Monday, September 30, 2019

Models for Interest Rate Risk Essay

Interest risk is the possibility of unexpected adverse changes in interest revenues and expenses. It can be shown that interest rate changes are unpredictable almost 100%. They depend on monetary policy; supply and demand, inflation etc. These in turn depend on many other factors. So how do financial institutions manage the risk of fluctuating interest rates give that they cannot predict it? The immunization of a portfolio against interest rate risk means that the portfolio will neither gain nor lose value if interest rates change. In this essay we will look at some of the different models used by financial institutions for managing interest rate risk. They are the re-pricing model, the maturity model and the duration model. We will describe them and evaluate the comparative advantages and disadvantages each model assumes. Firstly we consider the re-pricing model. It is a balance sheet where assets and liabilities are grouped according to the time periods in which the different assets and liabilities are rate sensitive. Assets or liabilities are rate sensitive within a given time period if the values of each are subject to receiving a different interest rate should market rates change. These groupings are referred to as ‘maturity buckets’. Then ‘Gap analysis’ is conducted where the rate sensitive liabilities are subtracted from rate sensitive assets for each maturity bucket. This is called the GAP. It can be shown that GAP * interest change = net interest income (or profit) change or the interest margin. We can also calculate the cumulative gap(CGAP) by adding up the gaps in the brackets over a period of time, for example 1 year.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Newtons Laws Relating to Car Safety Devices Essay

Ever since cars were invented in the early 20th century, there have been road fatalities. Advances in car safety technology have seen a diminishing exponential curve in casualties suffered on the road. The first invention was the seatbelt, by George Cayley in the late 1900s. The next major advance was with the airbag, by John Hetrick in 1952. A patent for the design was marketed for automobiles in 1967. The combination of all safety devices located in cars contribute to the wellbeing of the driverThe idea of a seat belt is simple, but it harnesses technology that shows a lot of ingenuity. A seatbelt is designed to keep one fastened in their seat in the event of an abrupt stop. It is essentially a piece of tough fabric that goes around the user. It combats the effect of the separate inertia on ourselves, by making us a part of the car. Inertia refers to an objects tendency to maintain its state of rest or uniform motion unless acted upon by a force. Sir Isaac Newtons First Law of Moti on revolves around Inertia. When the car is in motion, inertia wants it to keep going at that speed, but there are several forces acting on it, such as friction and air resistance. The engines power compensates for this energy loss. Anything that is in the car but not attached to it has its own inertia, and this is evident when the car is accelerating, decelerating and in the event of an abrupt stop. When in uniform motion, one cannot feel the effects of the cars inertia as separate to oneself, but the separate inertia is shown when the car is stopped suddenly. In a high speed collision, each car comes to a stop rapidly. Occupants not wearing their seatbelt will continue at the original speed of the car (as per the Law of Inertia) until acted upon by a force. An unrestrained occupant will then move at a high speed until:Colliding with the car interior or other occupants, stopping faster than the car itself, most of the time over a distance of several centimetres. Crashing through the windscreen. This concentrates an amazing amount of momentum [(momentum=mass x velocity)(M=70kgx90km/h)(M=6300)] on one of the most vulnerable parts of the human body. Impulse is defined as the product of the force and the time interval over which it acts. It is equal to the change of momentum. With a seatbelt on, one will change their momentum slower and therefore spread out the force acting on them. This significantly increases the chance of survival. An occupant with a seatbelt will have the same inertia of the car, & therefore stop with it. The rate of change of the momentum of a restrained occupant is much less than that of an unrestrained person. This means that the net force on the restrained occupant will be less. As well as increasing the time interval over which the wearer comes to a stop, a properly fitted seatbelt spreads the impact force over a larger surface area of the body, in particular the pelvis & ribcage. Seatbelts are an extremely effective means of saving lives. Car accident researchers in Australia estimate that seatbelts reduce the risk of fatal injury to front-seat occupants by 45 per cent and the risk of serious injury by 50 per cent. Airbags are designed to increase the time interval during which the drivers momentum decreases during a head on collision, therefore reducing the net force on the driver, particularly from the steering wheel & dash board. It also acts to cushion our precious head during impact. An airbag consists of 3 parts which all assist in slowing the passengers forward motion:The bag made of a thin nylon fabric, which is compressed in order to fit into the steering wheel etc. The sensor The device that tells the airbag to inflate, in the event of a collision. The sensors receive information from an accelerometer built into a microchip. The inflation system Reacts with sodium azide with potassium nitrate to produce nitrogen gas. Hot blasts of nitrogen gas inflate the airbag. When an airbag is deployed:15 20 milliseconds after impact: The crash  sensors & control unit determine the severity of the collision. This decides if the airbag will be deployed or not. 25 milliseconds: The pad covering the airbag splits in strategic weak places & begins to inflate. 45 milliseconds: The airbag is fully inflated while the occupant is still moving forward. 60 milliseconds: The occupant makes contact with the airbag, which immediately begins to deflate. Up to 100 milliseconds: The occupant continues to sink into the airbag, cushioning the head & chest while deflating. Momentum is the product of mass multiplied by velocity. Unless an outside force acts on an object, it will continue to move at its present speed & direction. If loose objects in the car are not restrained, they will continue moving at the same speed as the car, even if the car is stopped in a collision. Therefore by reducing our velocity using the airbag, one will have less momentum, & therefore a greater chance of survival or serious injury. Air bags do not just cushion your body in the event of an impact, but they also spread the impact over a larger area. By doing this, the force is not all concentrated in one small area of your body. This in turn will cause the seriousness your injuries to be reduced because the force you feel is spread out. A study stated that the number of lives saved by airbags is 600 per year. It also indicate that airbags reduce fatalities by 8% when worn in conjunction with a seatbelt. Airbags also reduce the risk of dying in a frontal crash by 30 %. Wearing both a seatbelt and having an airbag fitted car deeply increases the  survival rate in the event of a crash. Crumple zones are deliberate weak spots the car engineers place in the structure of a car. Consider a head-on collision into a concrete wall. Before the crash, the car & its passengers move together at the same velocity. With a car posing a rigid body, an impact will cause both automobile & occupants to halt very quickly. This immediate stop creates a large amount of force on the passengers. [(F=ma)(F=75kg x -30km/h-2 )(F=2250N)]. By increasing the impact time, the force on the occupants is dramatically reduced, because of this cushioning effect. Newton’s first law (a body will continue its state of motion unless acted upon by a non-zero net force) is another law that explains how crumple zones work in the face of an accident. As your car moves west at 60 km/h, not only is it your car that is going that fast but it is your own body that is travelling that fast also. If your car hits a solid wall and comes to a stop immediately, your body will want to continue going west at 60 km/h because of inertia. As the car strikes the wall, the front part crushes together. As the front of the car is absorbing the impact, energy from the impact is given off in the form of heat and sound. Because the front of the car acts as a cushion, it slows the time it takes for the car to come to a complete stop; this will apply less of a force on you. The graph above illustrates how force changes as time changes with the use of crumple zones. The better the crumple zone, the more effective it is in increasing the time of a collision.†Collapsible steering wheels also aid in ones survival chance in the event of a collision. It reduces the risk of impaling the driver by folding away when force is acted on it. When the body is thrown forward by the effect of inertia, the steering wheel becomes less of a deadly obstacle. Luggage restraining barriers help, in the event of a crash, by stopping the  luggage that will move forward because of its own inertia. http://www.explainthatstuff.com/airbags.htmlAccessed 1/7/09http://www.k12.nf.ca/gc/Science/Physics3204/Projects2003/SlotA/ProjectA2/index1.htmAccessed 2/7/09http://www.reachoutmichigan.org/funexperiments/agesubject/lessons/newton/airbags.htmlAccessed 2/7/09http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/phys/mmedia/newtlaws/cci.htmlAccessed 4/7/09http://www.scienceperspectives.com/Sir-Isaac-and-Seat-Belts.htmAccessed 4/5/09http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/HFrame.htmlAccessed 4/5/09http://www.howstuffworks.com/airbag.htmAccessed 4/5/09http://midsouthrescue.org/id7.htmlAccessed 4/5/09http://www.gm.com/experience/education/9-12/technology/physics.jspAccessed 4/5/09http://www.k12.nf.ca/gc/Science/Physics3204/Projects2003/SlotA/ProjectA2/link20.htm4/5/09http://www.k12.nf.ca/gc/Science/Physics3204/Projects2003/SlotA/ProjectA2/link20.htmAccessed 4/5/09http://www.autoevolution.com/news/how-crumple-zones-work-7112.htmlAccessed 4/5/09http://auto.howstuffworks.com/crumple-zone.htmAccessed 4/5/0 9

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Firstly develop a comprehensive and detailed model of ways in which Essay

Firstly develop a comprehensive and detailed model of ways in which individuals differ,and support the categories of differences you have chosen with some kind - Essay Example Difference can be of income, wealth, power, life expectancy, intellectual caliber, sex, colour, and race in different attributes. There can be inequalities with in a group. It is very important that we measure these inequalities of population by enlisting and analyzing their attributes. (http://www-personal.umd.umich.edu/~delittle/Encyclopedia%20entries/inequality%20measurement.pdf) â€Å"No two persons are born exactly alike; but each differs from the other in natural endowments, one being suited for one occupation and the other for another.† People can be different in their thinking, feeling and behaviour. No two persons can be same but at the same time they can’t be totally unlike. So, it is very important to find ways of judging how people psychologically resemble and the variance of psychological features among them. On the basis of different intelligence and personality traits, people can be classified to a limited extent as they have complex characters resulting in contrasting and opposite theories and proof thereof. Historically, human beings differ on gender, intelligence and personality traits. Men had been hunters while women – gatherers. Some castes and classes possess sharp intellect than others. Education also helps in inculcating intellectual virtues, as intelligence is the most important individual difference based on cognitive capacity to think, reason, learn and adapt; specific jobs create different personality traits. Personality has been defined as â€Å"the supreme realization of the innate idiosyncrasy of a living being. It is an act of high courage flung in the face of life, the absolute affirmation of all that constitutes the individual, the most successful adaptation to the universal condition of existence coupled with the greatest possible freedom for self-determinat ion.†- Carl Gustav Jung, 1934 Surowiecki has added another dimension to

Friday, September 27, 2019

Porter Novelli Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Porter Novelli - Research Paper Example On the other hand, strategic leaders develop strategic visions and mission to guide performance management. Heckman (2011) argues that the leaders create ideas aligned with the imagination and energies of the employees. Ideally, the strategic leader understands the ultimate task of aligning human resources to the human vision. However, they usually attach the vision to the organizational values to enhance greater performance. Properly designed ideas move the enterprise, value the past and looks at improved future returns. Furthermore, the strategic leaders articulate a separate mission of the company to guide the behavior of the stakeholders of the organization. The mission is a valuable tool for an organization that is used to describe why the organization exists. According to Bourne, Melnyk, and Faull (2007), strategic leaders formulate good mission statements with a unique contribution to the attitudes of the employees and customers. Besides, strategic leaders set goals and objectives that drive performance. The strategic kicks usually begin with the leader setting strategic goals and achievable objectives. According to Venkateswara (2004), this is what drives good performance within the organization as well as enhancing commitments in executing the tasks. Mostly, strategic leaders set measurable goals then build attainment incentives to ensure the employees work hard towards achieving them. The incentives tend to motivate and realize the goal-attaining behavior to the employees. Subsequently, strategic leaders craft effective strategies that enhance performance management within the organization. According to Demartini (2013), crafting of strategies aligns the activities with the available resources of the organization. In fact, the essence of the strategy helps the leaders in choosing what to do and what not to do. Specifically, this directs the efforts on what should be done, and this enables the organization to operate at its

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Local Practices Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Local Practices - Essay Example In addition, since time and opportunity permitted, one was able to share a traditional meal with them which would also be duly reported. As required, the following aspects were also monitored: language, family organization, reasons for being in their present locality, and traditional health remedies. Interview with African American Family Within the local neighborhood, one had the opportunity to interview a traditional African American family, particularly the grandmother who was more than willing to answer some questions about local health practices. From what has been relayed, the grandmother asserted that most of her grandchildren have exhibited tendencies of being prone to catching influenza and upper respiratory infection. Likewise, she also relayed the other common illnesses manifested among other family members (including the parents of the children) are cardiovascular or heart problem, hypertension, and diabetes. When asked what health problems she, herself, suffers, she answ ered that she is currently suffering from diabetes and hypertension. Likewise, her son, who is the head of the family, also exhibits some tendencies to be overweight or obese. One was also invited for a meal (lunch) as the grandmother with little grandchildren had a fair share of fried foods: chicken, salted pork chops and heaping serving of mashed potato. The grandmother had a side salad of green lettuce, cabbage and tomatoes with mustard; of which, the grandchildren hardly touched. During the meal, the grandmother was a generous hostess who offered everything on the table and replete with stories of yesteryears. She uses the traditional African American language of the prominent Black slang. It is funny to listen how she was able to imbibe contemporary culture’s language by listening to young African Americans within her neighborhood. She said that the whole family had been in the local neighborhood since she was a little girl. She narrated how she met her husband from the same community and thus, opted to stay put, raise her five children and now, her grandchildren in the same residential area. When asked how they address illnesses in the family, she responded by saying that for her grandchildren’s fever, coughs or flu, she gives the traditional over-the-counter drugs that she had known to use for years. When fever persists, she brings her grandchildren to the local community hospital for check-up. They said none of the family members have any health insurance coverage and thus, makes it difficult for them to rely on frequent visits to the doctor. For her hypertension and diabetes, she said that she does not take any regular medication and relies solely on some occasional boiling of herbs, which had been referred to her by friends, relatives, or neighbors. Likewise, she confessed that due to her old age, she also suffers some vision problems, maybe also due and confounded by her diabetes. However, she also disclosed that she has not consulted any physician to address her vision problems. Comparative Analysis When comparing what has been relayed by the African American grandmother who was interviewed, one is convinced that

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Hydraulic fracturing in the USA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hydraulic fracturing in the USA - Essay Example Fracking open up fractures in the rocks allowing oil and gas to flow. Drilling alone cannot be used to extract trapped shale gas in thin layers between the rocks. Therefore, gas and oil producers in the United States have deployed hydraulic fracturing to facilitate the mining into large shale natural gas and oil deposits. The use of the hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas and oil has ensured a long-term energy security outlook in the United States. This is due to the ability to exploit the shale. In this regard, the crude oil reserves have been bolstered by 11% and led to 47% surge in gas reserves across the United States. Fracking has reduced dependence on foreign energy sources, and as results the cost of energy has reduced helping to revive the economy. Therefore, there is a direct reduction of importation of natural gas. With hydraulic fracturing, there has been an expansion in the employment sector especially in the United States. The industry engaging on natural gas and oil production has employed more than 1.2 million people in the United States. Extracting underground minerals using hydraulic fracturing has some negative effect on water. The mining process requires millions of gallons of water. Therefore, water gets trucked around the shale and directed into the well; thus there is a diversion of water from other uses by the neighboring communities (Schultz, 2012). Moreover, some hazardous chemicals mixed with water may find the way into the fresh water aquifers especially if there exist poorly constructed wells. This endangers the health of organisms using such water. Hydraulic fracturing process together with the injection of wastewater into deep wells practice, cause minor earthquakes to shale exploitation areas. The survey of geologists of the United States has revealed that some tremors from hydraulic

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

What Drives Toyota Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

What Drives Toyota - Essay Example The OM301 concept entails that an organization assesses its management to ensure that it best serves to achieve the goals of the organization. One aspect that makes Toyota so successful is their quality management. Toyota has developed a tradition of not just manufacturing cars, but manufacturing better cars. This is one of the aspects that drive Toyota Company. The production process at Toyota can be described as threefold. The first fold is making cars, then making cars better and then teaching everyone how to make cars better. With a ratio of eight robots per car in the painting stage, the quality of the color outlook of the car is guaranteed to be standard (Iyer et al, 2009). The cars further spend a relatively standard time in the color painting stage to keep the quality in check. Toyota Company has always strived to manage their production processes in a way that not only guarantees quality but also saves time. In the color painting stage, for example, Toyota Company managed to reduce the amount of time taken to paint a car from ten hours to eight hours. In 2004, the company used to take time to interchange the hose pipes supplying paint to the robots. The company can be seen to have employed the idea from the OM301 concept of improving processes in an organization. After one car had been painted and another one needed to be painted with a different color, the hose pipes had to be removed from that gallon, thoroughly washed and then fixed to the desired gallon. The process could waste up to 30% of the total paint that was bought by the company. Toyota Company came up with a system where the task of interchanging the hose pipes was left to the robots (Iyer et al, 2009). There was no cleaning that was required as the cylinders containing the paint now had each their own hose pipe. The process now took only a few seconds. The company was able to save 30% of the paint that previously went to waste. Management efficiency had

Monday, September 23, 2019

Hong Kong film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Hong Kong film - Essay Example This research will provide you a ability to examine the workings and products of the creative and hugely accepted current Hong Kong film industry, contribution you the chance to investigate your interests about the connections among popular culture, national personality, and the commercial realities of filmmaking. All along the way we'll dissimilarity some Mainland Chinese film work with Hong Kong films to appreciate the complexities of the Mainland's sight of itself and of Hong Kong film industry. I have also focus to pursuing explore on the growing interface among the Hollywood and Hong Kong film industries, identifying and analyzing latest trends in mutually (moreover, the growing use of CGI in Hong Kong; the claim of Hong Kong construction methods to film series like the Matrix and Lord of the Rings trilogies), and will like tentative Hong Kong's advance to reinventing traditional accepted film genres. In this research I have argue a well-known question: what do we make of film as industrial product and film as cultural body For the purposes of this research on hong kong film culture I use 'film culture' in a limited sense to submit to film expenditure, or the globe of movement of the cinema between different audience groups. At the very beginning I hope to spot out that I create a number of statements, at times challenging ones, devoid of given that suitable clarifications or proof. This is suitable method to deal with hard problems. Though, It may be pardon for opting for the simple way out in the glow of the constraints of space. 'Kung Fu: Negotiating Nationalism and Modernity' According to the article writer movies, as a shape of art, too, exemplify the vision of its audiences. A few celebrate its charming originality; others derogate its delusive diversion. Whether optimistic or pessimistic, it is no doubt that cinematic vision possesses its exclusive meaning and its secure association by realism, mutually psychical and physical. In the late twentieth century, or to put it further exact, in the 70's, kung fu genre, pioneered by the unending star Bruce Lee, arose, moving a marvelous tempest in the movie industry. The vision of Bruce Lee's kung fu movies is clear, and has been discussed in numerous researches. For instance, David Desser, by analyzing "the heart of kung fu's fandom" in the United States, that is, "black youth in the inner city and the rural South", says that kung fu movies "was the genre of the underdog, the underdog of color fighting against colonialist enemies" . Or as experts has seen in Lee's kung fu globe, there exists the option of pol y-culturalism which "accepts the differences in cultural carry out" (Lee, Joanna Ching Yun,2002 , PP129-147). The desire, apparently an anti-colonial one, envisioned by Bruce Lee's kung fu movies is also one factor that contributes to its success. Though, as Joel Stein, the columnist of Time, scornfully comments on Bruce Lee's three free movies in America: one of which was unwatchably awful, the further two of which were watchably awful", the plot of kung fu movies is just droning, boring and unsurprising. In fact, what the audience actually loves concerning Lee's films is other than his thrashing up the Japanese or

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Should the government bailout failing businesses - Argument aginst Research Paper

Should the government bailout failing businesses - Argument aginst - Research Paper Example But more intense debate of the present finance world is whether the decision of saving (bailing-out) these about-to-be bankrupt companies justified! The companies when fell into the trouble were within the periphery of private hands and now, when in trouble, saving them with the common man’s hard-earned money drew reservations from all concerned quarters. The money that was paid to the government to develop utility for the society is being used to discount the wrong doings of these financial giants over the years. Prior to getting deeper into the pros and cons of the bail-out process and its affects on the falling companies and the society at large, the underlying reasons of the financial crisis might be assessed in brief. The few of the major reasons of the financial crisis are ascertained below: Housing Prices – The housing prices in the United States rose to great heights till 2006 and then suddenly collapsed from then onwards. The collapse was more than 25% and continued for more than three years. As C.I. Jones observed, â€Å"The national index for housing prices in the United States declined by 26.6% between the middle of 2006 and the end of 2008† (Jones, 2009). Increase in Global Saving – Even a decade earlier, it was found that the developing economies of the world saved less and invested more. This rendered them to borrow funds from the world market. But as there occurred number of recessions over the period of last fifteen years, the developing economies commenced to save more. This hampered the western economies (especially United States) as it could not channelise their excess funds and earn interests. Ultimately, the excess funds contributed towards the asset market. Subprime Lending – The hype of owning houses that existed in the United States before 2006 made almost all nationals purchase a house which often

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Concept-mapping software Essay Example for Free

Concept-mapping software Essay Indeed, should it be of necessity or required for students to evaluate, collate and compute data in all work prescription in class, important machinery to achieve this must be recommended as part of the needed gadget. (Zardoya, 2001). Business researchers are similarly concerned with the question of whether or not the introduction of information technology leads to increased output, excellent evaluation in reasoning and advantageous edge of counterparts (Al-Gahtani, 2003). ICT this is an acronyms for Information and Communication and technology, constituting system hardware and software that enhance data resource for use in many applications. Internet inclusive with provision of world wide web. (Clark et al. , 2005). That is, we need to shift focus from robotic use of technology. The quest should rather be innovative ways of information technology to massively enhance the gains and ease of studies at all levels(p. 4). Overall, CACSR makes provision for students through interaction with the surroundings. This possibly ensure a sustained focus at the same time educating students on skills as they read expository text passages (Kim et al. ,). Studies have shown that â€Å"educational technology that includes dictionary components has been used successfully to promote literacy skill development among elementary school students† (Fry Gosky, 2007). In analyzing the study, a researcher suggested that writer’s with back up soft copy in CD-ROM provides more strategy towards enhancing the problem of elaboration from close by tutor. The soft copy leaves the students independent of the teacher to a greater extent than none (Fry Gosky). QuickSmart is a computer-assisted program designed to improve the self-improving ability of students who are face with challenges of grabbing problem most expecially in their mid-year at school (Graham Bellert, et al. , 2007,). Based on an information –analyzing point of intuitive processings, QuickSmart was intended to be a elaborated dealings with attention on the primary learning skills needed to do well in assimilating classroom instruction. (Graham Bellert, et al). It is a Concept-mapping software, or webbing, in that students are permitted to build up strategic maps with the aid of specific programs (Marchinko, 2004,). Concept-mapping software has been used in middle school science classes for example, to help students juxtapose the similarities and differences in plant and animal cells, and in writing class to help students brainstorm. Teachers also use concept-mapping software to give a clue or insight in the direction of the lesson (Marchinko,). The KidTools computer programs as also an electronic performer. It is an aiding technique that focus on behavior and academic performance support software for students with studying default (Miller Fitzgerald, 2007, p. 13). A cognitive-behavioral modification program, KidTools is one of several programs with increased usage recorded within the last two decades owing to their efficacy reports over time (Miller Fitzgerald. RockSim is a rocket design program for middle school science class, which â€Å"takes students along the path of technology that enhance the design of their own rockets and simulation performance (Wilson, 2005,). Finally, BodyFun on its own is a computer game that perfectly educate on nutrition and other health awareness (Geiger, et al. , 2002,). In a test of BodyFun among the middle class of school age, the resource and the technical requirements of the schemes is high, in addition to its acceptability among the study environment, it gives a good result (Geiger Petri, et al. ,). Education is feeling pressure to respond to a mandate to improve the engagement-level of classrooms, due to surveys which repeatedly find middle school students especially characterize traditional classes as cold (Taylor Duran, 2006, p. 11). Overall, most classrooms continue to implement instructional practices. The practice has the main essence of textbooks studying and facts cramming with subsequent commitment to memory (Taylor Duran,). As a result, many researchers have called for a move from the usual teaching to a constructive approach in methods (Taylor Duran, p. 11). In most classes, this entails increasing the students’ abilities of inquiry, and this can be enhanced through implementation with the most suiting instruments (Taylor Duran, p . 11). One teacher reports that her middle school students have become mastery of executing video projects and slide shows, this demonstrate they have learnt (Crawford, 2005, p. 2). InFocus projectors produced a difference that was similar to that of darkness and light with improved class presentation and involvement (Crawford, p. 1). Studies have shown that students who use computers to write reports recorded a higher performance compared to those who do not attempt the use of computer (Taylor Duran, 2006, p. 10). One study found that teachers who made regular use of PowerPoint presentations felt more confident in their ability to teach and assist students’ competence in using multimedia projection and even other similar method of sophisticated learning (Taylor Duran, p. 13). Video streaming is another technology being used in some classrooms (Whitaker, 2003), while some K-12 classrooms are even experimenting with robotics activities to enhance student the convergence of literacy instruction (for example) with Internet technologies is fundamentally reshaping the nature of literacy instruction as teachers seek to prepare children for the futures they deserve engagement in lessons (Williams Ma, et al. , 2007, p. 201), although most reports on the usefulness of robotics is anecdotal in nature and evidence is still required to demonstrate the effectiveness of using robotics in achieving study aims (Williams et al. , p. 201). Now, many believe that â€Å"† (Witte, 2007, p. 93). A threaded discussion group is a series of rotations on a subject (Grisham Wolsey, p. 651). The study found that through threaded discussion, student engagement was increased. This was because an environment found more friendly were self created and fits appropriately with other peers. Therefore each of them have equal dominion of the conversation (Grisham Wolsey, p. 649). Though acknowledging that one of the serious drawbacks to the Web is that students often become lost trying to navigate through â€Å"data smog† (Trotter, 2004, p. 1). The MyAccess program is an internet oriented writing scheme that expressly rewards write-up and supplies correct instruction for students at a middle school in Georgia (Ullman, 2006, p. 76). The program was found to not only relieve teachers much of their paper correcting burden, but also to have permitted immediate report even in more detail that scores it a preferred quality of writing (Ullman, p. 76). Another project reported in the literature was the creation of a website which supported students and average school teachers drawing out a convergence between science and literature within the limited surroundings (Howes Hamilton, 2003, p. 454). WebQuest is another â€Å"powerful instrument† for teachers to use in improving the engagement level of students in their class (Lipscomb, 2003, p. 154). Though relatively new, stakeholders in education are praising its value and facilitate more use (Lipscomb, 2003, p. 153). The important pedagogical purpose of a WebQuest is that it provides tangible experience for students, both with the technology and in the subject matter being explored (Lipscomb, p. 154). More recently, other schools are experimenting with the use of blogs, or web logs, to enhance learning. Witte (2007) pushed for establishment of blog discussion method on the present inter-school network in order to further engage students in learning (p. 95). Witte (2007) decided that blogs were an important go-between among class and students when he found out that, while some students indicated some interest in the period of writing and homework, they were reported, by their parents, to be â€Å"on the computer writing essays and poems for hours each night† (Witte, p. 92). A theory was devised as to why diffusion was so slow, with explanations centering on methods used by farmers in generating information on discoveries, and how they direct this in helping their appropriate usage (Rogers, p. 14). Diffusion theory can help educators understand why technology is and is not adopted in classrooms (Surry, 1997). Other researchers have adopted the diffusion model to counteract the increasing consciousness about how discovered instructive materials have been rendered fallow (Minishi-Majanja Kiplang’at, p. 4). Indeed, Al-Gahtani’s (2003) literature review revealed 75 articles in which perceived attributes were measured, with the overall result being that agreement and comparative merit attained highest ratings when they were instituted. Complexity was on the other hand negative on its procedural acceptance (p. 59). While determinists can be either utopian or dystopian (Marx, McCluhan and Toffler versus Ellul, Orwell or Luddites), all determinists see technology as an independent force out of human control. The equally view technology as the sole engine of social change (Surry, 1997, p. 6). In education, developer-based theory results in top-down technology-based reform initiatives such as Goals 2000, which target the diversity of educational change through proposition of a new system with improved hybrid (Surry, p. 7). Overall, â€Å"the instructional development process† is of the assumption that technological improved hybrid will suffice the only condition necessary to attract participation of innovative practices. (Surry, p. 7). Adopter-based theoreticians such as Ernest Burkman are prone to point out situations where a technologically superior innovation was rejected by users because of the strength of â€Å"human, interpersonal and social factors†. These factors play an importance role in adopting proposed technological superiority† (Surry, p. 11). Another by-product of adopter-based theory is the study of revenge effects, which occur when new establishments, movements and organisms react with real in a factual but unforeseen situation (Surry, p. 11). Indeed, prediction and accounting for likely results to be caused by an innovation is an integral component of many â€Å"adopter-based diffusion theories† (Surry, p. 11). Large scale market forces such as sector growth, volatility and concentration of markets have also been of use in acceptance of technology (Park et al. , p. 1480). Subjective norm is another strong construction developed along this line of research. Subjective norm is defined as an individual’s believe that perhaps exist in contrast to other people. Subjective norm has been shown to strongly influence adoption of technology, especially if use is mandatory and not voluntary (Park O’Brien, et al. , p. 1480). All of this feeds into instruction through the lens of constructivism, or the belief that learning happens in a deliberate effort to construct a â€Å"public entity†, be it the simplest of task where resources are in abundance or a more complex assignment (Williams Ma, et al. , 2007). In this context, technology is used in education to create a system whereby that enhance â€Å"study by making† and â€Å"study by design† (Williams Ma, et al. ,). Various programs along these lines include efforts to have children design computer games, and promote studying with â€Å"programmable bricks† (Williams et al). Thus, from the constructivist point of view, the availability of computer systems in learning rooms does not attach huge significance as presently being in used (Sheumaker Slate,). Integration of computers is deemed successful only when students learn with the computer system and not the reverse (Sheumaker Slate, et al. , p. 3) Finally, reinforcing this model is the ecological model of technology integration in education. According to this model, technologies are only acting in a social settings, incorporated within the events of learning processes (Kupperman Fishman, 2002,). Through the use of new tools we develop new literacies, and from use or non-use are discovered as being â€Å"full, subsidiary or un-involving class members (Kupperman Fishman,). Mention of the word â€Å"actor† enlists actor-network theory into these models as well. According to this model, the social globe is materially diverse and consists of a interconnected chains of animate and inanimate participants who only interact and negotiate for rules imposition through series of deliberations and alliances (Samarawickrema Stacey, 2007). In order to have their way, these various actors may use bargaining, lobbying, subtle computation and at the extreme, violence (Samarawickrema Stacey,).

Friday, September 20, 2019

The Introduction To Cyber Bullying Media Essay

The Introduction To Cyber Bullying Media Essay Young people today are using the internet more than ever. They view the internet and even more so the mobile phones as positive aspects of our society. The internet and mobile phones systems are the two biggest systems of communication which play a crucial role in our daily activities and development of identities. On the other hand, these same technologies are also often used negatively. Many children are the targets of bullying via the internet or mobile phones resulting in total confusion on the part of the target. Very often, children are not able to understand that what they are going through is a form of bullying. As a result the previously safe environment of the internet is now becoming a source of confusion and anxiety. As a teenager myself, I am not immune to factors that influence everybody else in our society. I am very concerned about what is happening so I therefore wanted to look into the reasons behind cyber-bullying and who should be blamed for it. Is there any way for cyber-bullying to be stopped? The internet holds many dangers such as viruses and programming faults that could be dangerous for people but also two of the most menacing problems for young people today; child pornography and cyber-bullying. I decided to focus on the issue that tends to influence a large portion of teenagers and not solely, cyber-bullying. It seems that, now, in 2010 cyber-bullying is increasing dramatically as more and more children are becoming victims of this type of bullying, though not only children. I will research this problem in detail as it is saddening me that a system that makes information flow and communication easy, is turning into a dangerous place to be. I cant understand why such a useful system is used in so negative a way where one can cause psychological harm to others. Although cyberbullying does not pertain to the USA alone, I chose to focus on the USA is because it seems to have more documented incidents which apparently make it one of the countries with a higher percentage of cyber-bullies and victims of cyber-bullying. In fact, there has been a number of shocking incidents that caught my attention, some of which I will report in the main body. There are many countries that do deal with cyber-bullying but not to the point that the USA does. I strongly believe that if cyber-bullying reaches an end one day it will certainly start from the U.S.A. I deem that the USA covers all aspects that I am looking into so this is the reason why I chose it. In recent years many US states have started to impose laws specifically regarding cyber-bullying. Some other states support that laws imposed for traditional bullying also cover cyber-bullying. The internet provides anonymity and the chance to create a profile with a hidden identity; so how possible is it for cyber-bullying to be stopped? The truth is that this question cannot be answered easily as it is not something so simple. Being already concerned about it and seeing that more and more cyber-bullies are getting away with it, I will attempt to investigate how possible can this be. The research question which I will develop is the following: Can cyber-bullying and bullying through the internet and mobile phone systems stop? In this essay, I will look into cyber-bullying by defining what it is, report incidents and show statistics of how bad the situation in the U.S.A. is. I will also examine if blame can be attributed. Through my research I hope to reach a conclusion on whether there is a chance for cyber-bullying to be stopped. What is Cyber-Bullying Cyber-bullying has more than one definition, cyber-bullying can be defined as when the Internet, cell phones or other devices are used to send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person  [1]  or as a situation when a child or teen is repeatedly tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child or teenager using text messaging, e-mail, instant messaging or any other type of digital technology.  [2]  The last definition I gave refers only to teens or children because bullying through the internet or cell-phones from adults to adults can be referred to as cyber-stalking which due to word limitation I will not go into. A cyber-bullying situation can be as simple as sending e-mails to someone that wants no further contact with you but it can also be very serious when it includes threats or sexual bullying or when a forum is created and that person is ridiculed. Cyber-bullies may post personal data of their victims at websites or forums or even pretend to be someone else in order to publish different material to the victims name that diminishes or humiliates him. The biggest percentage of the bullies use pretty much the same tactic as they send threatening messages to their victim or call them mean names. Who is a Cyber-Bully A cyber-bully is generally more of a product of his environment in which he too is abused in many ways, verbally or physically or he might even be cyber-bullied. Perhaps however, they are simple bored or completely rotten to make everyone elses life messy. Many times cyber-bullies work in groups because in that way they feel stronger but they inwardly, sometimes, do not enjoy their actions. Their main problem is that they cannot move away from their team because they feel unsafe and they have the fear that they will get cyber-bullied themselves. As it is identified by researchers, tormentors are sometimes likely to be more depressed than their victims. What should be worrying us is that cyber-bullies get a false feeling of satisfaction when they send threatening and flame e-mails to their victims because that means that they amuse themselves. The number one objective of cyber-bullies but also traditional bullies is to have power. They want to have the control of each situation. They want to be dominators and subjugate everyone. Effects of Cyber-Bullying In my mind, cyber-bullying shows the ugly face of the internet. Victims of cyber-bullying can become depressed and in extreme cases even commit suicide. We can therefore understand that the internet is dangerous and unknown to most people, capable of hurting them if they are not aware of the internet as a whole. Cyber-bullying has several negative effects on individuals or groups of people. Usually, it starts with a confused feeling on the part of the victim, feeling hurt because a person or a group of people has targeted them and insulted them for no other reason than simply to be mean. Most would ask why they are the target but perhaps even cyber-bullies do not know why. They gradually get feelings of fear or of loneliness, fear of leaving their home or fear of going to school. If the victim is being bullied continuously, his grades may drop or even show symptoms of paranoia that would make it difficult for him to communicate with people of his age or make new friends. Depression can be one of the symptoms of cyber-bullying, and I am calling them symptoms because it seems that cyber-bullying is now a disease for our society. A feeling of helplessness occurs as the victim does not know where to turn to for help. It is of course true that in serious cases of constant bullying, suicide may be part of the story. Cyber-bullying should be stopped but the question still exists, can it be stopped? Proper individual reaction I believe that the reason why the U.S.A. is more concerned about cyber-bullying is the big amount of their population that is affected and the relatively big number of incidents reported that has prompted them to impose laws against it. What should the average person suggest? Ignore the bully, do not take him seriously, not answer to him and if he is at your school just ignore him once more. It is suggested that you report it to your counselor or your parents so they get the chance to help you. It is possible that cyber-bullies will be discouraged if you do not answer to them and they will move on to their next victim. Nevertheless, these suggestions would only help an individual to be saved from cyber-bullying. Furthermore, cyber-bullying will not stop but it is a good start for individuals to save themselves from resulting victims. Significance of Cyber-Bullying How real is the threat of cyber-bullying? Is it such a big issue? Opinions seem to vary. Adults mostly support the opinion that cyber-bullying, along with regular bullying, is responsible for many of the social, anxiety and depression problems kids live with since this situation mostly influences them. On the other hand, many teenagers do not agree with this claim, they support the idea that cyber-bullying is not such a problem because nothing is real on the internet and things said or done should not be taken into consideration so much. In my mind, we, teens, understand better the evolution of technology than adults and so we are not tricked by the media as their role is always to report every situation in its most dramatic way but that cannot explain the rising number of suicides among young people. I believe that anyone who claims being bullied knows nearly nothing about how to protect themselves in the digital world, even when it comes to simple computer problems. It is true that the internet does not show its real face immediately and cyber-bullying is not the only internet issue that should be worrying us. Internet is full of dark pits, full of lies that could trick anyone into confusion. My opinion is that cyber-bullying is a very big issue that is shocking our society every day but I also believe and agree that cyber-bullying is not the last thing that we should consider as a problem. People need to be educated on how to be immune to internet dangers and of how to avoid being mocked or cheated through the internet. Proof of the significance An example of a severe case of cyber-bullying took place in 2008, it shocked most people in the U.S.A. into understanding what cyber-bullying is when Megan Meier, a 13-year old girl from Missouri, committed suicide in her room. Investigators found that Megans death was the result of constant stress caused by relentless and cruel cyber-bullying. A group of people that lived in Megans neighborhood, including adults such as Lori Drews, the father of a friend of Megans who she had a fight with, and an 18-year old officer who worked for M. Drews, pretended to be a new boy in the area where Megan lived and developed a relationship with her through Myspace (a social networking site). The group had created a hoax in order to make Megan believe that she had a growing relationship with the boy. When the hoax was revealed, Megan did not have enough mental strength to deal with the humiliation of being mocked and she decided to take her life. Back then, Missouri did not have any laws against cyb er-bullying so they were not able to prosecute any of the members of the group.  [3]  Having taken this incident into consideration, Missouri has now imposed laws against cyber-bullying which I will report on next in my extended essay. Another suicide took place in Massachusetts. Phoebe Prince was a 15-year old Irish immigrant who was harassed both at school, web sites and over her cell phone. For fear of losing her few friends, she refused to change her Facebook settings or cell number. Unfortunately, the idea of her being a loser led her to kill herself.  [4]   The statistics are as shocking as the incidents. A Cyber-bullying research survey in 2008 of 2.000 middle-school students shows that around 43% of them have been victims of situations that can be defined as cyber-bullying: > Receiving an instant message that made them upset (15.8%) Having something posted on their MySpace that made them upset (14.1%). Even more alarming, a Survey of AM/MTV in September 2009 of 1,247 young people, aged 14-24, found that: 50% of youngsters in this age group have experienced digitally abusive behavior, with older teens aged 18-24 (52% vs. 47%) and females more likely to be targeted (53% vs. 42%) 45% of young people report that they see people being mean to each other on social networking sites.  [5]   The relation ship with traditional bullying There is a phrase that says: Sticks and stones can break your bones but names will never hurt you Personally, I cannot agree with that claim. Although cyber-bullying is less physical than traditional forms of bullying, it has very destructive and longer-lasting effects on individuals. It is very easy to access a computer and ruin someones mental state. Something that people ignore is that online everyone can be a bully, even a small, physically weak child that was a victim of traditional bullying. However the difference being that someone is now in the position to cause even greater damage than a big brute can cause. As British bullying victim, Emily Moor said, The internet is a sinister, silent enemy: you simply dont know where to start to tackle the problem. But faceless as a computer may be, it is every bit as threatening as a physical bully, if not more so because the audience reading these horrible messages can be enormous.  [6]  It is true that if you are bullied at school then you can just go home and end it, if you are cyber-bullied you have nowhere to go. Laws against Cyber-Bullying It is now well known that with the existence of fake profiles or profiles with hidden identities, the guilty party is hard to be traced. Lawmakers are seeking to pass new legislations on cyber-bullying because it seems that there are currently no specific laws on the books that deal directly with it. They want to address cyber-bullying with laws that would call the action of intimidation, bullying or any other actions that cause severe emotional distress illegal. Nevertheless, I was not able to find lots of information on laws against hidden identity or fake profiles but only from states like Texas and Georgia which have passed laws that deal directly against posing as someone else on the internet. What is important is that people who post fake profiles in social network sites could be charged for their unsocial behaviour.  [7]   In a respected number of U.S. states including New York, Missouri, Rhode Island and Maryland, legislation geared at penalizing cyber-bullying and digital bullying has been introduced. In 2007, at least seven states passed specific laws against bullying through the internet. For example, Dardenne Prairie of Springfield, Missouri passed a city law making online bullying a misdemeanor. Another city of Missouri, the city of St. Charles has passed a similar law. Furthermore, in Jefferson City of Missouri, state lawmakers gave final approval to a bill making cyber-bullying illegal in 2008.  [8]  It is believed by supporters that this bill will cover bullying from computers, text messages and other electronic devices. In August 2008, the California state legislature passed the first law to deal directly with cyber-bullying. The legislation was named Assembly Bill 86 2008 and the idea was that it would add provisions related to bullying committed through an electronic communication device or system and a definition of electronic communication was added for this purpose to the School/Law Enforcement Partnership program. Eventually, this law took place at January 1 of 2009. Even if it is due to the following changed that many schools are now able to confront cyberbullying, I will keep the following information in the Laws against Cyber-Bullying section. In Arkansas in 2007, they passed a law that would allow school officials to deal with cyber bullies even if a persons bullying did not take place or start on school property. After the law was imposed, the result was that school administrators gained more freedom to punish individuals that were the bullies. In Iowa, several laws have been passed that forced schools to adopt anti-cyber bullying policies which cover bullying in the school or in school property or generally at a school function or activity sponsored by the school. In New Jersey the Garden State has always maintained tough legislation against bullying, but until 2007 there werent any laws enforced which included cyber-bullying. Once again, the law gives the power to the school staff to punish people related with bullying against their fellow students. In Idaho, in 2006, its lawmakers passed a law that allowed staff of the school, especially officials, to suspend students that were using a computer or another electronic device to harass specific students. At Oregon state, they decided to look in detail at cyber-bullying and broadened its definition. Recently, the governor of Rhode Island tried to pass a bill which would take cyber-bullying offenders to court with the charge of being illegal against the states laws. Vermont, had already very strict laws against bullying and cyber-bullying but its lawmakers recently added a fine of 500 dollars for those who where offensive to other people on the internet. Vermont is considered as one of the states with the strictest legislation against this type of bullying.  [9]   School action It is important to mention that many schools are adopting policies to address cyber-bullying and that is something really important. Since cyber-bullying is mostly a problem because of the existence of the internet, many schools reduced their internet sites range so as to protect children from entering sites that could lead them to becoming the victim of a cyber-bully. Also, many schools have passed anti-bullying rules and policies which address cyber-bullying. They closely monitor students use of computers at school and have bought tracking software but without relying solely on it in order to screen out problematic online behaviors and bullying. Many educators try to educate students, teachers and different staff members about the dangers of cyber-bullying and about what should be done in order to avoid it Who should be blamed? Despite attempts at changing laws and policies and trying to implement them, what is worrying, is the fact that no law can really stop cyber-bullying while communication through the internet or cell phones provides anonymity, many fake profiles are created in order to tease or bully people in social sites like Facebook and Myspace. Really, is there anybody we can accuse or blame for this mess? Is there any way to identify the extinction of a fake profile? Our society promotes violence and that does not help to overcome this problem. Video games, television and all mass media mostly project violent incidents. Because of this children and teens become familiar with the idea of violence and they think of it as the normal. Parents on the whole are not familiar with the idea of cyber-bullying and they are not able to protect their children from being cyber-bullied. It is not really their fault as technology is developing very fast and many of them cannot keep up with it. Teens do not usua lly talk to their parents about their problems and that makes it very difficult for the parents to help their children. Many schools make the mistake of not informing students enough about it or showing them how to protect themselves. Children should have some knowledge about cyber-bullying so as to get through it without any wounds. I believe that the society as a whole is the only that can be blamed for this issue. Conclusion In conclusion although the internet and mobile phones communication systems make our lives easier and play a very important role in our activities, it is unfortunate that they have been poisoned and destroyed by being used to abuse others. The positive aspects of the internet and mobile phones cannot be questioned or enumerated however what I am mostly certain of is that the negative aspects are just as great in number and in seriousness. As a Kevin Brennan said: Cyberbullying is the unacceptable face of new technology, and we need concerted action across society to address it. Schools must play a key role, and this new guidance will help them to identify and tackle instances of cyberbullying more effectively, as well as providing practical advice and information on how to prevent it.  [10]   Cyber-bullying is on the rise and it affects almost anyone that possesses and uses a computer or a cell-phone but the idea of stopping or obstructing cyber-bullying seems to be very far. Cyber-bullying exists in schools, out of schools and everywhere and since parents are not totally controlling their childs actions in and out of school, it is very hard to follow the plans of bullies. While school violence as a whole is declining, bullying behaviors have increased by 5%.Furthermore, the last months of 2010; there were multiple suicide deaths as a result of cyber-bullying.  [11]  There are lots of reasons that could lead a person to bully another and there are even more sources of traps that could lead the bullied person to remain silent and contribute in this way to the growing problem. After much research, I no longer wonder if this whole situation could be stopped but whether it can at least decrease. It seems that there is no way for it to be stopped since most states of the U.S.A. do not have any legislations that deal directly with cyber-bullying. Even where legislation does exist it does not have the power to reduce cyber-bullying to any great amount because of the anonymity or the hidden identity that the internet provides. This could even be a great research question for another extended essay. Should the internet provide anonymity and the choice to retain your identity hidden? Existing legislation in states of the U.S. which I have mentioned have only worked in very few situations where the bully has not hidden his identity. What could make us think that legislation could stop anonymous bullies? What will always be needed to overcome such a situation is the support of adults towards children and young people that have fallen victims to the dark pits of the internet. Parents especially must not forget that. Since bullying through internet and mobile phones cannot really be stopped then the next best way to deal with it, is to make children immune to it. Children should be taught to avoid it and go on with their lives. They should be taught how to prevent bullies from using them as victims. Parents should help them build a strong personality.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

The Effects of Prejudice Essay -- Racism Essays

Evolutionary theory suggests that in order to prevent contact with harmful pathogens, people identify and avoid heuristic cues that are associated with disease (Schaller, 2011). Further, people who feel most vulnerable to disease tend to associate subjectively foreign out-groups with disease and act more negatively toward them (Faulkner, Schaller, Park & Duncan, 2004). The negative effects of prejudice are both physical and psychological: People who reported being subjected to prejudice also had greater amounts of visceral fat (Lewis, Kravitz, Janssen & Powell, 2011) and ambiguous racism decreased people’s performance in cognitive tasks (Salvatore & Shelton, 2007). Hence, it is of obvious benefit to society to reduce prejudice and alleviate these detrimental outcomes. Combining this past research, Huang, Sedlovskaya, Ackerman and Bargh (2011) reported across three studies a significant correlation between modern health interventions, such as vaccination and handwashing, and reducing prejudice. Their studies, however, indicate that it is the perceived protection from disease which is important in reducing prejudice, which limits the extent that health interventions alone will impact prejudice. Further it will be argued that other factors, such as the prolific nature of disease and alternative causes of prejudice, limit how meaningful these findings are in realistically impacting on social prejudice. A reasonable alternative that will be discussed is that any threat or perceived harm, not solely disease-based, towards an in-group may produce xenophobic attitudes. In study one Huang et al. (2011) examined the effects of vaccination status on reported racism. They reported that when confronted with disease, unvaccinated part... ...61 Lewis, T. T., Kravitz, H. M., Janssen, I. & Powell, L. H. (2011). Self-reported experiences of discrimination and visceral fat in middle-aged African American and Caucasian women. American Journal of Epidemiology, 173, 1223-1231. Retrieved from http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/ Salvatore, J. & Shelton, J. N. (2007). Cognitive costs of exposure to racial prejudice. Psychological Science, 18, 810-815. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01984.x Schaller, M. (2011). The behavioral immune system and the psychology of human sociology. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 366, 3418-3426. DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2011.0029 Schaller, M., Park, J. H., & Mueller, A. (2003). Fear of the dark: Interactive effects of beliefs about danger and ambient darkness on ethnic stereotypes. Journal for Personality and Social Psychology, 29, 637-649. DOI: 10.1177/0146167203029005008

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Alternative Methods to Prison Sentencing in Britain Essay -- Papers

More and more people in Britain are being sentenced to jail time: this is a fact. In 2004, there are currently over eighty thousand inmates.[1] (Peter Reydt, 2004 / Scottish Executive, 2003) Crime is on the increase but our prisons are already overcrowded. Consequently, new prisons will be required to accommodate prisoners. Where will the money come from to pay for the construction of new prisons? Will they have a sufficient rehabilitation programs in place? The prison system is obviously failing because it is not acting as a deterrent. Clearly we should now be examining why the system is failing and possible alternatives to prison. What should these alternatives be? Would they work and would they be seen as a suitable punishment? First of all, I'd like to look at why the prison service is failing. Ten years ago, Britain's prison population was actually on the decline (Casciani, 2002)[2]. This was due to the government at the time implementing more community based punishments over the use of prison sentencing. However, not all of the Home Secretaries of the time - Kenneth Baker and Kenneth Clarke - agreed with this policy and soon changed their minds and began to follow up on the 'rhetoric of being 'tough' on crime'[3](Cascianni, 2002) by asking the courts to sentence more people to prison. Due to these sterner policies being put in place, the government figures in 1999 actually showed that there were now more than twenty four thousand people being sent to prison than there were ten years previous.(Cascianni, 2002)[4] This was despite no change in the amount of adults being convicted of offenses. The government's 2001 Halliday ... ...m the best way forward. If one life - even that of a prisoner - can be saved, then this must surely be a very good idea? If these alternatives were in place they would help the overcrowding in jails and the building of more jails - which cost on average sixty million pounds each to build.(Rethinking Crime and Punishment, 2002)[12]. This would be less of a burden on the taxpayer and this money could go into developing these alternatives and having them implemented instead of prison. If the offender is shown to be fully rehabilitated and to want to give something back to society, this can only be beneficial: not only to the offender to but to society as a whole. "There are some duties we owe even to those who have wronged us. There is, after all, a limit to retribution and punishment." Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC)[13]

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

The Debt: An Economic Catastrophe Essays -- essays research papers fc

The Debt: An Economic Catastrophe Few national economic issues have generated the same kind of concern as has the federal debt problem of Canada. There is a pressing need for long-term policies to lift Canada out of the national debt hole it is in. Eliminating the debt will not only free up money being spent on interest and reduce taxes, but make Canada a more feasible place for future generations to live and work. Interest on the debt has eroded the government's ability to fund its own operations and essential social services. Presently, thirty-five cents of every tax dollar the federal government raises is used for interest payments alone on the debt. Though there have been operating surpluses within the federal government, they have been eaten up by the debt interest payments. Few people understand the devastating effects of compound interest. The debt, at a compound rate of 10%, doubles in seven years, quadruples in fourteen years, and is eight times as much in twenty-one years. This creates great difficulty for governments to slow the debt, much less eliminate it. Our federal debt grows all by itself to the tune of approximately ninety million dollars every day. This may seem hard to digest, but it is reality. The need for debt elimination is vital if Canada wants to free up billions of dollars being spend on interest payments. Two approaches may be taken to this. First, an increase in government revenues through higher taxation may be considered. However, taxes are a...

Monday, September 16, 2019

Bite Me: A Love Story Chapter 8

8. Being the Chronicles of Abby Normal, in the Double-doomed Doghouse of Despair Do the condemned in hell know the suffering that is a whole day of mom-guilt heaped like steaming piles of bat guano upon my spiky magenta coif? (I went with magenta spikes with electric violet tips to express my outrage at being dragged from my home and imprisoned with the cruel Mombot and my crapacious little sister, Ronnie.) Evidently, Mother feels that we were too young to move in together only a week after meeting, and live in a stolen apartment with two of the undead and their stupid amounts of cash. Although she doesn't really know about the undead or the cash parts, but she made her point. ‘Kayso, I had like put on my red tartan wedding gown with the black veil and resolved myself to an all-day power-pout in the corner of the living room, coming up only to text Foo messages of my agony of missing him and change the channel and whatnot, when Jared called from the land-line at the love lair. So I'm all, â€Å"Speak, corpse-fluffer.† And Jared is all, â€Å"OMFG! The Countess is out, and she was naked, but now she's not, and she totally got blood all over your leather corset, and you have to come right now because the rats are freaking out and we need a hacksaw and a file.† And I'm all, â€Å"Uh-oh.† And Jared is all, â€Å"I know. I know. OMG! OMG!† And I'm all, â€Å"Is she pissed?† Sounding way more chill than I felt. And Jared pauses for a second like he's thinking it over, then he's all, â€Å"She's wearing your clothes and there's blood running all down the front of her and she's nodding and showing her fangs and shit.† So I'm like getting some perspective now-like when you're a kid and you think it sucks that you have to eat hydrogenated peanut butter on your PBJ, and then you see one of those starving commercial kids with the flies in their eyes, who don't even have a sandwich-and you're all, â€Å"Well, that sucks.† ‘Kayso, I'm thinking that maybe being under restriction in the mother unit's Fillmore stronghold isn't so bad when compared to having the Countess busting out her wrath on you for imprisoning her in bronze. So I'm like, â€Å"Sucks to be you, Jared. Byez.† And I offed my phone. So like five minutes go by, which I spend in my corner going, â€Å"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit,† and whatnot, and the land-line rings. And Ronnie is all, â€Å"Are you going to get that?† from her room. And I'm all, â€Å"I didn't even know it was hooked up.† And she was all, â€Å"It's probably Mom checking up on you, so you might as well get it.† And I'm all, â€Å"Ronnie, answer it or I will murder you in your sleep and dump your body in the Bay.† And she's all, â€Å"‘Kay.† Then, â€Å"It's for you. It's some girl named Jody.† And Ronnie is all standing there with her shaved head and her nonexistent hip thrown out, like â€Å"So there, ho.† And I'm all, â€Å"Fucksocks!† And I take the phone and I'm like, â€Å"Hi, I have amnesia and don't remember anything for the last two months!† Because what do you say to someone who you had bronzed? And the Countess is all, â€Å"Abby, I'm not angry.† Which was a total lie, because I could hear that she was angry. She had that â€Å"I'm not angry† mom voice, even though she's only, like, twenty-six in real years. â€Å"So you're not going to kill me?† â€Å"We'll talk. Right now I need you to get a power drill and a hacksaw with extra blades and come to the loft.† And I'm all, â€Å"I don't know where to get stuff like that, and Foo's at work, and I'm on restriction, and I have to go to school tomorrow. I have a test, so I totally can't cut class, and besides, what do you need that stuff for?† And she's all, â€Å"Find the tools and come now. Tommy is stuck in the statue and we need to get him out.† And I'm thinking, Oops. But I'm chill and I'm like, â€Å"Can't he get out the same way you did?† And the Countess is all, â€Å"Tommy doesn't know how to turn to mist. That's how I escaped, but Tommy has been trapped in there for-how long, Abby?† â€Å"Oh, like a couple of days. It's all so foggy, after the head trauma.† Then I hear her saying, like, â€Å"Jared, come over here. I want Abby to hear your neck snap.† â€Å"Okay, like five weeks. Fuck, Countess, overreact much?† â€Å"Come now, Abby.† And she just clicks off. So I text Foo: COUNTESS OUT, NEED HACKSAW PWRDRILL NOW And he's all: WTF? WTF? WTF? OUT? WTF? ACE HARDWARE, CASTRO ST (I know. Four WTFs! Foo has deep intellectual curiosity. Last week he quizzed me for twenty minutes on what it was like to have a clitoris. I just kept saying â€Å"nice.† I know, I'm such a tard, I couldn't think of anything else. I so have to learn French. They have like thirty-seven words for clitoris. They're like snow to Eskimos, only you know, harder to build an igloo out of.) ‘Kayso, I text him: KTXBYE †¹3 And I tell Ronnie to tell Mom that I think I got some anthrax on my toothbrush and I have to go to Walgreens to get a new one so I'll be right back. Then I put on my jacket with the sun warts, in case of vampyre kitties and whatnot, and I take the F car up to Castro Street and go to Ace Hardware. And I'm totally feeling the animosity coming off the Builder Bob guy in the red apron, and I'm like, â€Å"What? You've never seen a wedding dress?† And he's all, â€Å"No, I love the dress, the jacket, the whole ensem is fabulous.† And I'm like, â€Å"Really? Thanks. Your apron rocks. I need a hacksaw and a power drill.† And he's all, â€Å"What's it for?† And I'm all, â€Å"You want a note from my mom? A fucking hacksaw and a power drill. I'm on a schedule.† And he's all, â€Å"I asked because we have over thirty different kinds of power drills.† And I'm like, â€Å"Oh. I need to release my Dark Lord from the bronze shell in which I imprisoned him.† And he's, â€Å"Oh, you should have said so.† And he leads me to the drill boutique and I picked out a red and black one that matched my dress, and Bob picked out a hacksaw which totally clashed, but I didn't want to hurt his feelings, so I said it was trs beau, which is French for sweet. ‘Kayso, as I'm paying for my stuff, I go, â€Å"So, why are you guys still open at midnight?† And Bob goes, â€Å"Well, you know how it is, you never know when someone is going to need to free their dark lord in the middle of the night, or tie him up.† And I'm all, â€Å"Ewww.† Because I do not go for that shit. I am only into S and bondage as it applies to wardrobe. I tried cutting myself to express my heartbreak over Tommy (Lord Flood) rejecting me, but OMFG it hurts like flaming fuck. I mean, I'm into self-mutilations as much as the next person-I have eight piercings and five tattoos, some that hurt like double flaming fuck to get, but that was professional, and you can blame someone. In fact, I know a guy in the Haight who will tattoo you for free if you're a girl and you keep yelling at him the whole time, which, it turns out, isn't that hard to do when someone is poking you with an electric needle. When he did my bat wings I screamed at him so much I lost my voice for two days. ‘Kayso, I took the F car across town and the three blocks from Market to the loft, but like holding the button on my sun wart jacket in case I got ambushed by Chet and his vampyre kitty pals, because I totally can't run in my wedding dress because the buckles of my motocross platforms get caught in the lace, so it's like, stand and fight or die, bitches! But no vamp kitties came. Anyway, I make it to the loft and I come in all, â€Å"Hey Countess, here's your drill!† All Carebear-on-crack-perky, although that might have been a mistake, because it's a proven fact that it's easier to murder the perky. And I'm sort of, WTF vampyress? Because she's not her normal self, which is like hemophiliac hawt, but she's like printer-paper pale. And I totally ignore the fact that she's wearing one of my long skirts and my black bustier without even asking, and it's bustiering her way more than it does me, which is kind of rude. And I'm all, â€Å"Countess, are you okay? You look kind of pale.† And Jared is all, â€Å"You should have seen her before she drank those blood bags.† And I'm suddenly feeling all poop on a stick, because it's obvious that she's all gone snowflake because she's been locked up without feeding. So I'm like, â€Å"Sorry. I just wanted you guys to be together for eternity, and it didn't sound like that's how it was going to happen.† And she's like, â€Å"Later, Abby.† And she just takes the tools from me and goes over to the statue and starts drilling and sawing and whatnot. So I'm like, â€Å"How did you get out?† And she's all, â€Å"Rat boy was dancing and nicked the casting with his dagger.† And Jared's all, â€Å"I wasn't dancing. I had some espresso and I was telling them my novel and I lost my balance on your stupid boots.† And I'm all, â€Å"You can't give him caffeine, Countess. His aunt gave him a hundred-dollar Starbucks card for Christmas and we had to have an intervention.† And Jody pauses and looks back at me, her eyes looking all emerald-like, because except for her hair, she has no color in her face and she's like, â€Å"Tommy didn't know how to turn to mist, Abby. I never had a chance to teach him before you bronzed us. He's been trapped in here, fully conscious, for five weeks.† And I'm like backing away, because I've seen the Countess pissed off before, like when the Animals kidnapped Tommy and she had to kick their asses to get him back, but now she's all jaw tightened like she's keeping herself from tearing my arms off or something. So I sort of feel for the button on the cuff of my sun jacket. Not like I was going to fry the Countess, because I wouldn't do that, but just for security. And she just snaps her hand out and before I can move she's pulled the battery out of my inside pocket and ripped off the wire leads. I mean like faster than you can blink. So I'm like, â€Å"I wasn't going to light it up.† And she's all, â€Å"Just to be safe.† But I'm not feeling safe. And I can tell that Jared isn't feeling safe because he's sort of sniffling like he's going to start crying. And Jody is sawing on the bronze like a crazy person-on the side where she used to be, so she doesn't cut Tommy-and finally she has, like, enough sawed away that she can pull a piece away and look in. And she's all, â€Å"Tommy, we're going to get you out of there. I have to be careful, but I'll get you out of there soon.† And Jared is like, â€Å"Do you need a flashlight?† And Jody is like, â€Å"No, I can see.† And Jared is all, â€Å"Is he dead?† And right then Jody snaps a hacksaw blade and goes, â€Å"Well of course he's dead, he's a vampyre.† And I'm all, â€Å"Duh? Tard.† As I hand Jody another blade. I have to say, that for someone with super powers and immortality, the Countess kind of sucks ass with tools. I guess the dark gift doesn't include home improvement skills. ‘Kayso, after about an hour the Countess pulls a big piece off the statue, revealing Tommy's face and torso and whatnot, and he's just stuck there, not moving, not opening his eyes, and even whiter than the Countess, kind of a light bruise-blue color. And Jared is all, â€Å"He dead?† And Jody is like kind of between a scream and a sob, and she's like, â€Å"Get me another blood bag, Jared. And Abby, where the fuck are my clothes?† And a little blood tear runs down her cheek. And I'm like, â€Å"Uh-oh.† Because now I realize why she's wearing my clothes. When Foo and I moved in we put all of Tommy and Jody's clothes in vacuum bags under the bed. So I'm like, â€Å"What do you want to wear, Countess? I'll get it. I mean, you can wear my stuff any time you want, because I am your faithful minion, but you have been endowed by your creator with significantly more boobage and junk in the trunk than me, no offense, and my stuff doesn't exactly fit you. No offense.† And Jared is all, â€Å"She had your Emily hoody on over that but it got blood all over it.† Not helping at all. â€Å"Hey, who wants a latte?† And the Countess snarled at Jared, full frontal fangs and all. And Jared jumped back and turned his ankle. And I'm like, â€Å"Oh shit!† And she barks, â€Å"Blood!† And Jared and I are all, â€Å"Coming right up. Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit.† And I bring her the bag of blood and she tears it open with her teeth and just pours it over his lips and in his mouth and nothing happens. And Jody is crying and getting louder and Jared and I are getting more and more freaked out and even all the rats in their little boxes are freaking out and running around in circles and whatnot. And finally Tommy's eyes pop open, and they're like crystal blue, like ice, not like eyes, and he screams, and I swear to fucking zombie Jebus, the whole wall of windows in the loft just shattered in the frames. So Jared and I are all bent over in the corner, covering our ears, and Tommy comes flying out of the statue. You can hear his leg bones cracking like pretzels as he pulls them out, but he scurries on his hands, knocking rats and furniture every which way, coming right at me, fangs first. And I go to reach for the button on my sleeve, but he's on me, biting my neck. He's so strong it's like trying to fight a statue, and I can hear Jody screaming, and the skin on my neck tearing in shreds. And my vision is like tunneling down to dark, and I'm thinking, I'm fucking dying? What the fuck's up with that? Then there's this loud clang, like a bell, and I feel Tommy pulled off me. And light sort of comes back on. I can see the Countess standing there, holding Foo's stainless-steel floor lamp like it's a lance, and she's obviously just smacked Tommy with it hard enough to knock him off of me. But instead of going at her, he comes scurrying right back at me, smearing blood all over the floor and everything. And the Countess catches him by the neck from behind and swings him around and out through the broken windows, and the metal frames and everything go with him. So there's the scream again, and I'm holding my neck, and I sort of crawl to the big hole that used to be the front wall of the loft, and Tommy is in the middle of the street below, naked, in a big splash of metal and glass, and he's like crawling up the side of a car to his feet. And Jody's beside me. And she's all, â€Å"Tommy! Tommy!† But he's limping off down the alley across the street, walking like his legs are still broken, but maybe healing or something as he goes, but hurting like holy-fuck. So Jody takes my head and turns it to the side and pulls my hand away from the bite. And I feel like I'm going to pass out. But she bends down and licks my neck, like three times, then puts my hand back on the wound. â€Å"Hold that. It'll heal in a second.† Then she shook me and was all, â€Å"Now, where the fuck are my clothes?† And I'm all, â€Å"Under the bed. Vacuum bags.† I think I passed out then, because next thing I remember, the Countess is standing there in jeans and boots and her red leather jacket, and she's stuffing bags of blood into my biohazard messenger bag. And she's all, â€Å"I'm taking this.† And I'm all, â€Å"‘Kay.† Then I'm like, â€Å"You saved me.† â€Å"I'm taking half the money, too,† she said. I'm all, â€Å"You can't go. Where will you go? Who will take care of you?† â€Å"Like you did?† she says. â€Å"I'm so sorry,† I said. And she's all, â€Å"I know. I have to find him. I brought him into this. He never wanted any of this. He just wanted someone to love him.† So she starts to leave, without even saying good-bye, and I'm all, â€Å"Countess, wait, there's vampyre cats.† And she stops. And she turns all, â€Å"Whaaaa?† And Jared is all nodding and going, â€Å"Really. Really.† And I'm, â€Å"Chet turned a bunch of kitties into vampyre kitties. They attacked the Emperor last night and they ate a meter maid.† And she was all, â€Å"Oh, for fuck's sake.† And I'm all, â€Å"I know, I know.† Then she was gone. And Jared was like in the middle of catching some escaped rats and he's all, â€Å"You guys are going to totally lose your security deposit.† Jody is just gone. Gone. On her own in the night. It's like Lord Byron said in that poem â€Å"Darkness.† Darkness had no need Of aid from them- She was the Universe. I'd like to go bone my sister now. I'm paraphrasing.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Perspectives on Abortion

Otis Latin ENGL1301. 17 Mrs. Marcom Abortion Title: Perspectives on Abortion: Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, and What Lies in between Author: Raquel Lopez This essay is a very deep and descriptive essay about abortions and the history behind it. There are two different perspectives discussed in this essay and they are, Pro-Life, and Pro-Choice. The essay talks about the historical perspectives of abortion, pro-life perspectives, moral relativism, philosophical considerations, the church’s views on abortion, pro-choice perspectives, abortion relationship with crime, and the politics of abortion.The author’s main idea is that pro-life and pro-choice perspectives are all based on the person’s emotions and often fail to make logical sense. As the author states, Pro-Life has two main approaches: moral perspectives and religious perspectives. Sometimes these two perspectives intertwine and have some similarities but in many ways they do the complete opposite. â€Å"The religio us perspective has very little to be debated considering it embraces the belief in a supernatural almighty entity; and there is, in fact, very little literature discussing the logics of religion†(512).The author is saying that the religious perspective is saying abortion is wrong based on their beliefs of the importance of a life. â€Å"Critics of abortion attack the fact that despite cultural background, abortion is wrong just as killing is wrong and stealing is wrong in any society, regardless of cultural values†(513). The moral perspective is saying that abortion is wrong just like stealing and killing is wrong. The author disagrees because everything people say is right isn’t necessarily right. This helps prove the author’s thesis that your perspective is based off of emotion and not fact.On the other hand there is the Pro-choice perspective of abortion. This means that the people believe in having the choice to have an abortion or not. This essay disc usses the history of women as caregivers and nurturers. In these roles they were very close to their children and highly unlikeable for them to think of abortion. Now that times have changed the essay talks about how the change in behavior of women affects the children mentally and physically. For example the article says lack of attention can lead to: low self-esteem, anger problems, attention deficit behavioral issues, child molestation, and verbal abuse (514).The author’s intended audience was to everyone who has debates or assumptions on abortions. The author addresses pro-life and pro-choice perspective by comparing and contrasting all arguments and backing it up with facts. The author does not make any assumptions, and he clearly backed up his argument. While the author’s thesis focused on the use of emotion and abortion perspective, he ends by showing his own personal view. In his conclusion, the author discusses how unfair it is for many children to be forced i nto poor homes.The author believes that this is a result decision based on emotion. Why Abortion is Immoral Don Marquis This essay is telling the reasons why abortion is considered immoral. The author suggests that abortion is in the same moral category as killing a human being. The author also states that he does not want to base the article off of religion like most anti-abortionist point of views. He does however want to base it on morality and ethics. By doing this the author will cover the non religious people’s perspective of abortion. In an essay like this writing strategies are really important.With this being said his writing strategies help him prove a point that isn’t very popular. The author uses several writing strategies to get his point achieve this goal. He starts by comparing and contrasting anti abortionist and pro-choice perspectives. In his compare and contrast he gives examples of typical pro-choice and anti abortionist views. The author states tha t â€Å"Passions in the abortion debate run high. There are both plausibilities and difficulties with the standard positions†(188). After comparing and contrasting the two perspectives, the author points out the issues of each point of view.For every point the author makes he list several examples to support his main idea. Basically this entire essay is the author’s argument that abortion is equal to killing a young child. One of the most persuasive strategies is that the author describes opposite viewpoints, and then says why they are wrong. This is why the author talks a lot about â€Å"symmetry between the accounts†(197). One example of this symmetry is when the author talks about some beliefs that â€Å"fetuses lack of property that is essential for the value-of-a-future †(198). Many people might disagree with this point.In fact, this point goes against the author’s perspective that abortion is immoral. He still talks about this in his essay th ough because it gives him an opportunity to say why the person that holds this belief is wrong. The author believes that people that hold this view are wrong because if a fetus lacks value and doesn’t deserve to live then the same must be said for plants and people in comas (199). Overall the author does a good job of getting his point across. He uses compare and contrast, he describes different examples of different viewpoints and he makes a strong case that abortion is immoral.His purpose was to show an anti abortion view that was based on morality and ethics and not â€Å"irrational religious dogma† (183) or a â€Å"confused philosophical argument† (183) and he succeeded. This essay shows that religion is not the only reason why people might be opposed to abortion. Not looking at religion some people may still believe that abortion is similar to killing an innocent man or woman who didn’t deserve to die. Bibliography Lopez, Raquel. Perspectives on Abor tion: Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, and What Lies in between: EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. 2012 Marquis, Don. Why Abortion is Immoral: Journal of Philosophy, Inc. 1989

Should companies treat their employees with respect and treat each one of them with dignity?

All companies should treat their employees with respect and treat each one of them with dignity. Every employee is an asset of a company and without them no company can function properly. Every person in this world has their rights that should be respected and not trampled upon. Employees are human beings with feelings and this should be instilled in the minds of all company owners or their managers or agents. No one is given the right to discriminate against people who are born with disabilities or who for some reason, has gone through a difficult experience in their lives which resulted to any physical deformity.People who, for some reason, have any special characteristic should not be discriminated against. When a person applies for a job, the potential employer should look beyond the physical appearance of any person with disability. He should instead look objectively and analyze whether that person has the skill or capability to perform the required task. The potential employer should thoroughly evaluate the employee to see whether or not, despite his apparent weakness, he is still able to deliver or perform the job just like any normal person.Once the person with disability gets hired, he should be treated fairly by the employer. The employer should provide for some facilities to accommodate the employee. An example of which is when the employee is handicapped, the employer should provide a passage for the employee like a ramp or elevator for easy access to the employee. The employer should also provide for a comfort room which is to be used by handicapped people which should be larger than the normal cubicle to enable them to move freely with their wheelchair.The employer may also provide a work friendly environment to handicapped employees by providing them with a special chair or a comfortable work area where the employee can move around without his freedom being restricted. Employees who suffer from a drug abuse problem may still find a job that would enable them to overcome their drug dependence. If the employee is otherwise qualified by the job, the employer may overlook this drug addiction, and instead find ways to help the latter move on from such weakness.The employer may provide for an environment that would foster camaraderie, training, workshops, seminars and the like to distract the employee’s attention from drug dependence and to shift his focus. This would serve as a distraction for the employee who would soon get healed from his dependency. The simulation may demonstrate this scenario by creating a situation which involves an employer hiring an employee who is handicapped. Both parties may work out a case wherein the employee would try to internalize his role and look at the possible office situations which would help them improve their relationship and to better his work performance.The factors of personality, attitude toward work, and future upward mobility may play a big or little role in a potential workin g environment depending on the kind of workplace or job the employee is applying for. Personality is very important when the job description calls for the characteristic of being sociable as in a marketing job. But, personality may be of little importance to a person employed in a work place where there is no face to face interaction with a client or customer. An employee is the representative of the company, whether such employee is an officer, manager or staff.It would be advantageous for any company to have employees who are outgoing and sociable, however this would only apply for those jobs whose employees are required to be on the frontline. Thus, as to this factor of personality, it would really depend on what the company is for it to be considered as an important criterion for hiring. As to the attitude toward work, I am of the opinion that this is important and should be considered when hiring an employee. The attitude of a person towards his work would reflect a great deal about his personality.The person should show that he loves his work and would take it seriously, otherwise, the company might be in the losing end and suffer in the long run. The employer should weigh the scenario, for example, when there are two applicants for a job, one without any disability but his attitude towards his work is such that he merely views it as a means to an end and another who has some disabilities but whose attitude towards work is such that he views it with enthusiasm, with zeal and with passion, then the employer should hire the second applicant.A person who shows a positive attitude towards his work would help fuel the company to success and great heights. The factor of future upward mobility would have to be qualifies. For example, a work which would require physical strength such as construction, carrying of heavy baggage, running around or other strenuous physical activities, would necessarily require an employee who would be able to perform the job, thus s hould be mobile. However, a work which requires analysis or computer work and is which would not entail any physical mobility would not need an employee who is equipped with upward mobility.An employee should be hired based on his skills and qualifications and not based on his personal appearance. The simulation would be able to demonstrate the importance of those factors by creating an environment that would consider the job description and co-relate these with the applicants. Each scenario should be viewed differently by considering the different needs of each job and determine the applicable skill required for a potential employee. The employer should be able to decide whether or not a certain factor is needed for the delivery of the desired result.Title VII can override the employment contract between an employer and employee. It is the rule that contracts between parties should not be contrary to any existing law. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 provides in essence th at no person should be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, or national origin. In general, there should be equal work opportunity for every person regardless of any disability or otherwise. A person who has some disability should be hired if he is qualified for the job.Further, once he is hired he should receive the same amount of pay and benefits as any normal employee since the employer should look beyond the disability and give equal work opportunities to both of them. There should be no diminution of salary or benefits for the reason that the employee has some disability. An employee should not compromise his rights for the reason that he is in desperate need of a job and the employer should not use his bargaining power as a person who is in authority of giving the job.An agreement which provides for benefits, wages or others that are below the minimum wage or contrary to any law is null and void and is of no force and effect. The law is above any w ritten contract since the former must always be in consonance with the latter. The simulation would demonstrate this by portraying a situation which depicts an environment where the employer and the employee would agree on terms that are for the advantage and benefit of both but is not contrary to law.