Monday, September 30, 2019

Future Is Unpredictable Essay

Many believe the future is far brighter and more promising than ever imagined as a result of change over time. Although this stands true, there is no method enabling us to accurately predict the future in terms of greatness or prosperity. Even so, it is essential to realize how brilliant the earth has become. As a result of the passing of time, lives have improved thanks to technology and medicine, which have helped create a brighter world. For example, years ago, a person risked death by being diagnosed with a disease such as strep throat. With lack of antibiotics and technology needed to cure diseases, lives were not as rich as they are today. With the vast abundance of medicines in existence today, strep throat can be easily cured. In the same way, cancer, which once left victims without hope, can now be cured with use of chemotherapy that exists as a result of modern technology. Lives have bettered because of the degree of change in the world that has led to the improvement and creation of medicines. The world continues to brighten each and every day; at this rate, the future may even hold a cure for diabetes. Fifty years ago, women and minorities did not even stand close to white men in terms of opportunity and prosperity. As a result of time, the world has come a long way with women and minorities now holding important business positions and succeeding in ways that were never imagined. In the days of Martin Luther King, an African American and white male would not even dare to enter the same building. Today, by looking inside a public building, one can see the degree of change on this earth that caused African Americans and whites to now work together in schools and businesses, which are more accepting than ever. Fifty years ago people would never imagine black women to become influential figures. Today, Oprah Winfrey, an African American woman, is loved and followed by millions of fans. The future is unpredictable, but this degree of change is more promising than ever. All in all, time has led to change that has created a brighter and more promising earth. Diseases that were once deadly are now easily cured. People that once faced extreme discrimination are now treated as equals. The world continues to change for the better, one day cures may will be found for diseases thought today to be deadly and groups such as gays may one day be fully accepted.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Goal Setting Worksheet Essay

1.Describe one academic goal that you have created using the SMART criteria. How do SMART criteria contribute to your academic goals? One goal I have created is to continue to attain the highest points possible each week in college. SMART criteria contribute to my academic goal by helping me identify what I need to focus on to complete this goal. By concentrating on how to set my goal to the guidelines of SMART (Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Realist, and Timely) I am able to set reasonable steps to complete this goal within the timeframe specified. 2.Describe one professional/career goal you have created using the SMART criteria and Career Plan Building Activities results. How did the results of the Career Interest Profiler and Career Plan Building Activity on Competencies contribute to your professional goal development? Using the SMART criteria I have set a goal to research jobs I am interested in pertaining to the IT field and find out which certifications I will need on top of my degree to help me attain that edge over other prospective candidates. The results from my Career Interest Profiler and Career Plan Building Activity on Competencies reaffirmed my choices on the career I have chosen. As the other career fields I have been interested in were also on the profiler I feel like I am in connection with my competencies and am pursuing a career that I will not only excel at, but be happy with. 3.Describe the stress and time-management strategies you have learned this week that will help you achieve your goals. Of the stress and time management strategies I have learned this week I feel that overcoming procrastination will aid me the most. There are times when the list of things I need to accomplish by the end of the week seems quite daunting, and sometimes I feel procrastinating tendencies. The ultimate cure for this is for me to stop making excuses and accomplish my tasks at hand. Another helpful strategy for me will be utilizing a planner. With all of the time consuming tasks that I will need to accomplish, having them allocated to time slots and dates on a planner will help keep me organized, ensure to not miss deadlines, and effectively de-stress me at the same time. 4.Describe how you will balance academic expectations and your personal and professional responsibilities. I will balance academic, personal, and professional responsibilities and expectations by creating a time chart and not overextending my abilities. I plan to assess each aspect of my life pertaining to academic, personal, and professional goals by effectively prioritizing each in its order of importance or necessity to me. By doing this I can then effectively plan my time to meet my perspective responsibilities as well as eliminate unnecessary stress. 5.How can understanding the importance of SMART criteria and your career interests and competencies help you move towards your career and academic goals? Understanding the importance of SMART criteria and my career interests and competencies can help me achieve my career and academic goals by allowing me to see which areas I am competent in and which areas I need to focus my time on to be more proficient in. Knowing where your weaknesses are is the first step to improving on them and advancing in your career or academic goals. By utilizing SMART criteria I can set realistic and obtainable goals for myself, effectively not setting myself up for failure. If I am able to set a goal to be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely I am sure to succeed at not only completing them successfully, but completing goals within a reasonable amount of time as well.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Active and Passive Indexing

From 1986 to 1996, the amount of money invested in index funds grew from $556 million to $65 Billion. And if anything, individual investors have been slow to embrace passive management. Institutional investors invest a far larger percentage of their assets passively. Many individual investors are simply uneducated and unaware of the arguments and experimental evidence supporting passive management. Institutional investors and academics have known for years (many for decades) that passive investing is extremely difficult to beat and that the majority of active investors will fail in their attempt to outperform the market. Active indexers assert they can outperform the marketplace. Passive (index) portfolios state they can mirror the performance of the indices. Both have their good times and their bad times. Active indexers raise cash in times of increased risk and instability while passive indexers remain fully invested. This can be quite painful during times of large declines in the market. Passive portfolios mirror the gains of the indices during roaring bull markets and eventually outperform the majority of active money managers who must remain diversified and who sometimes take on additional risks in an attempt to produce the performance and safety that they have promised their clients. The evidence has piled up during today’s bull market that the average dollar managed by active managers does not keep up with the market index. Finally, indexing is a way to avoid being blind-sided in certain areas of the marketplace. Active management themes can easily find themselves on the wrong side of an investment. There is a perception among investors that a strategy designed to match stock market returns is less risky than a comparable actively managed portfolio. Since the index approach invests in a manner that is most friendly with the market’s natural liquidity, it produces the least disturbance. The passive investor also has diversified his risk. Specific negative things can happen to individual companies or groups. As a passive investor, one is not exposed to any of these things. However, it does not mean you have a risk-free investment. The downside to passive index investors is that they â€Å"fuel the fire† of a market that appreciates well beyond its true value. Index mutual funds must put new money to work†¦ they can not hold cash†¦ and their investors all buy the exact same stocks. When stocks go down, index funds, being fully invested, will receive the ultimate effect of the decline. Combined with this loss is the fact that they will also have to sell shares to cover shareholder redemptions. These funds will get hit harder than many active portfolios with a cash cushion. Most active managers of investment portfolios raise cash as they perceive higher valuations, excessive instability, and extreme risks, therefore; reducing the display to loss during declining markets. Another downside to passive indexing is the impact they have on market instability. This gives the patient active money manager a welcome opportunity to take advantage of stock selection at very attractive prices and, to some extent, time the market in making their decisions of when to buy and when to sell. Index investing is a tricky business that can roil markets. Actively indexed funds have gone upward over the last decade. This has occurred despite the fact that investors have poured huge amounts of money into active funds over this period. The costs of investing in index funds have trended downward as they have become more popular with investors. The costs of active index funds just might decrease in the future, thereby narrowing the cost gap with passive index funds. But all evidence to date has shown just the opposite trend – the costs of active funds continue to go up and the costs of index funds continue to go down. Actively indexed funds typically generate relatively large amounts of taxes while passive index funds generate relatively small amounts. Some of the resulting gap in performance caused by taxes would seemingly be narrowed if the federal government were to lower tax rates. Congress did this at the end of July 1997 when it reduced the maximum long term capital gains tax rate from 28% on investments held more than one year to 20% on investments held 18 months or longer. The tax bill provides that in the year 2001 this rate will be reduced to 18% for investments held five years or longer. Finally, active money managers serve the specific needs of their clients. They manage portfolios based exactly on the investor’s objectives and tolerance for risk. They make decisions based on a stated time frame and they are capable of changing the goals and direction of a portfolio on a moment’s notice. They are the investor’s personal link to the market and the protector of their capital. The value of these services is immeasurable to most investors. One thing that really does not influence the investor as much as it should is the lack of appreciation with respect to the tax consequences of passive index management. The capital gains, created during the year by a fully active index manager, is reported to the IRS, and the investor ends up being taxed. For a taxed investor, the buy-and-hold is a winning strategy. Turnover is the enemy of the investor who pays taxes. Conversely, most investors would be more than happy to pay taxes on the returns produced by active money managers during periods of declining markets. Not many investors prefer losses to earning some gains and interest, even with the tax man waiting. The effect of so many investors buying index funds is that they tend to guard the money market. An investor could actually, in a cost-effective manner, buy and sell the market. The asset funding of active managers, combined with the efficiency of the passive manager, allows one to implement strategies that provide an optimal mix of securities to match a particular scenario, objective, or risk aversion. From time to time, it is possible that the major assets can get out of balance. Investors can run up prices where the lawfulness market is overvalued. When this reaches a untrustworthy level, more self-corrective measures are needed. This is where the expertise of the active manager becomes useful. As an investor, you are always trading off what Jeremy Bentham, the British economist, referred to as the â€Å"pain-pleasure calculus. † Good returns produce pleasure. Bad returns produce pain. An active money manager is always balancing off the pleasure vs. e potential pain. The active manager tends to determine what that balance is and if it finds that the market is deployed otherwise, it works in balancing the portfolio. Tactical asset funding combined with a passively managed portfolio has been called the â€Å"holy grail† of investing by Jonathan Burton, of Dow Jones’ Asset Management magazine. During declining markets, index funds take the full force of the market’s loss. Managers of these funds are forced to sell stocks in order to meet the demand for redemptions as their investors got out of the market. During markets of very little movement, investors quickly drain of insufficient or no returns on their investment. Finally, a philosophy of capital preservation causes the active manager to raise cash, providing a cushion for portfolios during times of extreme risk. Active or passive? Both have their advantages and their risks, but the two are found to be the best long-term plans for both performance and safety. Index (passive) funds are likely to beat active funds, yet the Morningstar data show that 92% of all the money is U. S. stock funds is in active funds. Active and Passive Indexing From 1986 to 1996, the amount of money invested in index funds grew from $556 million to $65 Billion. And if anything, individual investors have been slow to embrace passive management. Institutional investors invest a far larger percentage of their assets passively. Many individual investors are simply uneducated and unaware of the arguments and experimental evidence supporting passive management. Institutional investors and academics have known for years (many for decades) that passive investing is extremely difficult to beat and that the majority of active investors will fail in their attempt to outperform the market. Active indexers assert they can outperform the marketplace. Passive (index) portfolios state they can mirror the performance of the indices. Both have their good times and their bad times. Active indexers raise cash in times of increased risk and instability while passive indexers remain fully invested. This can be quite painful during times of large declines in the market. Passive portfolios mirror the gains of the indices during roaring bull markets and eventually outperform the majority of active money managers who must remain diversified and who sometimes take on additional risks in an attempt to produce the performance and safety that they have promised their clients. The evidence has piled up during today’s bull market that the average dollar managed by active managers does not keep up with the market index. Finally, indexing is a way to avoid being blind-sided in certain areas of the marketplace. Active management themes can easily find themselves on the wrong side of an investment. There is a perception among investors that a strategy designed to match stock market returns is less risky than a comparable actively managed portfolio. Since the index approach invests in a manner that is most friendly with the market’s natural liquidity, it produces the least disturbance. The passive investor also has diversified his risk. Specific negative things can happen to individual companies or groups. As a passive investor, one is not exposed to any of these things. However, it does not mean you have a risk-free investment. The downside to passive index investors is that they â€Å"fuel the fire† of a market that appreciates well beyond its true value. Index mutual funds must put new money to work†¦ they can not hold cash†¦ and their investors all buy the exact same stocks. When stocks go down, index funds, being fully invested, will receive the ultimate effect of the decline. Combined with this loss is the fact that they will also have to sell shares to cover shareholder redemptions. These funds will get hit harder than many active portfolios with a cash cushion. Most active managers of investment portfolios raise cash as they perceive higher valuations, excessive instability, and extreme risks, therefore; reducing the display to loss during declining markets. Another downside to passive indexing is the impact they have on market instability. This gives the patient active money manager a welcome opportunity to take advantage of stock selection at very attractive prices and, to some extent, time the market in making their decisions of when to buy and when to sell. Index investing is a tricky business that can roil markets. Actively indexed funds have gone upward over the last decade. This has occurred despite the fact that investors have poured huge amounts of money into active funds over this period. The costs of investing in index funds have trended downward as they have become more popular with investors. The costs of active index funds just might decrease in the future, thereby narrowing the cost gap with passive index funds. But all evidence to date has shown just the opposite trend – the costs of active funds continue to go up and the costs of index funds continue to go down. Actively indexed funds typically generate relatively large amounts of taxes while passive index funds generate relatively small amounts. Some of the resulting gap in performance caused by taxes would seemingly be narrowed if the federal government were to lower tax rates. Congress did this at the end of July 1997 when it reduced the maximum long term capital gains tax rate from 28% on investments held more than one year to 20% on investments held 18 months or longer. The tax bill provides that in the year 2001 this rate will be reduced to 18% for investments held five years or longer. Finally, active money managers serve the specific needs of their clients. They manage portfolios based exactly on the investor’s objectives and tolerance for risk. They make decisions based on a stated time frame and they are capable of changing the goals and direction of a portfolio on a moment’s notice. They are the investor’s personal link to the market and the protector of their capital. The value of these services is immeasurable to most investors. One thing that really does not influence the investor as much as it should is the lack of appreciation with respect to the tax consequences of passive index management. The capital gains, created during the year by a fully active index manager, is reported to the IRS, and the investor ends up being taxed. For a taxed investor, the buy-and-hold is a winning strategy. Turnover is the enemy of the investor who pays taxes. Conversely, most investors would be more than happy to pay taxes on the returns produced by active money managers during periods of declining markets. Not many investors prefer losses to earning some gains and interest, even with the tax man waiting. The effect of so many investors buying index funds is that they tend to guard the money market. An investor could actually, in a cost-effective manner, buy and sell the market. The asset funding of active managers, combined with the efficiency of the passive manager, allows one to implement strategies that provide an optimal mix of securities to match a particular scenario, objective, or risk aversion. From time to time, it is possible that the major assets can get out of balance. Investors can run up prices where the lawfulness market is overvalued. When this reaches a untrustworthy level, more self-corrective measures are needed. This is where the expertise of the active manager becomes useful. As an investor, you are always trading off what Jeremy Bentham, the British economist, referred to as the â€Å"pain-pleasure calculus. † Good returns produce pleasure. Bad returns produce pain. An active money manager is always balancing off the pleasure vs. e potential pain. The active manager tends to determine what that balance is and if it finds that the market is deployed otherwise, it works in balancing the portfolio. Tactical asset funding combined with a passively managed portfolio has been called the â€Å"holy grail† of investing by Jonathan Burton, of Dow Jones’ Asset Management magazine. During declining markets, index funds take the full force of the market’s loss. Managers of these funds are forced to sell stocks in order to meet the demand for redemptions as their investors got out of the market. During markets of very little movement, investors quickly drain of insufficient or no returns on their investment. Finally, a philosophy of capital preservation causes the active manager to raise cash, providing a cushion for portfolios during times of extreme risk. Active or passive? Both have their advantages and their risks, but the two are found to be the best long-term plans for both performance and safety. Index (passive) funds are likely to beat active funds, yet the Morningstar data show that 92% of all the money is U. S. stock funds is in active funds.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Critically Assess the Proposition that Illegal Downloading is Essay

Critically Assess the Proposition that Illegal Downloading is Destroying the Music Industry - Essay Example Copyright is an important factor in the discussion of the impact of illegal downloads on the music industry. Without copyright, there would be no claim upon which to determine if sharing files is illegal. Marshall (2005, p. 39) writes that one of the first fundamental changes in the relationship of music to commodity occurred when the UK Copyright Act of 1814 when copyright began to be valid throughout the life of the author of a work. The rippling effect was to add the author as part of the value of the work. In the case of illegal downloads, it can be argued that value is being shifted once more into the public ownership of the works and away from the authors of the works. When music becomes more nameless as it is not acknowledge through monetary payment, it can be said that the music is taken from the authors and placed in the hands of masses. Navigating digital download technologies means redefining the nature of music ownership (May 2002, p. 119). It is not clear, however, wheth er or not this will create damage to the music industry to diminish its existence or if it will mean reconfiguring the process of music commodification. Current models are not working and future models have yet to be revealed. It is also relevant to the process to discuss the influence of YouTube on the digital download controversy. On the YouTube site people can search for almost any song they wish to listen to and get the audio content as well as some form of visual content. The files can be shared through other outlets such as Facebook. The issue of copyright has emerged for the site as much of the content has not been purchased and it is not being spread through legal terms (Hilderbrand 2007, p. 48). Often items are deleted over the copyright issue. Other artists allow the use of... This essay approves that scientific discovery leads to consequences that are often unpredictable when put into public use. The changes in social construction are affected by the instrumentalizing of new technologies. The capacity to record the voice and then to hear it outside of a live performance changed the face of human experience. The capacity to disseminate music in a widely diverse number of ways for content and listening has further changed the nature of music as it affects the human condition. the nature of music creation has turned to digitalization, thus placing into context a whole new format for creation and consuming music. Technology has influenced the construction and consumption of music. As music has changed, it should be expected that the consumption of music would change. This report makes a conclusion that the music industry is in jeopardy of being destroyed in its current incarnation, but this will mean that some other format will emerge. The importance of music in culture has been far too deeply established to be completely eradicated by the freedom to download content through file sharing. Where corporate influence has been strong in the development of taste and cultural music appreciations before the internet, listeners now have access to work that would never have been in the public before the wide distribution capacities of the internet. The fear that the music industry more likely has is not the losses incurred by a lack of recording sales, but that they are no longer in control of their consumers, taste and influence in the hands of anyone who can create music, upload a file, and share it with the world.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Christianity and Judaism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Christianity and Judaism - Essay Example Jews do not accept Jesus as the messiah because: Jesus did not fulfill the messianic prophecies, Jesus did not embody the personal qualifications of the Messiah, Biblical verses "referring" to Jesus are mistranslations and Jewish belief is based on national revelation (Rabbi Simmons) Jews believe that the coming Messiah will build The Build the Third Temple (The Good News Bible, Ezekiel 37:26-28), Gather all Jews back to the Land of Israel (The Good News Bible, Isaiah 43:5-6) and the God will be King over all the world -- on that day, God will be One and His Name will be One" (The Good News Bible, Zechariah 14:9).Jews are still waiting for the Messiah to come. As per Jews beliefs, Jesus was not a prophet and he has taken birth on earth after the prophecy was ended. They also believe that the Messiah will take birth quiet naturally, same way like all the other human beings and will not possess any supernatural qualities like the Jesus. Jews don’t have much belief in miracles as they believe that the miracles done by the Jesus was with the help of magical powers rather than any Godly power. The above beliefs seem to be baseless since nobody can predict the actions of God. Sin has entered the world through one human being Adam and the whole world is filled with sins because of the gene transfer from Adam. It is an accepted fact now, that the children exhibit the characteristics of their parents because of the gene transfer. Thus the sin committed by Adam has been transferred to the blood of the whole future generation. As per God’s rule, death is the punishment for sin. But the death of future generation cannot be justified since they were not responsible for their sins directly. So as per God’s plan, a sinless person must sacrifice his life in order to remove the dark spots caused by the sins of Adam. But, unfortunately, there were no sacred persons on earth as everybody was the sons of Adam. Because of the above

Are we obligated to provide Government aid in order to help people in Essay

Are we obligated to provide Government aid in order to help people in other countries - Essay Example The aid provided by OECD is known as official developmental aid (ODA). This aid is provided to different countries on the basis of certain terms and conditions. (OECD) Though, this aid provides great assistance to underdeveloped countries but it also has certain ethical drawbacks. Foreign assistance may result in exploitation by benefactor countries. The countries giving foreign aid may also interfere in the cultural and domestic affairs of the Recipient country. Moreover, this assistance may reach the wrong hands which may affect the correct and appropriate use of this aid. All these drawbacks are generally accepted by the public and government of donor and Recipient countries but these are the arguments which are held against the foreign aids by different scholarly and philosophical point of views. The world is composed of different nations that are trying to maintain their economic and social stability. If we divide the world into poor and rich nations, we will realize that two third of the nations of the world are extremely poor and the remaining one third are extremely rich. It is obvious that the poor nations desperately need the assistance and help of the rich nations for their development but this help can be hazardous if each of the rich nations follows its own unrealistic philosophy of equity and justice. In order to make this aid and assistance fruitful we need a governing force that can ensure the appropriate and justifiable use of the foreign aid. But if we look into the practical world we will realize that there is a lack of proper governing body as U.N is not strong enough to implement any policy against the will of its strong and influential members. We should also keep in mind that rich countries do not provide aid for free they gain something from it as well, such as the right to manipulate the decisions of the recipient countries according to their will and to have the right to have a say in their domestic matters. They also provide aid to some under developed countries so that they can forcefully get the military assistance of these countr ies for their selfish interests. An example of this can be seen in Pakistan, while United States of America donates huge amounts of money to Pakistan it asks for the military assistance of Pakistan in return. Pakistan provides military assistance to America in Afghanistan as well as Pakistan. (The Times of India) Though this norm is acceptable to the people and the government of these countries most of the NGOs and scholars are against it as it is not ethical to exploit the human resources of the recipient country because you are providing aid to them. But this assistance has some advantages as well because by providing military assistance Pakistan along with the United States of America can play a part in getting rid of terrorism. Another major drawback is the interference in the cultural and domestic matters of the recipient country. The financial aid provided by the donor country does not give it the right to interfere in the interstate matters of the recipient country. A recent example of this issue is the protest against Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, when this protest grew wilder; the United States

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

E- Commerce & IT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

E- Commerce & IT - Essay Example Electronic Markets are the recent online trading network platform that links the sellers with the buyers together for exchanging goods and services, without any mandatory face to face interaction during spot trading. Most of the EMs are two-way networks or collaborative in nature. When different companies working in same line of business meet at a place, which are willing to exchange goods to target customers, we get an association of market places. Such market place is called the electronic market if the parties to transaction mainly communicate online or through some private networks.The concept of EM has its origin from Electronic commerce, the fundamental purpose of which is to execute transactions that are supported electronically. Some of the top e-commerce developments of last decades include eBay, Amazon, Google Ad Words, PayPal, etc. The business model may be B2B, B2C, or C2C. In all these models, automating transactions drastically reduces the amount of paper works and need for human intervention which consequently leads to minimization of overall cost of the firms (Andreini, 2003, pp.15-16). Any transaction involves the exchange of goods and services and the electronic medium is used to keep record of such transactions, such as inventory, track location of goods despatched, quantity, price, etc. Online transactions that take place at the point of sale need to critically focus on time sensitive transactions whose delay might cause huge losses for companies (Huang, Wolf, and Sycara, 2001, pp. 2-9). The evolution of internet increased the speed of data transfer and, hence, provided an ideal platform for conducting EDI (Electronic data Interchange) transaction and E-commerce. Challenges for the Collaborative Electronic Markets When any business plans to launch the Electronic market, its main objective is to bring the buyers and sellers together through a network by realising a need for exchange of goods. But such a business model can sustain in the long run only if there is sufficient trust among the business partners on the entire system. Not to mention that security, reliability and privacy is a must for any sort of online transaction. These issues must be addressed very seriously if the company is planning to sustain (Wielki, 2002, p.129). The Electronic market has huge scope form demand planning, analysing and forecasting, to supply chain management, logistics and demand fulfilment. The business partners do not only look for cost efficiency but also expect specialization from Electronic Market companies (Furrenr and Sudharshan, 2001, p.127). The cost consideration has to be taken into account along with the timely delivery. This is because very often it is found that carrying goods for third party reduces direct cost per kilometre of running the trucks for the companies but at the same time it increases time of delivery by spending significant amount time on roads. Many e-Markets have only focused on the cost aspect ignoring th e time which ultimately lead to their downfall. Very often the larger-than-life ambition, lack of clearly defined long term goals, distrust among partners, reluctance of the suppliers to join common platform also lead to failure of e-business models (Gupta, 2007, p.4). In order for the e-commerce companies to sustain in the competitive market, it needs to specialize on a particular field and then expand the business gradually with time. Thus, the mentality of entrepreneurs of trying to achieve ‘too much’ in ‘less time’ may ultimately take their ship down and shorten their long term sustainability. Managing Conflicts in e-Marketplace The emergence of Electronic Marketplace has lead

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Health education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Health education - Essay Example By coordination, it is meant that a number of stakeholders must be identified, encouraged to participate in meaningful ways, and persuaded that they can contribute to student health education, student health at the individual level, and to more expansive notions such as family health and community health. It has been noted, for instance, that â€Å"Children and adolescents are more likely to practice healthy behaviors when those behaviors are broadly supported at school, at home, and in the community† (Health Framework: 11). This broad type of support, therefore, must draw on people from the school itself, from the students’ support network at home, and from relevant health care and other professionals in the community. The best way to gain support is by enlisting networked groups, explaining the objective links between student health and performance, and then implementing a coordinated program with regular assessment periods. This is so important at these levels becaus e, as the data demonstrates, A variety of risk factors influence whether or not a child will be healthy and will maintain a commitment to health. The school, the home, the community, and the peer group are four major areas of a child’s life in which these risk factors may be found. The risk factors include, among others, economic deprivation, neighborhood disintegration, poor family-management practices, peers who use alcohol and other drugs, low expectations for children’s success, and academic failure. Although some risk factors are far beyond a school’s control, others can be addressed directly and effectively through health education supported by collaborative efforts that include parents, the school, and the community (Health Framework: 11-12). The significant point is that, because these risk factors derive from a variety of sources, the response must be comprehensive enough to ameliorate or otherwise create an

Monday, September 23, 2019

Microeconomics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Microeconomics - Assignment Example However with the reduction of trade barriers in the American market during the 1980’s, the luxury automobile market saw increased competition from European and Japanese automobile makers. In terms of a supply and demand analysis, it is likely that there would be increased variety in the market of luxury automobiles and an overall increase in the supply of vehicles. It stands to reason that there must be a reduction the in price of American luxury automobiles to help increase quantity demanded to meet the new market equilibrium or improvements must be made to reduce the costs of manufacturing vehicles so that company profits can remain the same with a lower unit volume sale. The same kind of situation has occurred in Europe, with an over-supply of vehicles. In Europe, the market appears to be flooded with automobiles now. The supply is high. In order to compete in this crowded market, companies will have to reduce their prices. Demand simply does not match the supply, therefore prices must be lowered. Europe has almost 300 car and engine plants, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (known as ACEA). Their collective capacity is thought to be about 27 million vehicles a year. Sales of new cars last year were just under 16 million and are expected to fall to as low as 14.5 million this year, according to Ford. The capacity was established when demand was high, before the recession. Because car manufacturing is so capital intensive it is harder than other industries to be flexible to economic downturns. Manufacturers are therefore more vulnerable. They will make cars based on information from a year earlier and scale up their factories to do so, when it turns out demand is not as high as they thought it was because people are scaling back their spending on things like cars, they will produce an over-supply. They will then

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Sylvia Gregorio Essay Example for Free

Sylvia Gregorio Essay As a trainee I’m happy for the output that I have made. After a long preparation and great efforts just to make sure that this documentation were done very well, and when this portfolio were done all the fatigues that I had were relieved. I would like to thank first of all to god that gave me strength and their guide. Then to Sir Sherwin Sapin for giving us freedom and time to work this output, to my family and friends that gave me all their support, and to all employee of Experiment Station (IRRI). What have I learned from the experience? (Non-IT and IT) I have learned a lot in my training regarding in IT with the big participation of the Experiment Station Unit. My first job at the Experiment Station Unit is Unexpected. I’m really not expecting that the first day of my training was mentally painful. My supervisor asked me if I can make a program for their system. And what program language I am using. Then I said I can create a several program in Visual Basic 6.0. Then she decided to give me a job and at that day I’m not expecting that she assigned me to analyze the flow and flow process of a system. At first I am regretful and I ask myself, what is this? Why I tell to her that I can create a several program even though I really create a simple program but this is not a simple work it is totally mental painful. Well I had no choice at that day I had no idea what I’m going to do with that kind of work. I am thinking and thinking and thinking. What appearance should the system have? How does the system can help the users and how did I going to start to create a system? It’s seemed that my job here is really an IT related. And in the next other days little by little I construct a form. I’m searching for the codes and designing it step by step. Until every passing day I I have always an additional useful  codes, forms, layouts, and objects that completed my database system. It’s sp pleasure to me when I always added a new useful tool for it but eventually like I said it not easy to create a database system. You need a focus on it and fortunately by my diligence and perseverance I presented the system that I’ve made even if it is a simple system. The importance is it is useful, helpful and reliable to the users my supervisor was so proud at me specially me myself. Because I’m taking the name of my school that’s why I have the responsibility to promote it that’s why I’ve done my best to do what my supervisor assigned to me. When I always staring at the system that I’ve done I always remember the unforgettable moments that I’ve done in IRRI. At first it is mentally painful but eventually you also benefit on it. Aside from making a system they were expecting that I have a great advantage in computer technology. That’s why they always give me an activity in power point, excel, ms word, ms access, paint and I’m also installing a software sometimes. Because my profession is computer related I am always assigned at the computer field activities. When it comes from Non-IT job like paper works, office works and many more I’m also doing this activities like file arranging, file updating, inventory, odometer reading, seeds repacking, scanning, printing, laminating, phone call answering and many more. Introduction This Report is a compilation of all documents and experiences of the associate in Information Technology students namely: John Lester Banasihan during his Training at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). This Report tells to the reader what they have done and what they have learned during his On-The-Job-Training. It tells the reader how memorable this training experience. It also tells the reader what he can recommend for the improvement of On-The-Job-Training Program and his advice to those who will take their OJT in the near future. This Report contains four chapters; first chapter is History, Vision, Mission, Goals and Objectives and also The Background of the Company where they took his OJT. Second Chapter, His Weekly Progress Report. Third Chapter is the assessment of OJT and the last  Chapter is all the Pertinent Documents.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Question Of Ethics In Photojournalism Media Essay

Question Of Ethics In Photojournalism Media Essay Ever since the practice of illustrating news stories with photographs was made possible at the turn of the 20th century, newspapers have relied heavily on strong, topical imagery that contributes greatly to the news media by making facts of an event relatable to the viewer. Photojournalists thence are not only expected to produce content thats timely and narrative, theyre also guided by a rigid ethical framework which demands that the work is both honest and impartial in strict journalistic terms. Weve all heard the saying: A picture is worth more than a thousand words, and over time, it has become apparent that no picture is worth more words than a picture that documents death and suffering caused by natural disasters, or death porn, as its often referred to as. Its true that when it comes to making headlines, photographs of human misery and devastation win the prize. Whether its an earthquake in Haiti or floods in Pakistan; a Tsunami in Japan or a hurricane in North America nothing resonates with viewers and readers like a graphic sometimes even downright gory image of the incident printed on the front page of a newspaper the very next day, or in a matter of hours in case of websites, making photojournalists and their work more and more popular and significant as we progress further into the digital age. It is important to note, however, that with such popularity comes great responsibility. While it would be nice to presume that every photojournalist is honest and complies with the ethical framework that dictates absolute objectivity, it sadly isnt the case. Like any other form of journalism, the problem with photojournalism ethics is that answers are not easily found when they are most needed. Ethics is an inherently subjective field, and hence what answers there are, are often derived from emotional outbursts of personal opinion rather than from the calm of reason like they should be. What are the Photographers personal motives? We need to understand that photojournalists are constantly defining reality. By selecting what stays in the 35mm frame and becomes a picture that will eventually be seen by the world, the photographer makes a conscious decision to edit out parts of a scene which may or may not have contextual relevance to the story. Decisions regarding camera, lens, angle of view, lighting, and modern editing tools such as Photoshop can very well change a photographs meaning and are therefore constant considerations. Especially in cases of natural disasters when conveying the news of the calamitys magnitude is important but the honour of victims is also at stake, photojournalists have a moral responsibility to decide what pictures to take and what pictures to eventually show to the public. This is where the issue of personal loyalties comes in. Photojournalists, like the rest of us, are human beings driven by self-esteem, self-actualisation and economic motives. It might be in some ways right to assume that if a photographer while on assignment in Haiti, for example, was more loyal to their own career progression, high on the idea of winning the Pulitzer for taking heart-wrenching pictures of children crushed under rubble of cement and steel while their mothers weep helplessly, instead of being loyal to the profession and documenting the aftermath of the earthquake in an impartial, non-sensational fashion, might be more prone to ethical oversights. The same rule applies for editors that operate in the newsrooms. It is important to understand that a photographer may in fact usually does have a very different ethical alignment than an editor, the organisation or the readers depending on catastrophe that he or she is covering. Taking a picture of a subject in an unfortu nate state is the photographers choice, usually based on a split-second decision, while publishing that photograph on the front page for the world to see is the editors choice which is made after a significant amount of contemplation and discussion. The problem of unpredictable audience reactions and a photographers dilemma: to shoot or not to shoot? You have to have an inner voice to tell you when to shoot and when not to shoot. Try to be the eyes of the reader you know that you are there doing your job because other people cant be there. It is a pretty heavy responsibilityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Our job is act as professionals and to show the world images that they cant see because they arent there. Says veteran photojournalist and Pulitzer finalist John Tlumacki, who has documented many natural as well as man-induced disasters during his decades-long career. News organizations and photojournalists often find themselves besieged by furious critics accusing them of publishing insensitive, graphic photos of disaster-struck zones that are not necessarily newsworthy and only serve to further the victims misery. However, according to Saeed Memon, a photojournalist who works for Pakistans Dawn News, the only way he felt he could really help people during the 2010 floods was by taking pictures that told the world of peoples stories and plight. Photographing the flood victims was one of the hardest jobs Memon was ever assigned. The misery and destruction is not something one can imagine sitting in the comfort of their homes, and photographing people die of disease and hunger following a natural disaster, he says, can be more psychologically rattling than photographing dead bodies in a war zone. Ive photographed dead children and people from decent families who were literally begging for food. The pictures I took not only haunt me but keep remindi ng me of the misery that I witnessed But do I regret taking the pictures? Absolutely not. The world needed to know. The same goes for every photographer who has covered the events in Haiti, New Orleans and South-East Asia after the Indian Ocean Tsunami: they just happened to be at the right place at the wrong time, and most of them seem to concur that the enormity of such disasters just cannot be communicated without graphic photos, which eventually foster support for rebuilding the devastated regions. But the questions that arise about these photographers moral and professional character once their work reaches the public are just a small price to pay. The publics reaction serves as a barometer of a photojournalists ethics. Public generated content Today, with the rise in technology and digital cameras, photographs flow in torrents. We have become documentarians; recorders of anything and everything, all the time, so if and when a disaster strikes, the influx of amateur photos and videos shot by self-proclaimed citizen journalists who know little or nothing about the journalists code of ethics is overwhelming. Although such no-holds-barred or tabloidy content might not be published by credible newspapers run by trained journalists and ombudsmen, it is quickly and easily splashed over the internet for all to see. And this gives professional photojournalists a bad name, according to Tlumacki. What people need to realize is that we are news photographers, not somebody out there with an iPhone, jumping over people to put images on YouTube. The decision making process: questions to ask self After every natural disaster, editors struggle to come up with answers to some critical questions: Will a picture offend the dignity of victims? Will the viewers appreciate it? Will not showing it sanitise the heartbreaking reality that is in fact newsworthy? All these contemplations lead to the ultimate question: where should the news media draw the line? The sheer magnitude of a disaster has much influence on an editors disposition. The Times ran a dramatic front-page photo of a woman overcome with grief amid rows of dead children after the Indian Ocean tsunami, and again, when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, it ran another front-page picture of a body floating near a bridge where a woman was feeding her dog. The newspapers first public editor, Daniel Okrent, despite being bombarded with criticism, concluded the paper was right to publish these pictures because they told the story of the disaster. It is true that the more images of unimaginable suffering are published, the more international aid pours in because the victims are representatives of tens of thousands of people whose plight is essentially exemplified by the photojournalist, and it thus publicising their suffering can prove to be valuable in potentially saving many others. At the same time however, it must be remembered that if the images dont help propel the story, and are not respectful to the victims by infringing their privacy and photographing the deceased in stages of undress, or simply taken out of context by irresponsible and/or sensationalist close-ups, then the whole purpose of their job is rendered moot. Media biases There are multiple standards for choosing the photographs that go into print. One of the most significant standards proximity to readership prevents most newspapers from publishing graphic photos with local stories, no matter how significant the catastrophe. Many editors argue that if audiences are only exposed to explicit photos when the subjects can be classified as geographically, racially or socioeconomically different from the locals, then the photos themselves become a marker of difference. Western media has time and again been accused of treating deaths of these other more graphically and insensitively than the deaths of white people in the U.S. and Europe, and this was illustrated well in The hierarchy of global suffering: A critical discourse analysis of television news reporting on foreign natural disasters, published in the Journal of International Communication, a comparative analysis of glaringly biased news coverage by Western media during disasters in Australia, Indo nesia, Pakistan and USA. Concluding philosophies As a medium of storytelling that has progressively come to take precedence over the written word, photojournalism today has become more popular than ever, with thousands of brilliant, newsworthy but often also unnecessarily explicit images being published in newspapers, magazines and websites across the world every day. In his seminal textbook, Photojournalism, the Professionals Approach, author and photojournalism professor Kenneth Kobrà © writes, Photojournalism has no Bible, no rabbinical college, no Pope to define correct choices. Many studies conducted on the ethics of photojournalism over the years try to reach a conclusion by either interpreting general moral rules or specific guidelines of professional, ethical behavior in a journalistic context, but the truth is, no specific course of action can ever be completely right for all audiences for every imaginable situation. What can be conceded to however, is that truth laced with objectivity, beyond all other principles, is t he guiding warranty for ethical journalism in all situations and disaster coverage is certainly not an exception.