Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Case study 9B Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Case study 9B - Assignment Example 1. The first word that attracts attention in the statement is â€Å"digging up†. The ways to â€Å"sig up† the information can be different and not always ethical. Also, persuasiveness of delivering the news the way it is put in the statement strikes the eye as well. The matter is that while some interpret the statement as it is, others may find implications there and use them for their own benefit and to the damage of others. Sometimes the desire to be persuasive while delivering information results in extensive appeal to reader’s emotions, which can lead to the distortion of the information perception. In this case, an aggregator may act as a watchdog over the information; however, this means that it performs tasks uncharacteristic of it, meaning it will act like a critic rather than content placer. 2. The main difference here is the fact that the Associated Press licenses the content and then sell it to the authorized parties, which means the work is paid for. The Huffington Post, in its turn, simply rewrites the content and buries links using quite an aggressive approach to news aggregation. 1. Despite the fact that today many people tend to speak about the ethical side of the problem, for example, the infringement of a copyright, for the long-standing cooperatives, such as the Associated Press, the issue is mostly of economic nature. The matter is that because of news aggregation, such cooperatives lose significant sums of money while aggregators, such as the Huffington Post or Google News, profit from the information other gathered at great cost. If the aggregators paid for content, that might eliminate the ethical side other problem; at the same time, other problems might appear, mostly those associated with the changed character of such projects. 2. News is everywhere and is free; in fact, no one owns the news. It is rather the medium is owned by certain companies. The media

Monday, October 28, 2019

How policies and procedures help children Essay Example for Free

How policies and procedures help children Essay Discuss how policies and procedures help children and young people and their families whilst the child is being looked after. In this essay I am going to discuss 6 policies and their procedures whist a child is being looked after. I am going to expand on why this is important for the child parent or legal guardian and also why they are put in place. Firstly I am going to discuss the Safeguarding Policy. Safeguarding Policy Safeguarding is the policy that describes the function of protecting adults and children from abuse or neglect. It is an important shared priority of many public services, and a key responsibility of local authorities.Safeguarding relates to the need to protect certain people who may be in vulnerable circumstances. These are people who may be at risk of abuse or neglect, due to the actions (or lack of action) of another person usually their parent or carer. In these cases, it is critical that services work together to identify people at risk, and put in place interventions to help prevent abuse or neglect, and to protect Safe guarding helps make sure the people whom are protecting the children are correctly checked for example a CRB is mandatory when looking after a vulnerable child. What is a DBS check and why is it needed? Since March 2002, the Criminal Records Bureau has enabled employers to check the criminal records of employees and potential employees, in order to ascertain whether or not they are suitable to work with vulnerable adults and children. For individuals working in certain positions, a valid DBS disclosure is a legislative requirement. The Disclosure and Barring Service also manage lists of individuals who are barred from working with children and adults. New safeguarding regulations introduced in October 2009 place an obligation on employers, social services and professional regulators to notify the DBS of relevant information. This obligation ensures that individuals who pose a threat to vulnerable groups can be barred from working with them. It also makes it a criminal offence for these individuals to apply to work with these groups and for employers to knowingly employ them. This makes sure the child is safe whilst being cared for by a  professional or a carer whom isnt their parent or legal guardian. It is also important so the parents or carers know the child is in safe hands whilst being cared for out of their control. Recording and Handling Information Policy Recording and handling data is important when looking after children for example whilst a child is in school all their documents must be kept confidential in case any of the other children or irrelevant staff members read or disclose any confidential information. The only time data or information about child should be revealed is if the child is at risk or in danger. Then the relevant person can inform the carer or relevant person to make sure the child is kept safe. Keeping childrens medical records safe is also important in case they ever need reviewed or used in case of emergency. Health and Safety Policy This policy promotes making sure the child is kept safe and in a safe environment for example there are a few policies put in place to make sure this is possible. They are RIDDOR  (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations) This is an assessment that must be put in place and a report filed upon if a child is injured in school or any other official place of work. For parents or carers this makes sure it is dealt with and supported correctly it also keeps children safe. COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) This is similar to the RIDDOR policy I have expanded on above. All people taking care of the child must make sure all harmful substances are kept away from the child to prevent serious or injury or death. Risk Assessments. Risk assessments are carried out everywhere a child is looked after to make sure the environment and building is safe for the child to live or be taught in. This is a mandatory legal document especially in a school or care environment. This could put a parent or carers mind at risk knowing there child is safe. Health Policy It is a legal requirement that all children must get free healthcare throughout their childhood and adolescent life if needed for example medical care, dentistry care and mental support if needed. This helps support the child so they can stay healthy and get the right support they need. It also helps the parent so they don’t need to worry about the financial side as all this support is free. Education Policy Education is mandatory until you are 18 as of 2012. This is so children don’t fall out of education at 16. You can go down many routes when leaving school for example college, sixth form, training or apprentiships. There is also a legal standard of education in the United Kingdom that must be followed, there are 224 policies within 1 policy itself for education ranging from Reducing violent and gun crime to Reforming qualifications and the curriculum to better prepare pupils for life after school. Having policies in place makes sure that children get the right standard of education and that parents and carers can go out to work whilst their children are at school to make sure they can give their children the best standard of life. It also sets the child up for a good standard of life with good qualifications and life skills. Play Policy When children are in education especially primary school it is a legal requirement that they get break time and toys and equipment to use during this time. The best way for a child to learn is using exploratory learning and learning by trial and error. This is how a child learns life and social skills from a young age. When a child starts school this also gets them well adjusted to letting go from spending all their time with there parent or carer. Every Child Matters 1 Be Healthy 2 Stay Safe 3 Enjoy and Achieve 4 Make a Positive Contribution 5 Achieve Economic Wellbeing I believe that all they above policies shape a childs life and with the right guidance from parents, carers and education you can shape a decent outcome and setup for a childs life and development. Refrences. http://www.every-child-matters.org.uk/Framework_5_key_outcomes http://www.theguardian.com/politics/education http://www.playengland.org.uk/resources/national-play-policy.aspx https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-and-safety-advice-for-school https://www.gov.uk/disclosure-barring-service-check/overview

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Customer Driven Organization Essay -- essays research papers

THESIS SENTENCE A customer driven organization with detailed customer relations can result in optimal effectiveness and efficiency in the workplace. FORMAL OUTLINE I.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Maintaining an effective environment through a customer driven organization A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Empowerment – the ability to help people use their powers and truest potentials to extend themselves, rather than restricting themselves. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Involvement of the employees Staff Development via in-house training a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Technical – train in the specifics of a particular job b.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Quality – training in the principles of total quality combined with technical (i.e. computer programs) required to implement quality assurance and implementation. c.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Specific Skills – specialized classes Financial – Accounting (A/R, A/P) Selling Technique Languages Interviewing skills d.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Activity - â€Å"Outward Bound† -Type of course in which people learn about leadership and teamwork by engaging in physical tasks such as rock climbing. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Personal growth and development a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Higher Education (continuing education) Managerial – provide expertise and knowledge in fields such as strategy, change of or implementing management. Identify and work on developing skills directly related to â€Å"REAL† corporate problems. b....

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Goodwill Industries Essay

1. Describe the three customer types mentioned in the video. What is each customer type looking for when they shop at Goodwill? What is most important to each customer type? The video mentioned 3 specific clientele for Goodwill Industries. The fashion shoppers, the bargain hunters, and the resellers. The Fashion Shoppers are most likely the frequent customers of Goodwill boutiques. Goodwill boutiques sells high end products with lower prices. These shoppers are what the Goodwill merchandisers are targeting when it comes to selling their trendier merchandise. These shoppers are the early adopters of trends and they put more value on style rather than the savings itself. Bargain Hunters are the more common clientele for Goodwill stores. These are the people that go to the stores with the mindset of getting more for their money. To this clientele, the focus is on how much discount they could get on an item in comparison to getting them from regular stores. They may care about the trends as well, but their focus is more on the psychological factor of getting a deal (buying something that is 80% off for example) rather than getting something that is trendy. Resellers are probably the shrewdest of all three. They are basically a combination of both of the latter customer types with an intent to sell afterwards. They are businessmen or women that understands trends and are also looking for the best deal for it. Resellers traditionally would buy merchandise at deeply discounted prices and then sell them for a profit. They would be the most frequent customers of the Goodwill outlet stores where the items that were not sold on regular stores are sold in bulk for much cheaper prices. Their sole intent is to make a profit, an d reselling Goodwill products is their means to do it. 2. What is Goodwill’s value proposition? Is it the same for all customer groups? According to the video, Goodwill’s value proposition is ‘used merchandise in deeply discounted prices’. (Pearson Education, 2013) No, I believe that it varies from customer to customer. A fashion shopper’s bargain would be different from what a bargain hunter would consider a deal. Also according to the video, social values define  what we see as a thrift; that is why they cater their stores to appeal to different demographics. 3. How do the four sets of factors affecting consumer behavior affect the buying behavior of Goodwill’s customers? Which of the four sets of factors affecting consumer behavior do you believe most strongly affects consumers’ purchase decisions from Goodwill? The four factors that affects consumer behavior are Cultural, Social, Personal, and Psychological factors. Each factor has a heavy effect on shaping a consumers buying behavior and so Goodwill makes their stores relevant by making sure to weigh in the most prevalent factor, among these four, based on location. The cultural factor makes it important to fill stores with items that match the culture of the neighborhood in which the store is located. The social factor make sit important to take into consideration consumers’ views of thrift stores. The personal factor makes it important to consider how concerned the target market for a particular store is with timing fashion trends, and the psychological factor makes it important to consider how a buyer’s perception of an item is linked to the item’s price. (Pearson Education, 2013) In my opinion, Cultural factors plays the biggest role in affecting the consumer behavior when it comes to Goodwill stores. As have been discussed last week, marketing affects the society it is found in and vice versa.If they are to sell products that does not fit the target demographics neighborhood, then the rest of the factors becomes moot. After all, the consumers has to be in the store for any of the other factors to kick in, and being culturally appropriate would greatly help in bringing in consumers. From my own experience as well, I only go inside Goodwill stores if it seem like it would be a safe place for me to buy things. If the place appear too musty, or to unclean, I would not even be tempted to go inside even if they have the best deals in the area. 4. What environmental trend(s) does the video discuss that significantly impacts Goodwill’s performance? What two â€Å"metrics† are affected and why does this affect how Goodwill markets its retail goods? The video talks in detail about the challenge of depending on customer situations and economic changes. The success of their whole operation rests on the ever changing economic times; specifically influencing consumer purchasing habits. When the economy goes through a slight recession, it drives customers to the stores. Less money to spend means, budgeting and bargain hunting for consumers, which happens to  be the forte of Goodwill stores. However, if the economy keeps turning bad, the company gets fewer donations. Fewer donations leads to fewer products to sell and fewer movement in the supply line. Some of their stores rely on the constant product cycles to reach their target demographic. Without donations, the cycles slows, stalling every aspect of their operation. These also results in the cutting back of employee hours, which greatly affects their mission to help people reach their full potential through learning and the power of work. (Goodwill Industries International, 2015) 5. How does Goodwill’s recognition of consumer behavior principles affect its marketing mix? It helps them in recognizing trends, leading to better strategies and helps them in optimizing their impact on influencing consumer behavior. First off, they tailor their stores in a way that it is very similar to private retail stores. The products, the way the stores operates, and the way everything is processed are like those of traditional retailers; they set themselves apart with their offering and the experience of shopping in the store itself. (Pearson Education, 2013) They have boutiques to sell the trendier products, they have outlets to sell items in bulk, and they have an online store as well to reach a global audience. Their prices speak for themselves. They offer very low prices in comparison to regular stores and they make sure that consumers know that they are getting a bargain. All the factors are being considered here: the neighborhood of the store, the perception of thrift stores by that neighborhoods’ populace, the buying power of the consumers, and the discounts that drives them to spend their money there. REFERENCE LIST Goodwill Industries International (2015) Our Mission http://www.goodwill.org/about-us/ Goodwill: understanding consumer and buyer behavior, produced by Cole Creative Group, Pearson Education (2013)

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Bewitched Discussion

One of the strongest and perhaps oldest emotions of mankind is fear, and the most intriguing fear is the fear of the unknown. The idea of fear inspires classic and contemporary writers to explore the things that cannot be seen or fully comprehended by human understanding, from the element of fear of the unknown to the exploration of something metaphysical that motivates detachment from life. One of the common themes in relation to fear that is explored in â€Å"Bewitched† is the subject of supernatural.Classified under the supernatural genre, the Bewitched story by Ueda Akinari can be compared to the story of the â€Å"Beauty or the Beast† in contemporary literature where animals are used symbolically to imply something significant about the literature. However, the woman who turned out to be a snake in â€Å"Bewitched† is deeper and harder to explain than the man who became a beast in â€Å"Beauty and the Beast. † This is because the stories of the Japane se writer Akinari were made during 18th century where religion was highly discussed and debated.Human awareness regarding religion or divinity was very limited. In fact, the author’s religious conviction and orientation about paganism is reflected in his works. In a way, the story of â€Å"bewitched† is also like the story of the falling angel â€Å"Lucifer. † Bewitched is aesthetically unique and creative because Akinari initially and creatively delved into how to twist something wonderful into something unappealing yet stimulating.However, aside from this, there are presently limited stories that are similar to Akinari’s Bewitched story. Even in the early 20th century in the West, contemporary literature explored the topic of politics and societal concerns as a means of social movement for public awakening. Most of the contemporary literary pieces nowadays under the horror genre do not touch on the topic of supernatural kind; rather, most of them deal w ith the horrifying side of human nature.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

10 Chrome Extensions to Make Your Studying Easier (And More Effective)

10 Chrome Extensions to Make Your Studying Easier (And More Effective) Okay all you tech-savvy students, it’s time to take your Google game to the next level. In this article we’re going to take a look at 10 Chrome extensions that you can use to study better, stay more organized and be a couple steps ahead of the collegiate show. Some of them you may already use, but there’s definitely a finding here for everyone. Enjoy the list! #1: The Invaluable Time Tracker How long do you actually research in comparison with the time you are lost on YouTube or sleeping at the keyboard? Time Tracker is like your own personal Big Brother that will watch where you go online, track it and show you how long you were there. Judging by the reviews in the Google web store, it isn’t perfect and has its share of issues, but it’s been great for plenty of students or even online workers. #2: The Unstoppable Quick Note Quick Note is one of the most prolific Google extensions for students. We’re talking the upper echelons of tech-savvy GPA enhancing madness. With 6848 reviews it’s hard to deny the regality and college-style browser opulence it can bestow upon you. Do be a sport and check into it. No kidding, you’ll probably end up using the same extension years from now in that cushy career you’re working towards. #3: The PDF’s Best Friend So basically, it’s called CleanPrint and using it you can either print the PDF completely, view it in more dynamic ways or print only specific sections. Pretty handy, especially these days, when most of the college experience is happening online and files really matter. PDF is probably one of the most common type of files you’ll use, so this extension just makes handling them efficient. #4: The Ultimate Mind-Mapping Tool LucidChart Introducing LucidChart and when it comes to a brainstorming or mind-mapping tool it’s hard to beat. Now you can chill in your dorm room with your tablet and organize your thoughts, connect the dots and make some real progress on projects that would have likely stumped or overwhelmed you before. #5: The Checker Plus for Google Calendar It’s sort of an add-on extension that integrates with Google Calendar. Checker Plus helps you keep tabs on, â€Å"your next events, get meeting desktop notifications, add or snooze events without opening the Google Calendar page!† Don’t be late anymore or miss something important happening on campus. There’s always so much to do and now you can turn your smartphone, iPod or tablet into an amazing calendar. #6: Get the Google Dictionary! If you’re not using Google Dictionary, then you need to go talk to some psy-majors immediately. #7: Epic Document Creation Tool The extension is called Docs Quickly and using it you can create documents within your browser. No kidding. â€Å"Add a simple menu to your browser bar to quickly create new Documents, Spreadsheets, Presentations, Forms, and Drawings for Google Drive.† Seriously, it is handy, and it is one of those extensions that you can rely on. #8: A Legendary Spell / Grammar Checker We’re talking next generation and custom-designed Spell Grammar Checker. Dynamic. Comprehensive. User-friendly. Dependable. Stuffed with nifty features that basically ensure you’ll be writing and communicating far more fluently! Less errors mean less hassle for you and higher marks as well. Raise your hand if that sounds cool! Since it’s literally a part of your browser, you can create all kinds of new documents due to Docs Quickly†¦Youll definitely love it! #9: Announcify! The ultimate app in modern intellectual laziness age, but it is really helpful! â€Å"Announcify reads out loud every website you want. For example, if youre too tired but still need to study one more Wikipedia entry, Announcify can help your tired eyes relax.† Yippy! So it’ll be ten times easier to fall asleep trying to catch up on some quick research! #10: Flashcard Stash If you need to do a fair amount of vocab work or memorizing, be sure to grab Flashcard Stash because it’s simply amazing. Forget about traditional color-coded sticky flash cards that you have to put all over the place and yadda yadda! Here’s but a smidgen of the goodies: â€Å"Flashcard Stash allows you to create interactive flashcards and helps you learn with engaging quizzes and games.† Didn’t we tell you that there would be at least one awesome pick in here. If you’re new to Google Chrome and the extension-universe don’t get lost. The key is to use about 3-5 that really make your life easier. Do you already use some extensions, and if so what are they?

Monday, October 21, 2019

Everything Changes Too Fast to Worry About It All Right Now

Everything Changes Too Fast to Worry About It All Right Now I received yet another email telling me how online promotion has changed. A message telling me how I need yet another podcast, book, or blog series about how to sell my book differently in order to do well. I deleted it. And Ill continue to delete them. . . for now. Because right now Im writing. Im into Chapter 8 for one book, and Chapter 6 in another. (Yes, for some strange reason Ive tackled two books at once.) I lay my head on the pillow at night purposefully with a scene in my mind so that my subconscious  will work out the kinks. I often pop awake with ideas. Or maybe I dont, but when I sit to write, more ideas still happen to flow. But study now about how to market a book that isnt close to being published? Nope. Delete. Delete. Delete. But were supposed to be marketing around the clock, if you read the gurus online. I swear there are more gurus than there are novelists. But Im deep into plot, sculpting dialogue, infusing the senses and depth into character. . . honing the twists. Im making magic. I have no time for lessons on becoming a salesman. No, Im not procrastinating. Really, Im not. Im making a conscious decision to conserve and preserve my talent and energies for the story. We learn a new language best from immersion into the culture. Where everyone and everything around us is about that language, and we are forced to adopt it, embrace it, and become fluent in it. Which doesnt happen when we are half one language and half another. Besides, per the emails I received just today, in reading just the subject headers before I deleted them, apparently Amazon Marketing has changed, BookBub marketing came up with new methods, and Facebook Advertising takes a new sort of deft hand to not lose your shirt. So why worry about marketing now when it will become a different animal Sometimes you just write.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry - Molecular Machines

2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry - Molecular Machines The 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded to Jean-Pierre Sauvage (University of Strasbourg, France), Sir J. Fraser Stoddart (Northwestern Univeristy, Illinois, USA), and Bernard L. Feringa (University of Groningen, the Netherlands) for the design and synthesis of molecular machines. What Are Molecular Machines and Why Are They Important? Molecular machines are molecule that move in a certain way or perform a task when given energy. At this point in time, miniscule molecular motors are at the same level of sophistication as electric motors in the 1830s. As scientists refine their understanding of how to get molecules to move in certain way, they pave the future for using the tiny machines to store energy, make new materials, and detect changes or substances. What Do The Nobel Prize Winners Win? The winners of this years Nobel Prize in Chemistry each receive a Nobel Prize medal, an elaborately decorated award, and prize money. The 8 million Swedish krona will be split equally between the laureates. Understand the Achievements Jean-Pierre Sauvage laid the groundwork for the development of molecular machines in 1983 when he formed the molecular chain called catenane. The significance of catenane is that its atoms were linked by mechanical bonds rather than traditional covalent bonds, so the parts of the chain could be more easily opened and closed. In 1991, Fraser Stoddard moved ahead when he developed a molecule called a rotaxane. This was a molecular ring on an axle. The ring could be made to move along the axle, leading to the inventions of molecular computer chips, molecular muscles, and a molecular lift. In 1999, Bernard Feringa was the first person to devise a molecular motor. He formed a rotor blade and demonstrated he could make all of the blades spin in the same direction. From there, he moved on to design a nanocar. Natural Molecules Are Machines Molecular machines have been known in nature. The classic example is a bacterial flagellum, which moves the organism forward. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry recognizes the significance of being able to design tiny functional machines from molecules and the importance of making a molecular toolbox from which humanity can build more intricate miniature machines. Where does the research go from here? Practical applications of nanomachines include smart materials, nanobots that deliver drugs or detect diseased tissue, and high-density memory.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

The Dark Ages a Prelude to Light and Renaissance Essay

The Dark Ages - a Prelude to Light and Renaissance - Essay Example Another was the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans which marked the historical ending of the Middle Ages. But major developments in art and architecture were one of the key features during this period. An attempt is made to review the art and architecture during this period loosely based on Laurie Schneider Adam’s book ‘A History of Western Art.’ Proposed review will follow the art and architecture during the early Christian era, followed by the influence of Byzantine culture. Islamic and Ottoman influence is covered next after which the Roman style that was seen during the period will be reviewed. Next comes the Gothic style and the building of the many great cathedrals that one sees in Europe. Even though referred to as the dark ages, many developments that evolved during the Renaissance period had its base in the Middle Ages. Hence this period is very relevant in a humanities course. One institution that held on strongly after the fall of the Roman Empire was the undivided Christian church. Christians were allowed open worship by the Edict of Milan which ultimately resulted in the religion becoming very widespread. Christian architecture flourished during the early days of the Middle Ages and was characterized by two types of structures namely a longitudinal basilica and the centralized baptistery. â€Å"The exteriors of Early Christian buildings were plain and unadorned and the interiors contrarily were richly decorated with marble floors and wall slabs, frescoes, mosaics, metal works, hangings, and sumptuous altar furnishings in gold and silver.† (Early Christian Art). Some examples include the churches of San Stefano Rotondo and the Baptistery of Constantine. Byzantine art and architecture were greatly influenced by Rome because the cultural and social foundation of that great city was undeniable Roman. But most monuments during this period were also greatly influenced by East European architecture and the Hellenized East.

Friday, October 18, 2019

The fast food industry should be regulated in a similar manner to the Essay

The fast food industry should be regulated in a similar manner to the tobacco industry - Essay Example Governments also need to reaffirm their actions concerning fast foods and this way, prevent people from becoming overweight and obese. This paper argues that the fast food industry needs to be regulated in a similar manner to the tobacco industry. This should be done through evidence based regulations which ensure that public health objectives are adhered to in a more efficient manner. Eating habits have changed dramatically in recent times. This has seen the emergence of the fast food industry, which is currently one of the multibillion dollar businesses worldwide and that has a wide influence on what we consume. The development of the fast food business is accompanied by growing apprehension over health issues. The consequences of taking fast food are very serious as it leads to obesity, irregular weight gain and increased risks of insulin resistance in the body among others. For these and other reasons, concerns have been raised regarding the fast food industry and its regulation has been raised as a way to prevent the problems that emerge from its existence. This paper argues that the fast food industry should be regulated in a similar manner to the tobacco industry. The essence of fast food is to have quick food that easily saves time. It therefore represents efficiency and gratification. Fast food industries are often successful because they provide an option to quicker, convenient and tasty food. This food may have all these positive characteristics but in reality, it is usually high in fat and salt content and has low amounts of calcium and fiber, making it dangerous to health. There is a rapid rise in health cases such as obesity in the current century; the sad thing is that it is mostly linked to children (Robinson et al., 2007). Obesity causes an opportunity for increased cholesterol and fats, which leads to a high risk of heart related

American Governement- Freedom of Speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

American Governement- Freedom of Speech - Essay Example The constant battle for the preservation of free speech has most recently been enjoined concerning the unabated flow of information on the internet. The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) ruled that radio and television was exempt from First Amendment protection therefore must comply with arbitrary content guidelines. Though clearly a legal matter, the FCC gave itself the power to censor the media without virtue of a court decision. Now that censorship has been accepted by the majority, the government is currently attempting to control the internet. The American public seems to be in favor of restricting online gambling as well as material of a sexual nature but this is a generation that has grown accustomed to censorship by their government and in many cases encourages this unconstitutional practice. The internet itself is not regulated. As efficient and enormously informative as the web is, its content is not overseen as are other communications mediums such as television and radio. It is a groundbreaking new technology that has amalgamated societies of the country and the world and introduced the concept of truly free expression and the perception that nothing is taboo. Everything is exposed and available at everyone’s literal finger-tip. The Internet has no physical, ethical or moral boundaries. Lawmakers and legal scholars generally use legal precedents from broadcast media decisions as the model for definitions of indecency and obscenity when developing regulations governing the Internet. The Communications Decency Act (CDA) of 1996 made it a federal crime to display ‘indecent material’ on any computer network unless the website owner utilizes ‘effective’ techniques to control access of that material to minors. This law appears to be a reasonable compromise that protects free speech and prevents

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Human Resource Management Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human Resource Management - Literature review Example An organization manages its talent through the HR and this is how both HR and talent management are linked. HR has a responsibility of ensuring that the employees work for the achievement of the organizational goals. In order to manage the organizations talent, HR needs to come up with effective employee policies, etc (BRATTON, J., & GOLD, J. 2000; CHEESE, P., THOMAS, R. J., & CRAIG, E. 2008) There are different scholarly studies that discuss about the role of HR in the talent management and the organizational performance. One of the studies discusses about the different phases that occurred during the development of the theory of HR and performance. There are basically five phases that took place during the development of the theory of HR. The beginning phase was when the HR was actually associated with the performance of the company. There was a link made between the HR practices and the strategies of the businesses. The second phase was empiricism, when statistical surveys were us ed to support the development of the theory of HR. The phase was successful in establishing a positive relation between the HR and the organizations performance. ... The study links this theory to the current role of the HR. It also discusses about the challenges faced by the HR theory. The scope of the theory is too narrow. It argues that the workforce motivation and commitment are an important aspect of the increasing sophistication. It states that keeping in mind the respective workforce HR managers need to come up with the best practices to have the most positive outcomes and to have the greatest impact on performance. The study has some loopholes. It does not suggest how the HR managers can come up with good practices. It does not suggest exactly what models and research methods should be used to understand the impact of HR theory on the performance. It also does not suggest ways of talent management to bring out the best out of employees (GUEST.D 2010) Another study was conducted which focused on the Human Resource Management and the Corporate Performance in the UK. The study basically focused on that how human resource management can help the corporations to achieve competitive advantage through its workforce. It shows a clear relationship between the human resource management and performance but the study fails to establish the level of extent to which the HRM results in a higher performance of the corporations. During the course of this study it was found out that greater use of HR practices results in lower labor turnover higher profit contribution per employee but it does not ensure a greater productivity of the employees. There were 366 UK based companies that were studied by the researchers to establish the above results (GUEST.D, MICHIE.J, CONWAY.N & SHEEHAN.M 2003) Talent management is the most important aspect of the HR

Sports marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sports marketing - Essay Example Badminton finds little support from the American populace given that tennis is the most popular racquet sport. As a racquet sport, tennis has drawn all the interest from other racquet sports, thus, making it popular among the other variables. Badminton has never produced stars in the American society, as in other sports such as tennis and American football. Therefore, it has not gained public interest due to this. The fact that America has few stars in the sport obstructs or hinders it from gaining publicity. The presence of stars in a certain sport assists in offering motivation to the young generation and making other people like the sport. The few athletes in the sport gain little or no media attention, thus, reducing the occurrence of potential participants. The financial income of the badminton players profoundly limits or discourages many people within the populace from joining in the sport. The payments are extremely low as compared to other sports. Therefore, this has led to the public undermining the sport especially if one takes it as the career. Several strategies can serve towards making a sport popular. The strategies utilized in marketing a given sport depend significantly on the extent to which the sport is popular among the people. It can also be reliant upon the resources allocated towards that sport, promotion and advertising approaches to be utilized. The first phase towards marketing a sport is advertising it and educating the masses about the interesting aspects and pleasures derived from participating. Creating awareness among the rest of the population can substantially improve the public’s appeal to a certain sport. The management concerned with badminton ought to develop ways of educating people concerning the sport (Stephens 1). Education can be carried out both at the personal and societal levels. The management can recruit ambassadors to market the sport by educating the masses. Awareness can be created through the

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Human Resource Management Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human Resource Management - Literature review Example An organization manages its talent through the HR and this is how both HR and talent management are linked. HR has a responsibility of ensuring that the employees work for the achievement of the organizational goals. In order to manage the organizations talent, HR needs to come up with effective employee policies, etc (BRATTON, J., & GOLD, J. 2000; CHEESE, P., THOMAS, R. J., & CRAIG, E. 2008) There are different scholarly studies that discuss about the role of HR in the talent management and the organizational performance. One of the studies discusses about the different phases that occurred during the development of the theory of HR and performance. There are basically five phases that took place during the development of the theory of HR. The beginning phase was when the HR was actually associated with the performance of the company. There was a link made between the HR practices and the strategies of the businesses. The second phase was empiricism, when statistical surveys were us ed to support the development of the theory of HR. The phase was successful in establishing a positive relation between the HR and the organizations performance. ... The study links this theory to the current role of the HR. It also discusses about the challenges faced by the HR theory. The scope of the theory is too narrow. It argues that the workforce motivation and commitment are an important aspect of the increasing sophistication. It states that keeping in mind the respective workforce HR managers need to come up with the best practices to have the most positive outcomes and to have the greatest impact on performance. The study has some loopholes. It does not suggest how the HR managers can come up with good practices. It does not suggest exactly what models and research methods should be used to understand the impact of HR theory on the performance. It also does not suggest ways of talent management to bring out the best out of employees (GUEST.D 2010) Another study was conducted which focused on the Human Resource Management and the Corporate Performance in the UK. The study basically focused on that how human resource management can help the corporations to achieve competitive advantage through its workforce. It shows a clear relationship between the human resource management and performance but the study fails to establish the level of extent to which the HRM results in a higher performance of the corporations. During the course of this study it was found out that greater use of HR practices results in lower labor turnover higher profit contribution per employee but it does not ensure a greater productivity of the employees. There were 366 UK based companies that were studied by the researchers to establish the above results (GUEST.D, MICHIE.J, CONWAY.N & SHEEHAN.M 2003) Talent management is the most important aspect of the HR

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Structural Fesign Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Structural Fesign - Essay Example Structural engineers are thus very important in the construction supply chain. Structural design encompasses the design of the support structure, selection of materials, computation of the member size, evaluation of the effect of the environment on the structural elements, selection of the member types and lastly the configuration of the structure in the most effective, affordable, safe and serviceable manner (Heyman, 1999). The structural designer must work according to the building standardization codes. He may have several designs of which he selects the most affective and affordable design. The design selected must not fail. To ensure proper functionality especially in the factories, the beams must not sag as this may lead to improper functioning or derailing of the cranes. Failure of the structural members results in machines drive shaft fail, machine table misalignment and burning of the bearing due to warbling. Simply supported beams; there are supported vertically at two points. One point is fixed permanently while at the other point, an allowance is given to enable the beam to move horizontally due to expansion (Hosford, 2005). Hollow section: there are several hollow sections that are used in structural design. ... Continuous supported beams; supported at several points. There are several types of beams; these include; Universal beams; they are I shaped beams and are effective as supporting structures, they don't fail easily, they are also referred to as H section beams. Angle sections; they are 'L' shaped are mainly used for roofing where struts and ties are required to make trusses. T-sections; these are structural members that have a 'T' shape. Hollow section: there are several hollow sections that are used in structural design. These include; rectangular hollow section that have a rectangular shape, round hollow section that have a round tubular cross-section and shape, Square sections which have a square cross-section and elliptical cross-section which have an ellipse shape but are hollow inside. Trusses; they are mainly used for roofing; there are sometimes preferred in that they may span for long distances without sagging or deflecting. There are very versatile and can be redesigned easily to add more struts and ties to accommodate greater loads or span longer distances. Bars and rods; bars are rectangular while rods are circular; the are solid unlike the hollow section. Plates. Plates are metallic sheets with a thickness greater than 6mm. Concrete; One of the most widely used structural materials. It is cheap and last long as compared to all the other materials. Concrete comprise of a mix of sand, cement and aggregate in different proportions. The strength of concrete depends on the mixing ratios. Ratios with more sand and cement have greater strength and are used in industrial constructions. Nearly all concrete mixes are reinforced with steel bars. The inherent advantages of reinforcing concrete are; The composite structure resulting from the mix is more

Sunday, October 13, 2019

How Mature is Mature?

How Mature is Mature? Society, as a whole, automatically assumes that all eighteen year olds are mature enough to be considered adults. If this is the case, why are eighteen year old adults not considered old enough to go to a bar and drink. How is it that eighteen year olds, fresh out of high school, are mature enough to sign up to get sent away from their families to fight in wars. Eighteen is not mature: but whos to say when someone is actually mature? People develop at their own pace, it does not make sense to put everyone into categories by age group because not everyone in that age group is at the same maturity level. Studies have proven that the current drinking law in the United States does not prevent underaged drinking, currents drinking laws actually encourage dangerous binge drinking across the country. Forty percent of college students, ages eighteen through twenty three have shown signs of alcohol abuse and/or alcohol dependence (College presidents seek debate on drinking age.). That does not include every college across the United States or all of the teenagers (eighteen through twenty three) that did not enroll in college at all, the number of young adults and drinking problems is much higher than what researchers have found in a small quantity of teenagers throughout America. Society has drilled into our minds that twenty one is when people are mature enough to drink but research shows that twenty one year olds still drink just as irresponsibly as an eighteen year old high school student does. There is actually not much of a difference in maturity between eighteen and twenty one. There are actual federal records that prove this statement. One hundred and fifty seven people ages eighteen through twenty three drank themselves to death proving there is not much of a maturity difference. You would assume the older and more mature the person is the more responsible when they drink which is obviously not the case. Recently there have been five hundred thousand injuries and one thousand seven hundred deaths in just one year due to people drinking between the ages eighteen through twenty one ( College presidents seek debate on drinking age.). Approximately one hundred eighty thousand eighteen year olds enlist in the American Armed Forces per year (joining the military). Why does society assume that an eighteen year old is mature enough to understand the life or death decision of going to war? These soldiers have no control over where they are to be sent to or for how long. Young soldiers do not see the future consequences to joining the United States military. Few soldiers never see war while they are serving but for the ones that do it causes lots of psychological disorders such as post traumatic disorder, or traumatic brain injury. Post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD is a failure to recover after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. Most veterans that suffer from PTSD experience night terrors, flashbacks, anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Veterans with post traumatic stress disorder also have the tendency to avoid certain situations that could possibly bring back the trauma they desperately are trying to forget. More than three million veterans are diagnosed with PTSD per year and will have to suffer with this disorder for the rest of their lives. Traumatic brain injury or TBI is a brain dysfunction that is caused by an outside force such as a nearby bomb explosion or a violent blow to the head. Veterans that suffer from TBI often have headaches, seizures, dizziness, ringing in their ears and speech difficulties. These veter ans often times have problems that are not easily noticeable because it is all cognitive. TBI sufferers have sleep and visual disorders that are irreversible and these veterans will never get a break from this very harsh and very unmerciful brain dysfunction. More than two hundred thousand united states veterans are diagnosed with traumatic brain injury per year. How is it that Americans thinks it is okay to send our youth to a foreign country to defend our freedom and put themselves in a life or death situation with a gun in hand but can not be in their own native land that they risked their lives for with a beer in their hand? Americas youth does not realize that enrolling in the military regardless if they go to war or not makes them more vulnerable to mental disorders not including PTSD and TBI. Not only does it does it make their more vulnerable to mental disorders but they are more likely to commit suicide because of the harsh conditions they are put in and because of the awfu l things they have to deal with. They often become dependent on alcohol or drugs to try and cope with the memories and images permanently engraved in their minds. In conclusion, I feel that America as a whole should reconsider the age of maturity. Not saying that all eighteen year old teenagers are incapable of making wise decisions but that the majority of our youth, ages eighteen through twenty one, are expected to be mature and are sent off into the real world; most of them not having a clue what they are getting themselves into. Some teenagers are desperate to join the military for the free education and the benefits but do not understand the consequences that come along with it. If eighteen is too young to drink a beer then eighteen is too young to sign up to risk your life. Works Cited Alexander, Caroline. Blast Force. Blast Force | National Geographic, National Geographic, www.nationalgeographic.com/healing-soldiers/blast-force.html. College presidents seek debate on drinking age. Modern Brewery Age, 25 Aug. 2008, p. 1. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPSsw=wu=j020902v=2.1id=GALE%7CA209904006it=rasid=cf0f93f12265d8dcdf0dea9c8a628d9e. Accessed 27 Jan. 2017. - Joining the Military. Joining the Military Military.com, www.military.com/Recruiting/Content/0,13898,062006-who-joining-marines-today-myth-fact,,00.html?ESRC=recruiting.nl. Accessed 20 Feb. 2017. Kids today and their negligence to vote. UWIRE Text, 13 Oct. 2016, p. 1. Educators Reference Complete, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=PROFsw=wu=j020902v=2.1id=GALE%7CA467440428it=rasid=b7706d28fe36ae9a650061919ef11777. Accessed 7 Feb. 2017. Raloff, Janet. The dangers of vaping: teens are falling for flavored e-cigs, but the vapors they inhale may be toxic. Science News, 11 July 2015, p. 18+. Research in Context, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=MSICsw=wu=j020902v=2.1id=GALE%7CA421769268it=rasid=68c8c2598405c9859f34e25925b2bf3d. Accessed 9 Feb. 2017. Masturbation: Prevention and Treatment | Article Review Masturbation: Prevention and Treatment | Article Review Jamie Burden Scholarly Article on the Prevention of Masturbation: The scholarly article under consideration is Masturbation: Prevention and the Treatment written by A.Shekarey, M.Sedaghat Rostami, Kh.Mazdai, A.Mohammadi first published in Procedia (A.Shekarey, 2011) as a peer reviewed scholarly article. The article investigates the topic of masturbation thoroughly. The author’s goal was to provide authentic evidence showing the ill effects of masturbation and the article is focused on providing a solution to the sexual addiction called masturbation. Within the articles they have discussed various scenarios that can be put to implementation in order to prevent masturbation. According to the authors a study conducted in Iran showed that Iranian men and women, ninety-two and sixty-two percent respectively, have masturbated during their life and no sexual activity is as controversial but common as masturbation (A.Shekarey, M.Sedaghat Rostami, Kh.Mazdai, A.Mohammadi, 2011). This study attempts to investigate the most important and the commonest s exual threat, masturbation, to teenagers and the youth, especially among the university students and to provide some information about physical, mental, spiritual, moral and ethical damages of masturbating (A.Shekarey, M.Sedaghat Rostami, Kh.Mazdai, A.Mohammadi, 2011). Further in the studies, the article explains the possible causes of masturbation. According to the journal there can be several reasons that can and will lead from sexual frustration and develop in to masturbation. They also discussed the ratio of masturbation among men and women, according to the journal men are more addicted to masturbation than women. They further state that teenagers are more than likely to start puberty when they are in high school, so they should be provided with enough knowledge of sexual harms and procedures (A.Shekarey, M.Sedaghat Rostami, Kh.Mazdai, A.Mohammadi, 2011). Masturbation is an action equally condemned by both the female teenagers and male teenagers. Although, there are several purposes a teenager will participate in this practice such as to avoid depression and tension in daily life. Authors highlighted the negative effects of the masturbation on the physical and mental health of the teenagers. Symptoms were also mentioned along with their social damages. Coming to the main aim of the paper, author gave enough ideas to treat and prevent the act of masturbation (A.Shekarey, M.Sedaghat Rostami, Kh.Mazdai, A.Mohammadi, 2011). In the conclusion the authors state that there can be several ways to satisfy the sexual desires; some are deemed acceptable and some are not. According to the journal masturbation is considered to be an unacceptable way of satisfying ones sexual desires. Teenagers should be better educated concerning the mental and physical damages that can be expected from masturbation when they begin puberty. Sex education should be provided through many scientific programs and therapies. It should be noted that a mentally and physically healthy teenager can become a resourceful youth. The guidance of parents and teachers should be there in order to clear all their doubts about a healthy sexual behavior. In short the authors tried to prove the ill effects of the masturbation through the statistics and primary sources. The study mainly targets the teenagers and children near puberty. According to them sexual education is the best way to prevent masturbation and other ill sexual habits (A.Shekarey, M.Sedaghat Rostami, Kh.Mazdai, A.Mohammadi, 2011). Popular Media Article on the Prevention of Masturbation: The popular media article that was chosen in regards to the prevention and the treatment of masturbation is How to Stop a Masturbation Addiction written by Gary Wickman this was first made available online from the website of the Healthy Guidance. In this article the author shows support in regards to the act of masturbation. According to Wickman masturbation is good for your sexual health in certain ways, but one should be moderate when it comes to the act of masturbation. Too much masturbation can affect your daily life and it can become highly addictive (Wickman, 2014). It is really important to control the addiction of masturbation, if not controlled even the slightest stimulation can cause sexual arousal. There are people that use masturbation as a form of self-medication with the intent of treating their various daily life issues. It is almost impossible to control daily issues, but remains imperative to control the addiction of masturbation, as excessive masturbation can be da maging in many ways (Wickman, 2014). The author Gary Wickman provides various techniques with the intent to control masturbation; he explains how one can be their own doctor and should have the knowledge of how to control ones desires. One should create rules and follow them strictly; such as masturbating only once a day. Along with that setting a time limit and strictly following this criteria will help with self-control. One of the most imperative things is to focus on the negative effects of masturbation; by teaching one’s self that time is valuable and should not be wasted by becoming addicted to masturbation and that becoming a person of self-control and the rules should not be broken. There are certain parts of the day, when one wants to masturbate or the desires for masturbation become stronger, by becoming involved with activities or hobbies during that time of day will help maintain self-control (Wickman, 2014). By determining the underlying causes of obsessive masturbation, whether it stems from sexual frustration or the physical vulnerability. Regardless of the reason, the opportunity allowing one to address the addiction directly rather than suppress the issue of masturbating will show to be more beneficial. In this article the author Gary Wickman targets the male and female audience whom are addicted to masturbation; his main focus was to provide addicts with various techniques to avoid over masturbation. Wickman did not use any scientific data or the public data statistics to prove his point and address the issue. He also used general methods as the remedy, not the medical and the psychological techniques. Critique: Both the scholarly article and the popular media article deal with the issue of the masturbation and provide different techniques to control or prevent the addiction of masturbation. According to both, the addiction of masturbation can be harmful for your mental or physical health. In the scholarly article, several statistics and primary references were given to prove the point. While in the popular media article no such types of references were given. Audiences are found to be different for both the articles; scholarly article is a journal published paper and addresses the teenagers hitting puberty on the other hand popular media article is for people with the addiction of the masturbation. Though, they both include the female and the males in their audiences. The greatest difference is found to be in the support of the actual act of masturbation. The scholarly paper clearly expresses disapproval of the idea masturbation and explains how it considers masturbating to be a great threat to the physical and the mental health of a person. While the Healthy Guidance article by Gary Wickman clearly states that it considers masturbation to be a healthy sexual activity. But does find that excessive masturbation can be dangerous for one’s health. Due to the published paper standard, scholarly article can be used as the primary source for the further research while the popular media article can only benefit the online audience. The main difference of presentation is the lack of the references in the popular media article. This makes it weak source for the further investigation. The scholarly article is beneficial in many ways for the audience in the similar religion country, but the popular media article is helpful for the population across the world with the masturbation addiction issue. Conclusion: The main aim of the paper is to investigate the outcomes of the sexual learning through popular media and the peer reviewed journals. There is a huge difference between the two. It is very much obvious that scholarly articles are based on a lot of research and the statistics and they usually deal with all type of problem in a particular discipline while the popular media articles only address the issues that are common and frequently asked for. One provides the formal sex education while the other provides general sex ideas. Sexual issues are sensitive issues and it is very much necessary to consult the article with the authentic views, popular media articles can be easy to find and access but they do not always provide all the necessary information that is pertinent to address the issue. By comparing both of the sources, there is one thing that can be highlighted effectively and that is the thoroughness provided. Scholarly articles are thorough in their findings and will always provide enough support to validate their point while the popular media article can be based on one’s assumption or the hypothesis. Scholarly journals are not usually accessible and are difficult to hunt down, popular media articles can be found on all the platforms. Therefore it can be concluded that both of the articles are an excellent source of knowledge, but scholarly articles prove to be more authentic; popular media articles are easily available but they usually speak of the general issues and favor general point of views. References A.Shekarey, M. R. (2011). Masturbation: Prevention and Treatment. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 1641-1646. Wickman, G. (2014, October 18). How to Stop a Masturbation Addiction. . Retrieved from Health Guidance: http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/15619/1/How-to-Stop-a-Masturbation- Addiction.html

Saturday, October 12, 2019

\Napster Case :: Napster Music Download

. Introduction: Amidst the hot debate about whether or not music should be free, there are ethical and moral considerations as well. MP3 music downloading has become the latest fad for computer owners. One computer site where users can download MP3 songs is Napster. The emergence of digital entertainment, whether an MP3, Liquid Audio book, or streaming video, has caused an inevitable shift in the entertainment market from a commodity base to a service base. One reason is that the digital medium eliminates acquisition cost for the consumer. A perfect copy of the original good is automatically created upon request. Using open platforms and formats, new companies in the entertainment sector have literally bypassed traditional production and distribution channels to reach the consumer. Napster is the perfect example of this new paradigm, turning every member’s computer into an audio server and distributing an individualized playlist. However, this trend seriously limits a content owne r’s ability to restrict the supply of his/her intellectual property on a large scale and thus control it. In response, the music industry has resorted to litigation and restrictive usage rules on licensed or retailed digital products. 2. Analysis the Economics of the music recording business The music industry continues to be characterized by commodity pricing. This is largely due to the fact that major label revenues are predominately derived from CD sales. As such, the focus of the industry’s online strategy has been to prevent CD sale cannibalization through control of online product supply and distribution. In the absence of this control, copyright owners would be unable to maintain pricing control. As a result, the industry has taken the lead in defining new rules for online digital distribution that would replicate conditions existing for off-line digital distribution. ï  ¶ Copyright infringements (excluding the effect of Internet) - bootlegging, piracy and counterfeits - are costing the music industry approximately $5 billion per year ï  ¶ sales in the music industry's five biggest markets (USA, Japan, Germany, UK and France) are growing slowly, if not stagnating 3. Analyze the company’s history, development, and growth. James Breyer (venture capitalist): â€Å"Napster is truly revolutionary- and it will be a precursor of some of the most important web applications over the next several years.)† 3.1. History Napster Case :: Napster Music Download . Introduction: Amidst the hot debate about whether or not music should be free, there are ethical and moral considerations as well. MP3 music downloading has become the latest fad for computer owners. One computer site where users can download MP3 songs is Napster. The emergence of digital entertainment, whether an MP3, Liquid Audio book, or streaming video, has caused an inevitable shift in the entertainment market from a commodity base to a service base. One reason is that the digital medium eliminates acquisition cost for the consumer. A perfect copy of the original good is automatically created upon request. Using open platforms and formats, new companies in the entertainment sector have literally bypassed traditional production and distribution channels to reach the consumer. Napster is the perfect example of this new paradigm, turning every member’s computer into an audio server and distributing an individualized playlist. However, this trend seriously limits a content owne r’s ability to restrict the supply of his/her intellectual property on a large scale and thus control it. In response, the music industry has resorted to litigation and restrictive usage rules on licensed or retailed digital products. 2. Analysis the Economics of the music recording business The music industry continues to be characterized by commodity pricing. This is largely due to the fact that major label revenues are predominately derived from CD sales. As such, the focus of the industry’s online strategy has been to prevent CD sale cannibalization through control of online product supply and distribution. In the absence of this control, copyright owners would be unable to maintain pricing control. As a result, the industry has taken the lead in defining new rules for online digital distribution that would replicate conditions existing for off-line digital distribution. ï  ¶ Copyright infringements (excluding the effect of Internet) - bootlegging, piracy and counterfeits - are costing the music industry approximately $5 billion per year ï  ¶ sales in the music industry's five biggest markets (USA, Japan, Germany, UK and France) are growing slowly, if not stagnating 3. Analyze the company’s history, development, and growth. James Breyer (venture capitalist): â€Å"Napster is truly revolutionary- and it will be a precursor of some of the most important web applications over the next several years.)† 3.1. History

Friday, October 11, 2019

Advertising in Sport Everywhere You Look Essay

Advertising in sport everywhere you look Pure and simple. My brother loves the game of hockey. He doesn’t care about all the media and advertising surrounding the game, he just simply loves the sport. Tonight he’s going to a New Jersey Devils hockey game purely for the love of the game. He’s going to wear his Reebok, New Jersey Devils jersey and go to the Prudential Center to see the game. The Prudential Center is located near the new Red Bull Park and not far from the Izod Center, which until recently, was known as Continental Airlines Arena. As usual, he’ll park his car in the Ford Lincoln Mercury Parking Lot and proceed past the Verizon Tower to get to the PNC Bank Tower. He’ll proceed up the elevator past Lincoln Mercury Level 1 and give his Ticketmaster ticket to the attendant. He will then meet his friends near the Bud Light Goal Bar. Because he’s not 21 years old yet, he won’t be able to take advantage of the bar experience, but he’s sure to be thinking about the enticement at the entrance which reads â€Å"The red light is on! Time to hit the Bud Light Goal Bar. Occupying an expansive area on the north end of Prudential Center on Lincoln Mercury Suite Level One, the Bud Light Goal Bar offers fans a hip, modern bar atmosphere overlooking the ice. The Bud Light Goal Bar features dozens of flat screen televisions, so while you and your guests enjoy a cold one, you are guaranteed to see all the action. † Next, he will take the elevator up one flight to the Ford Level 2 seating area and buy a program before he gets settled into his seat. If he’s thirsty, he can buy a drink that comes in a Coca Cola cup, even if it’s not Coca Cola. The game will begin soon after the TV advertising time is done. As he waits, he will probably remove his NHL hat and peruse the Devils program to check the team’s statistics and information. Or, he can read about the best investment bank to use, or where to trade stocks for a bargain price. He’ll find out where his favorite team’s apparel can be purchased or what the official mouthwash of the New Jersey Devils is. There are many other events that are coming to the Prudential Arena so maybe he will think about attending one of them. So much to think about before game time arrives. As the game begins, all focus will be on the game itself, if he can manage to not be distracted by the lighted advertisements that continuously change to hock a variety of goods and services. After all, he is only there to watch the game. As to not be confused about who is winning the game, he can look up at the PSE&G scoreboard to know who just scored a goal and what the game score is. I’m sure it will be an exciting night for him, because, purely and simply, he just loves hockey. Relationship between Sports and Media â€Å"Sport and mass media share a very symbolic relationship in American society. On one hand, the staggering popularity of sport is due, to no small extent, to the enormous amount of attention provided it by the mass media. On the other hand, the media are able to generate enormous sales in both circulation and advertising based upon their extensive treatment of sport. † The amount of advertising in sport has become very extreme. In almost every aspect of a sport you can find some form of advertising or media being exposed. The players, the coaches, the memorabilia stores, the stadiums, the teams and especially the commercials during televised games, all include media or advertising in some way. Athletes and Advertising As the saying goes, â€Å"If the shoe fits, wear it†, especially if you’re being paid to wear it. Many all star athletes are given opportunities for endorsements. Popular athletes in advertisements can make a product more attractive to sports fans. Although it is effective to use athletes to promote products, sometimes it becomes a little excessive. Instead of advertising for a couple of products, athletes today are spokespeople for numerous companies. Peyton Manning, the star quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts is said to be the NFL’s, â€Å"Most Marketable Player. † He is currently associated with over seven different products including Gatorade, Reebok, Sprint, and DirecTV. By participating in all these advertisements, it makes it visible that he is doing these ads just for the money. In cases like this, an athlete can be involved with too much advertising and become overexposed. Another case of athletes being overly concerned with dollars is that of Michael Jordan. In 1992, Jordan participated in the Olympics as part of the United States Basketball â€Å"Dream Team† and won an Olympic gold medal. When he learned that on the gold-medal stand he would be expected to wear the official red, white and blue United States warm-up suits with the Reebok logo, he threatened not to appear at the ceremony. â€Å"I don’t believe in endorsing my competition,† Jordan said. â€Å"I feel very strongly about loyalty to my own company. In saying this, it seemed as if his loyalty to his country didn’t matter to him as much as his loyalty to his brand. In the end, the United States Olympic Committee came up with a compromise that said basically anyone who has a personal corporate sponsor who objects to the team sponsor’s name showing on the United States Olympic uniform has the right to obscure what he does not want to show. In this case it wa s the Reebok logo. Television Advertising The Superbowl is known as one of the biggest and most watched events in all of sports. The crowning of the World Champions of football has an enormous audience. In addition to the game, we get to be entertained by the half time show and wait for the cleverly scripted television commercials. The Superbowl is known for its elaborate advertising. Every year, people look forward to seeing the creative new commercials being broadcasted during the football game. For companies to broadcast in a thirty second time block during the event, they must pay nearly two million dollars. In the past, television commercials were a time to leave the room for a quick break from watching the game but now they have evolved into an advertising extravaganza. In the case of the Superbowl, the NFL almost makes more money from advertising then they do for simply broadcasting the game. Advertising on Uniforms The sport with sponsor advertising being the most prevalent on team jerseys is soccer. If you turn on the Fox Soccer Channel to watch the English Premier league you might notice that a large majority of the teams uniforms have a sponsor’s name posted across the front of the jerseys. For example, the 2008 Barclay Premier champions, Manchester United, wore red Nike jerseys with their sponsor’s name (AIG) written across the chest. When soccer fans buy replica jerseys such as Manchester United’s they become part of the advertising scheme. Sponsors believe that the more jerseys sold, the more their name is out for the public to see. Therefore, the sponsor’s goal is to place their logo everywhere possible to expand the popularity of their company. Conclusion In conclusion, to answer the question posed, â€Å"Is sports based media and advertising excessive? †, the answer would have to be â€Å"yes. † Advertising isn’t as simple as the old song, â€Å"Take me out to the ballgame† suggests. When we heard the lyrics, â€Å"Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks† we thought about the experience of being at a ballgame and enjoying the day while munching on some ballpark staples. In today’s advertising environment, we would have to sing the song with some updated lyrics. It won’t be easy to sing â€Å"Take me out to the ballgame, take me out to the crowd. Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

The power of play: learning what comes naturally Essay

Depth research has been carried out on the correlation between play and its positive benefits on early childhood learning, growth and development. It has been established that there is a positive connection between creative language and play and the social development of a child. Play has emotional benefits on a child such as enjoyment, relaxation, fun, love of life, tension reduction and self expression. Developmental benefits of play include cognitive development where imagination, creativity, problem solving, mastery of concepts and perspective taking improves. Socially the child grows which can be seen through co-operation, sharing, turn-taking, conflict resolution and leadership skills development. The language of the kid also develops that is in terms of communication skills, vocabulary and narration. This paper goes further to illustrate how play affects learning. ( p.66-67) In our case we will have a sharp in-depth look at two chapters, the first one being; Authoring books, plays and identities in writing workshops. Key practice: Approximated writing. The second chapter we shall look at is the discourse of creative expression. The first chapter mostly handles introduction to writing to kids where they are taken through a workshop where they mainly engaged in writing. The climax of it is when the kid finally authors a book and has a chance to sit on the authors chair and read the book to the class and to be admired and questioned at the end of the writing workshop. The rationale behind choosing this chapter on developing writing is that written communication is a very key skill communication skill and anyone should care being an expert in communicating really well through writing. It is thus a privilege and great pleasure learning how a kid or an individual at large develops this skill and also to reflect and see how probably we did begin at it or ought to begin at. Approximated writing is the key arguments in this chapter which symbolizes or represents a range of ways in which children can deliberate within their inner self between their personally invented forms of language understanding and the culturally determined rules for language. Approximated writing is close to the real writing language which embraces errors, incorrect spellings. It is used by children to formulate meaningful messages through their use of their emerging mastery of the language. The kids initiated their own writing projects and as they wrote they designed and illustrated images and prints for puppet plays, pages for kids-printed books, cards to relatives and friends, storyboards and journals. Graphophonic conventions such as using alphabetic symbols like â€Å"tuk† to represent the word took, putting bigger spaces between words, placing marks on words and organizing them in a pattern. Authoring in the workshop happened when the kids wrote, drew, told and dramatiz ed the texts they had written down. Finally in regard to authoring the kids connected texts for the kids-produced books that they presented to the others through reading aloud from the author`s chair or even short plays that were acted for the class and videotaped. A number of realizations came from these workshops or activity that was centred on kids literacy. The first one being that children are capable writers who are able to actively create and co-create meaning and such activities can be very instrumental in bringing out their literacy proficiency this is so because it is in such that they are challenged to explore all genres of written communication and also get a chance to freely air their ideas through their conversations and writings. The idea of getting a chance to sit on the author`s chair, present the book to the class, to be questioned and admired at the end of the writing workshop motivated the kids to really come up with a well-illustrated book. The methodology used in this chapter or writing workshop to teach the children how to write is something really great and enjoyable both for them and their instructor As a wrap up I can comfortably state that it is a matter of fact that children learn through play and exposure to plays enable them to develop their intellectual, social and emotional skills. Plays should thus be a part and parcel of a child`s life so that the child may grow and develop holistically failure to which the development of the child will be hindered. References Brock, A. (2009). Perspectives on play: learning for life. Harlow, England: Pearson/Longman. Elkind, D. (2009). The power of play: learning what comes naturally. Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo Lifelong ;. Gordon, I. J., Guinagh, B., & Jester, R. E. (2009). Child learning through child play; learning activities for two and three year olds. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Marzollo, J., & Lloyd, J. (2011). Learning through play ([1st ed.). New York: Harper & Row. Silberg, J. (2009). Learning games: exploring the senses through play. Beltsville, Md.: Gryphon House. Tizard, B., & Hughes, M. (2010). Young children learning (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.. Tizard, B., & Hughes, M. (2010). Young children learning (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.. Wood, E. (2013). Play, learning and the early childhood curriculum (3rd ed.). London: SAGE. Source document

An Analytical Summary

Se Habla Espanol By Tanya Barrientos An Analytical Summary Tre A. Williams Kimberly Muirhead English 115 11/14/2012 Tanya Maria Barrientos, a journalist by profession and an upcoming author is Guatemalan by birth. However she has been living in America for almost fifty years after coming from her native country at the age of three. The essay ‘Se Habla Espanol’ is a poignant depiction of the search for her misplaced identity that she desperately tried to forget in her formative years.Her aversion towards her own ethnicity can be summarized by this quote of hers, â€Å"when I was sixteen, I told my father how much I hated being called Mexican-not only because I wasn't, but also because the word was hurled as an insult† (Page 59). The most important point of the essay is the difficulty the immigrants face while growing up in a land, which is not their by birth as how they are inherently misfit in the society, yet they desperately want to merge into it by forgetting t heir language and ignoring their last names.Barrientos starts the essay the quite aptly by depicting her child hood days as how her parents consciously forgot their own culture to assimilate their kids in the alien ‘gringo’ culture. Although they themselves talked to each other in Spanish, yet they talked to their kids in English, maintain the American culture within the house and kept their kids as far away as possible from other Latin Americans and Latin American Culture. The result was dark skinned kids who consider themselves white and hate to be called Latin American or Mexican.Barrientos’ mental state in her growing years can be ascertained by these words, â€Å"I enjoyed looking into the faces of Latino store clerks and waitresses and, yes, even our maid, and saying ‘yo no hablo espanol’. It made me feel superior. It made me feel American. It made me feel white† (Page 58). The situation completely changed when Barrientos reached her 20à ¢â‚¬â„¢s. Suddenly the societal conditions changed and the country woke up to recognize various cultures and ethnicities that made the United States of America that we know today.The culture baggage was no longer considered a baggage now and in fact it gave uniqueness to the immigrants. Now, Barrientos tries to learn Spanish and also desperately tries to search her lost identity while learning Spanish. However, now the unfortunate thing is that in spite of trying hard in learning Spanish, she is still managed to understand and haltingly speak Spanish that makes her stick out in her own community and she can never gel completely within her own community.The purpose of Barrientos’ writing clearly indicates the experience, the second generation immigrants feel, behave and communicate in the modern American society. She explains the experience of her life and analyzes the difficulties she had to endure throughout her life. Her audience primarily is young and most of them are not white Americans like her. The exceptional thing about Barrientos’ essay is that she has written it in a very exceptional, lucid and easy to understand English.Thus, Se Habla Espanol is an excellent essay, which depicts and analyzes a modern day issue, which has established as a major phenomenon in today’s world. Moreover, it is very much evident in America because it has always been a melting pot of varied cultures belonging to all over the world. References Create. (2001). ENC 1101. Corinthian. Columbus, OH: McGraw-Hill. Border-Line Personalities: A New Generation of Latinas Dish on Sex, Sass, and Cultural Shifting [Paperback] Michelle Herrera Mulligan (Author), Robyn Moreno (Author) Se Habla Espanol ByTanya Barrientos page 167.

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

In the Dark of Night Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

In the Dark of Night - Essay Example Nothing in our history has been so heinous a crime and yet some people actually survived the ordeal and wrote about the experience. The book Night by Elie Wiesel, is a true account of Wiesel's experience in the Nazi concentration camp system, and it is one book among many that shows the courage and faith of a people who had a strong will to survive. 1. The Climate of the State The nature of the State was brewing prior to the actual years of the Holocaust. Wiesel begins his experiences in 1941 when he was 12 years old. However, the State became volatile after the first world war. After this war, the Germans had lost face with the rest of the world. The US, Britain, France and Italy were Allies and wanted to make sure that the Germans would not go to war again (Wood 31). The Allies signed The Treaty of Versailles, which made the Germans lose part of their land and pay "crippling reparations" (Wood 31). Another important event was the Locarno Pact that was between Britain, Italy, Czecho slovakia, France, Germany, Poland and Belgium. This Pact was to confirm Europe's borders that had been set at the Treaty of Versailles. However, Hitler was present at that meeting and decided by 1928 that this rule did not apply to him (Wood 31). Hitler understood that the common German people were upset about their loss and feeling disillusioned. By 1936, Hitler totally ignored the Locarno Pact and moved forward with his goal of annihilating a race. Hitler made the German people believe that the cause of their trouble was the outsiders, which he named the communists and Jews (Wood 33). His rule was based on anti-Semitic over exaggerations and on creating fear about the Jews who were very different from everyone else. The challenge for most people is to understand why Hitler chose to single out the Jews for his wrath. According to Bryan Caplan, Professor of Economics at George Mason University, Hitler went after the Jews because he could. Hitler systematically looked for a target th at matched what he had learned about evolutions. He chose the Jews because they were the "right kind of victim", and they made sense for him to prosecute them. He weighted many options to come to this conclusion. Hitler understood that these were people who would not fight back, and he took advantage of the situation as best he could. The nature of the State at that time was one of fear, ridicule, anger and hate. 2. Relationship between Civilization and the Individual The Jews were a successful race of people because they stayed to themselves and only helped each other. Their religion did not ask them to fight back so they became an easy target. They were very devout in their religion, they loved their families, their community and they thought they were safe. Their civilization was organized and structured and as Tevye the milkman said in Fiddler on the Roof "Everyone knows who he is and what God expects him to do" (Holland 2). At this time, the Jews understood who they were in the ir communities and they were a collaborative people who helped each other collectively. However, the Nazi Regime pushed them into thinking of themselves as individuals. Dienke Hondius, a professor at VU University in Amsterdam, compared the events of the Holocaust with what happened in slavery. She points to the themes of genocide, racism, and human rights violations (S63) that were prevalent in both situations. Also, the issue of family, community and religion were the same for both cultures. However, when the slaves came to America they were also treated as individuals. In both instances, the idea of autonomous individual did not exist for the Jews or for the slaves before the interference of outsiders to their civilization. Now, having to move away

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Principles of Risk Management and Insurance Essay

Principles of Risk Management and Insurance - Essay Example For the shed in the backyard, it is covered up to $15,000 (10% of Coverage A which is $150,000). Personal property can only be covered up to $75,000(50% of Coverage A which is $150,000). Additional living expense for living in a rented apartment until their home is rebuilt is covered up to $45,000 which is 30% of coverage A. The home office computer can only be covered up to $1,500 which is stated in the special limits of liability clause. Should the Grangers will lose the case against their neighbors (being sued for not controlling their son), their personal liability coverage is only up to $100,000. Before coverage, the Grangers are also required to pay for the deductible of $250 as stated in their policy. 2. Why is it important for an insurer to consider each factor? a) The credit score or credit worthiness of the insured is important for an insurer or underwriter in considering the homeowner’s premium for insurance companies Approximates the probability of an insurer makin g its claim against their possibility based on their credit score or history of borrowing and repayment. Credit score also is a good determinant for insurance companies to determine the individual’s capacity to pay their insurance premiums.

Monday, October 7, 2019

Australia and the World Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Australia and the World - Essay Example Although Australia may not need boots on the ground, the country can do little without support from US especially US intelligence, logistics, material and technical support (Lee, 2013). Although Australia has ships and planes, the country is unable to operate them without source codes and software updates; navigation and targeting information that only the United States can provide. As well, the country requires ammunition and maintenance sourced from the US, making hard for the country to achieve military self-reliance. Not only does the country require support in extreme events but also in almost every event since there a few military situations the country can operate independently. Although the bilateral relationship between Australia and USA is strong and benefits both nations, Australia remains the main beneficiary. For instance, the stability and security that US presence offers the Asia-Pacific region is an essential foundation for Australia’s security and progress. According to Leahy (2013), Australia remains close to America to a point that Australia cannot afford losing US support. Therefore, ensuring that US support is guaranteed remains an essen tial element in the country’s decisions making. This is highlighted by the US quest for enhanced presence in Australian bases, which the Australian leadership considers to be reasonable and manageable. The country associates the bilateral relation with access, training and maintenance because the relationship has enabled the country to gain from ‘joint bases’ like the increased presence of marines in Darwin (Leahy, 2013). According to Bell and Bell (2010), various studies attempt to offer details regarding Australia’s post-war reliance on the powerful and capitalist ally. Australia’s dependence on external relations especially with regard to diplomatic and military alignment toward

Sunday, October 6, 2019

Medical Ethics and Duty of care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Medical Ethics and Duty of care - Essay Example Persons who owe a duty of care to others must exercise â€Å"reasonable care in the circumstances†. In making an assessment about the circumstances, there are two standards that may be applied from the perspective of doctors (a) an objective standard that is based upon independent standards expected by doctors in general and (b) a subjective element, that is dependent on the individual case, such as for example in an emergency where a doctor may be faced with a personal without the personal capacity to express consent and will be forced to take a decision based upon the circumstances of the particular case. For example, in assessing whether there has been a breach of duty of care, if there is a likelihood that harm will occur, the doctor will be expected to take more precautions.1 Similarly, if the seriousness of the injuries are greater, the defendant doctor will be expected to take greater precautions.2 The Bolam test3 also imputes a higher level of professional liability and standard of care that is expected from a person such as a doctor who professes himself to the best in his field of expertise.

Friday, October 4, 2019

Utilitarianism Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Utilitarianism - Coursework Example From this discussion it is clear that on utilitarian grounds, the individual should be tortured for the good and safety of others, which is noticeably ethical. For a terrorism free world, as a true utilitarian I would vote for the painful torture of the innocent individual. According to utilitarianism, the good of others should come first. Utilitarianism is a concept in normative ethics that views the best moral action as the one that maximises utility.   The best and valid action in this terrorism case is to save as many lives as possible. However, choosing the option of the innocent individual to be slowly and painfully tortured is not an easy decision to make and is not morally accepted.This paper discusses that the theory of utilitarianism is a basic view of consequences. For that reason, letting one individual die for the safety of the rest of the world is a justified, permissible, and an even obligatory action. The author takes on this situation can also be justified through the theory of doctrine of double effect. The doctrine suggests for an act to be morally permissible it has to fit certain criteria and the outcome should favour many. The doctrine also suggests the action is essential for ‘evil’ purpose if it results in beneficial good.   According to the school of thought established by Immanuel Kant ,believes that our sense of morality is connected to reason, therefore according   school of thought letting the individual face torture is worth if it saves many lives.  

Fate in Oedipus the King Essay Example for Free

Fate in Oedipus the King Essay Tragedy of Oedipus is about pre-destination vs free-will. Fate does play a part in the tragic down fall of Oedipus but it does not mean that his character and disposition has no liability for that. Excessive arrogance and self-confidence of Oedipus is the main cause of his tragedy. He harbors unjustified suspicions against Tiresias and Creon; in one place he goes so far as to express some uncertainty about the prophetic natures of oracles and truth of their prophecies. It is hardly likely that even a combination of all these would be equal to what Aristotle considered to be a serious hamartia, and it would not be very relevant to the point at issue even if he did, for Oedipus has committed incest and parricide years before the action of the play began, and before he exhibited any of the failing mentioned above. It would hardly be logical to say that the gods punished Oedipus for a crime which he was to commit many days later. Another view is that the present failings of Oedipus may be taken to means that he was he was always like that, and his tragedy comes due some inherent or innate unsoundness in his character. So he is not a puppet in the hands of fate. But Sophocles also illustrates that it was fate that brought him to Thebes and it was gain fate that he came across someone at where three highways came together. It was his fate that he married his mother. Above all, fate has played a pivotal role in his life from the very start and has not dealt with him even-handedly. The divine will as predicted and proclaimed by the oracle was absolute and it has nothing good about Oedipus. Although certain measures were taken by the King and Queen) to escape from that proclaimed destiny but it became the cause for the tragic downfall of Oedipus. That is the reason that Oedipus says after blinding himself. God. God. / Is there a sorrow greater? /Where shall I find harbor in this world? / My voice is hurled far on a dark wind. / What has God done to me? (Sophocles 831) Dodds writes about the nature of fate as demonstrated by Oedipus that fate is inevitably and inexorably bound to happen no matter what Oedipus may have done to avoid it (Dodds 21).

Thursday, October 3, 2019

Social Causes Gender Roles Depression Health And Social Care Essay

Social Causes Gender Roles Depression Health And Social Care Essay Depression, either as a single depressive episode or as a recurrent depressive disorder, is a common mood disorder which is characterised by low mood, resulting in loss of interest and enjoyment, reduced energy and diminished activity. With increasing severity other symptoms such as reduced concentration, attention, self esteem and self confidence manifest, and physical symptoms may protrude, such as disturbed sleep and diminished appetite. These may accumulate in ideas or acts of self harm and suicide[1]. The gender difference in depressive illness, is one of the strongest patterns seen in psychiatric epidemiology [2,3,4,5]. Similar, albeit less strong gender differences can be seen through a variety of mental health disorders, typically with internalising disorders (of mood and anxiety) which are more common in women, and externalising disorders such as schizophrenia and substance abuse which are more common in men.[5]. Such a strong pattern, seen in many cultures around the world can help in the comprehension of depression, an illness that still evades human understanding [1]. The aim of this essay will be to help identify some key aspects of the social causes of depression and how they relate to gender roles within society. This will ascertain their importance in mechanisms that drive someone into depressive illness the gender role hypothesis of depression [5]. However the point of this essay is not to systematically review the scientific literature and identify the cause, but rather to explore the concept of how much gender roles in society contribute to this pattern. In the conclusion, it will allow us to see how changing gender roles, such as feminism, in modernising societies such as the UK, will impact on womens health. The essay will explore risk factors which relate to gender role where they have evidence to cause depression. Such factors are emotional attention, interpersonal relationships, personality, stress response, the impact of co-morbid anxiety and what are termed artefact hypotheses, such as gender biased diagnostic techniques. Sex and gender are terms that have become divorced since Dr Robert Stollers observations of gender being a social construct and sex being biologically determined. It isnt necessary for someone of a certain sex to inherit the same gender and same gender role [6] although in western society it is the norm. While this essay will look at the epidemiological pattern of depression through a social lens, it should be kept in mind that there will be a biological background that cannot be excluded. It can be argued, such as by John Nicholson, that the gender role itself has its development in biology or socio-biology, or gender role as developed by evolution of human behaviour (as proposed by E.O Wilson and David Barash). However, these ideas are not as widely accepted as the theories for socially determined gender roles[6] as put forward by Stoller and Ann Oakley. For the purpose of this essay, gender roles are a set of behaviours socially expected of someone conforming to a particular gend er. A key feature of the female gender role is emotional behaviour, with women being caring and compassionate, and men being dominating and aggressive [6]. This is of course an excessive generalization, but a recognised pattern, most likely influenced by sex of the person. However, it is important to note that there is a large overlap in emotional behaviour between the genders [7] but more specific to gender are those behaviours used to cope with life events. More emotionally sensitive women may present to doctors sooner, although this has been disproved at least once [8]. This is an artefact argument I shall come to later. Emotionally sensitive persons, who tend to display more depressive symptoms, may have impaired anti-rumination strategies [9]. Rumination is a method of coping whereby the person focuses on the depressive symptoms and the triggering event, rather than trying to distract themselves, for example with thoughts of good things to come. Research has found that rumination by more emotionally sensitive persons leads to a negative emotion spiral. Focusing on the negative thoughts and emotions leads to further negative thoughts and emotions. , By controlling for emotional attention in their study results, there was a non-statistically significant difference for gender and symptoms of depression [8]. This is further backed up by evidence that rumination exacerbates and prolongs depression and that women tend to ruminate more when sad or depressed, a trend seen from prepubertal childhood [2]. Another personality trait, such as neuroticism, has also been associated with depression. Controlling for it has been suggested to eliminate the statistical significance of gender and depression [10], and although there is suggestive evidence against this idea [2], it should not be dismissed entirely until more research is done. It could be argued however, that the coping style may be different due to the type of stress observed by the individual. A more significant life event may be harder to distract oneself from, and so easier to ruminate. A womans role may determine her to be exposed to more significant stressors, for example through her role as the homemaker. There may be problems affecting children, housing, fertility, versus issues which will affect men more (for example, through their role as the breadwinner) but occur less often unemployment and finance problems. Although evidence suggests that while men and women are exposed to different stressors, it is insufficient by itself to explain the gender difference [11,12]. Therefore, I feel that the evidence shows that rumination is an important risk factor for depression, and women ruminate more than men, due to their socialisation making them more emotionally sensitive. It should be noted that males and females may receive different stressors for dep ression outside of their gender role. For example, sexual and physical abuse, as an adult or as a child, may play a role in explaining the gender difference. If women are more likely to be abused as adults or as children, (this might become a risk factor towards depression later on), then this might help explain some of the pattern seen. Evidence for this suggests it might play as much as 35% [2] of the gender difference in adult depression. Another way gender role and stress may interplay is through interpersonal relationships. The traditional female gender role will imply that a woman will put in more effort to attaining more friends. Therefore the loss of interpersonal relationships will have more of an impact on the female than it would on the male. Evidence shows that it is the lack of relationship, rather than the support the relationship provides [12], is the more significant stressor, and so further proves the point. This is of particular importance when looking at adolescent mental health, a key time when the gender difference in depression is first seen [2]. It could be argued that the starting of the gender difference is due to a restriction of the adolescent female into her expected role[2]. This only adds to, rather than offers an alternative view point, that if the adolescent female loses some of her important relationships, she might feel more like she has lost an important part of her identity. There is evidence that loss of interpersonal relationships is a significant stressor in adolescent females, because they have invested more emotion and are more likely to blame themselves [13]. This can also help explain the link between Body Mass Index and mood disorders, where high BMI affects women more, possibly putting them at a social disadvantage [14]. However, it is hard to identify whether social disadvantage has encouraged the depression and hence higher BMI, or higher BMI has caused social disadvantage and so depression. I feel that it is probably the latter, as evidence on coping strategies provides little evidence that eating is a common coping strategy in depression [15]. However the two studies examined different populations, American and Japanese, which casts doubt on their results Another study looked at sleep disturbance rather than depression. It suggested that adolescent girls, being more sensitive to familial disruption and increased domestic and grooming expectations, had increased sleep disturbance [16]. This is similar to an argument that I studied earlier increased expectation of fitting into the role of the female gender will increase sleep disturbance. This positively correlates with depression as either a cause or a symptom of sleep disturbance [16]. Looking at other co-morbid conditions of depression may help to illuminate the role of gender difference in depression. Anxiety is frequently seen co-morbid with depression, especially in primary care, such that it has its own classification in the ICD-10[1]. It is therefore logical to think that any gender difference in anxiety (which can be seen[17]) could be linked with the gender difference in depression. Similar risk factors already discussed, ruminative behaviours and social network crises, predispose women to anxiety more than men[17]. I think this adds to the evidence of suggesting a common aetiology between depression and anxiety. Using gender roles, anxiety does not fit into the male gender role of being confident and aggressive, and hence goes some way to explain the gender difference in anxiety, rather than in depression. It would seem that mothers discuss different coping strategies with their children; for boys a more problem solving approach and for girls more emotional coping strategies to help deal with distress [17]. These coping strategies and depression in women[15], comply with my previous ideas and also help to explain the gender difference in depression. While evidence may suggest that anxiety and depression share a common aetiology, evidence also suggests that anxiety states are not part of the aetiology of depression [18,19] and so the gender difference in anxiety is just a reflection, rather than a cause of the gender difference in depression. Evidence suggests that in depression and its risk factors, that anxiety during adolescence, due to a difficult transition from the child to the adult, may make the woman more sensitive to depression after a triggering event[20]. A model suggested by Cyranowski et al, combining female gender socialization and the hormone oxytocin which intensify the need for interpersonal relationships, coupled with anxiety, might cause sensitivity to depressive events. There is a good fit of the evidence , bringing biological as well as psychological and sociological theories together. However, more recent evidence has shown that men and women are equally sensitive to triggering events[11,12]. A better idea is that anxiety and depression share a common aetiology. On the road to depression and anxiety, a fork in the road is approached, where the type of trigger or another risk factor not discussed, decides whether the person becomes depressed or anxious. However, some of the so termed artifact hypotheses may suggest that all the above research and studies are not finding any physical or real link between depression and gender, but rather that is a fault in the techniques in the data collection. Some suggestions that fit this hypothesis are that women are more likely to seek treatment for any illness, more likely to discuss a potentially stigmatising condition such as a mental health disorder or are able to recall symptoms better, and so doctors are more able to make a diagnosis. Alternatively, women are being overdiagnosed or men being underdiagnosed, as either the fault of the doctor or biased diagnosis techniques. It is also argued that substance abuse masks depression and anxiety in men [21]. Some quite surprising research suggests that there is no gender difference in the symptoms a male or female may present to indicate depression, and that men and women show no preference in stating that they feel emotionally down [22]. I have little confidence with this unique result, as the accepted idea and other evidence suggests otherwise [23].. Evidence suggests that substance and alcohol abuse are not the male equivalent to anxiety. Therefore, controlling for alcohol and substance use still leaves a significant gender difference[2]. However, in depression, it has been suggested as a coping strategy[15], and so it is not unconceivable to think that alcohol abuse, assumed to be an externalizing disorder, is in fact a coping mechanism for depression in men. If diagnosed as alcohol abuse rather than depression, this could make up some of the gender difference. However, what is more interesting, is the suggestion that diagnostic techniques are gender biased, especially Becks Depression Index. Two studies reached the same conclusion that items in the Becks Depression Index related to crying and loss of interest in sex gave an over-diagnosis and underestimation of recovery in women [21,24]. Crying is considered more congruent with the female gender role, and loss of interest in sex can occur outside of depression, especially in women, again fitting their gender role [24]. Therefore, to ensure correct diagnosis, the researchers suggest the use of the Goldberg Depression Scale rather than Becks Depression Index. This is troubling, as many of the research already referenced used either interviews by trained lay people or the Becks Depression Index, which casts doubt on the accuracy of the conclusions reached thus far. So to conclude, I have explored some of the risk factors for depression and their aspect as gender roles to help explain the gender difference in depression. There is some doubt cast upon this research and any other research done into the epidemiology of depression because of doubts over the Beck Depression Index bias. I still feel the evidence is strong enough to hold some meaning. On the other hand, differing gender roles is not a sole explanation. The example of child abuse is one of many outside the gender role hypothesis. There is plenty of room for other social, psychological and biological causes of depression and its epidemiological patterns not explored in this essay. A simple and brief conclusion would be to say that gender role is a part of a large mechanism of a multi-factorial illness. More research is required to ascertain the full answer to the question proposed by the title. Ideal research would be to re-analyse the epidemiological patterns in 10, maybe 20 years time. Then it could be assumed that gender roles would continue in their path to become more equal. Less of a difference between the genders and rates of depression and anxiety might be expected. There may also be less of a difference between genders and other mental health disorders. However, additional preliminary evidence can already help draw some ideas. Studying couples with a shared life event for example, women have been shown to be at a greater risk of depression if there was a traditional division of roles in the family[2]. One of the findings of the WHO mental health surveys [5] is that younger people have less distinct gender difference for major depressive disorder than older people. A correlation was found between less traditional gender roles and decreased rates of depression with increased rates of substance abuse. This suggests changing, modernising gender roles are resulting in decreased rates of depression among women. However, the increase in substance abuse is a cause for concern. The trend is towards equal gender roles, with the female gender role becoming more masculine, so bringing new health concerns. While fair gender roles within society as a whole, such as employment, may have a beneficial effect in protecting against depression [2], there is still an imbalance of roles within the home. This is reflected in how children are brought up and how they develop their coping strategies for stress. Therefore, gender roles have a large role to play in epidemiological patterns of depression, and in the aetiology of depression itself. As gender roles become more equal, it will result in better health for women in society, and while not the focus of the essay, it can be safely assumed a similar pattern can occur for men as well. Equality it seems can go a long way in reducing risk to disease.