Stevie Wonder essays

Stevie Wonder essays Born as Steveland Judkins on May 13, 1950 in Saginaw, Michingan, Wonder now prefers to be knows as Steveland Morris after his mother's married name. Placed in an incubator immediately after his birth, Wonder was given too much oxygen, causing him to suffer permanent blindness. Despite his handicap, Wonder began to learn the piano at the age of seven, and had also mastered drums and harmonica by the age of nine. After his family moved to Detroit in 1954, Wonder joined a church choir, the gospel influence on his music balanced by the R Wonder was discovered in 1961 by Ronnie White of the Miracles, who also arranged an audition for him in Motown Record. Berry Gory immediately signed Wonder to the label, that led to the birth of "Little Stevie Wonder." Though, the Little was dropped in 1964. Wonder was placed in the care of writer/producer Clarence Paul, who supervised his early recordings. Wonder and his label hit the jackpot in 1963 with "Fingertips-Pt. 2." This made Motown quickly marketed him on a series of albums as the 12-year-old genius in an attempt to link him with the popularity of the genius, Ray Charles. In two years he became one of Motown's finest artists, recording a serious of brilliant singles for a solid nine years. Most of were he wrote himself. By the end of the 1960s, he was not only hitting the charts with his own records including: "Uptight," "Castles in the Sand," and "My Cherie Amour but also by writing for many other Motown artists, including "It's a Shame" for the Spinners, co-writing "The Tears of a Clown with Smokey Robinson and writing and producing the (Detroit) Spinners Its A Shame. Instead of re-signing immediately after his contact expiration with Motown in 1971, Wonder instead recorded two full albums by himself. In his some of his lyrics, h ...

These Are the 5 Worst Problems with College Boards AP Program

These Are the 5 Worst Problems with College Board's AP Program SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips We’ve talked a lot about the AP Program in the past – why you would take AP classes, how many you should take, and how AP compares to the IB program. But what are some of the major problems with the AP program?In this guide, we'll go over the top five worst problems that the College Board and the AP program are dealing with. We will also explain how you can avoid these problems and get the most out of your AP courses. The Top 5 Problems With Advanced Placement As a brief disclaimer, we don't expect the Advanced Placement program to be perfect, and there are many benefits to taking AP classes, as we've covered in the past. That said, by covering some of the weaknesses of the AP program, we hope to help students make more informed decisions about their schedules, especially in the midst of today's intense college admissions environment. Problem 1: More Tests Taken = More Failed Tests The AP Program is growing too fast for all the new programs to be supported, especially at low-income schools, leading to more failed tests than anything else. As we’ve discussed in the past, the ultimate goal of taking an AP class is to pass the AP test at the end of the year – if you don’t, you’ve basically wasted the $92 you spent on the exam. So it’s a problem if most of the AP growth in recent years comes from failed exams. College Board often celebrates the results of the fast-growing AP Program – nearly 5 million tests were taken in 2017, for example. However, the flip side to this is that with new AP classes and programs come growing pains, especially in schools that don’t have a lot of funding for new AP programs. It takes a few years for a class to really settle in at a high school, and for a teacher to get used to the AP curriculum. It can take a few years for a teacher to master a curriculum. This takes even longer in low-income schools – explaining why a lot of the growth has come in the form of failed AP tests (you can see how the average test score has fallen over time here). A report from Inside Higher Ed looks at this phenomenon: â€Å"The data also show, however, a more than doubling in the number of AP examinees who only achieve test scores of less than 3 on the exam. (Typically a score of three is the minimum required for college credit, and critics of the program have said that increases in the number of sub-3 scores suggest many students may not be gaining from the courses, a contention disputed by the College Board.) These figures grew from 182,429 to 395,925 during the last decade. Likewise, the number of AP exams with scores of less than 3 also more than doubled, from 521,620 to 1,345,988. The data also show significant gaps in participation rates and success rates (scores of 3 and higher) on the AP exams, by racial and ethnic group. White and Asian students are more likely to participate and to get good scores. Black students are much less likely to do so.† In other words, people are questioning how good the expansion of the AP program actually is if it just means more students are failing AP exams every year. There have been concerns for years among teachers about the program growing too fast, and schools being too lax about which students get to take AP. A 2009 survey of 1,000 AP teachers found that "more than half are concerned that the program’s effectiveness is being threatened as districts loosen restrictions on who can take such rigorous courses and as students flock to them to polish their rà ©sumà ©s." In short, there are thousands of students winding up with failed AP tests each year – which is no good for them or their schools. You could argue that the experience of taking an AP class helps students prepare for college, but the fact remains that rapid expansion is not leading to the best outcomes for many students. Problem 2: Too Much Material, Too Little Time Even though many courses have been revamped, AP still tends to be seen as a shallow, memorization-based program, in comparison to IB and home-grown curriculums at other schools. In one blistering critique of AP classes in The Atlantic, a former teacher writes: "the AP program leads to rigid stultification." He complains that by requiring so much material, AP classes lose depth and the opportunity for meaningful learning. Another study, reported in KQED, finds that â€Å"AP courses don’t always teach critical thinking skills or allow students to explore topics more deeply. Instead, they often turn into a race to cover a wide expanse of information, some say.† Okay, this is a slight exaggeration, but you would be surprised at the size of some AP textbooks. This is especially true in contrast to IB, which explicitly focuses on developing critical thinking and writing skills. By requiring students seeking an IB diploma to write an extended research essay, take a class about theories of knowledge, and including more writing on the exams, the IB program emphasizes critical thinking, research, and writing in the way AP classes simply don’t have time for. Even in places where the AP program has revamped classes, like biology, concerns remain. A Washington Post article notes: â€Å"The new curriculum will encourage more work in science labs and less parroting back of formulas, more work on historical thinking and less memorization of historical minutiae. That all sounds pretty good. But it will do little to improve teaching and learning, especially at schools with low-levels of instructional and administrative capacity.Merely asking teachers to spend less time drilling and more time promoting inquiry, in other words, does not make them able to do so, nor does it prepare their students to succeed in such classes.† A New York Times article further explains why it can be hard for teachers to switch over from drilling to experiments and critical inquiry: â€Å"While Ms. Vangos believes the program could inspire students who â€Å"like to think outside the box,† she worries that the new math requirements will discourage others. And with so many cutbacks these days in education budgets, she says, the need to improve lab facilities at many public schools 'is absolutely going to pose a big problem.' Labs in resource-strapped urban schools often don’t have enough of even basic tools, like dissecting microscopes, for their students.† In short, it’s hard to balance the fact that AP courses tend to pack in tons of material with a desire to emphasize critical thinking and accessibility. Especially in schools without many resources. At the end of the day, if you’re in an AP course, you’ll likely find yourself spending more time drilling definitions with flashcards than, say, conducting experiments or reading novels. The new AP Capstone program does attempt to rectify some of these issues. Read more about it here. Problem 3: You Won't Always Get the College Credit You're Expecting The AP Program might not lead to the college credit you want for two reasons. First, AP classes often aren’t always as rigorous as their actual college equivalents, and some colleges are getting stingy about granting AP credit. Again in The Atlantic, the former teacher argues AP classes aren’t actually equivalent to college-level courses: â€Å"Before teaching in a high school, I taught for almost 25 years at the college level, and almost every one of those years my responsibilities included some equivalent of an introductory American government course. The high-school AP course didn't begin to hold a candle to any of my college courses. My colleagues said the same was true in their subjects.† Additionally, in college, your AP course doesn’t always grant you credit. Sometimes it just gets you out of your department's intro courses – which you might want to take anyway to get a more solid understanding of the material. It can be hard to replicate the college experience in a high school classroom. It’s important to note that many schools – particularly large public universities – will give you credit for AP, especially for gen-ed courses. To look at an example of a public university, at the University of Utah (my local state school) you can get tons of AP credit, enough to knock out your general education requirements in high school. However, many private colleges, especially top-tier ones, are shying away from granting AP credit. For some schools, credit policies are drawn on departmental lines. Math and science AP courses get credit more often than History or English. To look at one example of a top-tier school, Princeton, you can get into harder history courses with excellent AP US or World History scores, but you won’t get credit for your high scores. Meanwhile, at Dartmouth, AP courses will no longer be used to grant any credit at all, though they will get students into higher-level classes. I can also speak to AP credit not panning out. Even though I took nine AP classes, and got seven 5’s and two 4’s, none of them got me class credit at Stanford, since Stanford mostly accepts AP credit from math, science, and language classes. However, those AP classes did a lot to help me prepare for Stanford classes – in fact most of my college study skills came from AP classes. In short, if you’re taking AP classes, you should get used to the fact that even though the classes will help prepare you for college, they might not get you credit once you get there. Problem 4: Students Are Overloading Another problem with AP isn’t so much due to the program itself, but how students (and parents!) react to it. Across the country, students are overloading themselves, thinking that taking ten AP classes is the ticket to a selective school. This leads to stressed-out, burned-out students. Plus, taking AP classes doesn’t even guarantee admission into schools like Harvard and Stanford. Some educators describe AP courses as kind of an â€Å"arms race,† where as certain students take more AP classes, others feel pressured to load up with more to compete. Local newspapers have run lots of articles over the last five years about students feeling the need to overload on AP classes. When students overload, they’re much more likely to get overwhelmed by the work and get lower scores on the exams. It also adds to the enormous amounts of stress associated with today’s college admission process. Problem 5: It Can Exacerbate Education Inequality While AP has often been touted as an equalizing force in education, it tends to just perpetuate unequal outcomes. Well-prepared and well-funded students do well on AP tests, and students from less wealthy schools do worse, so the AP program often reinforces education inequality. College Board often touts AP’s expansion into various public and low-income schools as a victory for education. The truth is that low-income schools often struggle to successfully implement AP programs and get students to pass the exams. So what ends up happening is that, similar to the SAT/ACT, the tests simply reinforce the status quo: students at well-funded schools do well, students at less well-funded schools struggle. Plus, the bigger the program gets, the less power it has to set students apart. Inside Higher Edexplores this phenomenon: â€Å"Consequently, their efforts, while well-intended, never address the underlying problems that affect school quality and educational equity †¦.the expansion of the AP Program failed to promote real parity between the educational haves and have-nots. Because once the AP Program reached a critical mass, it lost its functionality as a mark of distinction. Soon, scores of colleges and universities (Dartmouth being the latest) revised their policies around awarding credit for AP coursework or favoring it in admissions reviews. And ultimately, elite suburban and private schools began to drop the program, calling it outdated, overly-restrictive, and too oriented toward multiple choice tests. Thus, while students at Garfield High in East Los Angeles were for a short time doing the same work as students at Andover, the aim of equity proved a noble and elusive dream.† In short, the AP program isn’t living up to its promise of leveling the education playing field in the US. It’s even having the strange effect of causing certain private schools to drop AP and create their own advanced courses – making AP seem less special in the college admissions process. I’m not saying it’s the AP program’s responsibility to fix educational inequality in the US – education inequality is an enormous problem. It will take much more than just one program to fix it. That said, I think it’s important to evaluate how successful programs actually are in trying to fix the problem – especially if they claim to be part of the solution. So Should You Take AP Classes? Given these problems, should you totally give up on AP? After reading through all of those issues you may be having second thoughts. Not necessarily. I still think the AP program can be a great fit for many students. These are the steps you should take to make sure you get the most out of the program, despite its flaws. #1: Take the Hardest Classes at Your School We’ve looked at problems the AP has nationally, but the reality is you still need to take the hardest classes at your school if you’re looking to get into top colleges. That means you should still take AP classes if your school offers them and you're hoping for a top school but do not overload on them. Meet with your guidance counselor to talk about putting together a challenging mix of your school’s classes that doesn’t overload on AP – especially if your school’s AP program isn’t stellar. (Ask your guidance counselor about the pass rates your AP teachers achieve on the exams, and how often they notice students switching out of AP classes, to get a sense of how good the program is at your school.) If you’re aiming for top schools, your goal is to have a transcript that your counselor will report as â€Å"most rigorous† on the Common App guidance counselor report. If your school has AP, this means that, in most cases, you’ll need to take AP classes. But it doesn't mean you have to take every single AP course your school offers. If you overload, you risk stretching yourself too thin. It’s better to pass two AP tests than to fail four! Also make sure that for any AP class you take, you have solid pre-requisite courses under your belt. (For example, don't take AP Biology without having taken an introductory biology class first.) #2: Match Your AP Courses to Your Goals Do you want to get into a top-tier school? Or are you more interested in skipping general ed requirements at your state school and graduating college early? Your answers to these questions can help you decide which AP classes are worth your effort, and which ones aren’t. If you know what your goals are, you can create a smart AP program for you. For example, if you’re trying to avoid general education classes at your local state school, look up which AP courses fulfill these requirements at your state school, and focus on doing well in those. To take just one example, this may mean choosing to take AP Calculus over AP Art History if you’re looking to complete your college math credit in high school – even if you love art! If you’re aiming for a top school, look at AP courses that allow you to explore your interests and show your academic strengths. To continue our example, this may mean taking AP Art History instead of AP Calculus to demonstrate your interest in the fine arts and humanities. #3: Avoid Common Pitfalls First of all, don’t load up on APs just to have AP classes all over your transcript. Take the right number for you. If this means taking fewer AP classes than your friends, so be it! Remember to pick out classes with your own goals in mind. Also, don’t underestimate the exam – you have to study to pass the AP test, even if you think the class is easy! Getting an A in an AP class but getting a 1 on 2 on the exam looks bad. Make sure to take at least two full practice exams before the real thing. Finally, continue to develop your other interests in high school. Don’t take 10 AP classes but sacrifice a key extracurricular or studying for the SAT/ACT. Remember AP classes are just one factor of an advanced high school experience. #4: Focus on the Positive Although we’ve talked a lot about problems with the AP program, I still think it’s a great way to prepare for college. You can get a lot out of AP – by learning to study on your own, developing self-discipline, and mastering challenging material. At the end of the day, how much you get out of AP classes will depend on how much effort you put in. Despite the numerous problems with AP on a national level, and uneven courses at my local high school, I’m really glad I took nine AP classes in high school. By developing my own study schedules before the tests, I honed my self-discipline and study skills. The writing fluency skills I gained from numerous AP history and English courses were also super helpful in college when I found myself with several essays to write at the end of every quarter. In short, even if the AP program leaves something to be desired at your school, you can still use it to develop your skills. Keep in mind that could mean doing extra studying outside of class and taking studying matters into your own hands. What’s Next? Thinking you should take IB classes instead? Get a comparison of the IB and AP programs. While you might think AP is the key to college, think again. Read about how a high ACT/SAT score is the single most important key to improving your admissions chances. Need some help with your ACT/SAT studying? Check out 21 SAT tricks you should be using, and find out the hidden hints in the ACT instructions. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

PRESIDENCY OF THOMAS JEFFERSON Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

PRESIDENCY OF THOMAS JEFFERSON - Essay Example er at the White House  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."(Wikipedia Jefferson.) This staunch advocate of liberty and religious freedom, was born on April 13 1743 in Albemarle County, Virginia. A diligent student, he graduated with top honors from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg in 1762, and then went on to study law, being admitted to the Virginia bar in 1767. He had a passion for learning languages and began studying Latin Greek and French very early. At college he was introduced to the writings of John Locke, Francis Bacon and Isaac Newton whom he referred to as the "three greatest men the world had ever produced."(Bernstein Jefferson pg 95). This â€Å"Man of the People† as he was fondly known, had numerous achievements to his credit, but he wanted to be remembered as the founder of the University of Virginia, the author of the Declaration of American Independence and the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom. His dream of founding a new institution of higher learning, where students could specialize in new areas; was realized in 1819, with the founding of the University of Virginia. When it opened in 1825, it was then the first university to offer elective courses to its students. Jefferson is widely recognized for his architectural planning of the University grounds, an innovative design whose center was the library which he considered to be the fountainhead of knowledge. His educational idea of creating specialized units of learning is physically expressed in the layout of his campus plan, which he called the "Academical Village†. Jefferson died on the Fourth of July, 1826, at the age of 83 on the 50 th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, that he had authored. The Jefferson presidency (1801 – 1809)was the first to start and end in the White House although at the time it was known as the Presidential Mansion. It was a turbulent time in American history. His first term

Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 13

Human Resource Management - Essay Example Definition of Team Work: A group of individuals who are working together to achieve a common goal is known as teamwork. "Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results." (Andrew Carnegie, Aviano Air Base, Italy, 2007) Teamwork is a process of working together and achieving common goals. In order to understand teamwork better, we need to differentiate between teamwork and group. Distinction between Teamwork and Group Group: A group is just a collection of people with something in common, such as being in the same place or having a shared interest. In a group, members work independently and do not trust other members. Moreover, they do not share their knowledge with each other. Team Work: In a team, people work together for specific goals and usually with particular roles for different members of the team. In Teams, people work interdependently and they know they can accomplish goals by mutual help. Moreover they trust each other, and share their knowledge. In short, team helps people to accept the idea of working together, following the rules and achieving mutual goals, instead of working on independent goals. Therefore, team helps people share ideas which ultimately lead them to innovation and better opportunity. IMPORTANCE OF TEAMWORK: According to a Chinese Proverb â€Å"behind an able man there are always other able men†. To achieve success in life, we have to work together because teamwork is the heart of great achievement.

The Black Death Essay Example for Free

The Black Death Essay What were the short term and long term impacts of the Black Death on Medieval society? The Black Death is one of the most fatal diseases in human history and took its peak in Europe from 1348 to 1350. Half of Europe’s population was wiped out due to this disease and the short and long term impacts greatly affected the structure of Medieval Society. The Black Death or otherwise known as the plague was thought to have begun in Central Asia, which spread down the Silk Road and eventually to Europe in the 14th century. The disease was caused by the fleas on infected rats, which spread the infection by biting a person or animal. However, the disease could also be contracted by breathing in airborne droplets from a person who already had the plague. Trading ships helped spread the plague as there were many rats on board who could jump off at the harbours they were trading in. Symptoms for the plague began in the first few days and included headaches, feeling of weakness, aches in the legs and groin, a white coating on the tongue, fever, vomiting, muscles pains, bleeding of the lungs and mental instability. The victim would also begin to develop black buboes on the armpits, leg, neck or groin that are red when first formed but will eventually grow to the size of an egg, turn black and burst, ultimately killing the victim . This disease killed very quickly, between 2 to 4 days and gave the victim a strong desire to sleep, which would kill them if it was allowed. There were many ‘treatments’ to the Black Death, many of them ineffective and superstitious such as wearing a magpies beak around your neck and cutting a hole in your head to let out bad spirits. However, there were wise women that lived in villages who provided medicine from herbs that actually worked. In all, there were not many effective way to cure the plague as people back in the Medieval times had little scientific understanding and believed the plague was a punishment sent from God, hence there were people called flagellants who went around whipping themselves and begging for God’s forgiveness. The short impacts of the Black Death had changed Medieval society greatly. Whole families and towns were wiped out and it is estimated that around 200 million people in Europe fell to the plague. Villages and towns began barring anyone from entering in fear of the plague and some of the rich chose to escape overseas. People began running amok, drinking and enjoying themselves as much as they could as they believed they had not long to live. Others thought that living quietly would cure them of the plague while a large amount of people believed that the world was going to end. The Crusades (a religious war fought between the Christians and the Muslims) came to a halt as the soldiers fighting the war had mostly died from the plague. Prices for everything also went down as most of the customers were dead and Free land become quite common as the people who owned the land were all dead. There were so many deaths that there was no one to farm the lands and barely anything had been harvested, resulting in starvation. The Long term impacts of the Black Death were better living conditions for the peasants after the plague as there were hardly any people left so the peasants remaining could get more wages subsequently improving their houses, tools and clothes. Higher wages also meant that some could send their children to school where they learnt to read and write to get better jobs. More schools were built due to this development and life became much easier for the poor. The power that the church had over the people was also diminishing as many believed that the plague was sent to punish the wicked, which was mainly the peasants but when even people of the church began to die, people began to question the church’s power. There were also more opportunities for women as many men had died so the women had to fill in for their jobs. For the first time, women could be the head of a household and own a wage earning job such as a blacksmith. Peasants were not so bound to the land anymore and this caused problems as the feudal lords of those times lost power and more peasants began looking for a better life. However, these were not the only long term impacts of the Black Death and in 1381; an event occurred in England that had never taken place before in the Medieval Ages. This event took place due to the smaller number of people to work the land; the peasants wanted more wages and freedom so that they could live a better life. Taxes also grew higher because of war and the Poll Tax in 1381 was the highest ones, leading the Peasants to rebel in what is now called ‘The Peasant’s Revolt’. The Peasants Revolt was an event in Medieval history where common people fought for more rights and freedom. It began in the villagers when Essex refused to pay taxes and attacked the tax collectors starting a riot that spread through Kent and Essex. The peasants eventually grouped together and decided to march to London to force the King to give them more rights. They elected a leader called Wat Tyler on the 7th of June, released a priest called John Ball and assembled together outside of London where King Richard (the present 14 year old king) met the rebels at Mile End. Wat Tyler demanded six things from the King. He demanded that Serfdom was abolished, that there be no more feudal services for the peasants, that land would be held freely at 4d an acre per year, the church lands must be given to the people and that there should be no legal difference between one man and another. King Richard agreed to these requests and pardoned the rebels. The same day, King Richard went to meet the rebels again at the Banks of Thames but confusion amongst the rebels stopped him from landing. Some rebels left after being pardoned but some stayed and murdered two of the King’s advisors in the tower of London. After this, the King went into hiding when the peasants destroyed the Duke of Lancaster’s palace and freed the prisoners. Finally, the King met with the rebels again and Wat Tyler made more demands but was stabbed to death when some felt he was threatening the King. The rebels were disbanded and killed under order of the King, the revolt had failed. However, it would not be until at 500 years later that Wat Tyler’s demands became a reality. The Black Death was a devastating disease that occurred in Europe in the 14th century that wiped out half of the population. The short term impacts were not only of mass death but also of the events that took place afterwards, such as the Peasant’s Revolt that resulted from the short term impacts of the plague. Whether short term or long term, the Black Death greatly impacted Medieval Society and triggered some of the most major events in English history.

Democracy Essay example -- essays research papers fc

In some nations, if you asked the people what they are most proud of about their own country, they might tell you about art, or architecture, great literary works, or the natural beauty of the land. But here in America, one of the things we are most proud of is our system of government. Being a democracy. The freedom to chose our own leaders. It’s ironic that the thing we are most proud of is not strictly true. We are not a direct democracy, in pure form, as Richard Parker points out. We are a Republic. What is the difference? To give a silly example from every day life, say you have a group of five people and it’s lunchtime. Where will they go for lunch? Well this IS America, and we do so love our democracy, so the group will vote. Who wants to go to McDonald’s? Three hands go up. The majority rules, the group goes to McDonald’s. This is our ideal, but it is not technically the way it works in politics. A more realistic version? Who wants to go to McDona ld’s? Three hands go up. However, John is the official representative of the group, and he thinks The Tofu House is a better choice for the group. The Tofu House it is. Richard Parker suggests that it is time to reevaluate our system of indirect democracy, and move towards a system of mass participation of the people and voting directly without the discretion of a â€Å"middle-man†, such as the Electoral College, ultimately weighing in with more power than the majority’s vote. Our textbook points out, the Electoral College was created at the same time as the Constitution, and at that time, there may have been some practical reasons for creating it. There was no competent form of mass media, and therefore no way for the general public to gain information about candidates from other states. Without knowledge of any other candidates but those from their own states, it would have been very hard for any candidate to win a national majority of votes. Times have changed, and the American public is much better equip to seek out and receive information. Our Electoral College System, however, remains largely outdated. Although it is popularly un derstood that members of the Electoral College will vote for the candidate the majority of those they are to be representing voted for, â€Å"penalties for faithless electors are practically nonexistent, and occasionally electors have opted not to vote for the candidate to whom they we... ...ith the people themselves. When the people lead, the politicians follow, and with Direct Democracy the politicians pay attention. Perhaps it is time to start exercising our authority, not just by voting in another indirect election, but by creating a process which allows, and even mandates the people to directly participate knowing that the ultimate outcome is based on how they feel, not how their representative feels. If the majority rules on McDonald’s, then that is what they shall have. Works Cited: Parker, Richard D. â€Å"Power to the Voters.† The Enduring Debate: Classic and Contemporary readings in American Politics- 3rd Edition. Ed. David Cannon, John Coleman, and Kenneth Mayer. New York, NY; W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2003. 309-317. Pomper, Gerald M. â€Å"Parliamentary Government in the United States?† The Enduring Debate: Classic and Contemporary readings in American Politics- 3rd Edition. Ed. David Cannon, John Coleman, and Kenneth Mayer. New York, NY; W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2003. 363-374. O’connor, Karen and Larry J. Sabato. Ed. Essentials of American Government: Continuity and Change, 2004 Edition. United States; Pearson Education, Inc, 2004. 424-426.

Information Systems Increases Revenue Essay

According to a research project completed by CFO Research Services, a Senior Vice President of a large U. S-based global services firm stated, â€Å"The CFO should always allow IT organization to innovate, to experiment, and [should] understand that there is financial risk associated with innovation. Not every IT investment will have an ROI, but allowing IT to be thought leaders is imperative in today’s evolving technology landscape. † Therefore, technology and IT is central to building relationships with customers’ thereby increasing revenue for the company. The research project also noted that business intelligence, mobility, and cloud computing will be the most important technologies for business over the next three years. Using technology is difficult in today because it is constantly evolving. According to the research conducted by CFO Research Services, it states that â€Å"old models based on enterprise silos are giving way to a new hybrid – business technology – as IT organizations, finance functions, and business operations alike acknowledge you can’t have one without the other. By increasing the integration of advance technology to its fullest potential a company can accurately and effectively meet the customer’s needs and operate efficiently, thereby increase revenue. In order for companies to build relationships with their customers they must be able to gain the customers trust. According to Jean-Pierre Lauzier of Jean-Pierre Lauzier Communications, â€Å"trust is based on a feeling, in impression or a perception – meaning something intangible – and is not based on anything rational or logical. Studies have shown that 15% of a customer’s trust in [a company] comes from the [company’s] technical competency, and 85% from the [company’s] human qualities†¦ To build trust it must be natural and authentic. † In order for a company to effectively build trust with a customer they have to make the customer feel that they know them and are sincerely interested in helping them. One great way for a company to do this is through the use of Customer Relationship Management software (CRM). According to Dr. Ruth N Bolton, â€Å"CRM is a strategic approach concerned with creating improved shareholder value through the development of appropriate relationships with key customers and customer segments. CRM unites the potential of relationship marketing strategies and IT [information technology] to create profitable, long-term relationships with customers and other key stakeholders. CRM provides enhanced opportunities to use data and information to both understand customers and co-create value with them. This requires a cross-functional integration of processes, people, operations and marketing capabilities that is enabled through information, technology and applications. † Therefore it is the CRM system that makes it possible for a company to effectively and efficiently communicate with any number of customers so that each customer feels unique. At a high level companies interact with their customer in four ways: Strategic Marketing, Pricing and Revenue Optimization, Tactical Marketing, and Customer Experience Management. Successful companies are efficient and effective in all four categories. Customer Relationship Management software make this possible. CRM provide detailed information about a customer’s interactions with the company as well as analytical information geared to enable the company to successfully provide tactical marketing and enhance the customer experience. They do this by allowing a company to track and record all of the customer’s interaction with the company so that the company can customize their interaction with the customer based on the customer’s previous behavior. According to a Computerworld survey in 1996, companies implement CRM systems in order to 1) increase customer retention, 2) respond to competitive pressures and 3) improve customer service. CRM systems are able to also reduce company costs by reducing employees time spent with customers by eliminating repetitive tasks that might be required if the company did not have a CRM system. For example, when a customer is transferred from one customer service representative to another the CRM system would transfer all customer information and conversation notes so that the employee does not have to waste time asking all the same questions that the first representative asked before being able to attempt to help the customer. However, CRM’s primary focus is to create higher revenue by helping companies build a larger percentage of loyal customers through the use of building trust and relationships with their current and future customers. Acquiring new customers is extremely costly for a company. Surveys have shown that it could cost a company six times more to acquire a new customer than to keep a current customer. Not only that, but if a company is able to build a loyal customer base those loyal customers are worth much more than their own personal purchase volume. A loyal customer is likely to share their experience with others about companies that they are very loyal to and have a close relationship with. Therefore, the company is able to acquire repeat sales to the current customer and able to obtain new customers without any additional cost required to try to attract a new sales and customers. In addition, it has also been shown that it is 16 times easier to sell to an existing customer than it is to sell to a new prospective customer. Therefore, CRM systems recognize the long-run value in potential and current customers. Building customer relationships also require companies to communicate effectively with customers in a multitude of different methods. In today’s environment people are constantly connected and on the go. Companies need to be able to meet the customer’s needs when and how the customer want their needs met. Therefore, it is imperative for companies to offer multiple avenues for customers to communicate with them. Some of those methods include the ways for the older generation such as via the telephone and letters know now days as â€Å"snail mail†. However new technology methods are now being required such as through the company’s website, e-mail, and Social Customer Relationship Management system (SCRM). According to Chris Bucholtz of CRM Outsiders, Social Customer Relationship Management is â€Å"the response of businesses to the advent of social media and the eager adoption of the new communications channels by B2B [Business to Business] and B2C [Business to Customer] buyers alike. It creates a new environment for customer conversations, a new opportunity to learn about customers, and a new opportunity to engage, build peer-to-peer relationships and strengthen brand perception. † He goes on to state that SCRM is more of a strategy than a process or product. It can include many different technology platforms and tools. CRM is the foundation of SCRM and not a replacement for CRM. A company must have a good CRM in place in order to effectively utilize SCRM. According to Bucholtz, the definition of Social CRM â€Å"is a philosophy and a business strategy, supported by a technology platform, business rules, workflow, processes and social characteristics, designed to engage the customer in a collaborative conversation in order to provide mutually beneficial value in a trusted and transparent business environment. It’s the company’s response to the customer’s ownership of the conversation. This definition simply states that it is about people (customers) interacting with people (businesses) and not people (customers) interacting with machines. Due to new technology and people having unique styles of communication, SCRM is about businesses using social media in order to best meet the needs of the customers in the best style of communication for each unique customer. Social media comprises of various online technology tools and can include: text, audio, video, podcasts, and various social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Google+. Social Media can increase revenue and growth of a company by 60% versus only 8% for companies that do not use social media, according to Daya Baran on PRWeb. com. The article goes on to state that â€Å"consumers are spending more time and conducting more business online and businesses that have incorporated social media are reaping the benefits as they are gaining visibility with the consumer across the entire online purchase cycle. Social media technologies are fundamentally changing the sales, marketing and operations process. It is redefining the way businesses acquire customers, generate leads, creates competitive differentiation, customer response, branding and manage crisis. † Therefore, Social CRM’s aim is to enhance the customer’s experience and relationship thereby building loyalty with the company. And as we have already discussed, a customer’s loyalty is worth much more than their customers’ individual value thus increasing revenue for the company. Another customer relationship building mechanism is Customer Experience Management. The e-zine, Customer Experience Exchange, states that companies sometime have a hard time seeing what they look like in the customer’s eyes therefore companies have to invest in technology tools to inject that accurate outside-in view from customers. In the past, companies spent much effort on ensuring the share holders were happy rather than customers. Now with new social media outlets customers are able to make themselves heard to companies much easier than ever before. Take for example the recent backlash that millions of Bank of America customers showed when Bank of America announced they were going to implement a new $5. 0 debit card fee. Never before have we seen customers be able to so quickly pull together and force big corporations to think twice before acting. Bank of America was in jeopardy of losing over 300,000 customers if they did not listen closely. Another company that needed to listen to their customers was Netflix. Netflix issued a price increase of 60% to subscribers that wanted both online streaming of movies and home DVD’s. This cause Netflix to lose more than 200,000 subscribers which in turn made Netflix CEO offer a public apology to customers and eliminate their original plan of separating the two companies. With all this being said, it can be seen how imperative it is to a company to be able to attentively listen to their customers. Without an attentive ear and without a company being focused on Customer Experience Management, a company will have difficulty growing and increasing revenue. Anna Fiorentino, of Customer Experience Exchange stated that in order to develop the best customer experience through CEM systems companies not only need to listen as shown in the Bank of America and Netflix examples, but they must also measure and monitor customer conversations and feedback. Through the use of CRM systems a company is able to analyze customer satisfaction. She stated that Coca Cola, Inc. established a customer reward system called My Coke Rewards. This system enables Coca Cola, Inc. the ability to not only listen to their customers but to also measure customer satisfaction and â€Å"deliver real time results creating value for its members as well as internal and external partners. † Kaitlyn Dennihy a strategist at Engauge, the social media agency of record for My Coke Rewards states, â€Å"Measurement is key. Translating business goals into measurable actions within social has allowed us to track the impact of our communities as well as manage and exceed expectations for the social space. Every content piece in social must include a call to action for the user that can be measured. My Coke Rewards provides insight into areas such as customer service, product merchandising and exclusivity. † ING Direct, an online-centric bank that is part of Netherlands-based ING, also believes that meeting customer needs is the basis for creating a thriving social media campaign. ING Direct was able to increase their evenue by listening to online consumer conversations with the help of a program called Radian6. Radian6 is a social media monitoring platform that allows companies the ability to know what’s being said about their brands, industries and competitors online, but to also help them measure, analyze and report on their social CRM efforts. There are many tools on the market now that provide business the ability to obtain statistical information on company website visitors, Google analytics for summarizing search trends, as well as the ability to summarize searches for tweets known as text mining. Radian6 tells companies such as ING Direct who is saying what and whether customers are communicating through a news site or blog and what percentage of influence the customer will have on the company based on web traffic. Gloria Chik, social media lead at ING Direct stated, â€Å"If we get a client complaint, it’s been fantastic to get a full profile of that person. † Companies should be prudent in privacy issues when handling confidential client financial information, making sure to look at each client complaint or compliment individually. No matter what method companies use to track return on investment on Customer Relationship Management, one thing is certain, business must focus on providing excellent customer satisfaction and when faced with unsatisfied customers they must listen. Without satisfied customers a company will have a much more difficult and sometimes impossible climb toward growth and increased revenue. In todays technologically advance world business must constantly be evolving in order to meet the customers’ needs. No longer are businesses able to simply dictate what customers will pay for a product or service. With the today’s generation companies must be diligent in building strong lasting relationships with their customers. Business should look at their customers’ relationships like a marriage. Just as in a marriage a couple must communicate and listen to each other so should a business communicate and listen to their customers. When a company does this they will be able to reap the rewards by having increased revenue and growth. In order to reap these rewards companies must effectively utilize a CRM system and also incorporate SCRM as well as a myriad of other platforms such as mobile apps, mobile websites, QR Codes and much more. By utilizing technology business are able to develop stronger customer relationships by knowing the customer better. Research Comments When I started this research project I struggled at first trying to find enough information on the subject I had chosen. However, once I got started and finally developed an outline and thought process as to what I was going to talk about, I was able to find all kinds of information. Some of the websites listed below were uncovered during the research phase but not necessarily used. Some of the websites were not used because I found the information redundant and others had to be eliminated due to the need for limiting material so that it did not go over the stated maximum for the paper.

Administrative Law Philippines

1. Administrative Findings Given Great Weight in Court Sebastian F. Oasay, Jr. vs. Palacio del Gobernador Condominium Corporation and Omar T. Cruz,  [G. R. No. 194306, February 6, 2012. ] LINK: http://lexoterica. wordpress. com/2012/03/05/february-2012-philippine-supreme-court-decisions-on-labor-law-and-procedure/ Appeal; factual finding of NLRC. Findings of fact of administrative agencies and quasi-judicial bodies, which have acquired expertise because their jurisdiction is confined to specific matters, are generally accorded not only respect but finality when affirmed by the Court of Appeals.Factual findings of quasi-judicial bodies like the NLRC, if supported by substantial evidence, are accorded respect and even finality by the Supreme Court, more so when they coincide with those of the Labor Arbiter. Such factual findings are given more weight when the same are affirmed by the Court of Appeals. In the present case, the Supreme Court found no reason to depart from these princip les since the Labor Arbiter found that there was substantial evidence to conclude that Oasay had breached the trust and confidence of Palacio Del Gobernador Condominium Corporation, which finding the NLRC had likewise upheld.Gatus vs. SSS [G. R. No. 174725, January 26, 2011] LINK: http://sc. judiciary. gov. ph/jurisprudence/2011/january2011/174725. htm The sole issue to be determined is whether the Court of Appeals committed grave abuse of discretion in affirming the finding of the ECC that petitioner’s ailment is not compensable under Presidential Decree No. 626, as amended. xxx The burden of proof is thus on petitioner to show that any of the above conditions have been met in his case. The required proof is further discussed in  Ortega v. Social Security Commission[17]:The requisite quantum of proof in cases filed before administrative or quasi-judicial bodies is neither proof beyond reasonable doubt nor preponderance of evidence. In this type of cases, a fact may be deem ed established if it is supported by substantial evidence, or that amount of relevant evidence which a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to justify a conclusion. In this case, substantial evidence abounds. xxx The questioned Decision deemed as established fact that petitioner is a cigarette smoker; but petitioner vehemently denies this, saying there is no competent evidence to prove he had that habit.What petitioner would like this Court to do is to pass upon a question of fact, which the ECC, the SSS, and the Court of Appeals have used to deny his claim for compensation. This is not allowed under Section 1 of Rule 45, which states that â€Å"[t]he petition shall raise  only questions of law  which must be distinctly set forth. â€Å"[21]  Hence, questions of fact may not be taken up in a petition for review on  certiorari  such as this case now before us. As we have held previously:A question of fact exists when the doubt centers on the truth or falsity of the al leged facts while a question of law exists if the doubt centers on what the law is on a certain set of facts. There is a question of fact if the issue requires a review of the evidence presented or requires the re-evaluation of the credibility of witnesses. However, if the issue raised is capable of being resolved without need of reviewing the probative value of the evidence, the question is one of law. xxxThe matter of petitioner’s cigarette smoking, established by two competent government agencies and the appellate court, is thus a matter that cannot be questioned before us via petition for review. There is no doubt that petitioner deserves sympathy because even the benefits already given to him were questioned after the SSS found that he was a chronic cigarette smoker. For humanitarian reasons, as he pursued his claim all the way to the Court as an indigent litigant, and due to his advancing age, we would like to clarify that what had already been given him should no longe r be taken away from him.But he is not entitled to further compensation for his condition. We have once more put great weight to the factual findings of administrative agencies and quasi-judicial bodies, namely the SSS and the ECC, as they have acquired expertise in all matters relating to employee compensation and disability benefits. As we have held in  Ortega v. Social Security Commission[25]: It is settled that the Court is not a trier of facts and accords great weight to the factual findings of lower courts or agencies whose function is to resolve factual matters.It is not for the Court to weigh evidence all over again. Moreover, findings of fact of administrative agencies and quasi-judicial bodies, which have acquired expertise because their jurisdiction is confined to specific matters, are generally accorded not only respect but finality when affirmed by the Court of Appeals. 2. Decisions not stating facts and the law Saballa, et. al vs. NLRC [G. R. Nos. 102472-84. August 2 2, 1996] The Issue The petitioners raised the lone issue of whether or not: RESPONDENT NLRC GRAVELY ABUSED ITS DISCRETION AMOUNTING TO LACK OR EXCESS OF JURISDICTION WHEN, DESPITE THE OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE TO THE CONTRARY, IT DECLARED THE RETRENCHMENT OF PETITIONERS VALID AND LEGAL. † Petitioners argue that while the  NLRC  claimed to disagree with the factual findings/conclusions of the arbiter, it did not state what particular findings and conclusions it could not go along with; and while the Decision purports to apply the requisites for a valid retrenchment, the public respondent did not specify what those were.Further, citing  Lopez Sugar Corporation vs. Federation of Free Workers,[15]  petitioners claim that private respondent failed to show by convincing proof the concurrence of the requirements for valid retrenchment, and among other things, failed to show that the losses sought to be prevented were substantial and reasonably imminent. On the contrary, according to petitioners, the evidence on record clearly shows that the enforcement of the retrenchment program was attended by bad faith. The Court’s Ruling NLRC  Decision ArbitraryThe petition is meritorious. This Court has previously held that judges and arbiters should draw up their decisions and resolutions with due care, and make certain that they truly and accurately reflect their conclusions and their final dispositions. [16]  A decision should faithfully comply with Section 14, Article  VIII  of the Constitution which provides that no decision shall be rendered by any court without expressing therein clearly and distinctly the facts of the case and the law on which it is based.If such decision had to be completely overturned or set aside, upon the filing of a motion for reconsideration, in a subsequent action via a resolution or modified decision, such resolution or decision should likewise state the factual and legal foundation relied upon. The reason for this is obv ious:  Ã‚  aside from being required by the Constitution, the court should be able to justify such a sudden change of course; it must be able to convincingly explain the taking back of its solemn conclusions and pronouncements in the earlier decision. 17]  The same thing goes for the findings of fact made by the  NLRC, as it is a settled rule that such findings are entitled to great respect and even finality when supported by substantial evidence; otherwise, they shall be struck down for being whimsical and capricious and arrived at with grave abuse of discretion. 18]  It is a requirement of due process and fair play that the parties to a litigation be informed of how it was decided, with an explanation of the factual and legal reasons that led to the conclusions of the court. A decision that does not clearly and distinctly state the facts and the law on which it is based leaves the parties in the dark as to how it was reached and is especially prejudicial to the losing part y, who is unable to pinpoint the possible errors of the court for review by a higher tribunal. 19] Based on the foregoing considerations, we find the assailed Decision arbitrary in its naked assertion that:  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"(A)pplying the requisites (for valid retrenchment) to the instant case, we lent credence to respondent’s evidence supporting the fact that it was suffering financial reverses (pp. 118-136). Hence, complainant’s separation is valid, due to retrenchment. † The Decision does not indicate the  specific  bases for such crucial holding.While it  enumerated  some of the factors that supposedly weighed in favor of private respondent’s position,  i. e. , theNEA’s foreclosure letter; the  NPC’s disconnection letter; private respondent’s Income Statement; the fact that the employees’ union agreed to the â€Å"forced leave† policy instead of the drastic measure of retrenchment; and the impossibility of re instating the petitioners â€Å"considering the financial losses for 1988 alone not to mention the losses incurred for 1989 and wage increases imposed by the government (pp. 13-141,  rollo),† the public respondent nevertheless did not bother to explain how it came to the conclusion that private respondent was experiencing business reversals, nor did it specify which particular data and document it based such conclusion upon. This can only be because the private respondent failed to show convincingly by substantial evidence the fact of its failing financial health, and that such retrenchment was justified.Our observation is bolstered further by the Comment of the public respondent where it tried to rationalize its ruling by saying: â€Å"It is to be noted that private respondent x x x is a big and reputable company and for them to admit that it is in distress is a bitter pill to swallow, yet they must accept the sad situation that they are in. This representation believes i n the veracity of respondent’s x x x position. † Even resorting to the records does not help.The termination letter dated October 18, 1988[20]  stated that the reason for the retrenchment was â€Å"to avoid Coop financial losses. † However, the imminent loss sought to be forestalled by the retrenchment of petitioners was not actually indicated or specified. Page 118 of the records is the demand letter of  NEA  for payment of private respondent’s arrearages as of June 30, 1988. It warned that the account in the amount of approximately P8. 5 million should be settled within 30 days otherwise  NEA  will exercise its right to foreclose.But the records do not show that any property of private respondent was ever foreclosed nor that the savings from the salaries of the retrenched petitioners were to be used to pay for the arrearages; neither was it shown that private respondent did not have the resources to pay said obligation. Page 119 of the records is a Notice of Disconnection stating that the private respondent was required to pay twenty five percent of its outstanding bill to the  NEA  or face power disconnection on July 29, 1988.But private respondent did not show that such disconnection was effected then nor that the allotment for petitioners’ salaries was to be used to pay for this bill. The private respondent in its motion for reconsideration asked that the labor arbiter take judicial notice that  NPC  eventually disconnected its power supply on April 10, 1989, but this only means that the private respondent must have been able to pay up and settle its account on or about July 29, 1988, as it was not disconnected until April 10, 1989.By October 18, 1988, the losses, if any, sought to be proven by these documents would already have been sustained, so there could not have been any imminent loss which was to have been forestalled by the retrenchment of petitioners effected at that time. In other words, these abovementioned documents did not show any expected loss which made the retrenchment reasonably necessary, nor that such retrenchment was likely to prevent the expected loss.We do not deny that the private respondent would suffer losses as a result of a foreclosure or power disconnection, however, it failed to show how these threatened events eventually affected the cooperative’s financial health, if they ever happened at all. Besides, they are irrelevant because the imminent loss was supposed to come after October 18, 1988, months after these incidents. Moreover, pages 120-136 of the records (referred to in the assailed Decision) are the financial statements of the private respondent which are  unaudited  by independent external auditors and are without  Ã‚  Ã‚  accompanying explanations.This Court has previously held that financial statements audited by independent external auditors constitute the normal method of proof of the profit and loss performance of a company. [21]  And since private respondent insists that its  critical financial condition  was the central and pivotal reason for its retrenchment and forced leave programs, we therefore fail to see why it should neglect or refuse to submit such audited financial statements. Apart from that, we noted that the said unaudited statements were filled with erasures; some entries were even handwritten, and different typewriters were used.There is therefore serious ground to doubt the correctness and accuracy of said statements. Additionally, these statements require further explanations before the accounting procedures of private respondent can be understood. Thus, the Court is wary of according them any probative value, especially since respondent Commission seems to have treated them in a similar fashion by not discussing them in its Decision. In brief, we hold that public respondent gravely abused its discretion in rendering the challenged Decision without adequately explaining its factu al and legal

Child Support Example

Child Support Example Child Support – Coursework Example Child Support Child Support In the United s, the enforcement of child support is a function of the local and ities, which are mandated to enforce child support policies and laws. It is only in few circumstances that the federal government takes part in issues related to child support. Issues relating to child support should be reported to the local and state enforcement agencies and authorities. An assessment of the child support in the United States reveals that it is being enforced to the fullest. The relevant authorities ensure that parents provide financial support to children who are in their custody. Enough is being done in child support enforcement since the state and local authorities conduct regular assessments to ensure children receive the necessary care from their care-givers. In instances when caregivers are unable to provide support to the children, the state government intervenes and provides financial aid to the child (Morgan, 2011).Enough is being done in terms of ch ild support since the government prosecutes the parents who violate child support. Parents who fail to provide moral and social support to their children are considered as law violators. The failure to pay child support is illegal under the United States law. Some of the penalties that arise from the failure to pay child support include imprisonment and fines. In every state, there is a program that enhances child support enforcement. The state governments play a crucial role in establishing paternity and implementing child support orders. Low-income families are assisted to meet the needs of children through welfare programs that set aside monies for the children (Morgan, 2011). ReferencesMorgan, L. W. (2011). Child support guidelines: Interpretation and application. New York: Aspen Pub.

Human Trafficking in India Essay Example

Human Trafficking in India Essay Example Human Trafficking in India Essay Human Trafficking in India Essay India is the second most populous country in the world. Owing to this fact and because of the tremendously high poverty rate in the country; India also leads the world in human trafficking. In the country, around 100 million children are working in homes and factories across India and many of them are in situations that would be likened to slavery. Moreover, for the year 2000 alone, it was estimated that 12.07 percent or 13,157,000 of the 10 to 14 age group are economically active. This consists of 5,992,000 girls and 7,165,000 boys. Additionally, according to the National Labour Institute, 12.6 million children out of the 203 million children from ages of 5 to 14 in India are employed full-time. One hundred sixteen million are in school while another 87 million are â€Å"do housework, work on family farms, work alongside their parents as paid agricultural labourers, work as domestic servants, or are otherwise employed†. The status of the other 74 million is unknown (Global Ma rch Against Child Labour, n.d.) and it is that they are victims of child trafficking. According to Human Rights Watch, a total 40 million people in India are into bonded labour meaning they are working for someone until they pay off a debt. Off this 40 million people, 15 million are children. In some cases, the bondage is even passed from one generation to another if the debt if still unpaid upon the death of the initial person bonded. Other reports indicate that more or less 50,000 children are trafficked into India for prostitution. In Mumbai, estimations indicate that around 90 percent of sex workers started off when they were still under 18 years of age. NGOs also state that 6,000 to 10,000 girls are being trafficked into India from Nepal annually. The same number is determined for girls being trafficked from Bangladesh (Global March Against Child Labour, n.d.). The International Labour Organization approximates that 15 percent of the prostitutes in India are children. With 2.3 million prostitutes, this makes for 345,000 child prostitutes. On the other hand, no concrete data is available for the number of children that have been trafficked to be used for crime (Global March Against Child Labour, n.d.). India is a prime destination for sex trade along with Thailand and the Philippines. These three countries comprise for a total 1.3 million child sex workers. India is also the main destination for children aged below 16 who are trafficked in Southeast Asia along with Pakistan (Hughes, Sprocic, Mendelsohn Chirgwin, n.d.). The prostitution in the country is operated and controlled largely by organized crime (Global March Against Child Labor, n.d.) Women and children trafficked from Saudi Arabia are being sent to Middle Eastern nations daily. Girls that are put up for prostitution or domestic service in India, Pakistan and the Middle East are usually tortured, imprisoned and/or sexually abused. In Bombay, children 9 years and above are being sold for 60,000 rupess equivalent to 2,000 USD because of an unfounded belief that having sex with a virgin cures sexually transmitted infections. Indian brothels house 100,000 to 160,000 Nepalese women and girls. They were brought to India as they were made to believe that marriage or a good job awaits them. Additionally, 5,000 to 7,000 Nepalese girls are transported into India every year for prostitution. Data indicates that that 2.5 percent of prostitutes in India are from Nepal while 2.7 percent are from Bangladesh. (Hughes, et. al, n.d.). Many are being sent to prostitution as the families are fooled to send their children because of a promise of marriage or a good job. They are usually detained for days and are abused â€Å"until they learn to service up to 25 clients a day†. Others undergo training before being entering the trade. Training may be a â€Å"constant exposure to pornographic films, tutorials in how to please customers [and] repeated rapes† (Hughes, et.al, n.d.). Trafficking women from Nepal to India is fairly easy work because of a 1,740-mile open border. In fact, it is even less risky than transporting illegal drugs into the country. Traffickers can also easily bribe police officers in an instance that they are caught. The traffickers get the women from the isolated districts of Nepal where the illiteracy rate is high. Such locations are Sindhupalchow, Makwanpur, Dhading and Khavre (Hughes, et.al, n.d.). Media Perspective The media refers to human trafficking as an overly heinous crime. On the other hand, some media entities believe that human trafficking has not been receiving adequate attention from the government. The media suggest that steps should be taken to halt human trafficking. Trafficking is dubbed as a very heinous crime because people make a profit out of the violation of another person’s rights (Mulford, 2006). Trafficking is also a crime that has been given less attention compared to other horrors like suicide bombings and other acts of violence (Matysik, 2006). This is because other violent crimes are widely publicized like terrorists that want to strike fear into the hearts of people while human trafficking remains to be an underground business. One analysis indicates that the public has gained a distorted view of the issue since the media has been vent on exposing incidents of the trafficking of women and girls being forced into prostitution which fuels a moral panic. This diverts the public view out of other forms of human trafficking like forced labour (Fahy McDevitt, 2006). The United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking has also identified that these media stereotypes should be eliminated. Human trafficking, prostitution and smuggling should be confused with the one another. Marija Andelkovic, President of the anti-trafficking NGO ASTRA has something to say on the issue (UNGIFT, 2008). Media power should be used to press authorities and society in general to tackle the factors that drive human trafficking. â€Å"And the greatest contribution would be to write about human trafficking as a serious social problem which is very complex and has different aspects,† says Andelkovic. In that way, journalists will help fight crime.† (UNGIFT, 2008) The media must also make an effort to protect the identities of victims of human trafficking if ever they are to interview one since much of human trafficking is controlled by organized crime and the victim could be in danger if his/her identity is exposed. Nonetheless, writing about human trafficking will not always require that a victim be interviewed. The story can be framed in a variety of ways such that highlighting it as an organized crime or something that would urge the government to intensify efforts against it (UNGIFT, 2008). According to the Loquitur, the subject of human trafficking is finally getting the attention that it deserves. The awareness of the issue is increasing especially as different organizations have been battling with the issue. Influential celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey who hosts the talk show Oprah have also sparked public attention on the issue. These have urged governments to act which includes drafting laws and setting up entrapment operations to catch human traffickers (Matysik, 2006). Recognizing human trafficking has been identified as an important issue and the Indian government has started to address the problem (Mulford, 2006) especially since the situation in India has now been identified by the media as â€Å"grim†. However, the actions by the Indian government to combat human trafficking has still has been deemed lacking. â€Å"In Mumbai, convictions for trafficking-related offences increased from three in 2003 to 11 thus far in 2004 but remain grossly unrepresen tative in a city of over 18 million inhabitants† (Human trafficking situation, 2005). UN.GIFT also supports that the media is an important tool in the fight against human trafficking. The UN.GIFT regional event in Vilnius gave focus on this aspect.

A Strategic Plan for Personal Development Research Paper

A Strategic Plan for Personal Development - Research Paper Example Though the general notion is to think that leadership and power are synonymous, to me what Martin Luther King Jr. said makes more sense, â€Å"I am not interested in power for power's sake, but I'm interested in power that is moral, that is right, and that is good† (as cited in Ng, 2012, p.88). I look up to Gandhi as a model in this respect though I can in no way put a claim to achieve the level of his leadership legacy. It is important for my quest to find a leadership model that combines business or politics with personal integrity, that I learn what kind of a leader Gandhi was. As put by Nair (2010), â€Å"Gandhi wore no resplendent uniform, commanded no armies, and held no government position,† yet he had a whole nation behind him, ready to respond to his every uttered word (p.2). All this was achieved through non-violent means, which is nothing less than a miracle. Renowned leadership expert, Karl Moore has observed two key leadership qualities in Gandhi and added that they are also what many leaders of today lack- â€Å"leadership by example† and â€Å"persistence† (2011). It is the high standard of leadership practiced by Gandhi that I would like to set as my notion of perfect leadership, and aspire to at least work towards it with the self-reassurance that Gandhi was also an ordinary human being like I am. I believe, towards building and maintaining a peaceful world, which is day by day becoming a distant mirage, I owe this quest to myself, my future generations, and to my society. I envisage finding a high standard of leadership using the model of Gandhi as my idealized and ultimate paradigm. As a path for traveling in this direction, it is necessary that I seek the support of already evolved and well-defined paradigms for leadership. The leadership qualities that I look forward to cultivate include an ability to lead from the forefront yet walk with the group, exercise power where necessary yet make that power emerge from a common will, a vision of a world that is a more equal and just society, and the willingness to let others grow and become leaders themselves. Given the present situation where idealism looks good on paper but is mocked when it becomes real, I understand that it is a quite challenging task ahead of me. To make creative use of the scholarship on leadership that has been built by great academicians and visionaries, will be the best possible option for me to begin with. Hence I searched for theories, paradigms and models put forth by scholars in the field in an attempt to locate a paradigm that genuinely moves me and synchronizes with my vision of leadership. The paradigms that I found to be having the closest potential to achieving my end are, transformational, transactional and servant leadership paradigms. This is also in view of the fact that Gandhian model of leadership has been already described as transformational and transactional (Moore, 2011). Before I go deeper into the rele vance of these paradigms for me, I need to consider some definitions of leadership. Academic definitions go as follows: â€Å"

Management accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Management accounting - Essay Example BA is flying to over 550 destinations and to 155 countries worldwide including Americas, UK, Europe, Middle East and South Asia, Africa, and Asia/Pacific (â€Å"British Airways,† 2010). It has been considered as one of the leader in the airline industry worldwide and known for its excellence, quality, and full air and ground services. Aside from being the largest international scheduled airline in UK, BA offered several services and facilities to their customers to guarantee their convenience. The company has been privatised and shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) under the ticker symbol BAY (â€Å"London Stock Exchange,† 2011). As history trace its origins back, BA was formed with the mergence of BOAC, BEA, Cambrian Airways, and Northeast Airlines last 1974 (â€Å"British Airways,† n.d.). ... They have decided to merge because of recession that badly hit the operations of the two airlines (BBC News, 2009). The purpose of this paper is to explain how management accounting can supply information to assist the management of British Airways, particularly the key techniques that are favourable to the company. Review of the Nature and Role of Management Accounting Management accounting is an exclusive type of accounting wherein the supplied information is more specific. Furthermore, it â€Å"exists to serve managers helping them work as decision makers, planners, and controllers of their respective departments or areas of responsibility† (Atrill & McLaney, 1994, p.14). In other words, the role of management accounting is to assist the managers in making decisions or problem solving, and provide accounting information necessary to make realistic future plans. They are expected to provide financial or economic information particularly available to those in managerial posit ion. These are needed in carrying the tasks of decision-making, planning, and control so that organization will be managed effectively and efficiently. Decision making and planning is one of the crucial tasks played by management accounting. There are instances that the management needs to settle with the best option to be pursued which at the same time favourable to the organization. The determined courses of action will be evaluated as to their costs and benefits which is the role of planning. Furthermore, the information will be more effective if the result of the appraisal showed that the benefits outweigh the costs. Control is the second primary tasked that â€Å"involves a comparison of actual performance with the plan so that