Philosophy mind and world Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Philosophy mind and world - Essay Example ogic of premises, claims and conclusion whereas Heidegger’s philosophy demands deep understanding of metaphysics in order to decipher the same distinction between the self and its existence. Descartes offers proof in the discourse in his arguments of the six meditations in which he explains the distinction between mind and body while Heidegger elucidates the self on the basis of metaphysics. It can be argued that Rene Descartes has been more successful in undertaking the task of explaining ‘Next I examined attentively what I was’ than Heidegger. While Descartes defines the difference in the mind and body in his theory of dualism in stages of meditation and the experience of the person who undergoes hierarchy of meditation Heidegger’s explanation is based purely on metaphysics and philosophical sciences. Descartes’ explanation can be understood by pure logic of premises, claims and conclusion whereas Heidegger’s philosophy demands deep understanding of metaphysics in order to decipher the distinction between the self and its existence with reference to philosophy, mind and the world. Descartes’ explanation through meditation ‘ Next I examined attentively what I was’ I saw that while I could pretend that I had no body and that there was no world and no place for me to be in , I could not for all that pretend that I did not exist. I saw on the contrary that from the truth of other things, it followed quite evidently and certainly that I existed; whereas if I had merely ceased thinking, even if everything else I had ever imagined had been true, I should have had no reason to believe that I existed. From this I knew I was a substance whose whole essence or nature is simply to think and which does not require any place or depend on any material thing in order to exist (Hatfield, Descartes, and p246). The empirical â€Å"Descartes observed: "Thus the whole of philosophy is like a tree: the roots are metaphysics, the trunk is physics, and

Impact of Party Drugs on the Youth Culture Essay Example for Free

Impact of Party Drugs on the Youth Culture Essay Adolescence refers to the age group from 14 to 26 years. Ten percent of this age group use party drugs (Bennett, 2003). According to Arnett (2004) , this period of development is distinguished by five characteristics: identity exploration, instability, self-focus, a feeling of in-between and possibilities (Arnett, 2004, pg. 14). It is against these five characteristics that the impact of party drugs on the youth culture will be assessed. This essay will explore how the characteristics of adolescence place teenagers at risk from drug experimentation and how the perception of policy makers will influence the community’s response to the problem. The exploration of identity involves having a range of experiences that provides the adolescent with the means to assess the possibilities for the purpose of formulating a distinctive self-image. To do this requires that the teenager have a range of experiences that seem distinct from those experienced through their parents. This journey of exploration results in an introverted focus on self and a sense of becoming, of being caught in the middle. In the individualised cultures of western societies, this transition involves a separation from parents and the construction of an independent self-sufficient identity (Arnett, 2004). The instability can often manifest in ‘risky behaviours’. Although adolescence is a time for the construction of a unique self identity, it is also a time when a sense of belonging is engendered through common cultural construction. One subset of this cultural construction is the rave party scene that is a global phenomenon of the youth subculture (Shapiro, 1999). A rave party is often a large gathering of young people in an atmosphere where there is music and laser lights. This sub-culture is linked to the drug culture through party drugs such as ecstasy and ketamine. The effect of these drugs is to create a sense of wellbeing and a feeling of lightness. The choice to take drugs is an individual one and is part of the desire to escape from the pressures of adolescence. The rave party by its very nature is essentially a form of escape. What then are adolescences escaping from? The very nature of adolescence: the sense of being without identity, the lack of a mental framework to manage the adult world and the pressures of identity construction, create tensions in the person. This escapism is not confined to adolescences as many adults abuse alcohol and amphetamines as a means of escaping the pressures of the adult world. For many users, taking the drug is part of the risk behaviour of adolescence that has the pay-off of feelings of well-being. They do not se themselves as drug users as they do not view their use of party drugs as being a problem. This normalises drug use and makes it difficult for agencies to intervene (Duff, 2003). It is wrong however to assume that all users are escaping from something. One of the features of adolescence is the search for identity and self meaning. This search behaviour creates a heightened sense of curiosity in adolescents as they seek to make sense of self. This curiosity can evolve unconsciously to drug abuse through prolonged use as a result of the uplifting effects of the first experience. The need to fund the regular purchase of the drug can lead into dealing. Bad experiences often will not cause a rejection of the drug as these pale against the many pleasures that the individual has experienced. The chain of events can have dire consequences for the individual as a health problem becomes a criminal problem. The long term destruction that criminalisation of drugs causes to young people is good reason to see drug abuse as a health problem. Within party drug users there are the same segments that are feature of any drug user cross section. Some users abuse the drug and are at risk from overdose and dehydration. Others are more controlled and cautious in their use. This group is at risk from being unable to identify the ingredients of the drug that they are purchasing. One of the key problems with party drugs is the inability for the buyer to know the ingredients contained in the drug that they are purchasing (VAAD, 2003). Users of party drugs will tend to repeat their use on a regular basis. According to Baxter (2003) users are concerned that there is no means of determining the purity and reducing the level of risk. Males tend to use party drugs more frequently than females. This tends to indicate that there is greater gender difference where males are less risk averse. This trend is declining as more and more females are using party drugs. This trend reflects the emancipation of women and a stronger sense of independence amongst adolescent women. The traditional delineation of the rite of passage for the male and the female have become blurred in modern society. Women will often use drugs to challenge the traditional perceptions of their role in society. Within the community, there are people that see drug abuse as being criminal while others see it as a social and health problem. The criminal perspective adopts a punishment solution with rehabilitation. Such a position can have a long term effect on the individual due to problems faced with travel and employment. Community response is to increase policing and to use strategies such as sniffer dogs in public and undercover police at venues to catch the suppliers and users. Police raids will be conducted on rave parties. Such an approach marginalises the rave culture and runs the risk of impairing the social development of the individual. The perspective that sees the issue as a health issue seeks to develop preventative programmes that educate people. Greater understanding is sought for the motivation of young people for taking drugs through social research. Strategies for assisting at risk people are developed that provides for free, readily available access to health care and treatment. The health professional will often argue for the decriminalisation of the drug so that it can be obtained in a controlled manner and the purity of the product guaranteed. When considered against the characteristics of adolescence as provided by Arnett (2004), this approach appears to be the least detrimental to the social and personal development of the adolescent. Government programs, such as Ravesafe, adopt this approach. One of the prime reasons that this approach should prevail is that party drugs are seen by the user as being catalysts for self reflection and construction of identity. Their sense of self and social relationships results in a positive self-image which may be in contradiction to how they feel when in the adult world. The party drug tends to alleviate insecurity and doubt. Research has shown that there might be some overflow from the atmosphere of the rave party to real life. The need for early intervention arises from the research findings that drug abuse is often a precursor for youth suicide, crime and metal illness (VAAD, 2003). Interventionist strategies will view drug use as a problem which immediately places the interventionist in opposition to the youth culture. The clash between the pleasures of the drug and the potential harm of the drug creates a generational clash (Duff, 2003). To deal with the issue it is necessary to accept the reality of use and work on fostering environments that support safe use. If this is provided then it will reduce the ‘trial and error’ approach that is a feature of the risk behaviour of adolescents. VAAD (2003) found that the problem can be best solved through drug education that must resist seeing the youth culture as a homogeneous group. Adolescents involved in the rave scene come from a wide variety of backgrounds (Shapiro, 1999). Because there is little understanding of the attitudes of youth subgroups within the rave scene it is necessary for more research to be done (Baxter, 2003). In this way the content and approach of the drug education programme can directly appeal to the target segment. This will help in a more receptive response from the target group. In conclusion, the developmental characteristics of adolescence creates a natural disposition towards drug experimentation amongst some segments of teenagers. Party drugs are often seen as being part of the scene that assist in the integration of the individual with both self and the group that they belong to. Drug use can be used by the female gender to reconstruct identity. Given these features, the perspective that drug use should be a criminal offence resulting in punishment and long term consequences for the individual seems self defeating. The view that drug abuse has the potential to be a health problem will result in a community response that is more supportive to the individual. The safety of the drug can be established and the social stigma placed on adolescents can be removed. Social policy needs to consider the developmental characteristics of adolescence in its construction.

Addiction :: essays research papers

Addiction is compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance (as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol). Someone who is addicted or hooked psychologically believes that they cannot function without this substance in their bodies. Drug and alcohol addiction and tear families apart, they change individuals who once were the best people to be around with. Most addictions start at an individuals adolescence age where they just learning who they are and how to fit it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Drug addiction can and most of the time leads the individual to stealing from friends and even family. These individual do what ever is in the power to get a hold of their preferred drug. They are capable of hurting those who love them and the ones they love.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many warning signs to addictions which, include the list of the following:  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tolerance. If a person needs increasing amounts of a drug to feel high then they are developing tolerance.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Preoccupation with the drug. A preoccupied person thinks constantly about a drug  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Personality changes. Individuals withdraw from their friends and their family.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Solitary use. Individuals often begin using the drug as a social thing but then once they begin to use it alone they can be losing control.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Using drugs as medicine. People often use drugs to take the edge off stressful situation or unpleasant feelings. They may rationalize their use and make it see normal  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Continued use despises negative consequences. Drug dependence compels people to use in spite of problem or loss of friends. Some individuals do not become addicted as others do but no one knows why only that it has to do wit individual’s biology.

In Favor of Discontinuing the TASP Testing Program :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

In Favor of Discontinuing the TASP Testing Program Now that the TASP mandatory testing program has been in place for some time, we are better able to understand if the TASP should be continued or discontinued. Those opposed to eliminating the TASP testing program believe that the TASP helps colleges and universities to provide better classes to meet the needs of the students. Those in favor of eliminating the TASP testing program believe the test is discriminatory. I favor the elimination of the TASP testing program because the test is too expensive, the test is unfair to people with test anxiety, and the test keeps students from pursuing a college education. First, I favor the elimination of the TASP test program because the test is too expensive. The TASP test costs twenty-nine dollars to take. Paying twenty-nine dollars the first time may not seem so bad, but if you fail, you have to retake the test. Then, since you failed the test, you have to pay another twenty-nine dollars. Still think that is not bad? Well, if you take the test ten times, the testing fees add up to two hundred and ninety dollars. It is not fair that people should pay to take a mandatory test. The TASP test is taking twenty-nine dollars from you to take the test. Then, if only one section of the TASP needs to be completed, the person taking the test must pay twenty-nine dollars to only do a third of the test. It's probably easier to relate that the cost of the test is twenty-nine dollars for all three objectives, but for one objective to cost the same amount is absurd. The TASP test is too expensive and deserves to be eliminated. Second, I favor the elimination of the TASP testing program because the test is unfair for people with test anxiety. When a person walks into a classroom to take a test, that person thinks that he knows everything needed to know in order to pass. However, as soon as the teacher passes out the test, the student "freaks" out, and his mind goes blank. Test anxiety can cause people to fail the TASP test, and that doesn't seem fair. Then, the person must retake the test, and the same thing happens the anxiety "kicks" in. The person taking the test with anxiety is not likely to pass the test and it is unfair to put him through that ordeal.

The Psychology of Dreams

Why we dream: an analysis of contemporary research and theory on the function of dreaming Krista L. Hulm Essay Topic Why do we dream? Discuss with reference to psychological theories and research. Abstract Within classical psychoanalytic psychology, Freud’s (1900) conception of dreams is the most prominent dream theory among modern Western culture (Fosshage, 1983). Freud theorised that dreams serve a dual, compromise function. He suggested that unconscious, instinctual drive energy pushes for discharge, moving toward the expression of a consciously unacceptable impulse. The reduction in conscious restraints characteristic of sleep allows a symbolic, disguised dream expression of the repressed wish. The overt (manifest) content of the dream represents a compromise between the instinctual forces (latent content) striving for expression, on one hand, and the repressive forces of consciousness on the other (Freud, 1900). Freud assumed that the energy pushing for action would awaken the sleeper if not for the dream which, through symbolic discharge, allows a return to sleep. Therefore the dream is seen as serving the biological function of preserving sleep, with the psychological function of discharging an unacceptable wish that might otherwise burst destructively into waking life (Dallet, 1973). Various aspects of Freud’s dream theory have undergone review from the point of view of contemporary dream research (Breger, 1967; Foulkes, 1964). It is generally agreed that with respect to dream function in particular, the sleep preservation view is invalid and the underlying model on which the wish-fulfilment theory rests requires extensive revision. A study on REM sleep deprivation and its effects on depression found that when dream sleep was experimentally repressed in depressed patients, they were found to be more outgoing, energetic, more likely to engage with others and generally less unhappy (Cartwright, 1993). This may be due to dreams of depressed people having the characteristic of being more self-blaming. These findings contradict with Freud’s theory: if dreams are a safe expression of infantile wishes, why does this function fail to help the depressed? Despite the many problems inherent in Freud’s theoretical formulation of dream function, his far-reaching work has provided a basis for many of the contemporary theories discussed below. Contemporary research on dreams using brain-imaging studies contradict the view that content emerges from random signals (Morewedge & Norton, 2009). The hippocampus, which is critical to the acquisition of some types of memories, and the amygdala, which is important for emotional memories, are both seen to be active during REM sleep in brain-imaging studies (Nielson & Strenstrom, 2005). This understanding of the physiological aspects of dreams supports the idea that one of the functions of sleep itself is to draw together recent experiences with one’s goals, problems and desires (Paller & Voss, 2004). Fossage’s (2007) organisational model of dreams stemmed from such understandings. The model proposes that the core process and function of dreaming is to organise data. More specifically, dream mentation, like waking mentation, develops, maintains, and restores psychological organisation and regulates affect in keeping with shifting motivational priorities. Research shows that babies spend 50% of their sleep time in REM sleep, adults 25% and older people 15% (Breger, 1977). From the idea that REM sleep quantitatively decreases throughout the lifespan, a number of theorists (Breger, 1967; Reiser, 1990) suggest that dreaming fosters structuralisation of the nervous system through the establishment of neural memory networks or maps and babies spend more time in REM in order to establish maps and corresponding categories of organisation. This suggestion supports the organisational model of dreaming. Furthermore, the organisational model of dreaming includes a revision of psychoanalytic theory to explain the content of dreams concluding, in short, that dreams more directly reveal – through affects metaphors and themes – the dreamer’s immediate concerns (Fosshage, 2007). References Bulkeley, K. (1993). Dreaming is play. Psychoanalytic Psychology 10(4), 501-514. Retrieved September 8, 2009, from PsychARTICLES database. Cartwright, R. (2000). How and why the brain makes dreams: A report card on current research on dreaming. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 23, pp. 914-916. Fosshage, J. L. (1983). The psychological function of dreams: A revised psychoanalytic perspective. Psychoanalysis and Contemporary Thought, 6, 641-669. Fosshage, J. L. (2007). The organizing functions of dreaming: Pivotal issues in understanding and working with dreams. International forum of psychoanalysis, 16, 4, 213-221. Retrieved 14 August 2009, from Academic Search Premier database. Freud, S. (1900). The interpretation of dreams. Revonsuo, A. (2000). The reinterpretation of dreams: An evolutionary hypothesis of the function of dreaming. Behavioural and Brain Sciences, 23, pp. 877-901.

Learn to Play the Earnings Game Essay Example

Learn to Play the Earnings Game Essay Example Learn to Play the Earnings Game Essay Learn to Play the Earnings Game Essay Learn to Play the Earnings Game (and Wall Street Will Love You) The pressure to report smooth, ever higher earnings has never been fiercer. You dont want to miss the consensus estimate by a pennyand you dont have to. By Justin Fox In January, for the 41st time in the 42 quarters since it went public, Microsoft reported earnings that met or beat Wall Street estimates The 36 brokerage analysts who make the estimates were, as a group, quite happy about this the 57 cents per share announced by the software giant was above their consensus of 51 cents, but not so far above as to make them look stupid.Investors were happy too, bidding the already high-priced shares of the company up 4% the first trading day after the announcement. In short, for yet another quarter, Microsoft had kept its comfortable spot in the innermost sphere of corporate paradise. This is what chief executives and chief financial officers dream of: quarter after quarter after blessed quarter of not disappointing Wall Street.Sure, they dream about other things too mega-mergers, blockbuster new products, global domination. But the simplest, most visible, most merciless measure of corporate success in the 1990s has become this one: did you make your earnings last quarter? This is new. Executives of public companies have always strived to live up to investors expectations, and keeping earnings rising smoothly and predictably has long been seen as the surest way to do that.But its only in the past decade, with the rise to prominence of the consensus earnings estimates compiled first in the early 1970s by I/B/E/S (it stands for Institutional Brokers Estimate System) and now also by competitors Zacks, First Call and Nelsons, that those expectatio ns have become so explicit. Possibly as a result, companies are doing a better job of hitting their targets: for an unprecedented 16 consecutive quarters, more SP 500 companies have beat the consensus earnings estimates than missed them.Microsofts prodigious record of beating expectations is due in large part to the companys prodigious growth, from annual revenues of $198 million at the time of its IPO in 1986 to more than $9 billion now. It also helps that it dominates its industry. But even the Microsofts of the business world have a few tricks up their sleeve. The most obvious is to manage earnings. Managing earnings has a pejorative, slightly sleazy ring to it, but even at the most respected of companies accounting and business decisions are regularly made with smoothing or temporarily boosting earnings in mind.Not all are as up front about it as General Electric, where executives say openly that they dont think their company would be as popular with investors if its profits wer ent so consistent and predictable. But neither can it be a complete coincidence that of the top ten companies on Fortunes 1997 Most Admired list, sevenCoca-Cola, Merck, Microsoft, Johnson Johnson, Intel, Pfizer, and Procter and Gamblehave missed fewer than five quarters in the past five years, according to I/B/E/S (and two of the other three dont have any earnings estimates to meet.Meeting the estimates is made easier by the fact that theyre not set in a vacuum-analysts rely heavily on guidance from companies to form their forecasts, and companies have in recent years figured out that it pays to guide the analysts to a lower rather than a higher number. At least partly as a result of this expectational interplay, the price of missing a quarter has risen sharply, particularly among high priced growth stocks.In the growth stock fraternity, missing by a penny now implies the height of corporate boneheadedness that is, if you couldnt find that extra penny to keep Wall Street happy, th en your company must really be in trouble, and since missing by a 1 penny is already going to send your stock plummeting, youre better off missing by a dime or two and saving those earnings for the next quarter. Microsoft missed by a penny once back in 1988, when such behavior was not yet considered unbearable gauche.Nowadays its executives treat analysts to a constant patter of cautionary and even downbeat words about the future that the analysts say is a combination of genuine paranoia and astute expectations management. After a typically grim presentation by CEO Bill Gates and sales chief Steve Ballmer at an analysts meeting two years ago, Goldman Sacks analyst Rick Sherlund ran into the pair outside and said, Congratulations. You guys scared the hell out of people. Their response? They gave each other a high-five, Sherlund recalls.But Microsoft, unlike some companies less attuned to the rules of this game, also lets analysts know when theyre too pessimistic. Thats what CFO Mik e brown did, along with the usual warnings about slower growth ahead, during his regular quarterly conference call after the January 17 earnings release. He told the hundreds of analysts, money managers, and journalists listening in that earnings would be more than a nickel, less than a dime higher than predicted for the current quarter, and another penny higher in the next.How did he know this? That involves something that looks a lot like earnings managementalthough not of the sort that provokes penalties from the Securities and Exchange Commission or nasty newspaper articles about inflated profits. Starting around the unveiling of Windows 95 in August 1995, Microsoft has followed a uniquely conservative How the pros do it: method of accounting for the Plan ahead: Time store openings or asset sales to keep software it shipsdeferring earnings rising smoothly.In most cases, this is earnings recognition of large chunks of management at its least controversial. The master of this is r evenue from a product until long General Electric. after the product is sold. The Call it a sale: Madly ship products during the final days of a reasoning is that when weak quarter, or hold off if the quarters in the bag. Theres somebody buys software in leeway in revenue recognition too! Tech companies often 1996, theyre also buying the book sales aggressively to boost profits, but Microsoft is right to upgrades and customer support in 1997 and 1998.If it now demonstrating the virtues of belated recognition. hadnt been for the new Capitalize it: Usually its pretty clear what costs you accounting technique, the capitalize and which you expense. But there are gray areascompany would have had to -software RD is oneand you can get creative about the report a sharp rise in profits in length of time an asset should be depreciated. America the latter half of 1995, then a Online was, until it stopped in October, a noted aggressive sharp drop in the first half of capitalizer. 996 a turn of events that might Write it off: Take a big bath and charge a few hundred have sent its stock price reeling million in restructuring costs, and meeting future earnings instead of the smoothly rising targets will be easier. earnings that it did post. By the end of 1996, Microsoft had taken Use your reserves: Build them up for product returns, bad in $1. 1 billion in unearned loans, and insurance losses; drain them down to bolster revenue that it had yet to earnings when business sags. Outsiders say this is one of recognize on its income the secrets of GEs success, but the company says thats statements. Because of this, just not true. they know what theyve got in the bag from one quarter to the next, says Marshall Senk, a Robertson Stephens analyst who follows the company. Which led him to conclude that Microsoft does a better job of leveraging accounting I would almost say its a competitive weapon than anybody else in the industry. Microsoft treasurer Greg Maffei doesnt like this interpretation. Im a financial officer of this company, and I would be in deep doo-doo with the SEC if that was what was driving our revenue recognition policies, he says. Our revenue recognition policies are driven by GAAP. That isnt quite true. In fact, GAAP-the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles companies follow in preparing financial statementsmay in this area be driven by Microsoft, Virtually no other software company does its accounting the way Microsoft does, but standards setters, egged on by the industry leader, are starting to push in that direction. Thats how GAAP works. Its constantly changing and evolving, particularly in businesses that havent been around for long. This is only natural, but it can be maddening for people trying to understand what a companys reported earnings really mean. With industries that havent been in the market before, you tend to see a lot of monkey business because accountants, even if well intentioned dont know what the standards are, sa ys Martin Fridson, high-yield debt strategist at Merrill Lynch and a financial statement analysis guru. Underwriters of small companies and people who make a living doing IPOs are very conscious of the markets inability to see what the correct measures are. Add that confusion to the general cacophony of accounting quirks and judgment calls in financial statements, and you begin to realize that earnings are nothing but a vague, approximate measure anyway.One of modern accountings guiding principles is that of matching revenues and expenses over time. Thats why the cost of building a factory that will be churning out cars for 20 years gets expensed over those 20 years, not when the money is actually spent. But such matching requires making all sorts of guesses and estimates about the future. These judgments how much to set aside for potential loan losses, what rate of return to expect on a pension fund, over how many years to spread out the cost of a factory make earnings a better reflection of the long-term economic health of a company.They also provide ample room for managers to fudge. This is why financial analysts and money managers are supposed to know how to look beyond a companys bottom line to find the true economic value in its balance sheet or cash flow statement or, best of all the footnotes to its financial statements. In the bull market of the past 15 years, however, analytic rigor hasnt always been required to make good stock picks. Nobodys paying attention says Robert Olstein, who in 1970 co-authored an influential newsletter called the Quality of Earnings Report and now runs the $140 million Olstein Financial Alert fund. If Microsoft is the archetype of a hugely successful company trying to tone its earnings down so people dont get their expectations too high, Boston Chicken bespeaks an altogether different and more common phenomenon. It is a business that isnt successful yet, but has used accounting to help convince investors that it already is, or at least will be soon.This has enabled it to raise more than $800 million in stock and convertible debt offerings, money which has been essential not only to the companys rapid growth from 175 Boston Chicken restaurants when it went public in one of the decades hottest IPOs in November 1993 to 1,100 restaurants (rechristened Boston Markets) and 325 Einstein Brothers and Noahs bagel stores today but to its very survival. Thats because, economically speaking, Boston Chicken is still a big money loser, as probably can be expected of a startup restaurant chain.All the losses, however, have been incurred by financed area developers, or FADs, which is Boston Chicken lingo for large-scale franchisees that act a lot like subsidiaries but arent. If they were, their losses would have to lie reported on Boston Chickens income statement (they are instead disclosed, on an annual basis only, deep in the text of the companys SEC filings). The FADs get 75% of their startup capital in loans from Boston Chicken, and with that money they pay the company the royalties, franchise fees, and interest that allow it to report ever-rising profits.Once the restaurants start making money, Boston Chicken exercises its right to convert the loans into equity, officially dubbing the FADs subsidiaries and allowing their profits to flow to its bottom line. Thats the plan, at least, as outlined with somewhat more delicacy in the companys 1993 annual report. And so far it has worked. Sure, business publications have printed nasty articles about the company, accounting professors have warned their students about it, and short sellers have lined up in droves to place bets that its stock price will crash. But Boston Chickens stock price has more than held its own.Part of investors sanguinity has to do with the track record of the two former Blockbuster Entertainment bigwigs who run it, CEO Scott Beck and President Saad Nadhir, and the belief that America really is hungry for takeout chicke n, ham, and meat loaf. But it sure doesnt hurt, analysts and money managers say, that not only is Boston Chicken able to report earnings every quarter, but those earnings have so far never failed to meet or surpass analysts expectationseven though those analysts all know that the earnings in no significant way reflect how the company is doing. Its a very smart strategy, says Michael Moe, a growth stock strategist at Montgomery Securities. It has made enormous amounts of capital available to them at an attractive price that most companies can only dream of. Boston Chicken CFO Mark Stephens says his company was structured not to please Wall Street but to provide flexibility and motivate its franchisees. But he acknowledges that a byproduct of where we are with the structure is that we have a public entity with an earnings complexion that is attractive. He adds: Its like sausage. I love the product; just dont show me how its made. Another company that has used aggressive accounting t o raise money is America Online. AOLs practice of capitalizing and writing off over two years the cost of those ubiquitous free disks and ads it used to lure members was highly controversial and was abandoned in October. But for years it allowed the company to post earnings most of the time instead of losses, which helped it to raise more than $350 million on the stock market.Says Wharton School accounting professor Richard Sloan, referring to both Boston Chicken and AOL: They just view accounting as another marketing tool that they should use to try and promote their ideas. Boston Chicken and America Online are extreme cases. So is Microsoft. The mass of companies lead lives somewhere in between. When they manage earnings, they do it simply to smooth the ups and downs of business life, and of course to meet those Wall Street earnings estimates. Is there evidence of widespread earnings management? You bet. Looking at 17 years of I/B/E/S data on more than 1,000 companies, Jeff Payne of the University ofMississippi and Sean Robb of Canadas Wilfrid Laurier University found an unmistakable pattern of using accruals (i. e. , judgment calls) to manage earnings upward if they were below the analysts consensus and a somewhat less pronounced trend of managing them downward if they were above the consensus. General Electric, a company whose name invariably comes up when you ask Wall Streeters about earnings management, says it does what it does because the stock market demands it. We think consistency of earnings and no surprises is very important for us, says Dennis Dammerman, the companys CFO. Were a very complex, diverse company that no one from the outside looking in can reasonably be expected to understand in complete detail; so our story to the investing world is, we have a lot of diverse businesses, and when you put them all together they produce consistent, reliable earnings growth. And if something inconsistent comes along say a one-time gain from selling off a factory we have a pretty consistent record of saying, Okay, were going to take these large gains and offset them with discretionary decisions, with restructurings. These tactics have helped GE meet or beat expectations every quarter but one in the past five years, and they certainly havent hurt it among investors, even skeptical ones. They are using all sorts of techniques to smooth earnings, says Howard Schilit, whose Center for Financial Research and Analysis keeps institutional investors posted on companies earnings numbers may be hiding business troubles. If I wrote that to my clients, there would be a big yawn. Another investor favorite that produces awfully smooth earnings is Coca-Cola, which in the third quarter of last year took advantage of $520 million in one-time gains from a settlement with the IRS and the sale of some bottling operations to recognize $500 million in supposedly one-time hits. One of those hits, $200 million used to reduce the inventories of soft dri nk concentrate at bottling companies, was explained as a move to free up bottlers capital but was seen as an admission by Coke that it had been shipping concentrate early to artificially boost earnings.That hurt the companys stock price for a few months, but by taking the charge Coke gave itself the option of using inventory buildup at its bottlers to pad profits later. When they pull it out in 1998 or 1999 to keep up their 19% or 20% earnings growth, everyone will have forgotten, says Boy Burry, who follows Coke for Oppenheimer Co. Will everyone really forget? If financial markets are in fact efficient, economic reality will in the long run win out over accounting games.But the long run can seem awfully far away when youve got a posse of analysts breathing down your neck every three months. Many corporate executives also seem to think investors take earnings numbers at face value; they write outraged letters to the Financial Accounting Standards Board, accountings top rule-making body, whenever it proposes a change that might reduce reported earnings. They obviously dont believe in efficient markets, says Neel Foster, a FASB member and former treasurer of Compaq Computer. Academic evidence shows that generally, accounting changes dont result in changes in stock prices. But it also shows that people that make greater disclosures generally have a lower cost of capital. They dont believe that either. Even this doesnt explain why some companies seem to persist in managing earnings in the face of Wall Street disbelief. Food maker H. J. Heinz grew rapidly during the 1980s but has since needed repeated asset sales and other special items to keep earnings steadyand its stock has lagged.Last June the company announced quarterly earnings of 45 cents a share but failed to mention that four of those cents came from the sale of a magazine and two pet food brands. It was immaterial, a company spokesman says now, but it nevertheless infuriated some analysts, who found out only when they received the annual report a month later It didnt help the stock price either, although the stock later bounced back on rumors of a major restructuring. What might motivate such corporate behavior?One answer is money. High-level executives like to get paid a lot, and it so happens that many bonus plans including the one at Heinzare built around meeting earnings targets. The rise of performance related It so happens†¦ that many bonuses has taken earnings tweaking to new heights, say some executive bonus plans are market watchers. Theres no reliable measure of such activity, but built around meeting one rough gauge, comparing profits reported to the Internal earnings targets. Revenue Service by U. S. orporations with profits reported to shareholders (the measure that counts for bonuses) by companies on the SP 500, gives a clue. It shows some wild relative swings in SP earnings in the late 1980s and early 1990s, probably a result of big corporations using one tim e charges to pay for restructuring costs like plant closures. This write-off binge ended in 1994. Which could mean either that earnings quality is getting better or that companies are coasting to ever-higher earnings now because they hid ongoing costs back then.While theres no conclusive proof that managing earnings is on the rise, it is undeniable that the game is being played more aggressively than ever. This isnt necessarily bad. The good side of what a lot of people call the game of managing expectations is that companies realize that they have to give better guidance to the market as to what their prospects are, says Ed Keon, senior vice president for marketing at I/B/E/S.The downside of giving better guidance-apart from the hours of valuable top management time that it eats up is that the investors most interested in the estimates are not exactly the well-run corporations best friend. They are the momentum guys mutual fund managers and hedge fund jockeys and individual invest ors who jump on the bandwagon when a companys earnings growth is accelerating and beating the analysts estimates, and jump off the second it misses a quarter. When it stops, they sell you cannot break this algorithm, says a resigned Eric Benhamou, chief executive of 3Com Corp. which lost $7 billion in market value in a matter of weeks this year as it became known that its earnings for the quarter ended February 25 would nor not meet analysts expectations. The moral of the story: Unless youre a trader, ignore the short-term kabuki that the companies and the analysts perform for each other, but educate yourself about the accounting games that companies play. If enough investors did, it could mean that the smartest earnings and expectations management strategy of the 2000s will be dont bother.

Critical Analysis on De Tocquevilles Democracy in Essays

Critical Analysis on De Tocqueville's Democracy in Essays Critical Analysis on De Tocqueville's Democracy in America subject = HIS 131 U.S. History I title = Critical Analysis on De Tocqueville's "Democracy in America" Alexis De Tocquevilles Democracy in America delves deep into how the American States and the federal government would grow politically and socially under the umbrella of democracy. He sees the United States as a unique entity because of how and why it started as well as its geographical location. De Tocqueville explains that the foundations of the democratic process in America are completely different from anywhere else on the globe. The land was virginal and the colonies had almost complete sovereignty from England from the very beginning because they were separated by an ocean and financial troubles. The people who came to America were the oppressed and unhappy in England and all were trying to find a place where they could start anew and create a political structure that would facilitate an individual freedom unlike anything that they had previously experienced in Europe. De Tocqueville believed that the nature of democracy in the New World rested within the fact that all of the emigrants were basically from the same social strata, resulting in the first new country where there was no preliminary basis for an aristocracy. "Land is the basis of an aristocracyand [in America] when the ground was prepared, its produce was found to be insufficient to enrich a proprietor and a farmer at the same t ime(41)." He saw that even the soil of America was opposed to the structure of an aristocracy. There were also outside influences lending unvoiced support for the creation of this new democracy. Being an ocean apart from its mother country, who at this time did not have the financial reserves to oversee its colonies, let the Americans govern themselves. If they had not had this sovereignty at the beginning America might have become something completely different than it is today, but that was not the case, so these emigrants now had a fertile place to plant their ideas of a country founded upon the many ideas of the Enlightenment. Another large influence was the lack of neighbors. America had no worries of guarding and protecting its borders because there was not anyone there who could pose a threat. They could put all of their energies toward the creation of their democracy. This democratic nation was to have no aristocracy and only one major division between its people: the North and the South. De Tocqueville saw two very different attitudes in these regions. The North and the South had conflicting views as to how they were going to advance themselves in the economic and political arenas. But the introduction of slavery into labor was the major conflict between the two. "Slaverydishonors labor; it introduces idleness into a society, and with idleness, ignorance and pride, luxury and distressThe influence of slavery, united to the English character, explains the manners and the social condition of the Southern States(42)." With the advent of slavery, the South was creating a class system amongst themselves that would not exist in the other regions of the States. The few Southern founders were granted huge amounts of land with which to work, and instead of diving into the land themselves like the northerners did with their smaller pieces of land. They instead bought slaves and would eventually divide the country in a nasty dispute over their handling of affairs. He realized that the majority of the influences over public policy were the men in the North. They created the first public school system that was to be readily accessible to the majority of the people. The enlightened idea that every man should have access to knowledge was given exercise in this new nation, creating a highly learned society, but one that is not very intellectual. Schools teach specialized skills so that American can enter the work force as soon as possible, but gloss over any areas that have no value in work. Whereas in England, the few who do go on towards a higher education are actually being challenged and forced to expand their minds, higher education in America is available to many, but it is more specialized and very basic. This unlimited quantity, limited quality relationship is seem by de Tocqueville as an inherent part of a democratic society. This is because, "there is no classin which the taste for intellectual pleasures is transmitted with hereditary fortune and leisure and [wherein] intellect [is] held in honor(53)." Democracy is a facilitator of a blended society. The masses will be

Weekly Teacher Parent Communication Through Newsletters

Weekly Teacher Parent Communication Through Newsletters In the elementary classroom, parent communication is a critical part of being an effective teacher. Parents want, and deserve, to know whats going on in the classroom. And, more than that, by being proactive in your communication with families, you can avoid possible problems before they even start. But, lets be realistic. Who really has the time to write a proper newsletter each week? A newsletter about classroom happenings may seem like distant goal that will probably never happen with any regularity. Heres a simple way to send a quality newsletter home each week while teaching writing skills at the same time. From experience, I can tell you that teachers, parents, and principals love this idea! Each Friday, you and your students write a letter together, telling families about what happened in class this week and whats coming up in class. Everyone ends up writing the same letter and the content is directed by the teacher. Heres a step-by-step guide for this quick and easy activity: First, pass out a piece of paper to each student. I like to give them paper with a cute border around the outside and lines in the middle. Variation: Write the letters in a notebook and ask parents to respond to each letter over the weekend. At the end of the year youll have a diary of communication for the entire school year!Use an overhead projector or chalkboard so that the kids can see what youre writing as you do it.As you write, model to the kids how to write the date and greeting.Make sure to tell the students to address the letter to whoever they live with. Not everyone lives with a mom and a dad.Ask for input from the kids about what the class did this week. Say, Raise your hand and tell me one big thing we learned this week. Try to steer the kids away from reporting only fun things. Parents want to hear about academic learning, not just the parties, games, and songs.After each item you get, model how you write it into the letter. Add a few exclamation points to show excitem ent. Once youve written enough of past events, youll need to add a sentence or two about what the class is doing the next week. Usually, this information can only come from the teacher. This also gives you an opportunity to preview for the kids about next weeks exciting activities!Along the way, model how to indent paragraphs, use proper punctuation, vary sentence length, etc. At the end, model how to sign off the letter properly. Tips and Tricks: Early finishers can color in the border around the letter. Youll find that, after the first few weeks, the students will get quicker at this process and you wont need to set aside so much time for it.Tell the kids that theres no excuse for incorrect spelling in their letters because youve written everything for them to see.Make a copy of each letter and, at the end of the year, youll have a complete record of each weeks highlights!Perhaps as kids get used to this process, you will decide to allow them to write the letters independently.You may still want to supplement the weekly newsletters with your own monthly or bi-monthly newsletter. This teacher-produced letter can be lengthier, meatier, and of greater scope. Have fun with it! Smile because you know that this simple Guided Writing activity helps kids to hone letter-writing skills while you accomplish an important goal of effective parent-teacher communication. Plus, its a great way to recap your week. What more can you ask for? Edited by: Janelle Cox

Budgeting is a key component in management short and long term Essay

Budgeting is a key component in management short and long term planning - Essay Example Budgeting helps in figuring out the issues that are faced by the organization and the stakeholders of the organization (RICH, 2012, p.970). This done by finding the difference between the actual outcomes and the budgeted outcomes, if the actual outcomes are not consistent with the budgeted outcomes, the organization is said to have been experiencing issues that need to be resolved. Budgeting is a means through which alternatives are identified and analyze this is done to find the best alternative which will end up in providing fruitful results to the organization. Budgeting is an essential element in the planning role played by the management of an organization. It plays a key role in creating plans that are short and long term in nature. Both the short and long term goals of the organization are of great importance. The achievement of the long term goals is entirely dependent on the successful achievement of the short term goals of the organization. Short Term Planning A manager is involved in the process of making both short and long term planning. The plans that are created for a shorter period of time are created while keeping a deadline of one year or as long as two years in mind (SPEARMAN, 2007, p.194). The plans are created while analyzing expectations of earnings, cash inflow and outflow and expenditures conducted to obtain resources. The plans may be created for as long as one single month or even for as low as one single week. Short term plans created within the organization are heavily dependant on information obtained within the organization and these plans consists of detailed information of tactical objectives that an organization aims at achieving. The short term plans are well structured and hardly experience change with changes in environment, the outcomes of these plans are easily determinable and the outcomes can be analyzed quite frequently (NIEUWENHUIZEN, 2007, p.61). The plans of revenue earning and profit making that are short term in nat ure are devised in accordance to the current products offered by the organization and the current market in which the organization is operating. Short term profitability programs should be developed in accordance to different responsibilities and areas. Plans that are short term in nature are dependent on departments and all departments create their own short term plans. Once short term plans for each department is created, all the short term plans are viewed and reviewed together as all functions/departments are dependent on each other for their success. For the creation of short term plans, involvement of lower level managers is quite significant. Line manager is one of the lower level managers who play the most important role in defining the short term objectives and short term plans should be finally devised with the ultimate aim of achieving long term targets of the organization. Long Term Planning The nature of the long-term planning is quite strategic and it covers a broad ra nge of purposes. This kind of plan is scheduled to be completed within five to ten years of operations and it is formed in accordance to the future operations of the organization. These plans are not only based on the conditions of the internal environment of the organization, they are created while giving importance to the external environment which includes the

People Resourcing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

People Resourcing - Essay Example Ensuring better employee relations is as important in public sector companies as for any other organisation. However, it is generally observed that most employees in the public sector organisations suffer from stress (Health and Safety Executive, 2002). Mersytravel is the operating name for Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive; which oversees the provision of public transport on Merseyside. It was initially observed that the employee morale was low and they used to get tensed. The company identified that as per Frederick Herzberg two factor hygiene and motivation theory, some factors like job security, salary, and status etc., that are the provided by public sector organisations do not motivate employees and don not contribute in ensuring employee well being. Instead, if these factors are not present, this may lead to employee dissatisfaction. In contrast, as per the theory, employees will feel motivated if they are provided growth and advancement opportunities, and are recognised for their achievements (Accel Team, 2006). In order to improve employees' morale and to enhance employees' knowledge, the company established a learning and development strategy in consultation with its employees in 2003. A scheme called Merseylearn was developed that focuses on providing learning and development opportunities for hard to reach learners such as shift workers. They can use this system 24 hours a day to develop their skill sets. This has also enabled the staff to undertake courses at home (Investors in People, 2006). A wide range of other learning and development programmes have also been developed that have helped staff to undertake language and literacy training within workplace. The company gained myriad of benefits from this approach. Employees' turn over rate has sharply declined; sickness days, which were quite high previously, dropped by an average 3 days between 2003 and 2006; staff promotions have increased by 10% as a result of training programmes; staff participation in work related participation schemes has also risen by 50% per cent (Investors in People, 2006). This steady increase in employees' productivity indicate that the training programmes add to the employee well being by improving employees' skills, knowledge and behavior towards

Critical analysis of an issue(s)from the course Assignment

Critical analysis of an issue(s)from the course - Assignment Example As the world has become a global village, it revolutionizes the trend of the whole globe. Business is dispersing over the seas. It gradually dimities the boundaries and bring the people closer to each other. Globalization also requires the expansion of multinational organizations. To achieve better results, it is also necessary to understand the culture of people of different races. Culture has impact on communication also. Globalization has also certain effects on our personal world that will be discussed later in this paper. Globalization has increased the impact of cultural values and issues on people. Culture is defined as norm, values, believes behaviors and attitudes of certain group of people; community etc. These behaviors may vary from person to person depending on their costumes, languages, thoughts and perceptions. When the people belonging from different races interact with each other, an impact of cross culture issues seems to appear. This usually happens in multinational organizations where employees are brought from all around the world. The interaction between different cultures may lead to some cross cultural issues. Most of the times, the issue appears between eastern cultures and western cultures. In this paper we will enlighten such issues (Caetano, 2001). Another feature that is brought in by globalization is increasing technological advancements. Technology is the synthetic enhancement of human power. It makes us stronger and smarter. It is the technology that brings human beings from Stone Age to this modern era. Actually technology is the fact due to which world has become global village. It has increased the efficiency of business. It is the mean which provides luxurious life to the people and modifies the living standard. But it is confined to some people; it is observed that with the development of technology, unemployment is also increasing. In

College Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

College Education - Essay Example Some of the most important aspects of a college education is an improvement in written and verbal communication skills, project management skills including scheduling and sticking to deadlines, and the ability to carry out broad interdisciplinary research. All these are useful in the course of a career and cannot be found to that extent in the case of a high school education. One of the most important factors that recommend college education is the recognition it has from the professional and the industrial world. Job providers use a college degree as a standard on which to evaluate a prospective employee. A basic bachelor's degree is a minimum requirement for most well-paying jobs in the industry, and there is a glass ceiling on those who do not have a college education. The U.S. is gradually moving away from being a manufacturing economy to a knowledge-based economy, and a bachelor's degree today has almost the same value as high school education had half a century earlier. In a gl obalized economy where more and more jobs are being outsourced to Asian nations, the only hope for a good job for a student is to take college education as an obvious option. Your college education keeps you company well into your career, in terms of skills that you learned which were not seen as immediately useful, but come in handy mid-career, when you are eying that promotion or considering changing jobs. It can be your safety net, sturdy enough to fall back on, just in case you come upon hard times in life.

Governor Rod Blagojevich Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Governor Rod Blagojevich - Case Study Example Illinois has a sordid history of corruption in politics, but the public has become more sensitive to the issues of illegal campaign contributions, inappropriate lobbying, and self-enrichment. Governor Blagojevich should have saved the legislature's time, the taxpayers' money, and the dignity of the office by resigning before he was impeached. In the face of escalating unemployment and an economic crisis, the Illinois legislature should have been working to resolve these important issues, rather than debating the issue of impeachment. Blagojevich owed it to the public to step down and allow the state government to attend to more important matters than his alleged bribery. The final vote of 59-0 came after four days of valuable government time, and indicates that there was never a possibility for the Governor to fight these charges in the legislature (Long and Pearson). The public would have been better served if the Governor would have accepted the inevitable outcome and resigned at an earlier date. The pending impeachment stagnated state government, while the public debt continued to escalate. The Illinois state debt is in excess of $114 billion and continues to go up every day (Surviving Illinois' Debt).

College Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

College Education - Essay Example Some of the most important aspects of a college education is an improvement in written and verbal communication skills, project management skills including scheduling and sticking to deadlines, and the ability to carry out broad interdisciplinary research. All these are useful in the course of a career and cannot be found to that extent in the case of a high school education. One of the most important factors that recommend college education is the recognition it has from the professional and the industrial world. Job providers use a college degree as a standard on which to evaluate a prospective employee. A basic bachelor's degree is a minimum requirement for most well-paying jobs in the industry, and there is a glass ceiling on those who do not have a college education. The U.S. is gradually moving away from being a manufacturing economy to a knowledge-based economy, and a bachelor's degree today has almost the same value as high school education had half a century earlier. In a gl obalized economy where more and more jobs are being outsourced to Asian nations, the only hope for a good job for a student is to take college education as an obvious option. Your college education keeps you company well into your career, in terms of skills that you learned which were not seen as immediately useful, but come in handy mid-career, when you are eying that promotion or considering changing jobs. It can be your safety net, sturdy enough to fall back on, just in case you come upon hard times in life.

Case study for Strategic Management Research Paper

Case study for Strategic Management - Research Paper Example The business that HP has generated in the highly competitive market of information technology is remarkable. There are many competitors globally but HP has performed better in 2006. HP is known for its innovative products. As a global company, HP evolved with their innovative product development. HP has its own organizational structure based upon the business segment. There has been a continuous growth of sales, EPS (earning per share) and net revenue. The channel of distribution emphasizes upon the collaboration of various business partners. The objective of sales and marketing policies are through programs that perk up profit margins. In the segment of technology, there is a huge competition as there are many competitors. Dell Inc, Mac, IBM, Canon, and many other players are present to compete in the global market. HP and many other corporations were competing in the market; and among all DELL was the strong competitor. China has shown the largest consumption pattern in the computer segment. The focus should be towards the Chinese market. Toshiba has been able to create a market in China. HP should also compete with Toshiba in the computer section. The technology merchandise PLC (product life cycle) are of shorter span of time. Consumers expect more out of technology and unique products with different features. There are brands that provide the new concept of technical merchandises. But HP has been successful in providing unique products that have been developed through their efforts in R&D and innovative thinking. The market for the technical devices is not restricted to single or several segment of market. This enters at all the segments and with better policy, the higher market share can be obtained. In technological market, there are many choices of products in different segment operating nationally or internationally. The product features and the brand create the difference and there lies the

Bylaws of Natural Health Essay Example for Free

Bylaws of Natural Health Essay Section 1: Membership shall consist only of the Director/President, Jason Wilson. ARTICLE III AMENDMENTS Section 1: These Bylaws may be amended when necessary. ARTICLE VI Restrictions on Actions 1. All the assets and earnings of the Corporation shall be used exclusively for its exempt purposes, including the payment of expenses incidental thereto. No part of any net earnings shall inure to the benefit of any employee of the Corporation or be distributed to its Directors, officers, or any private person. 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of these bylaws, the Corporation will not carry on any activities not permitted by an organization exempt under Section 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code, 1986, or the corresponding provision of any future federal law, or organizations whose contributions which are exempt under Section 170(c)(2), Internal Revenue Code, 1986, or the corresponding provision of any future federal law. The Corporation shall have no capital stock, pay no dividends, distribute no part of its net income or assets to any Directors, Officers, and private property of the subscribers, Directors or Officers shall not be liable for the debts of the Corporation. 3. No substantial part of the Corporation’s activity shall be for the carrying on of a campaign of propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation. The Corporation shall not participate in any political campaign, will not engage in political campaigns or attempt to influence legislation or interfere with any political campaign on behalf or in opposition to any candidate for public office. 4. In particular, but not without limitation of the generality of the foregoing paragraph, during such time as the Corporation may be considered a private foundation as defined by Section 509(a), Internal Revenue Code, 1986, or the corresponding provision of any future federal law, it shall not: A. Fail to distribute its income for each taxable year at such time and in such manner as not to become subject to the tax on undistributed income imposed by Section 4942, Internal Revenue Code, 1986, or the corresponding provision of any future federal law. B. Engage in any act of self dealing as defined in Section 4941(d), Internal Revenue Code, 1986, or the corresponding provision of any future federal law. C. Retain any excess business holdings as defined in Section 4943(c), Internal Revenue Code, 1986, or the corresponding provision of any future federal law. D. Make any investment on such manner as to subject it to tax under Section 4944, Internal Revenue Code, 1986, or the corresponding provision of any future federal law. E. Make any taxable expenditures as defined in Section 4945(d), Internal Revenue Code, 1986, or the corresponding provision of any future federal law. These bylaws were adopted on July 30, 2012. Jason Wilson, President

The Principles Of Relationship Building Children And Young People Essay

The Principles Of Relationship Building Children And Young People Essay Effective communication plays vital role in developing positive with children, young people and adults. To build a positive relationship with children, young people and adults. As a TA you have to model the positive and effective communication skills between you and your other peers. You can do this by approaching and responding in positive communication, making the children feel comfortable in your presence or while you are supporting them. The effective communication is important for developing positive relationship with a child can often take sometimes. In my practice we reinforce this by greeting the children with smile, good morning and asking how are you? We also use Makaton signs while greeting. We also give chance to children to tell anything they want share with us. Its good that while you are talking with children get down to their level and give the positive response while communicating to children. If you are communicating with reception children, use short sentences and easy words. Build a relationship with by children by asking their favourite this, make an eye contact as this will boost the confidence of the child. As when the child or young people feel relaxed they will the child education and development. Explain the principles of relationship building with children, young and adults. (1.2) In my view all good relationships are built on warmth, caring, mutual respect and a willingness to listen to and accept one another. Relationships with children are especially tender and deserve extra attention and care as children are developing their concepts of the world and their place in it. Children look to the relationships with caring adults in their lives to answer many questions. They want to know, Do I belong? Am I doing all right? Do you see who I am? and Am I safe with you? They may not ask these questions with words, but they are looking to their relationships for the answers. Its important that you communicate how much you enjoy having the child or young adult you want to build a relationship with in your life. You can do this simply by giving the priority to the child or young person and leave everything else for a moment and giving them your full attention and a warm look. Show the child or young person or adult that you are pleased and fully attentive to whatever the child or young person presents. Youll be amazed where things go when we make time for them to unfold. In my practice we implement by giving the child the priority for example if I am writing the observation or busy in any activity and child comes to me . Then give the importance to child putting that activity aside for while and responding them positively. Explain how different social, professional and cultural contexts may affect relationships and the way people communicate. (1.3) Different social, professional and cultural contexts may affect relationships and the way people communicate because of a lack of understanding of one anothers background and or/culture. There are several behaviours that may be perceived differently by people. When communicating with others we need to consider the context in which we are working, we need to adapt the way we communicate in different situations. We should also remember that different cultures will have their own norms of behaviour which may extend to gestures, body language and eye contact. Explain the skills needed to communicate with children, young person and adult. (2.1) As a TA You have to demonstrate many skills while communicating with the children , young person and adult. It is really important that you give the opportunities to the children , young person or adult to talk about their views or any concerns .for example in my practice we done an activity regarding the expression or how you are feeling today ? after finishing the activity we gave the chance to every child if he/ she wants to discuss how is he feeling today and why? . You have show the respect to their views by active listening and valuing their views. While you were listening them make sure to have an eye contact and if communicating with child show your interest by saying different expressive work like thats sound amazing or praising them if they are telling about their good act .you have to get down to their level while communicating with the children. Get involved with children while communicating for example if the child is talking about a story book ask different question like what is your favourite character , did your like the story ? , Which part you find interesting in the book? Explain how to adapt communication with children and young people for: the age of child or young person , the context of communication and communication differences.(2.2) We have to adapt different way of communication with children and young people . As children of different ages will have various levels of attention and requirements than that of an older child, younger children who are starting school will require lots of support and reassurance in order for them to adjust to a school environment and develop their independence. As a TA You can do with this by praising and encouraging the child to build up good relationship and friendships with other children or children they may not usually associate with. When communicating with younger children it is really very important that we make an eye contact with the child and use simple instructions broken down into manageable steps. With some children with educational needs you may have to use alternative forms of communication like in our practice we use hands gestures, pictures or symbols. With an older child they still require lots of encouragement, praise and approval in order to improve their social skills. We also need to give older children opportunity to talk and express their views and opinions and it is vital that you make them feel that you are interested in listening to them. An older child still needs to understand boundaries and behaviour expected from them. The context of the communication; We have to change the verbal communication according to the situation we find ourselves in when with children or young people. If we are working in a more social location in school . For example in my practice when are in the playground or outside area then we use to communicate the children in very friendly way involve in what they are playing by giving different ideas of games they can play. It will gives us the opportunity to build relationships with the children. In a situation such as a learning activity or if I am working with target groups then it is important that the children are focused and can work without any distractions in order to complete the activity. At that time my way communicating with children will be forma, firm and proficient as I am working are in class and in an educational environment When working with children or young people with communication difficulties it is vital that we ensure patience and understanding as they will need to take more time . If a child has a speech difficulties such as stammer then they could feel anxious or nervous when trying to say something so it is important that we try not to speak for them or guess what they are trying to say as this may add to their anxiety. In my practice we use the resources such as PECS (picture exchange communication system) which is a form of alternative communication which uses pictures instead of words. And also use Makaton; a simple form of sign language which uses signs and picture symbols as well as speech. Explain the main differences between the communication with children and young people. (2.3) When communicating with the children, the language used should be appropriate to their age and understanding. Children need simpler terms than young person and also need to think of concentration levels and attention spans. Make sue that you never interrupt children and never dismiss anything they are saying; this will only lower their self esteem. Never laugh or hurry them when they are speaking. Active listening, taking note of their views and opinions. Showing smile and being polite to them. Provide the opportunities to young children to develop the communications skills, taking their ages in your mind. Use of non verbal communication, written communication like grammar and handwriting We can also communicate with them in formal or informal language, they are more self conscious when speaking in front of others. If Young person who have difficulty in social skills, adults communicate with using good manners may help building up social skills. Explain how to adapt communication to meet different communication needs of adults.(2.4) Communication with the adults, use the respectable language , When we are communicating with adults it is important to address them by their preferred title this in turn is showing respect. It is important for them to feel comfortable with you, especially since you are going to be working closely with them in the classroom, In my practice we reinforce that by showing respect their views and ideas. We also encourage the courteous and polite way of communication in my practice. As a TA I provide all support they might need in the classroom or around school. This will make it easier to work in a team and therefore less likely to cause friction in the setting, this will also make you a good role model for children as well as the adults. Explain how to manage the disagreements with children , young people and adults. (2.5) Everyday kinds of conflict that happen all the time in schools . However to deal with these disagreement you should follow the school policy and procedures, You should not to deny them help if they want it, but to give them as much opportunity to sort out their problems for themselves without taking over and doing it for them. In most circumstances the schools use procedure guide line that could be listen calmly to the both sides, You Should encourage them to reflect I can see you are very upset. I can understand why you are annoyed. As a TA you should give the child opportunity to resolve the problem for him/herself Is this something you can sort out for yourself or do you need my help? . Listens carefully to both sides, while insisting that each side respects the others opportunity to speak. If you are working with nursery children and they squabbling over something suppose a Push chair, you should first wait and see if they can resolve or sort it by themselves often children do. However if they are unable to sort it then you can step in and ask both children and then putting their ages into your mind you can explain them: 1. If there are two prams so they can both play with prams or 2. If there is only one pram so I will explain they have a choice, they can either play (and share) together and one push, whilst the other holds on, on one side and then swap over or 3. They must decide who is going to play with it on their own for a few minutes often the older/more able child is able to understand that they will have a turn very soon. Explain that you will make a note of the time if they choose this option. This is a good time to explain that it is much more fun to share because they have a friend to play with, very rarely have I found that a child wants to play alone unless of course they are very young and are not at the stage where they are looking to form relationships Another example in my practice I recently come up with a disagreement between two children. They are arguing on the scarf claiming that it belongs to both of them, then they come to me by saying that this scarf belongs to me and child b is also saying this scarf belongs to me. I said to them I have to speak them one by one and listened to them then we decided to go the coat pegs to make sure if they had a same scarf , by going their and having conversation with both children we come up with one thing that one child has a name on his scarf. After that we checked on the peg and found another scarf with the name , and they both got their scarf and disagreement is resolved. Summarise the main points of legislation and procedures covering confidentiality, data protection and the disclosure of information.(3.1) Every Adult who is working with the children or young people should have the knowledge of the legislations and how they are using in their practice. As a TA my responsibility is to keep the information confidential and record it wherever needed. In our practice we reinforce it by using the data protection act 1998 as a guide for our school procedures. All staff use this and follow that guideline. In my practice if a parent come to me and discuss any medical condition regarding the child I always record in our class book and make a copy for sence as well. I pass on that information to the teacher or Senco, depending on child educational needs. We are not allowed to discuss any school records with the parents or any other member of staff. In school we can gather some information about the child which is related to needs in the school such as dietary needs or any allergies child may have, any educational needs, medical information like if a child have to take any medication during the school time or any medical condition which can effect the child education . As a Ta you cannot disclose any information as this is the breach of confidentiality .You can only do this when it is need to know situation like a child has some medical needs which have to cover in the school by doing the parent consent. Explain the importance of reassuring children, young people and adults of the confidentiality of shared information and the limits of this. (3.2) Children, young people and adults need to know confidentiality will be honoured unless their, or others safety and well-being is threatened, a crime has or is likely to be committed, and a professionals knowledge of and access to the child, young person or adults information will not be abused, in the same way that it is important for professionals to understand how important shared information is, where and how its stored, transported and disclosed to other appropriate professionals. The school has a Confidentiality Policy, which all staff needs to be aware of, this sets out the schools aims and objectives relating confidentiality and gives guidelines on how to handle confidential information. The Data Protection Act 1998 states that any organisation holding confidential information should be registered with the Data Protection Commission. The Act gives eight principles of practice that govern the use of personal information. Such information must be processed fairly and lawfully, we can only use it for the purpose for which was gathered. It should be adequate, relevant and not excessive, also very accurate and kept no longer than necessary. The information should be processed in line with the individuals rights and kept it in secure place and discard it when it is not necessary. Justify the kinds of situation when confidentiality protocols must be breached. (3.3) As a TA when you work with children and young people will come to know most of the personal information like date of birth, address and contact details and also sensitive information like behavioural issues, some medical information, family background, whether parents are divorcing and so on. It is the responsibility of the adult to keep this information confidential. You must protect the identity of the child they work with and that of their families and carers. You must do everything in their power to protect the privacy of every child and adult. This can be done by keeping their personal information safe and secure. You can pass it on those who have authorised and legitimate reason to have the information only after they have permission from their parents and carers. This involves parents signing a consent form. If parents refuse permission then the school would not able to pass on the information even if it involves a behavioural specialist working with a child who has special needs.

Does Business have Social Obligations? Essay -- Business Management St

Does Business have Social Obligations? In today's society people are being laid off or losing jobs everyday. Many times it is because a company is going out of business, or may not need as many employees. The company often times cannot afford to pay extra workers. During these circumstances, a question of responsibility and obligations begin to rise. Should businesses in today's free market economy have an obligation to be socially responsible for these actions which the businesses or company carries out? Businesses operating in a free market economy have limited obligation to be socially responsible. People who lose their jobs because a company is going out of business do not have a choice in the matter. They have not done anything wrong , but happen to be in the wrong place...

The body of the Indian Woman: A tool of nationalistic discourse Essay

The body of the Indian Woman: A tool of nationalistic discourse The genre of Bollywood film has recently become a popular means of entertainment for the non-resident Indian as well as the western audience. The vibrant color, spontaneous dance numbers, and other alluring factors may have contributed in the popularity of Bollywood films. However, for the NRI, Bollywood films are mean of a connection to the motherland; it brings a sense of nostalgia through cultural and tradition practices. In Chutney Popcorn and Bride and Prejudice, we see how these cultural practices and tradition are preserved by using the woman’s body. A woman’s body is a tool of producing the norms of the Indian national discourses; yet, the woman’s body can be utilized to resist such norms. Norms of rituals, engagement, marriage, procreation, and creation of family are tools that are utilized by Indian society to maintain the heteronormative discourses of the nation. To understand how these film produce and contest such norms, we must look with a critical eye of how the Indian woman’s body is utilize to achieve these goals. Scholars such as Anupama Arora and Christine Geraghty have analyzed Chutney Popcorn and Bride and Prejudice, respectively by viewing the Indian woman’s body as a tool of reproducing and contesting heteronormative discourses of the Indian nation. By following the technique used by Arora and Geraghty, we view these films with a critical eye. First, we must acknowledge that Chutney Popcorn and Bride and Prejudice are different films that tackle similar issues. Chutney Popcorn is an independently made film about a Lesbian NRI living in New York. While Bride and Prejudice is a multimillion dollar film, created by renowned director Gurinder Ch... ...agent of their own will; meaning, they made decisions for themselves without â€Å"falling under pressure.† Reena is the lesbian woman who is the agent of her own will that is not constrained by expectations and culture; however, in the process we see her yearning for acceptance by her mother. Her pregnancy both symbolizes resistance and conformity for pregnancy is a gendered expectation for women; but the fact that she is a lesbian complicates things. Her sexual orientation provides a means of resistance to the idea of a heterosexual family. Lalita on the other hand, follows the norms of Indian culture yet she becomes the agent of her own will by choosing to love Darcy, a white man over Mr. Kholi an American NRI. The ability of both characters to be the agent of their own provides a tool of halting the use of a woman’s body as a tool of promoting oppressive norms.

Harry Potter Essay

There are so many things one has to do to be considered a hero. For instance, the stereotypical hero is strong, handsome, and does something spectacular like saving someone’s life or a scientific breakthrough. However, not all heroes have to have these traits. Harry Potter is not a stereotypical hero by any means. He isn’t strong, or handsome, but he is very much a hero. Many heroes’ lives follow a pattern. As a hero, Harry Potter follows the same cycle. In the beginning, Harry Potter is living with his Aunt, Uncle, and cousin, the Dursley’s. He soon finds out that he is eligible to go to Hogwarts. The School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He accepts the invitation after much confrontation with his Uncle about the subject, and a little help from his friend, Hagrid, a fellow wizard. He then finds out about how he got the â€Å"z† shaped scar on his forehead. Voldemort, the most powerful dark magic wizard, gave it to Harry Potter after killing his parents. Once Harry Potter arrived at the school, Voldemort began to wreck havoc on the school and this is where Harry Potter’s journey begins. Harry Potter undergoes so many challenges, some more important than others. One miniscule challenge for him is to get accustom to magic and learning and remembering many spells that will come in hand later. He was somewhat isolated from the rest of the wizards and witches since it’s his first year at Hogwarts, but he befriends Ron Weasley and Hermoine Granger. Along the way they definitely help him in his quest. After spending so much time with Hagrid, Harry finds out that Nicholas Flamel is the maker of the sorcerer’s stone, which gives people unlimited life. Harry originally thought that Severus Snape, the defense against the dark arts teacher, was after the stone. He then finds out that Voldemort is after that stone and is very weak and needs that stone so he can live forever and fulfill his dream of taking over the wizarding world. Harry Potter’s final test was when Hermione, Ron, and he, had to maneuver their way past fluffy, the three- headed, giant dog, catch a snitch (a golden ball used in the game of quidditch), and play a life- sized game of chess to reach the chamber which held the sorcerer’s stone. Once he reached the chamber, he found Professor Quirrell trying to steal the sorcerer’s stone because he is possessed by Voldemort. Harry then fought Voldemort, retrieved the stone, and destroyed it, along with Voldemort. When Harry woke up he realized he was in the hospital , and Dumbledore, the headmaster, was there to congratulate and thak him for stopping Voldemort, and revealed to him that he was prone to Voldemort’s deadly spells because his mother sacrificed herself for Harry when he was a child which put a protective shield around Harry. Once back to health, Harry was proclaimed a hero by all. In conclusion, heroes come in all shapes and sizes. It’s not all about looks, money, and possessions. It’s about what they did to become a real hero. Many still believe that stereotypes will always be right and that’s the only way you can be a hero, but even then, people still have different opinions on who is good-looking, or how much money you have to have to be considered rich.

New Hire Communication Essay

†¢Planning ? Define the purpose. To communicate the company culture, process, procedures, and general information for a new hire. ?Define the audience. New Hires. ?Identify the channel(s) of communication and why you selected that channel. The channel of communication that I selected for the new hire communication is email. I chose to send the new hire communication by email because it is instantly sent to the new hire at no cost to the company. †¢Writing ? Create the message. Welcome to Dutch Bros Coffee,Congratulations on your new position with Dutch Bros. We are truly pleased that you have chosen us as your employer. Since being founded in 1992, our goal remains to ensure that our customers are always satisfied with their beverage purchases. Here at Dutch Bros. , we believe in lovin’ life and keeping it positive. We strive to pass the good vibes on to our employees and customers. At Dutch Bros. We serve up a variety of beverages that can be infused with a number of different flavors. This fast paced work environment requires staff to work side by side as a team to successfully keep the line moving and the coffee and drinks flowing. Again, I want to welcome you to the Dutch family. We are truly pleased NEW HIRE COMMUNICATION 3 that you have accepted this opportunity to serve up a cup of sunshine to the wonderful citizens of Phoenix, AZ †¢Completing ? Proofread, revise, and submit. Welcome to Dutch Bros Coffee, Congratulations on your new position with Dutch Bros. We are truly pleased that you have chosen us as your employer. Since being founded in 1992, our goal remains to ensure that our customers are always satisfied with their beverage purchases. At Dutch Bros. We serve up a variety of beverages that can be infused with a number of different flavors. This fast paced work environment requires staff to work side by side as a team to successfully keep the line moving and the coffee and drinks flowing. We strive to pass the good vibes on to our employees and customers. Here at Dutch Bros. , we believe in lovin’ life and keeping it positive. We expect our employees to arrive on time at work in clean casual clothes and a positive work attitude. Again, I want to welcome you to the Dutch family. We are truly pleased that you have accepted this opportunity to serve up a cup of sunshine to the wonderful citizens of Phoenix, AZ Kelli Woodruff NEW HIRE COMMUNICATION 4 References Dutch Bros Coffee. (1992-2014). Retrieved from http://dutchbros. com/AboutUs/.

Supervisory Skills Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Supervisory Skills - Research Paper Example The leader will act as a mentor, coach and teacher to gain support for meeting productive outcomes and performance targets. â€Å"Authentic relationships evolve over time† (Starnes, Truhon & McCarthy, 2010, p.5). Motivational problems can be overcome through more visible interaction in the management environment and by allowing decentralized decision-making to occur where solutions are provided horizontally rather than top-down. This will improve a sense of social belonging and remove layers of power distance that can de-motivate and also improve the self-esteem that leads to better enthusiasm in job role function. The long-term plan hinges on success in using transformational leadership design to gain commitment and improve motivation. Once establishing the foundation of a positive corporate culture built on knowledge-sharing and team function, as well as emphasis on human resources development, the Quality Control department will undergo sweeping changes related to total quality management. Each director will utilize a balanced scorecard to measure individual performance and the performance of production as well as research and development, which will be reported to the VP. The total quality management approach will consist of the Delphi Method, a qualitative forecasting tool involving multiple stakeholders in which solutions are brainstormed recurrently until new processes or systems needed for improvement are identified (Rowe & Wright, 1999). The Delphi Method will improve relationship development among colleagues, improve knowledge transfer, and open the doors for innovation by providing multitudes of solutions to improve quality and performance in each director’s division. This will further emphasize cultural development and improve competitive advantage in human capital among competing firms in this industry. Reorganization is required only in the factory line, which must be

Intrime Report-E-cigarette Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Intrime Report-E-cigarette - Essay Example Thereafter a conclusion is drawn. This literature survey examines the issues of electronic cigarette. It begins with a definition of electronic cigarette. The similarity between this type of cigarette and the conventional one is also critically examined and reviewed here and the difference brought out clearly. The benefits, if any and the health risks of this cigarette are also looked at in this survey. Furthermore, a brief history, components and legal aspects of this type of cigarette are well examined. Electronic cigarette, also known as a vapor cigarette can be defined as an electrical inhaler which is normally known to vaporize a polyethylene glycol or glycerin, a liquid solution, into a mist known as aerosol. This combination is familiar with the stimulation of tobacco smoking. Electronic cigarette has a similarity with the conventional cigarette in its physical form. The design is actually similar to that of the conventional cigarette (Gilbert Ross, 2012, p.98). Besides, the amount of nicotine that is released is also almost equal to that which is released by the conventional cigarette. The only difference comes in the type of inhalation. While in e-cigarette, the inhalation is electrified, the conventional cigarette is manually inhaled. The origin of e-cigarette can be traced back to 1963 when one Herbart Gilbert patented an idea which resulted to a device that was referred to as a smokeless non tobacco cigarette. This effectively eliminated and replaced the burning of tobacco and paper with heated, flavored and moist air. This device was capable of heating the solution of nicotine and as a result produced steam. This individual was approached by several companies. Unfortunately his device was never commercialized and so by 1967, the idea was thrown into the dustbin of history. In 2000, Hon Lik, a Chines pharmacist, invented the idea of utilizing piezoelectric ultrasound to aid in vaporization of a pressurized liquid jet

Read part 4 to 6 from the attachment of Meditation on first Essay

Read part 4 to 6 from the attachment of Meditation on first philiosophy and follow the insturction in details - Essay Example The existence of God, although greatly doubted by many earthiest, exhibits itself in the mind and the soul as nobody ahs been able to explain the non-existence of God and whether the soul dies and the body dies (Rene, 2008). The author of the book is a strong catholic believer and had devoted his time in the demonstration of his belief, God exists and that the body and the mind are very distinct. He is very elaborate and does not fail to recognize the beliefs of other (although he and the others lack proof) about the existence of God and the distinct nature of the soul and the body (Rene, 2008). The writer, as a strong catholic, believed that his faith was real since he had been brought up as a catholic and because the world lacks clear facts about the non-existence of God. The reasoning he portray is greatly accepted in the world by a vast majority. Rene escartes (2008). Mediations on first philosophy in which the existence of God an the distinction of the soul and body are demonstrated. Hacket publishing company Indianapolis/Cambridge third

How to make Good Decisions in Business or something like that Essay

How to make Good Decisions in Business or something like that - Essay Example The need to take action in time is testing the limits of the command-and-control model that has subjugated commercial and military leadership for generations. To maintain a bias for action and stay centered on the appropriate goals both realms are coalescing around and emerging leadership model that rebalances traditional attitudes toward two crucial decision factors: risk and control. (Garvin, 108-116) In the corporate world today, decision makers need to have a higher tolerance for, and comfort level with risk. Multi month task forces are the buggy whips of leadership. Today, failure to decide and act quickly can pre-empt options altogether. However, business decisions are frequently made on input information that are either biased or manipulated. Input bias is defined as the systematic misuse of input information in judgments of outcome quality. While researchers note that the quality of a decision is often "positively related" to the quantity of the inputs used to make that decision, the relationship between input quantity and output quality is not automatic. In many cases, inputs are misused, misrepresented or even negatively related to outcome quality. a) Poor Framing: This involves allowing a decision to be "framed" by the language or context in which it is presented. Often times, in making a decision, the whole system or situation surrounding the problem or opportunity needs to be carefully analyzed. (Andrew, 8) For example an opportunity that arose from a visit to ones village should not necessarily translate to the decision being centered only in that village. It may even be that the decision to provide a service in that village is transferred somewhere else since the success guarantee in higher in another location. b) Recent Effects: Making decisions based on recently seen information. It may also be known as availability bias. A careful analysis of that information may have eventually