfogel, 1998). It has been widely suggested that community partnerships can improve CPS responsiveness and foster an environment capable of ensuring that children are safe (France & Utting, 2005). This paper investigates the feasibility of community partnerships as a method of improving the current CPS system. The first part of this paper details and analyzes the current CPS system. The second part of this paper will analyze the concept of community partnerships and demonstrates how it can improve the current CPS system and in turn improve the safety of children. Munro (2005) describes the current CPS system in Western ideology as similar to that of the functioning of a nuclear power plant. According to Munro (2005), like a nuclear power plant, the CPS system is focused on the prevention of disaster, injury and death. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, it focuses far too much attention on prevention rather than cure. However, the main problem is attributed to the fact that when errors are made and disaster, injury of death occurs, quite often humans rather than the system are blamed for the error. This focuses attention on personnel changes rather than systematic changes (Munro, 2005). A review of the literature suggests that the current CPS system is built around a rigid â€Å"investigative response to child maltreatment reports†, is â€Å"adversarial† in nature and does not does not take a holistic approach to meeting the needs of the family (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2009, p. 1). A national survey of CPS conducted by the US Department of Health and Human

Discrimination in the Workplace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Discrimination in the Workplace - Essay Example These needs should make all employees feel as if they are their own managers or bosses. In addition, an efficient job design in criminal justice agencies should provide employees with a prospect to learn different things in the job setting. It should also attract help and respect from colleagues, increase meaning in an employee’s work, and promote a future that is desirable (Allen, 1993). Job design in criminal justice agencies should take into consideration the Americans with Disabilities Act provisions in creating accommodations that are reasonable to employees who are disabled. The Americans with Disabilities Act is established to safeguard the disabled people’s civil rights. The protection is the same to that which protects individuals of different ethnic backgrounds, religions, and races. Criminal justice agencies should have a job design that incorporates the Americans with Disabilities Act so that all employees with disabilities can wholesomely access and partici pate fully in every societal event. Job design in criminal justice agencies should be made in a way that eliminates any barrier that may refuse disabled persons equivalent chance and job access, telecommunications, organization’s services, and transportation (Allen, 1993). The Americans with Disabilities Act constitutes five distinct parts. The first part is related to employment. The job design in criminal justice agencies should incorporate the employment part of the Americans with Disabilities Act when making their employments. This part forbids any form of employment discrimination against people who are disabled and qualified. Part two is concerned with public services. Criminal justice agencies should design their activities, services, or programs in a nondiscriminatory manner. For example, transportation services in any justice agency should take into consideration all employees including those who are disabled. The agencies should eliminate communications and architec tural obstacles in a new construction or any ongoing one (Colker & Milani, 2005). For instance, their offices and buildings should be manageable to disabled people and those who use wheelchairs. Part three comprises commercial facilities and public accommodations. A criminal agency should permit their disabled employees to get involved in the services and products provision. Their office buildings and public accommodation places should be easily accessible to people who are disabled. Part four constitutes telecommunications. The agencies should corporate with phone companies to provide relay services for people with speech and hearing impairments. The fifth part of the Americans with Disabilities Act comprises miscellaneous, technical and legal specifications. This should direct the criminal justice agencies the guidelines to provide equal or sufficient rights protection to all disabled persons (Colker & Milani, 2005). Nonetheless, accommodations that are reasonable should be adopte d unless they are expensive or of significant difficulty. Question 2 George Lane and other disabled individuals sued Tennessee for not accessing the top floors of Tennessee state courthouses. They argued that they were not allowed to enter the building because of their disabilities. Tennessee violated the second part of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This part is concerned with public services. In addition, this part of the Americans with Disabilities Act permits people who are victimized to sue for damages. On the other hand,

Concussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Concussion - Essay Example This can either cause a direct injury to the brain to produce swelling or formation of a hematoma (blood clot) that compress over different brain structures (Starkey, 2013). Concussion may or may not be associated with loss of consciousness. Other symptoms include nausea, vomiting, headache, unsteady gait, photophobia, retrograde amnesia and disorientation of other neurological functions. There are four grading of concussion depending on signs and symptoms of the patient (Barry, Dillingham and McGuire, 2002). When the severity of damage to the brain tissue is more, patient presents with more deteriorating signs and symptoms and graded high on the grading scale. Management and rehabilitation plan also depends on the severity or grading and the frequency of head injury. As injury is internal, much focus is on rest during rehabilitation process for healing. Sport players are asked to abstain from contact activities to prevent any superimposed injury that can result in â€Å"second impact syndrome† (Barry, Dillingham and McGuire,

Innovation, Change and Motivation at Nucor Corporation Essay

Innovation, Change and Motivation at Nucor Corporation - Essay Example Apart from these cultural values, none of the company’s employees is unionized. Nucor does not approve of unions, as it believes the culture is counterproductive, especially where building of a strong workforce whose objective is to serve the steel company’s interests is concerned. Nonetheless, the employees remain committed to quality of service and lay-offs are minimal. (a) Devolved Management system Nucor is heavily devolved in its operations, a culture that enables the employees to be innovative in their work and develop a feeling that they are owner-operators. In light of this, the company encourages most of the decisions about the business operations to be made at the lower level. In addition, Nucor’s claim that only 65 employees work at the headquarters is quite telling about the company’s lean culture. (b) Performance-driven rewards Nucor has established general rules of compensation which apply to all employees. The policies provide for a uniform compensation for individual employees who meet particular incentive-specific objectives. Apart from these common bonus plans, Nucor Corporation has periodically awarded extraordinary rewards to all employees, in the financial years when the company has made the highest amounts of profits. For instance, the company’s record sales of $23.6 billion in 2008, which was up from $4.6 billion in 2000 trickled down to the employees’ pockets, with the Chief Executive earning a whopping $ 5.24 million (Ivancevich, Konopaske, & Matteson, 2007). The uniform treatment of employees has tremendously reduced the gaps between the earnings of senior executives and lower ranking employees. (c) Egalitarian perks The company’s senior executives are not guaranteed traditional high bonuses such as company cars, executive parking slots or executive dining rooms (Ivancevich, Konopaske, & Matteson, 2007). Additionally, the publication of all the names of the company’s employees at the back of Nucor’s annual reports is a clear indication of the company’s egalitarian culture and inclusiveness of the decision-making processes. This is also a sign that the company values all of the employees, irrespective of their position within the organization. (d) Effective customer service Although, the text rarely mentions sound customer service at Nucor, it can be inferred. Effective customer service and quality can be explained by the simplicity and courtesy, which the Chief Executive cultivates. The culture of inclusivity, teamwork and appreciation of every person’s effort is a clear indication that all the stakeholders in the company are assured of respect and recognition. (e) Technology-driven culture Nucor Corporation is undeniably banking on the technological edge in its production of steel products. The process of using electric arc furnaces to liquefy scrap metal is the first of its kind in the twenty-first century (Ivancevich, Konopaske, & Mat teson, 2007). Currently, Nucor’s association with two multinational steel companies in the running of the Crawfordsville facility, which specializes in the manufacture of sheet of steel from liquefied steel without necessarily deploying heavy, costly, and energy-inefficient rollers, is in itself a technological breakthrough that many steel companies have not yet adopted. Question # 2 Nucor has maintained the gap between executive pay and that of lower-ranking employees to the bare minimum as compared to other American companies. Since 1980s, the level of growth recorded by companies has been growing at almost the same pace as that of executive compensation (Ivancevich, Konopaske, & Matteson, 2007). Globalization makes highly performing executives more likely to

Risk management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Risk management - Essay Example This created a bubble in the housing finance sector and mortgage properties. Investment banks and other financial institutions started to lend money to the mass of people as well as corporate houses for purchase of land or other business purposes. The land and housing properties were kept as mortgage serving as underlying securities for those loans. These loans were granted to the borrowers without looking at repayment feasibility of the loans or without carrying out adequate evaluation of the credit parameters. The credit parameters like income of the borrower, assets available to service the loan, existing liabilities, etc. were ignored by the financial institutions in the mortgage loans. This led to the inflation of the bubble in the housing sector which developed earlier. The bubble finally burst as the borrowers were unable to repay the loans and the defaulters in the mortgage loan market started to become heavy. This led to the devaluation of the mortgages which served as under lying securities. ... w of information to the market led to the erosion of investors’ confidence that reflected in the plunge of share prices of the company (Allen, 1999, p.24). Huge wealth of the investors was eroded in short time thereby causing a situation of liquidity crisis. Several companies like Lehmann Brothers, Bear Stearns, Meryl Lynch, etc. were affected due to fall in the valuation of the companies and inability to return the investment of the shareholders. The liquidity crisis created shortage of monetary supply in the economy which tightened the credit conditions in the economy. This created a global credit crisis which was fuelled by the implementation of revised regulatory standards, enforcement of strict credit parameters and revised policies of the companies to counter the global financial crisis. Role of financial engineering: derivative products were a risk management device Derivatives products are financial instruments that derive its value from the underlying assets such as s tock, interest rates, currencies, commodities, etc. Derivative products involve two parties entering into a contract for payment of a certain amount on a certain date under the agreed terms and conditions. The derivative products may be of two types, namely â€Å"lock† and â€Å"option† derivatives. The lock derivatives enforce the parties entering into the contract to fulfil the payment obligations of the derivative product as per terms and conditions. The â€Å"option’ derivative provides the right to the buyer to enter into the contract but the buyer is not obligated to enter into the contract in â€Å"option† derivatives. The derivative products are used to hedge financial risks and also to speculate financial gains in the time of adverse financial situations. The derivative products were used a

An analysis of the childrens aid society and its contributions to the community Essay Example for Free

An analysis of the childrens aid society and its contributions to the community Essay Evaluation of Children’s Aid Society Mission Statement The Children’s Aid Society is a 501Â ©3 children’s services agency that helps children in poverty to succeed and thrive. They do this by providing comprehensive support to children and their families living in high needs New York City neighborhoods (website). This organization has developed services that ensure children have access to programs that promote health and wellness as well as social-emotional development skills. They also strive to make sure that children attend college. The Form 990 on page 2 does not provide any further detailed information. With the available information from the mission statement on the website, as well as Form 990 part I and III, it is difficult to evaluate this nonprofit organization’s mission. The quality and the quantity of the available information from the website, and Form 990 is difficult to evaluate because the mission statement was not stated in the annual report. The Children’s Aid Society provides information about its programs on their website. The Form 990 and the annual report are very similar because it is almost the same information. They provide numbers about how many people they serve and the impact the programs have on the children and families. The website and the annual report 2013 both mention this information. Effectiveness From the information obtained, the website provides the effectiveness of the programs from the website, the annual report and the Form 990. The programmatic goals state how many children receive service from various programs. The website provides the number of children served by the organization. The Children’s Aid Society has three major programs that include Early Childhood (0-5), School Age (5-13), and Adolescence (14-18). Early Childhood- The program’s goals are preparing young children for school success through physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development. The core services they provide are Early Head Start for children ages 0-3, and Head Start and Early Learn Day Care for ages 3-5. School Age- The program’s goal is to promote physical, social, and emotional well-being as key factors for high school graduation and college success. This program serves to engage children, families, schools, and communities through a focus on academics, services, support, and opportunities. The core services include out-of-school time programs in Children’s Aid Community Centers and schools, summer camps, athletics, and the national center for community schools that provide assistance to developing a community school model nationally and internationally. Adolescence-The goals of this program are to enhance young people’s physical, social, and emotional competencies as well as improving their academic performance and preparing them for successful careers and gaining financial independence. According to the Form 990, the core services that the organization provides are the Carrera adolescent pregnancy prevention program, which meets the top-tier evidence of effectiveness standards by the coalition for evidence-based policy. The EXCEL college support program assists young people to enter and complete college. The HOPE Leadership Academy provides wrap-around support and develops leadership through a peer education model. They also provide teen employment services such as AmeriCorps internships and the summer youth employment program. Efficiency From the information obtained from the three sources, it is very difficult to determine whether these programs have been efficient in the programs that they administer. After looking into the Form 990, there is no available information about the total costs per person in the programs provided. The three most expensive programs are school age, adolescence, and early childhood. School-age- The total cost of this program is $18,843,068. In Form 990 on page 2, the organization mentions that its goal is promoting physical, social and emotional well-being. However, they do not mention any specific programs. In the annual report, it states that they provide health services to about 4,000 children through school-based health clinics. They do not provide costs for each child served by the school-based health clinics. The annual report also states that the Office of Client Advocacy helped 345 clients avoid eviction. There is no information on the program information in Form 990, pg 2. Adolescence- The total cost of this program is $15,402, 365. In Form 990, page 2 mentions Carrera-Adolescent Prevention Program but does not provide any further information on the number of people served and the costs. The annual report also does not state how many adolescents were served and at what cost. However, the annual report states that the program reduced teen pregnancy by 50 percent. The EXCEL college support program does not provide information on the number of students served as well as how much it costs. The annual report states that more than 90 percent of EXCEL students graduate high school and go on to college. There is no information on how many students are in the program. The quality and the quantity of available information is not very satisfying because there should be detailed information on the exact costs of each major program within the program. Early Childhood- The total cost of this program is $11,612,396. According to the Form 990 page 2, the organization mentions the Early Head Start program. The program provides numbers on its website stating that each family receives a minimum of 32 home visits a year for 90 minutes each. However, it does not state the number of families served. The 2013 annual report does not contain any specific numbers about the program. The quality and quantity of available information are not satisfying because there are no exact costs of how much program costs. According to the nonprofit’s annual report, the management and general administration costs increased to $7,378 in 2012 compared to $6,546 in 2011. This organization increased its expenses, which means that they are spending money on ways to increase mission impact and evaluate programs that may or may not work. The costs of the programs from the Form 990 do not match the financial statement in the annual report. In Form 990, it states larger expanses and is not specific about where the money went. In the annual report, the expenses are more specific but the costs seem to be smaller in Form 990. This shows that the organization is not efficient in its programs. It also shows that they may not have provided other essential information. Governance The Form 990 claims that the Children’s Aid Society has a governing body where the organization documents all meetings. It also states that the committees have the authority to represent the organization on behalf of the governing body. This organization also has different policies. The two main policies that it has based on Form 990 are the whistleblower policy and the written document retention and destruction policy. The Form 990 states that the organization consists of 31 Board Members. These members also have the power to elect other members to the governing body. The Children’s Aid Society has executive centrality governance. Finances The organizations current total revenue is $117,154,454 and its current total expense is $121,692,560. This organization is running a deficit rather than a surplus. The organization is losing its revenue stream and its assets will not cover it for a long time. The organization is fiscally unsustainable. The organization has net unrestricted assets total of $258,063,545 and its restricted assets is a total of $13,848,823. According to the Form 990, the organization received a total of $31,966,571 in contributions and grants. However, it only spent $31,966,571 on fundraising expenses. After dividing the expenses by costs, a total cost of raising a dollar was .09, which is very low. The salary of the Chief Executive Officer is $408,431.00 and it is too much. The average salary according to www.payscale.com states that the average salary is $100,000 for a Chief Executive Officer of a nonprofit organization. After calculating the organization’s program expanse it came up to be .88 ratio from dividing its total program service expenses by its total functional expenses. After analyzing the Children’s Aid Society, I determined that this organization is not worthy of a significant contribution because it is not transparent in providing information to the public. Even though it has a high mission impact in helping children get out of poverty, financially it is starting to become unsustainable in its assets and revenues. This shows that the organization is mismanaging its finances spending. This organization does not earn the seal of approval because the potential donor wants to donate to an organization that is impact-oriented and achieves results cost-effectively, which this organization does not achieve.

The Psychological Effects of Change Management

The Psychological Effects of Change Management An organization is a system of interacting subsystems and components set within wider systems and environments which provide inputs to the system and which receive its outputs (Senior, 2002, p.5). That is why each organization affects the system but is being modified by the latter as well. According to Armstrong (2009, p.404), as there is no such thing as ideal organization the change is vital. The author argues that by facing each problem, the organisation should be modified in order to achieve the best fit between the structure and the circumstances (2009, p. 405). On the other hand, an organization has different components such as employees which are the essential assets for a company, highly likely they will be affected from the change management of the organization in different ways. There is no doubt that the most important impact is the psychological one for the employees which is considered as resistance to the new management system. These effects should be managed carefully in order to facilitate the change process. Contrary to those who believe that change can only be successful through coercive measures, this paper argues that change must be implemented through a positive approach which consists of a dialogue process with employees. The communication and the presentation of the change management plan will allow employees to express their thoughts and feelings about it. Because their reaction is taken into account, they will feel part of the change process, and they will be more likely to adapt to a given change. This, at the end, will ease the implementation of change, and will help the company to finalize this process in a more peaceful and successful way. Firstly, the concept of change management concept will be explained briefly. Secondly, the concept of resistance and the psychological effects on the employees such as shock of the new, inconvenience, fear of failure will be discussed, and finally, the mitigation methods which depend on the choice of change management programme will be enum erated such as communication, presentation of the change management plan, and bargaining which will be discussed with their effects. THE CONCEPT OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT The change management is the way of dealing with a possible change process since that every company should be ready for a potential modification in the system in order not to be effected by it in a negative way. The concept is defined by Armstrong such as the process of achieving the smooth implementation of change by planning and introducing it systematically, taking into account the likelihood of it being resisted (2009, p.424). Although the change is the only thing that stays constant in the organization (Armstrong, 2009, p.424), and that is the reason why the change management has a vital place in the organizational life. Change starts with a need of modification in the system and happens during a process. Even though nothing disturbs the organizational life, change will happen in a range of time (Senior, 2002). The reason why the change emerges can be internal or external. The former consists of a revision of the administration, redesign of group jobs, external factors can be ei ther social-cultural or political (Senior, 2002, p.5). There exist three types of change: strategic change which is a long term modification, operational change which is related to a change of a part of an organisation and transformational change which affects dramatically the structure, the process and behaviours of the organization (Armstrong, 2009, p.425). In either way a change management programme is highly required to companies. There is a variety of change programmes, and everyone has its own approach, but five characteristics are common between these according to Binney and Williams : vision, telling people what that vision is, top management determination, planning and programming and adopting the best practice (2005. p.296). The management process aims success by decreasing the resistance against the change. The PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF THE CHANGE MANAGEMENT The change management has psychological effects on employees because of the fact that every modification creates a resistance to the organization. As the former will create a new system for them, it can be said that every change management programme is the change itself. As psychological impacts, shock of the new (Armstrong, 2009, p. 431) can be cited, it means that employees will go through a process that they do not know, and they are afraid of it since it is unknown: the new situation will be distinct from the routine. There is also inconvenience (Armstrong, 2009, p.431) because they may think that their life may be more difficult than the previous one. Moreover, the change causes economic fears and uncertainty of the new situation and the latter symbolises a threat to interpersonal relationships that they build during their former organizational life. The new system will probably bring new rules, and they will need to integrate themselves to the new procedures: as to Steers and Black, they may doubt about their competences and they may have a fear of failure (1994, p. 669). Furthermore, it is also the fact that group norms and role prescriptions can be changed and their status may not be the same as the former. As it has been enumerated before, the employees will face a different aspect of their own organization, their habit and their group norms will change and there will be multiple effects on their psychology. That is the reason why employees will show some kind of a reaction called individual resistance (Steers, Black, 1994, p. 668) to the implication of the change management. The resistance can even cause the failure of the im plementation since employees are the most important assets of the organization. The psychological impact has been covered of five stages by Carnall (1990), which can be helpful to understand the resistances change. These five steps are general ones which employees pass through during the process of change. The first stage is denial (1999, p.211) where the employee does not admit that he needs a change in the organization and tries not to accept any changes with a disbelieve to his employers. Carnall argues that it is a warning period and there will be no decrease of performance. The second stage is the defence(1999, p.212) where the employee gets the new position or the new environment but does not want to do it and find excuses related to the new situation. The third one is discarding (1999, p. 212) when employee starts to let go the past, and starts to getting used to the new procedure. This is where employee accepts that the change was inevitable (1999, p.213). Stage four is adaptation (1999, p. 213) where the integration of the employee is realized and every thing works according to the plan. The last one is the internalization where the new change management plan has been became a normal one (1999, p.214): it is the phase where the normalization of the behaviour occurred. The MITIGATION of THE PSYCOLOGICAL IMPACTS The psychological impact should be mitigated in order to realize the change management aimed. Human element is the prime benchmark at this point, it means that every effort must be made according to the interests of those who have been affected by change (Senior, 2002). Mitigation will help to make the employees accept the change management more easily and adapt them to the new sturucture that they are willing to face. It should be underlined that the mitigation effect depend on the change management nature that has been chosen by the administration. Overcoming the psychological effects can be done in multiple ways, the best is to present the change management programme to the employees and try to get them into the project in order to reach a better level of integration. The communication is essential at this point (Armstrong, 2009), it does not mean that the employee will have influence on the change, but at least they will be able to predict their future, which will bring the decrease of the fear that they feel. It is not necessarily an active participation of employees, but an explanation of the reasons why the company choose to make a modification on the current model of management, and its plan in order not to make frighten employees. Every affects that will be faced depend on the introducing method; it may make people a part of the plan and will push them to collaborate with the company. After communication process, the company should also identify the possible fears and their reasons, and after, the administration should find ways to resolve the problems which may occur during the process (Armstrong, 2009). This kind of an attitude will not only help the integration of the employees to the new system but also will provide more credit to current the administration. On the other hand this communication phase can be done as participation to the decision making. The administration can listen to the employees carefully and take them idea as well for understanding in a better way their point about the change (Beech, Kenna, 2008, p. 95). In that case alienation of employees to the change will be less. The company could choose a step forward of communication: bargaining. In that case the employee is having a role in the process. Thurlys model is a well example, this plan has five steps as directive, bargaining, heart and minds, analytical approach and action based. In this case, the change management is imposed to the employees by the management power at first, but then the process is negotiated between the employee and the employer which will help the administration to understand the possible psychological effects of the change, and modify the plan according to it. A brain storming is being done and the management power will find the best way to adapt the new system. In that model the employee is not only a part of the plan but also is facing the administration which will give the feeling of importance to the employee. Moreover, Beech and Kenna share the same idea, according to them when the administration choose a bargaining method (2008, p.95) the company can attract more people to collaborate in an easy way and employees who had been helped the administration can have a better position in the change management process. Furthermore, training and skill development programmes (Beech, Kenna, 2008) can be used in order to decrease the psychological impacts as fear of failure or inconvenience. On the other hand, the physiological effects can be managed by coercion (direct threat), manipulation, withholding negative data (Beech, Kenna, 2008, p. 95). There is no doubt that the administration will show it force on the employees by these methods but is should be underlined that the fear will be more in long term, and additionally the employees will lose their thrust to the administration. Beer et Al argue that people can adopt to a new organizational system and the change should be done in a sharply way but showing the overcome is always a better way, since the behaviour and conscience are related to each other (Armstrong, 2009, p. 428), and more the employee will see the outcome, the more he will adapt itself to the new situation. CONCLUSION As a conclusion, change for every company is a must since it is interrelated to the system and because of the inputs and outputs, change becomes inevitable. Every organization needs to have a change management plan for being prepared to a new organizational system. There are multiple change management programmes; their common point is their aim which is to decrease the effects of change. Additionally, to every plan there will be a resistance; it is result of fear, prejudice, anxiety and ignorance (Calmon, Paton, 1992, p. 9) the change management plan has psychological impacts on employees such as shock, inconvenience, fear of failure. They live it in five stages as denial, defence, discarding, adaptation, internalization according to Carnall. The psychological effects can be mitigated by communication, participation of the employees to the management plan and bargaining. On the other hand coercion can be a way as well, but the best way is to handle the process by a positive way becau se of the fact that the employee is the most important asset of the company moreover the programme will be more efficient, and easy to adapt.

Exploration of Brain Processes in Reading

Exploration of Brain Processes in Reading Studies into the human cognition of reading tend to use Experimental Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience and Cognitive Neuropsychology approaches for developing further knowledge of the processes involved in the reading of language. The experimental cognitive psychology approach designs laboratory experiments to reveal the processes which are involved in the human cognition being researched. The experiments are considered to be a scientific way of researching, as they are highly controlled. (Eysenck and Keane 2010) Using this approach in understanding the processes of reading, involves the use of certain tasks in order to study these processes. The cognitive neuroscience approach involves intensive studying of the brain and behaviour. Due to advances in technology, there are now many different techniques available for studying the brain. These techniques obtain detailed information about the way the brain functions and the structure of it. From these techniques researchers can work out where and when in the brain specific cognitive processes occur, as well as determine the order in which parts of the brain become active when a person performs a task. Researchers can also find out whether tasks involve the same parts of the brain in the same way, and establish if there are any important differences in the parts of the brain used. (Eysenck and Keane 2010) Cognitive Neuropsychology looks at the patterns of cognitive performance shown by brain – damaged patients, as this can tell us a lot about human cognition. For example, Epelbaum et al (2008 as cited by Cummine, Dai, Borowsky, Gould, Rollans and Boliek 2013) observed a patient who had developed pure alexia; this is the ability to perform letter by letter reading, but not whole word reading. The patient developed alexia following a small surgical lesion which damaged the left interior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF) just behind the putative visual word form area (VWFA). Hanley and McDonnel (1997 as cited by Eysenck and Keane 2010) studied Patient PS, who understood the meaning of words when reading, but could not pronounce them. From this research it was suggested that phonological processing is accessed after word meaning when reading. However, there are issues with using this approach to explaining reading and the processes which are involved, as sometimes the impact of brain d amage on cognitive performances may be camouflaged because patients can develop compensatory strategies. Reicher (1969 as cited by Eysenck and Keane 2010) studied the word superiority effect, by briefly presenting a letter string followed by a pattern mask, participants then had to decide which letter was in a particular position. Reciher found that participant’s performance was better when the letter string formed a word. Rayner and Sereno (1994 as cited by Eysenck and Keane 2010) studied word recognition to assess whether this was automatic or not, they found the Stroop effect, this is when a colour e.g. ‘Orange’ is printed in a different colour e.g. Red, they found participants took more time to answer than when the colour was printed in either the same colour font or just in black, suggesting that we are not consciously aware of word recognition. Rastle and Brysbaert (2006 as cited by Eysenck and Keane 2010) carried out a meta-analysis of various studies of participants completing lexical decision and naming tasks. From the analysis it was found that when words were preceded by primes similar to them in terms of phonology they were processed faster than those words similar to them in terms of spelling. These findings suggest that phonological processing occurs automatically and rapidly. Yates (2005 as cited by Eysenck and Keane 2010) used both lexical decision making and naming tasks within their research, to support the assumption that phonological processing is used in visual processing. Yates’s research found that within both of these tasks, when words which have many phonological neighbours (words which differ in one syllable from each other) are fixated on for less time than those with fewer phonological neighbours. There are a number of issues and limitations within the experimental cognitive psychology approach. Often, the cognitive tasks involve the use of a complex mixture of different processes and it is hard to interpret the findings, for example, the Stroop Effect mentioned above, it is difficult to interpret what processes are actively involved in interpreting the colour of the word and reading it. Often the way the studies are controlled can limit how ecologically valid they are, for example in the lexical decision tasks participants have to decide if a string of letters forms a word and in the naming tasks they have to as quickly as possible pronounce visually presented words. Within these tasks normal reading times of participants are disrupted by the requirement to respond to the task, therefore can the results be generalised to real life and the wider population? Also, as both of the tasks, are not tasks we often engage in when reading normally, this can also impact on how true to real life the results are. There are also issues when interpreting the task performance results, as it provides us with indirect evidence about the internal processes involved in the cognition of reading, and it is difficult to decide at what time processes occur, whether they are at the same time, with some overlap, or at different times. For example, in Rastle and Brysbaert’s study it is unsure from the results whether phonological processing occurs before word meaning is accessed. However, this can often be clarified by using brain imaging techniques. Khateb and Annoni et al (1999) recorded event related potentials (ERP’s) during a semantic and a phonological reading task to determine the time period when semantic and phonological processing start to differently activate the neuronal language network in the brain. From the results the researchers found that these differences did not significantly occur. Event related potentials are linked to the use of EEG which is based on recordings of electrical brain activity measured at the surface of the scalp; ERP is a way of resolving one of the limitations of the EEG technique. ERP involves presenting the same stimulus to participants several times, as this resolves any spontaneous or background brain activity from obscuring the impact of the processing of the stimulus on the recording. ERP’s have a number of strengths in terms of their contributions towards research. They provide good temporal resolution, can indicate when a given process occurred to within a few milliseconds, e.g. in Khateb, Annoni et al’s study the difference between activation of semantic and phonological processing was only for 100 milliseconds. This technique also provides detailed information about the time course of brain activity, compared to a lot of other techniques. However, the technique does not precisely indicate which regions of the brain are m ost involved in processing. Cao, Bitan and Booth (2008) used dynamic casual modelling (DCM) and MRI to examine the effective connectivity between three regions in the left hemisphere of the brain in children with and without reading difficulties when completing a rhyming judgement task. The researchers found that the modulatory effect from the left fusiform gyrus to the left inferior parietal lobule was weaker in children with reading difficulties when completing the conflicting trials of the rhyming judgement task (where the words had either similar orthography but different phonology, or had different orthography and phonology). Another finding is that the modulatory effect from the left fusiform gyrus to the inferior frontal gyrus was significantly greater in conflicting trials than non – conflicting trials in the children in the control group; however, this was not apparent in the children with reading difficulties. The final finding was that the modulatory effect from the left inferior frontal gyrus to the left inferior parietal lobe and the bidirectional modulatory effects between the left inferior parietal lobule and medial frontal gyrus were positively correlated with reading skills in the control group of children only. MRI tells us about the structure of the brain by using radio waves to excite atoms in the brain, which produces magnetic changes which are detected by a large magnet; these changes are then interpreted by a computer and changed into a very precise 3d image. However, as most cognitive psychologists wish to look at the functions of the brain rather than the structure, MRI can be a limited technique to use when studying human cognitions. This can be resolved though by using the fMRI technique which looks at the functions of the brain. Meyler and Keller et al (2007) used fMRI to examine brain activity during a visual sentence comprehension task among poor and high ability readers. Meyler and Keller et al used a higher level comprehension task in order to expand on previous research which found a reduced or absent activation in the left parietotemporal and occipitotemporal cortices in individuals who suffer from dyslexia or have a low reading ability. The results form Meyer et al’s research found that poor reading ability was associated with reduced activation in those areas compared to those of higher reading ability. There was also a positive linear relationship between reading ability and cortical activation in Wernicke’s area, the right inferior parietal lobule, and the left post central gyrus. Mechelli and Crinion et al (2005) using fMRI wanted to build on the theory that readers employ word specific knowledge and general information about how a combination of words corresponds to phonological representations by exploring how neuronal interactions within the reading system are influenced by word type. The pars triangularis showed increased activation for exception words compared to pseudo words, however, in the dorsal premotor cortex, increased activation was found for pseudowords compared to exception words, and finally the pars occercularis showed increased activation in exception words compared to regular words, and for pseudo words compared to regular words. Bavelier et al (1997 as cited by Pinel 2011) used fMRI to measure the brain activity of participants whilst they read silently. The fMRI used in this study was particularly sensitive meaning that the researchers could identify areas of activity more accurately than in previous studies. The researchers recorded brain activity during the reading of sentences. The participants completed in periods of silent reading followed by a control period where they were presented with strings of consonants, which served as a basis for determining those areas of cortical activity associated with reading. Bavelier at al found in the lateral cortical surfaces which were monitored that there was a difference in the cortical activity. The results showed tiny areas of activity separated by areas of inactivity, these patches of activity were variable, and differed between participants, and from trial to trial on the same participant. Although some of the activity was observed in the classic Wernicke â₠¬â€œ geschwind area, it was widespread over the lateral surface of the brain. It was found that there was significant activity in the right hemisphere, however considerably more activity was detected in the left hemisphere. FMRI assesses distortions in the local magnetic field and provides a measure of the concentration of deoxyhaemoglobin in the blood. This technique shows temporal and spatial resolution at a higher level than PET. However, there are flaws with this technique as it provides an indirect measure of underlying neural activity. Also, as this technique involves the participants being encased into a scanner, some participants can feel uncomfortable, find it upsetting and experience side effects (Cooke, Peel, Shaw, Senior 2007 as cited by Eysenck and Keane 2010). The use of the experimental cognitive psychology approach provides a good basis for cognitive neuroscience research to study further, as although it can provide some explanation for what processes may be involved in reading, it cannot provide specific information on what part of the brain these processes occur in, or in what order and so forth. By combining both the experimental cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience approaches, more in depth research can be conducted. For example, Cao, Bitan and Booth’s study with combines the use of DCM, MRI and a rhyming judgement task provides more information and explanations for poorer reading abilities. Or Mechelli and Crinion et al’s research combined the use of fMRI and a phonological task finding that there are distinct regions within the left prefrontal cortex activated differently depending on the word type being read. Finally, the use of cognitive neuropsychology provides explanations for the processes involved in reading by studying patients with brain damage who have issues in certain cognitions presumed to be involved in reading, and examining which parts of the brain are damaged. Word Count: 2071 References: Cao, F., Bitan, T. and Booth, J. (2008) ‘Effective brain connectivity with reading difficulties during phonological processing’ Brain and Language Vol. 107 pp. 91 – 101 [online] Cummine, J., Dai, W., Borowsky, R., Gould, L., Rollans, C. and Boliek, C. (2013) ‘Investigating the ventral – lexical, dorsal – sublexical model of basic reading processes using diffusion tensor imaging’ Brain Structure and Function Vol. 218, No.6 [online] Eysenck, M. and Keane, M (2010) Cognitive Psychology A Student’s Handbook 6th ed. New York: Psychology Press Khateb, A., Annoni, J-M., Landis, T., Pegna, A., Custodi, M-C., Fonteneau, E., Morand, S. and Michel, C. (1999) ‘Spatio-temporal analysis of electric brain activity during semantic and phonological word processing’ International Journal of Psychophysiology Vol.32 pp. 215-231 [online] Mechelli, A., Crinion, J., Long, S., Friston, K., Lambon Ralph, M., Patterson, K., McClelland, J. and Price, C. (2005) ‘Dissociating Reading Processes on the Basis of Neuronal Interactions’, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Vol17. No.11, pp 1753 – 1765 [online] Meyler, A., Keller, T., Cherkassky, V., Lee, D., Hoeft, F., Whitfield-Gabrielli, S., Gabrielle, J. and Just., M (2007) ‘Brain Activation during Sentence Comprehension among Good and Poor Readers’, Cerebal Cortex, Vol 17. No.12, pp. 2780 – 2787 [online] Pinel, J. (2011) Biopsychology 8th ed. Boston: Pearson Education

GM Financial Overview Essay -- GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

GM Financial Overview Introduction The General Motors Corporation is a multifaceted company but its primary function is the manufacturing of automobiles and light trucks (SIC 3711). The General Motors stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and has approximately 1,426,592,046 outstanding shares on the marketplace, as of 10/14/2001. It is headquartered in Detroit Michigan with offices around the world. General Motors has many other operations besides automobile manufacturing including: General Motors Acceptance Corporation Financial Services, Hughes Electronics Corporation, and the GM Locomotive Group. (Disclosure.com) Financial Statement Analysis Overall, General Motors has had five profitable years with increasing sales during the same period. GM has also paid a fixed dividend to its shareholders over the same period. The one-year, which was below average for GM, was 1998. During this period, GM was restructuring its top management and operations and also incurred a union strike of 54 days. However, GM did return to better performance in 1999 and 2000. GM overall was able to attain a fixed dividend of $2.00 per share and increase the shareholders value over the past five years. The first observation from the financial data in appendix one is that General Motors has a low profit margin and is generally less than the industry average each year. The firm is able to keep a low profit margin because they have such high sales volumes throughout the world. This strategy can be both an asset and liability in business planning. The plus side of the strategy is that GM is able to sell a large number of vehicles in the marketplace due to the lower selling price as compared to the competitor. However, the down side of the strategy is that there is a possibility that if sales volumes decrease, the firm can incur a significant decline in the EPS because the profit margin on each item sold is very low. If the global economy sours, GM can have a very difficult time meeting shareholder expectations. Another observation is that GM looks to use more debt financing that equity financing for funding their activities. The debt to equity ratio has steadily decreased over the past five years and is higher that the industry average. Also, the current and quick ratios are much lower than the industry averages. This again can pose so... .... 1996 edt. (1997) (page 320). Murray Hill, NJ: Dun & Bradstreet. Dun & Bradstreet. Industry Norms and Key Business Ratios. 1995 edt. (1996) (page 327). Murray Hill, NJ: Dun & Bradstreet. General Motors Corp. (2001, October 14). Retrieved on October 20, 2001 from www.disclosure.com. General Motors Corporation 1998 Annual Report. (1998). (pp. 55 – 83). General Motors Corporation 1999 Annual Report. (1999). (pp. 53 - 93). General Motors Corporation 2000 Annual Report. (2000). (pp. 41- 79). Standard & Poor’s. General Motors (GM). (1999) Standard Corporation Descriptions. (pp. 6000 – 6003) New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Troy, PhD., Leo. Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios. 32nd edt. (2001) (page 159) Paramus, NJ: Prentice Hall. Troy, PhD., Leo. Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios. 31st edt. (2000) (page 159) Paramus, NJ: Prentice Hall. Troy, PhD., Leo. Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios. 30th edt. (1999) (page 159) Paramus, NJ: Prentice Hall. Troy, PhD., Leo. Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios. 29th edt. (1998) (page 159) Paramus, NJ: Prentice Hall.

The Role of Women in Screwball Comedy Films :: Movies

The Role of Women in Screwball Comedy Films Joan Wilder: You're leaving? You're leaving me?! Jack Colton: You're gonna be all right, Joan Wilder. Yea. You always were. Like a contemporary Dorothy, Romancing the Stone's Joan Wilder must travel to Columbia and survive incredible adventures to learn that she had always been a capable and valuable person. Romancing the Stone (Robert Zemeckis, 1984) is part of a series of 1980s action comedies that disrupted previous expectations for female heroines. These female protagonists manage to subvert the standard action narrative and filmic gaze, learning to rescue themselves and to resist others' limited vision of them. Not only did these action comedies present strong female characters, they also offered a new filmic experience for female audiences. The commercial success of comic action heroines paved the way for women to appear in serious action roles--without the personal sacrifices required of Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley. Figures like Joan Wilder serve as an important link between previous strong yet feminine screen personas and current female stars. Led by Laura Mulvey, feminist film critics have discussed the difficulty presented to female spectators by the controlling male gaze and narrative generally found in mainstream film, creating for female spectators a position that forces them into limited choices: "bisexual" identification with active male characters; identification with the passive, often victimized, female characters; or on occasion, identification with a "masculinized" active female character, who is generally punished for her unhealthy behavior. Before discussing recent improvements, it is important to note that a group of Classic Hollywood films regularly offered female spectators positive, female characters who were active in controlling narrative, gazing and desiring: the screwball comedy. Comedy often allows for a subversion of the status quo that is not tolerated in more serious genres. Beginning in the 1930s, the subgenre of screwball comedy presented female characters who were active and desiring, without evoking negative characterizations as "unfeminine" or "trampish." Screwball comedies represent a specific form of romantic comedy that features a complicated situation--or more often a series of complications--centered around a strong-willed, unpredictable female. The comedy is generally physical as well as verbal. Screwball and other forms of romantic comedy do not just reverse the masculine/active, feminine/passive paradigm--which as E. Ann Kaplan notes accomplishes little in terms of change--but instead strengthens the female and weakens the male just enough to put them on more equal footing.

Copper Metal

Copper is an element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. Copper is classified in periodic table: Its element category is transition metal; Its group is 11; Its period is 4; Its atomic weight is 63. 546. Copper metal and alloys have been used for thousands of years. Physical properties:- Copper has a characteristic reddish brown color. Its density is 8. 93 g cm. Its melting point is 1083`C. It is highly malleable and ductile at ordinary temperature. It is a very good conductor of heat and electricity. It is the best conductor among all the metals.Chemical properties:- Copper does not react with water, but it reacts with oxygen slowly forming the brown-black copper oxide. Occurrence:- Copper can be found as native copper and a part of minerals. Native copper is a polycrystal. There are many kinds of copper-containing minerals: chalcopyrite and chalcocite are copper sulfides, azurite and malachite are copper carbonates and cuprite is a copper oxide. Recycling:- Copper can be recycl ed without lose of quality. Copper are world's mostly recycled. Uses of copper:-Copper is mostly used as a metal, but when a higher hardness is required it is combined with other elements to make an al alloy such as brass and bronze. Copper is used in refrigerators and air conditioning systems. Computer heat sinks are made out of copper because it is able to absorb a high amount of heat. Magnetrons, found in microwave ovens, contain copper. As a good conductor of electricity, copper is used in Copper wire, electromagnets and electrical relays and switches. Copper is a great water-proof roofing material.It has been used for this purpose since ancient times. Some structures, such as the Statue of Liberty, are made with copper. Copper is sometimes combined with nickel to make a corrosion resistant material that is used in shipbuilding. Copper is used in lightning rods. These attract lightning and cause the electrical current to be dispersed rather than striking, and possibly destroying , a more important structure. Copper is often used to color glass. It is also one component of ceramic glaze. Many musical instruments, are made out of copper.

Me Talk Pretty One Day

Me Talk Pretty One Day â€Å"Me Talk Pretty One Day† is an essay written by David Sedaris. David is forty-one years old, but he does not think it is too late to learn French. Despite the fact of his age he moves to Paris with the hope of learning a new language. A month before he left his city, New York, he went on some sort of evening school to learn the language just a little, before leaving for France. The apartment he got in Paris was only a ten-minute walk from school.After paying for his tuition, he was given a student ID, which gave him access to lots of facilities. He was very nervous the first day of class, because he knows that everyone there was expecting to perform, to perform well, also because he didn’t know anyone. He felt intimidated by the looks of the young students in the class, but also because their French sounded almost fluent already. He wasn’t the only foreign in class, they were gathered from lots of different countries like Poland, Germa ny, China, Holland, Korea, Italy, Yugoslavia and Japan.They were all in the same boat. French were the only language to be spoken when class starts, not only by the teacher, also by the students. The teacher talks condescending to the students at any time: â€Å"How very interesting. I thought that everyone loved the mosquito, but here, in front of all the world, you claim to detest him. How is it that we’ve been blessed with someone as unique and original as you? Tell us please. † (Line 35-37, page 1). This is the first time the students and teacher meets and the teacher is some sort of attacking them already.But no one understands everything the teacher says, only some of it. One by one the students were to tell about what they hated and loved after which the teacher were orally tearing them to pieces. When it was David’s turn, he tried to absorb as much of her abuse as he could understand. The teacher was using a method where she is questioning the students w ith all kind of questions. By using the method the students should be able to answer whenever she approached them with a question.The teacher used the students to practice any of her five fluent languages: â€Å"I hate you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Line 88, page 3). David â€Å"gave† himself a new identity â€Å"David the hard worker† and started to ignore everything when he was in class, because he was so eager to learn it. As time passed he didn’t see improvement, but one day when the teacher was scolding, he for the first time since he arrived to France understand everything. That gave him the desire to learn even more. The tone of the essay is very calm and easily understandable.The way he in the beginning is listening to the teacher scold them by saying: â€Å"I you not have meimslsxp or lgpdmurct by this time†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he gives us a concerning about how it was just to sit there without understanding much of what you are told, which I think gives me a figurative picture. David’s attitude towards learning French is remarkable, â€Å"I’ve moved to Paris with hopes of learning the language† (Line 6, page 1) He sounds like he does not even know if he will learn it, he is just giving it a shot. It sounds like he I taking it step for step.And the fact that he only had a month with French before he arrived is fascinating and requires courage. â€Å"I absorbed as much of her abuse as I could understand, thinking – but not saying – that I find it ridiculous to assign a gender to an inanimate object incapable of disrobing and making an occasional fool of itself. Why refer to Lady Crack Pipe or Good Sir Dishrag when these things could never live up to all that their sex implied? † He thinks of commentating it, but keeps his mouth shut, because he is cleverer than that. He uses the references to â€Å"Lady Crack Pipe† and â€Å"Good Sir Dishrag† as if they were their teacher.He also calls the tea chers way of teaching is like being with a wild animal, something completely unpredictable, which was the reason why he learned to â€Å"defend† himself. In spite of his eager to learn the language he became afraid to ask for directions or stopping for coffee. The teacher made him so afraid of saying the wrong words that he didn’t want to speak at all. But when he finally understood the words the teacher was saying to him, a new world opened up in front of him and with great joy he responded: â€Å"I know the thing that you speak exact now. Talk me more, you, plus please, plus. †

Journal Entry – A Clockwork Orange

Journal Entry #3 – A Clockwork Orange Burgess' novel, A Clockwork Orange, carries many themes prevalent to the time- period of the novel's release. In a futuristic city governed by a repressive totalitarian super-state, humans have become machines or lower animals. The main protagonist of the story, Alex, asserts his free will by deciding to live a life of debauchery and violence before being robbed of his free-will by the government. When A Clockwork Orange was written the war against Communism was at its peak.With many countries such as Russia and Cuba spreading communism to different parts of the orld, the fear of depriving an individual's free-will in light of the public was set in with the United States and its ally forces. Free-will then despite its predication that individuals such as Alex can make the choice of being wicked can also make the choice as a moral agent to do well. Without those choices the human-act of kindness/ good becomes nothing more than a shallow beh avior. In the beginning of the novel, Alex merely appears to be a mindless brute, with his thoughts and behaviors geared strictly towards violent behavior.It is not until he returns home and his post- orrectional officer, Deltoid, enters into his apartment and confronts Alex on his behavior that his views on free-will are made clear; after Deltoid leaves, Alex dismissed Deltoid's apprehension, and states that a government that does not allow its citizens to act badly is a power of authority that robs people of their free-will. Subsequent Alex's attempt to rob an older ladys home, Alex enters the Stala State Jail where he is sentenced fourteen years in prison. It is there that Alex begins the process of being robbed of his free-will. He is stripped of his clothes and his name.He is given a prison Jump-suit and a number, 6655321. However, despite Alex's confinement, he is still allowed to partake in his one enjoyment, Classical Music. The prison Chaplain who took an interest into Alex allowed him to read the Bible while listening to Classical Music. During his confinement Alex participates in a program known as Reclamation Treatment. Being successfully selected for use of the program, Alex goes through behavioral reconditioning and loses his will for violence and his love for Classical Music. Becoming a baseless human being, re-programmed by the government, Alex has lost his free-will and humanity.It is not until the end of the novel that Alex's free-will is restored through the reversal of the reconditioning that was done to him. When Alex met Peetie again at a coffee shop and his wife, he realizes how much Peetie had grown and recants his own views on violence and classical music even. This leads to Alex thinking of his future and the following generation through the scope of his future-son and realizes free-will is the catalyst to human-nature†uncontrolled and responsible for its own mistakes. It is at this point Alex truly becomes a complete human bein g. Journal Entry – A Clockwork Orange By pkmaximum

Gambling on college sports Essay

I’ve been a sports fanatic since the day I was born. It didn’t matter if I was playing or watching or cheering, I just loved being around the game. I have always been very knowledgeable about it too, as I was well known and titled by extended family as â€Å"the stat man. † This of course referred to the often times erroneous and useless facts rattling around in my brain that I couldn’t help but show off. Needless to say, this topic means a lot to me, especially being a college football player myself. I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to dig deeper into a topic that has lingered in our country for years. The issues that pertain to gambling on college athletics have a vast range of opinions that stem from the questions; should gambling on college athletics be legal? What are the effects it has on the college athletes? Some argue that it will be detrimental to the game and some argue it has little to no effect, however most land somewhere in the middle. A common justification against gambling brings up the numerous scandals of players taking illegal benefits or point shaving and in extreme cases these events leading to jail or death. This side also argues that it allows players to get mixed up with the wrong crowd and put themselves in danger. Arguments for gambling site the economic reach it has in our country and the illegality will shrink the economy as well as not protect the players any more. Many people on this side think it will not be stopped so if gambling on college sports is illegalized, then every form of it will be illegal causing more trouble. My goal is to reveal those opinions and create a more complex understanding from various viewpoints, and hopefully bring a small degree of clarification to others and myself. In the article, â€Å"Even at Columbia, Gambling And College Athletics Collide† found in the New York Times, Jack Curry and Adam Gershenson enlighten the readers about the gambling infractions that occurred in a Columbia University fraternity house. The authors begin by describing the situation and basic details of the gambling process. â€Å" (They) would accept bets on sporting events from dozens of other students and then phone in the wagers — typically from $40 to $200 each — to a gambling ring based in Queens and operated by people with links to organized crime† (Curry and Gershenson). They go on to unravel the situation further by stating that there were not only college athletes betting on the games, but even current and former players living in the house that was tirelessly on the phone collecting wagers. Curry and Gershenson then discuss the further investigations done by Columbia and the NCAA and the possible disciplinary action that the offenders can face. The authors then write about the numerous amounts of sports gambling incidents in the last decade and also how students and athletes looked upon the Columbia gambling scandal with lesser importance because of the lack of athletic excellence. â€Å" The presence of a gambling operation with connections to organized crime at a school whose football team is best known for a 44-game losing streak in the 1980’s seemed incongruous† (Curry and Gershenson). An athlete was also quoted saying, â€Å"It’s not like this is Arkansas or something. This is Columbia. † Curry and Gershenson conclude their article by including a nationwide 1996 survey of college Division one athletes that reveals 25 percent gambled on other college sports and four percent admitted to gambling on games they had played in. I believe this is an article with good overall quality, even though it was written about 14 years ago in 1998. The time period constraint may lead to questions of relevance to readers in 2012. However, I think if you take all the dates and years out of the article, the purpose is still fulfilled and relays the same messages. The intent of the article was to inform about the events of the Columbia gambling ring, the reaction around campus, and the nationwide relevance. The authors Jack Curry and Adam Gershenson, are fairly unknown writers as far as I am concerned but that doesn’t take away from the quality of the article because it was included in The New York Times, which only adds credibility. For this reason, there would be a nationwide audience because of the shear number of readers. Specifically, the audience would probably be more of the businessman or woman, who are the stereotypical readers of The New York Times. The exigence of this piece was the arrest of gambling ring participants at Columbia but also the fact that these types of gambling scandals had been becoming more and more common in that time period. This was a very eye-opening article for me to read and by far the longest and most in depth. Since it was written 14 years ago, it is a story that I was previously unaware of. It made me even more aware then I already was, of how long this problem has lingered in college sports. It mentioned, more then once, that there are bookies on every campus in America. This really made me think about how unbelievable the number of illegal bets being placed by college students and athletes must be. However, even though this article is depicting the illegal gambling as a bad thing, I think it unintentionally makes arguments for both sides of the issue. If gambling on college sports were acceptable, this would have been a legal act. Hypothetically if it were legal, it would cut down on crime like this, which is usually linked to people with other criminal activity going on. Disconnecting the link to other criminal activity would make it all around safer for bookies and bet placers and athletes, because frankly, I think that people will never stop gambling on sporting events. I had always just assumed that gambling on college sports should be illegal, but this article made me reconsider whether that would really be the smartest and safest resolution. In the article â€Å"NCAA threatens to move events out of New Jersey† from SportsIllustrated. com, the unnamed author introduces the proposed plan to legalize sports gambling in New Jersey as well as reaction from sports organizations nationwide. The writer kicks off the article by stating background information about New Jersey’s push to legalize sports wagering. The article then goes on to describe the reaction from sports organizations, and goes in depth on the quotes from NCAA officials as well as their threats to move all playoff games out of New Jersey. It is also mentioned that The NCAA, NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB have â€Å"collectively sued to block New Jersey’s sports betting law from taking effect. † However, there is also information and quotes from parties that are for the sports betting law. Quotes from State senator Raymond Lesniak and Governor Chris Christie demonstrate their support for the new law. The article is concluded with talk of â€Å"several new gambling options New Jersey is seeking to offer† (â€Å"NCAA Threatens†). The author writes that these other options include in-state Internet gambling and the use of hand-held mobile gambling devices at the casinos as well as at horse tracks. I thought this article was fairly credible and factual as well. It did not have an author to add to credibility but being a Sports Illustrated article maintained its effectiveness. I believe this piece was intended to inform the audience of residents of New Jersey as well as pretty involved sports fans. People who would read Sports Illustrated would obviously just be in it for the sports because that is the only information it obtains. This also acts as a constraint. The article cannot reach as much of the population because not everyone is a sports fan. The event that triggered this response was the attempt to make sports gambling legal in the state of New Jersey. My understanding of gambling in college sports was drastically upgraded by reading this article. It was an informative piece, so there was very little, if any, bias in the writing. The inclusion of statistics and legality of the topic really helped me understand why the sports organizations are hoping that the law will not pass. The shear amounts of money changing hands can lead to a lot of trouble, however for the same reason, legalizing that money could really boost economic growth. These types of pros and cons exist on both sides, making it an even tougher issue to sort out. My next source comes from a script from the testimony of Danny Sheridan before the Senate Commerce Committee on April 26, 2001. The testimony was for a hearing for the Amateur Sports Integrity Act (S. 718), which would determine the legality of gambling on college athletics. The first part of the testimony consists of Sheridan validating why his testimony should be considered by sharing his credibility and involvement in athletics. â€Å"My name is Danny Sheridan, and I have been involved with sports and the sports? promotion business for more than 25 years. I have published college and pro football? magazines, written about sports in a variety of national publications, and have been the? host of a number of sports TV and radio shows† Sheridan proclaims. Sheridan goes on to explain how he is also a friend of many high profile athletes and he knows first hand the dangers that athletic gambling has on athletes. Sheridan also includes many statistics in his argument. â€Å"An estimated 40 million Americans currently wager $6 billion illegally every weekend during the entire 20-week college and pro football season alone† (Sheridan). The testimony is concluded by Sheridan stating that he appreciates the good intentions of trying to legalize gambling, but it would instead, result in negative effects. The rhetor, Danny Sheridan, is a very well known sports industrial component, which gives his testimony (and therefore my source) credibility. He presented this to the Senate Commerce Committee in hopes to persuade them to vote against legalization of gambling on sports. The fact that this is a testimony, instead of a highly publicized article restricts the extent his message. I found the script on his website, however it isn’t an often visited site by the common Internet user, so the audience is a big constraint for this text. I found this testimony to be a great source for this project. It was interesting to read a text that wasn’t just a traditional article. My understanding for the anti gambling side grew significantly, because it was so biased. The speaker does a great job making his argument come full circle. For that reason, I came away from reading it with a slight lean towards supporting keeping gambling on sports illegal. Another interesting aspect is that this testimony was given in 2001. My previous source, about the gambling law in New Jersey, is a current issue, and the arguments made by Sheridan could simply be restated now with the same effects. It is astounding to see how such little progress has been made through the years. In the article â€Å"Study Provides New Data on the Extent of Gambling by College Athletes†, from netfiles.edu, Welch Suggs dissects a study done to determine the facts about college athletes that gamble on sports. Suggs begins by introducing the parameters of the University of Michigan study that was released by the athletic department. â€Å"The study, based on a survey of 758 football and basketball players, found that 72 percent of college football and basketball players had bet money at least once since entering college† (Suggs). The author goes on to give further statistics that the survey revealed. Welch Suggs concludes the article with opposing viewpoint quotes from NCAA employee William Saum, and former NFL player Lynn Swann. Suggs’ last statement included next shifting attention to basketball referees to gain information about their gambling experiences. This was a questionable source to say the least. It had some solid content but the article opened as a PDF and my research failed to try and find the original homepage of the website. Likewise, the author was a mystery man as well. This text was very brief, but I believe the purpose was to inform about the findings of the survey revealed by the University of Michigan athletic department. However, the audience is hard to determine because of the unknown author and questionable website. If I were to pick an audience though, I would say it was intended for the adult college sports athlete because of the language and the inclusion of quotes from Lynn Swann. This text also has massive constraints, mainly for the same reasons as stated before. The website is random and in an odd format, therefore finding Suggs’ piece would be difficult to come across. The audience is extremely limited because of this, and the credibility suffers as well. Also, it did not include dates it the article, so the exigence of the piece suffers because the provoking event of the writing cannot be identified. The facts that are stated in this article hold strong relevance for this topic. It is more of an anti gambling article based on the information it presents, but it also gives a quote of the opposite viewpoint. Numbers don’t lie, and the numbers from the study are very eye opening and convincing. It makes me think about how much gambling affects the games we love, without us even knowing. Since all the surveys were anonymous, nothing will develop in terms of punishment or solutions to the problem. In this sense, the article does a great job persuading the reader. However, nowhere in the article did it give a date of the information or of when the article was written, so it is hard to put it in context and determine the importance. This, along with the briefness of the article, made it more difficult to shape my thinking about the topic. After analyzing the four sources included in this essay, I have yet to come to a concrete conclusion. I began researching the topic with the idea that gambling on college sports should be illegal and that all the effects of illegal gambling are bad. However, my research has muddied my view a little bit, which is actually a good thing because now I am informed more then I even have been. Being informed in such a way makes me understand how this predicament has been able to linger around in our society and in our legal system for so long. There seems to be no perfect solution and neither side of the argument wants to budge. I think both sides would agree that the illegal activity that surrounds gambling is a bad thing, but the argument remains; would legalizing sports gambling have a more positive effect on unlawful activity then keeping gambling illegal? The next step for me would simply be gaining more knowledge and weighing the pros and cons of each side and coming to decision of which side to take. Until then, ill be sitting on the fence of the topic, along with most of America. What Are the Effects of Legal vs. Illegal Gambling on College Sports? I’ve been a sports fanatic since the day I was born. It didn’t matter if I was playing or watching or cheering, I just loved being around the game. I have always been very knowledgeable about it too, as I was well known and titled by extended family as â€Å"the stat man. † This of course referred to the often times erroneous and useless facts rattling around in my brain that I couldn’t help but show off. Needless to say, this topic means a lot to me, especially being a college football player myself. I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to dig deeper into a topic that has lingered in our country for years. The issues that pertain to gambling on college athletics have a vast range of opinions that stem from the questions; should gambling on college athletics be legal? What are the effects it has on the college athletes? Some argue that it will be detrimental to the game and some argue it has little to no effect, however most land somewhere in the middle. A common justification against gambling brings up the numerous scandals of players taking illegal benefits or point shaving and in extreme cases these events leading to jail or death. This side also argues that it allows players to get mixed up with the wrong crowd and put themselves in danger. Arguments for gambling site the economic reach it has in our country and the illegality will shrink the economy as well as not protect the players any more. Many people on this side think it will not be stopped so if gambling on college sports is illegalized, then every form of it will be illegal causing more trouble. My goal is to reveal those opinions and create a more complex understanding from various viewpoints, and hopefully bring a small degree of clarification to others and myself. In the article, â€Å"Even at Columbia, Gambling And College Athletics Collide† found in the New York Times, Jack Curry and Adam Gershenson enlighten the readers about the gambling infractions that occurred in a Columbia University fraternity house. The authors begin by describing the situation and basic details of the gambling process. â€Å" (They) would accept bets on sporting events from dozens of other students and then phone in the wagers — typically from $40 to $200 each — to a gambling ring based in Queens and operated by people with links to organized crime† (Curry and Gershenson). They go on to unravel the situation further by stating that there were not only college athletes betting on the games, but even current and former players living in the house that was tirelessly on the phone collecting wagers. Curry and Gershenson then discuss the further investigations done by Columbia and the NCAA and the possible disciplinary action that the offenders can face. The authors then write about the numerous amounts of sports gambling incidents in the last decade and also how students and athletes looked upon the Columbia gambling scandal with lesser importance because of the lack of athletic excellence. â€Å" The presence of a gambling operation with connections to organized crime at a school whose football team is best known for a 44-game losing streak in the 1980’s seemed incongruous† (Curry and Gershenson). An athlete was also quoted saying, â€Å"It’s not like this is Arkansas or something. This is Columbia. † Curry and Gershenson conclude their article by including a nationwide 1996 survey of college Division one athletes that reveals 25 percent gambled on other college sports and four percent admitted to gambling on games they had played in. I believe this is an article with good overall quality, even though it was written about 14 years ago in 1998. The time period constraint may lead to questions of relevance to readers in 2012. However, I think if you take all the dates and years out of the article, the purpose is still fulfilled and relays the same messages. The intent of the article was to inform about the events of the Columbia gambling ring, the reaction around campus, and the nationwide relevance. The authors Jack Curry and Adam Gershenson, are fairly unknown writers as far as I am concerned but that doesn’t take away from the quality of the article because it was included in The New York Times, which only adds credibility. For this reason, there would be a nationwide audience because of the shear number of readers. Specifically, the audience would probably be more of the businessman or woman, who are the stereotypical readers of The New York Times. The exigence of this piece was the arrest of gambling ring participants at Columbia but also the fact that these types of gambling scandals had been becoming more and more common in that time period. This was a very eye-opening article for me to read and by far the longest and most in depth. Since it was written 14 years ago, it is a story that I was previously unaware of. It made me even more aware then I already was, of how long this problem has lingered in college sports. It mentioned, more then once, that there are bookies on every campus in America. This really made me think about how unbelievable the number of illegal bets being placed by college students and athletes must be. However, even though this article is depicting the illegal gambling as a bad thing, I think it unintentionally makes arguments for both sides of the issue. If gambling on college sports were acceptable, this would have been a legal act. Hypothetically if it were legal, it would cut down on crime like this, which is usually linked to people with other criminal activity going on. Disconnecting the link to other criminal activity would make it all around safer for bookies and bet placers and athletes, because frankly, I think that people will never stop gambling on sporting events. I had always just assumed that gambling on college sports should be illegal, but this article made me reconsider whether that would really be the smartest and safest resolution. In the article â€Å"NCAA threatens to move events out of New Jersey† from SportsIllustrated. com, the unnamed author introduces the proposed plan to legalize sports gambling in New Jersey as well as reaction from sports organizations nationwide. The writer kicks off the article by stating background information about New Jersey’s push to legalize sports wagering. The article then goes on to describe the reaction from sports organizations, and goes in depth on the quotes from NCAA officials as well as their threats to move all playoff games out of New Jersey. It is also mentioned that The NCAA, NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB have â€Å"collectively sued to block New Jersey’s sports betting law from taking effect. † However, there is also information and quotes from parties that are for the sports betting law. Quotes from State senator Raymond Lesniak and Governor Chris Christie demonstrate their support for the new law. The article is concluded with talk of â€Å"several new gambling options New Jersey is seeking to offer† (â€Å"NCAA Threatens†). The author writes that these other options include in-state Internet gambling and the use of hand-held mobile gambling devices at the casinos as well as at horse tracks. I thought this article was fairly credible and factual as well. It did not have an author to add to credibility but being a Sports Illustrated article maintained its effectiveness. I believe this piece was intended to inform the audience of residents of New Jersey as well as pretty involved sports fans. People who would read Sports Illustrated would obviously just be in it for the sports because that is the only information it obtains. This also acts as a constraint. The article cannot reach as much of the population because not everyone is a sports fan. The event that triggered this response was the attempt to make sports gambling legal in the state of New Jersey. My understanding of gambling in college sports was drastically upgraded by reading this article. It was an informative piece, so there was very little, if any, bias in the writing. The inclusion of statistics and legality of the topic really helped me understand why the sports organizations are hoping that the law will not pass. The shear amounts of money changing hands can lead to a lot of trouble, however for the same reason, legalizing that money could really boost economic growth. These types of pros and cons exist on both sides, making it an even tougher issue to sort out. My next source comes from a script from the testimony of Danny Sheridan before the Senate Commerce Committee on April 26, 2001. The testimony was for a hearing for the Amateur Sports Integrity Act (S. 718), which would determine the legality of gambling on college athletics. The first part of the testimony consists of Sheridan validating why his testimony should be considered by sharing his credibility and involvement in athletics. â€Å"My name is Danny Sheridan, and I have been involved with sports and the sports? promotion business for more than 25 years. I have published college and pro football? magazines, written about sports in a variety of national publications, and have been the?host of a number of sports TV and radio shows† Sheridan proclaims. Sheridan goes on to explain how he is also a friend of many high profile athletes and he knows first hand the dangers that athletic gambling has on athletes. Sheridan also includes many statistics in his argument. â€Å"An estimated 40 million Americans currently wager $6 billion illegally every weekend during the entire 20-week college and pro football season alone† (Sheridan). The testimony is concluded by Sheridan stating that he appreciates the good intentions of trying to legalize gambling, but it would instead, result in negative effects. The rhetor, Danny Sheridan, is a very well known sports industrial component, which gives his testimony (and therefore my source) credibility. He presented this to the Senate Commerce Committee in hopes to persuade them to vote against legalization of gambling on sports. The fact that this is a testimony, instead of a highly publicized article restricts the extent his message. I found the script on his website, however it isn’t an often visited site by the common Internet user, so the audience is a big constraint for this text. I found this testimony to be a great source for this project. It was interesting to read a text that wasn’t just a traditional article. My understanding for the anti gambling side grew significantly, because it was so biased. The speaker does a great job making his argument come full circle. For that reason, I came away from reading it with a slight lean towards supporting keeping gambling on sports illegal. Another interesting aspect is that this testimony was given in 2001. My previous source, about the gambling law in New Jersey, is a current issue, and the arguments made by Sheridan could simply be restated now with the same effects. It is astounding to see how such little progress has been made through the years. In the article â€Å"Study Provides New Data on the Extent of Gambling by College Athletes†, from netfiles. edu, Welch Suggs dissects a study done to determine the facts about college athletes that gamble on sports. Suggs begins by introducing the parameters of the University of Michigan study that was released by the athletic department. â€Å"The study, based on a survey of 758 football and basketball players, found that 72 percent of college football and basketball players had bet money at least once since entering college† (Suggs). The author goes on to give further statistics that the survey revealed. Welch Suggs concludes the article with opposing viewpoint quotes from NCAA employee William Saum, and former NFL player Lynn Swann. Suggs’ last statement included next shifting attention to basketball referees to gain information about their gambling experiences. This was a questionable source to say the least. It had some solid content but the article opened as a PDF and my research failed to try and find the original homepage of the website. Likewise, the author was a mystery man as well. This text was very brief, but I believe the purpose was to inform about the findings of the survey revealed by the University of Michigan athletic department. However, the audience is hard to determine because of the unknown author and questionable website. If I were to pick an audience though, I would say it was intended for the adult college sports athlete because of the language and the inclusion of quotes from Lynn Swann. This text also has massive constraints, mainly for the same reasons as stated before. The website is random and in an odd format, therefore finding Suggs’ piece would be difficult to come across. The audience is extremely limited because of this, and the credibility suffers as well. Also, it did not include dates it the article, so the exigence of the piece suffers because the provoking event of the writing cannot be identified. The facts that are stated in this article hold strong relevance for this topic. It is more of an anti gambling article based on the information it presents, but it also gives a quote of the opposite viewpoint. Numbers don’t lie, and the numbers from the study are very eye opening and convincing. It makes me think about how much gambling affects the games we love, without us even knowing. Since all the surveys were anonymous, nothing will develop in terms of punishment or solutions to the problem. In this sense, the article does a great job persuading the reader. However, nowhere in the article did it give a date of the information or of when the article was written, so it is hard to put it in context and determine the importance. This, along with the briefness of the article, made it more difficult to shape my thinking about the topic. After analyzing the four sources included in this essay, I have yet to come to a concrete conclusion. I began researching the topic with the idea that gambling on college sports should be illegal and that all the effects of illegal gambling are bad. However, my research has muddied my view a little bit, which is actually a good thing because now I am informed more then I even have been. Being informed in such a way makes me understand how this predicament has been able to linger around in our society and in our legal system for so long. There seems to be no perfect solution and neither side of the argument wants to budge. I think both sides would agree that the illegal activity that surrounds gambling is a bad thing, but the argument remains; would legalizing sports gambling have a more positive effect on unlawful activity then keeping gambling illegal? The next step for me would simply be gaining more knowledge and weighing the pros and cons of each side and coming to decision of which side to take. Until then, ill be sitting on the fence of the topic, along with most of America. What Are the Effects of Legal vs. Illegal Gambling on College Sports? I’ve been a sports fanatic since the day I was born. It didn’t matter if I was playing or watching or cheering, I just loved being around the game. I have always been very knowledgeable about it too, as I was well known and titled by extended family as â€Å"the stat man. † This of course referred to the often times erroneous and useless facts rattling around in my brain that I couldn’t help but show off. Needless to say, this topic means a lot to me, especially being a college football player myself. I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to dig deeper into a topic that has lingered in our country for years. The issues that pertain to gambling on college athletics have a vast range of opinions that stem from the questions; should gambling on college athletics be legal? What are the effects it has on the college athletes? Some argue that it will be detrimental to the game and some argue it has little to no effect, however most land somewhere in the middle. A common justification against gambling brings up the numerous scandals of players taking illegal benefits or point shaving and in extreme cases these events leading to jail or death. This side also argues that it allows players to get mixed up with the wrong crowd and put themselves in danger. Arguments for gambling site the economic reach it has in our country and the illegality will shrink the economy as well as not protect the players any more. Many people on this side think it will not be stopped so if gambling on college sports is illegalized, then every form of it will be illegal causing more trouble. My goal is to reveal those opinions and create a more complex understanding from various viewpoints, and hopefully bring a small degree of clarification to others and myself. In the article, â€Å"Even at Columbia, Gambling And College Athletics Collide† found in the New York Times, Jack Curry and Adam Gershenson enlighten the readers about the gambling infractions that occurred in a Columbia University fraternity house. The authors begin by describing the situation and basic details of the gambling process. â€Å" (They) would accept bets on sporting events from dozens of other students and then phone in the wagers — typically from $40 to $200 each — to a gambling ring based in Queens and operated by people with links to organized crime† (Curry and Gershenson). They go on to unravel the situation further by stating that there were not only college athletes betting on the games, but even current and former players living in the house that was tirelessly on the phone collecting wagers. Curry and Gershenson then discuss the further investigations done by Columbia and the NCAA and the possible disciplinary action that the offenders can face. The authors then write about the numerous amounts of sports gambling incidents in the last deca.