Why Do Big Companies Take So Much From Each Other

Why do big companies take so much from each other? MCI, Inc. was an American telecommunication corporation, a subsidiary of Verizon Communications. In the article World-Class Scandal At WorldCom by David Hancock he discusses how â€Å"The corporation was formed as a result of the fusion of WorldCom and MCI Communications corporations, and used the name MCI WorldCom for a while and was succeeded by the WorldCom Company, before changing its name on April 12, 2003, as part of the corporation s ending of their bankruptcy status.† WorldCom Inc. began as a small Mississippi telephone service provider of long distance telephones. They are not the only telecommunications firm in financial trouble, there are many others who have financial troubles also. Scandals and Companies is one of the most vital essential microeconomics in the real world. In the early 2000s WorldCom scandal was all over the news, the telecommunications industry was on the verse of closing. Ceo Bernard Ebbers, became very wealthy man from the increasing price of his savings in WorldCom stock. WorldCom, plagued by the fast erosion of its profits and an accounting scandal that created billions in illusory earnings, last night submitted the largest bankruptcy filing in United States history, the New York Times stated in their article the time this occurred. The thing that caused this fraud was the strategy of WorldCom s CEO, Bernie Ebbers. WorldCom and other telecommunications firmsShow MoreRelatedE-Cigarette1180 Words   |  5 PagesBA 3103-015 Critical Analysis Paper: 1 E-CIGARETTE Big tobacco companies are betting on e-cigarettes. Why are tobacco companies investing in a product that will directly compete with their most profitable product, cigarettes? With the use of these analytical frameworks it will help us to better understand this situation. 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Qualitative Forecasting - 1405 Words

Common Features and Assumptions Inherent in Forecasting Forecasting techniques are quite different from each other. But four features and assumptions underlie the business of forecasting. They are: * Forecasting techniques generally assume that the same underlying causal relationship that existed in the past will continue to prevail in the future. In other words, most of the techniques are based on historical data. * Forecasts are rarely perfect. Therefore, for planning purposes, allowances should be made for inaccuracies. For example, the company should always maintain a safety stock in anticipation of a sudden depletion of inventory. * Forecast accuracy decreases as the time period covered by the forecast increases. Generally†¦show more content†¦For example, a restaurant owner may decide to ignore the entry of big-box retailers and grocery stores into his forecasts, assuming that their in-house restaurants and ready-to-cook meals will have no impact on future sales. Qualitative Forecasting Methods Qualitative forecasting techniques generally employ the judgment of experts to generate forecasts. A key advantage of these procedures is that they can be applied in situations where historical data are simply not available. Moreover, even when historical data are available, significant changes in environmental conditions affecting the relevant time series may make the use of past data irrelevant and questionable in forecasting future values of the time series. For example, historical data on petrol prices would likely be of questionable value in determining future petrol prices if other factors (oil boycotts, gasoline rationing programs, scientific breakthroughs in alternative energy use, etc.) suddenly assumed increased importance. Qualitative forecasting methods offer a way to generate forecasts in such cases. Four of the better-known qualitative forecasting methods are executive opinions, the Delphi method, sales-force polling, and consumer surveys: 1. Executive Opinions The subjective views of executives or experts from sales, production, finance, purchasing, and administration are averaged to generate a forecast about future sales. 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The Great Leap Forward  Impact and Consequences free essay sample

Instead, the judgment of history paints a far different picture. An irreversible focusing of profound rifts in the Chinese Communist Party and a delirious fabrication of reality led to rapid disintegration of the Leap’s goals, and to what perhaps was the greatest famine in human history. Both the immediate impact and far-reaching consequences of the Great Leap Forward (GLF) influence the current trends and priorities of today’s China, and understanding the nature of these past events is crucial in ascertaining the nature of the present. The Hundred Flowers campaign and the following rectification movement in 1956-1957 left the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) divided and hesitant, sincerely concerned with acute contradictions within itself and among the Chinese people (Domenach 119). At that time, talk of future industrialization and economic growth was timid at best, as stated by Liu Shaoqi’s political report at the Eighth National Congress of the CCP in September 1956: On the basis of actual conditions of our country, the Central Committee has thus defined the Party’s general line in the period of transition: to bring about, step by step, socialist industrialization and to accomplish, step by step, the socialist transformation of agriculture, handicrafts and capitalist industry and commerce over a fairly long period. (Liu 2)   No talk of â€Å"leaps† had emerged yet, and the industrial growth of about 18. percent during the First Five Year Plan period was accompanied by a slow crawl in agricultural production of only about 3. 8 percent (Spence 574). Chairman Mao’s extremely sensitive political antennae were very alert in 1957, as the completion of a basic socialist system both confirmed his confidence in his own leadership and opened the question of what direction China’s socialist politics would take (Womack 24). He felt China had reached the next stage in its continuous and permanent revolution, one that could actualize traditional Marxist theory in a uniquely Chinese way. If China lacked the economic prerequisites that Marx had defined for a communist society, Mao had begun to believe that those same economic conditions could be brought into existence in the very process of striving to realize ultimate communist goals (Meisner 210). Thus, he became more and more frustrated with what he saw as a lagging process toward communism that was being prolonged unnecessarily. His feeling of urgency for China’s future was greatly intensified during a crucial visit to Moscow in November 1957. Conflict and competition between Mao and Khrushchev were becoming more and more apparent. Khrushchev had boasted that the Soviet Union would overtake the United States in the output of major products in fifteen years, and Mao reacted by committing China to a similar competition (MacFarquhar, Cheek, and Wu 14). Upon his return to China, he began paving the way for an immediate move from the moderate to the frenzied, focused on the setting of targets that were from the outset over-ambitious. These targets must be seen not only as an attempt at modernization, but also as a fusion of rapid economic growth and its fuel, consisting of equally rapid processes of radical social and ideological change (Meisner 204). The impetus was to pave a Chinese road to an eventual state of absolute communism that was ahead of the Soviet Union, in effect, to launch a Chinese â€Å"sputnik† (MacFarquhar, Cheek, and Wu 15). Mao had persuaded himself by now that this was a response to the spontaneous wishes of the people, to enlighten China’s countryside withindustrialization (de Bary and Lufrano 468). The new rhetoric that Mao embraced was manifested in the nature of emerging propaganda that was regretfully drowned in overemphasis and incoherence. Automatically, the scale of the ambitions was in stark contrast with the muddiness of the formulations (Domenach 167). The Anti-Rightist Campaign had by then already made people within and without the Party scared to report anything but good news, and the new plans for China grew more from ideology than from efficiency (MacFarquhar 332). A battle on many fronts began: to strengthen industry, revolutionize agriculture, and implement communes in the countryside; all factors involved perpetuating and sustaining each other. By the summer and fall of 1958, crucial policy decisions in the establishment of the communes were frenetically improvised on the spot by local leaders (Meisner 230). Mao had provided the spark that rapidly became a bonfire, engulfing the whole country in half-baked, misguided efforts to reshape the land as their own lives were reshaped by the communes. In a typical village, people would enter waving red flags, beating drums and gongs, and burning firecrackers, proclaiming the arrival of a new way of life (Leung 200-201). In Hebei, for example, the Provincial Committee of the Party boldly announced: â€Å"The great achievements of the overall leap forward have educated the masses and educated the cadres. People now unrestrictedly place confidence in the correctness of the leadership of the Party and fully realize the superiority of the socialist system and the great prowess of the working people in the conquest of nature† (Shi 278). However, reaction was mixed, and included a mad rush to slaughter draft animals so that they would not be confiscated by the new communes (MacFarquhar 328). In the spirit of â€Å"communization† (gongchan feng), many communes were actually set up in a threatening, predatory fashion beyond the original intent of the Party. Properties and even entire handicraft workshops were impounded by local Party members to be absorbed into the new communes, alienating people by the hasty and arbitrary seizure of private property (Zhang 64). Internal reports even indicate resistance of a violent nature, peasants reportedly beating up cadres and leaving the communes, taking both grain and animals with them (Becker 54). Radical transformation of the countryside included filling in lakes to create more fields for farming, the manual construction of huge dams and roads, and intensified mining (Bardeen 64). In addition, under direct guidelines issued from Mao himself, new and bizarre agricultural techniques were insisted upon in an eightfold strategy: the popularization of new breeds and seeds, close planting, deep plowing, increased fertilization, the innovation of farm tools, improved field management, pest control, and increased irrigation (Becker 70). Rural industry at this time was ushered in with a crazed steel-smelting campaign that, coupled with the vast array of constructions and earth-moving projects, totally diverted the peasant population (Clark 240). Able-bodied men and women worked around the clock fueling the inefficient furnaces that sprang up nationwide, consuming huge forest resources and every last scrap of metal or iron they could find (MacFarquhar 327). Meanwhile, much of the harvest was tragically wasted, left to rot out in the fields. At the same time, highly trained engineers and scientists all over China whose advice could have saved tremendous losses in human effort and natural resources were labeled â€Å"bourgeois experts† and imprisoned or sentenced to manual labor (Becker 63). Thus, as the Party ecstatically created thousands of new colleges, universities, and research institutes, an emphasis of political loyalty rather than competence was placed on the education of China’s countryside (Zhou 61). This loyalty entailed a firm belief in the millenarian proportion of the whole event and the easy abundance that will inevitably come from such toil. This happened in certain provinces more than others, as some regional leaders even went to the extreme of allowing people to eat as much as they could stand. In some communes, people were so relieved at the notion of free food that they consumed three months’ supply of grain in a mere two weeks (Yang 55). State policy began to become a victim of its own guaranteed success as local leaders fiercely competed with one another using unrealistic goals and falsified accomplishments (Womack 29). Central leadership caught on to this trend and was gravely concerned not just at the lies but the means used in preserving them. Even Mao was alarmed at the abundance of claims being made: â€Å"We must get rid of the empty reports and foolish boasting, we must not compete for reputation, but serve reality. Some of the targets are high, and no measures have been taken to implement them; that is not good† (Schram 106). Despite his alarm, however, the understanding among the Party members themselves that failure to respond to production imperatives could impact their own political future led to frenzied production of substandard, unusable products and outright lies about agricultural yields (MacFarquhar 248). Areas that had a greater density of party membership were more likely to stick to the letter of the central directives and were thus more moderate, while outlying areas, in their eagerness to demonstrate their loyalty to the Party, were more likely to overreact to central directives (Yang 245). As a result of these self-perpetuating claims that rang hollow with fantasy, the Party itself began to lose legitimacy (Shi 273). At the same time, those who knew the truth of communal mess halls beginning to shut down, Party cadres refusing to work, and other serious deteriorations of the fledgling system would not speak up (Becker 80). Direct challenge to the bogus claims being made and direct pronouncements of the truth were nothing short of political suicide. Meanwhile, the truth slipped out of reach for the entire Party. In early 1959, the State Statistical Bureau was dismantled and replaced by â€Å"good news reporting stations† (Clark 239). In the summer of 1959, well after the GLF had entered its crisis phase, Mao appeared critically under-informed in his dismissal of the possibility of disaster (Mosher 270). It was at a Party meeting in Lushan that Mao was first confronted with the festering and rapidly deteriorating problems of the communes and the utter disasters stemming from GLF policies (de Bary and Lufrano 470). Peng Dehuai, then the defense minister, delivered a letter to Mao that politely but unmistakably laid the blame where it ultimately belonged: with the Chairman (MacFarquhar 216). Peng had broken a cardinal rule in Chinese factional politics in revealing not only which â€Å"faction† he belonged to, but in taking the wrong side at a potential situation of struggle (Shi 283). This resulted in a savage attack launched by Mao that was compellingly mixed with hints of apology and self-criticism: â€Å"The chaos caused was on a grand scale and I take responsibility† (Schram 146). By that time, however, far away from the Party elite, the very structure of society was falling apart. Starvation was already progressing through the provinces as grain was being forcibly taken from the communes to, ironically enough, meet a raised quota of exports to the Soviet Union (Spence 583). The insanity of mind-boggling production goals persisted; coal production was to go from 30 million to 270 million tons, grain from 185 million to 525 million tons, and so on throughout the economy (Mosher 264). As fall arrived and Mao had settled his personal score with those who dared to doubt him, he issued the following order to all of the provincial Party Committees: â€Å"On the basis of your actual conditions, adopt all effective measures, squeeze out all of the labor force that can be squeezed out, strengthen the first line of agricultural production, and speedily change the grave situation of the present insufficiency of the labor force† (MacFarquhar 324). In actuality, Mao was simply reacting to provincial initiatives already taking place, including a similar survival policy that had been fully implemented for over three months (Yang 75). After a long winter, the spring of 1960 witnessed nature’s retaliation for the â€Å"war† that had been raged against her. A massive drought affected every province in China, bringing with it pests and diseases, while the worst typhoons in 50 years flooded twelve separate provinces (MacFarquhar 322). By the end of May, an undeniable indicator of widespread disaster came when the grain reserves in Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai became totally depleted (Becker 80). Mao was shocked by this and sank into a deep depression in which, according to his librarian, he sometimes sat for long periods of time, gazing at nothing in total silence (Yang 72). The Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice both released internal documents during the first part of 1960 that drew attention to the severity of the famine’s impact. Cases of 96,200 anti-communist activities and 5,700,000 cases of sabotage, assassination, theft, and plunder had been reported over the course of the twelve preceding months (Shi 280-281). Meanwhile, some thirty percent of all rural units in China had already adopted some form of household responsibility and production without central authorization (Yang 241). Moral alienation and corruption followed in the wake of the struggle for survival, as a fundamental change began to occur in the paradigm of China’s goals. Material survival was to come first before any notion of a socialist cause could be acknowledged. The legacy of this huge famine, in which up to 30 million Chinese had died, devastated agricultural growth for the following six years, finally beginning to recover in 1965 (Clark 244). The impact in areas of industry was similarly intense, as 100,000 enterprises were closed down between 1960 and 1965 so that over 20 million people could be withdrawn from the urban areas to help salvage something from the agricultural disaster and the stagnation that followed (MacFarquhar 330). In looking at the long-term consequences of the Great Leap Forward and its subsequent famine, a pattern can be seen that transcends all of the movements, campaigns, and other easily labeled events. A considerable amount of work done on the part of China scholars, especially since the Cultural Revolution, attributes major changes in state policy to the Party elites and the campaigns that they initiated (Perry 2). Despite this, in the case of modern reforms in China it can be said that Deng Xiaoping and his economic liberalization initiatives were not simply initiatives from higher-ups who decide the future of their country. These initiatives are at least partially reactions to pervasive patterns that already existed. It can be said that the national psyche of China was so deeply affected by this devastating event that it served as a psychological imperative for economic growth, regardless of the socialist aspect. Myths, formally held sacred, were permanently undermined, and the moral consensus of the socialist and communist systems was essentially destroyed. When the utopian aspirations of the GLF became seen as a field day for Party corruption, lies, and terrorism practiced on the people of the countryside, the gulf grew between the Party and the masses. This gulf has arguably remained wide since that time, and threatens to grow wider. Despite the fact that the communes were falling apart by 1961, they were not entirely dismantled until 1984 (Zhang 66). While unofficial change in China is often improvised, official change is often painfully slow. It was not until 1981 that the issues of the GLF were addressed formally by the Communist Party, in a resolution which stated: â€Å"Comrade Mao Zedong and many leading comrades, both at the center and in the localities, were impatient for quick results and overestimated the role of man’s subjective will and efforts† (Womack 26). Mao cannot be thoroughly demonized because of his delusions and the sufferings that they caused; but neither can an apologist stance be taken. In the same respect, the modern economic reforms in China are not simply consequences of a shifting influence in government policy-making, nor can they be fully attributed to the efforts of Deng Xiaoping and the official â€Å"Four Modernizations.   Ã‚   The consequences of the GLF and its immediate impact of famine extended into the realm of Chinese political action, which in a modern context is at least partially a reaction to what the Chinese people were already practicing. Forms of economic initiative and autonomy at the village level existed unofficially, years before they became a practice favored by the government. The main stance that emerges from a close examination of the GLF is an admiration for the resilience of a peasantry who are still striving for a better way of life.

Master Budget Planning for the Future Essay Example For Students

Master Budget Planning for the Future Essay Master Budgets: Planning for the Future Marcus Nicholson ACC 561 March 1, 2010 Carla Ross Organization and planning are important elements of starting and maintaining any successful business. Learning from experiences in business transactions and seeking to acquire knowledge from current as well as future endeavors aid a business in succeeding. Learning and understanding a budget is a good quality to master because it can give insight to managers regarding the health of the company. Few people every dreamed of growing up to excel in the art of budgeting. Regardless of the reason people become managers, making a master budget is a part of the planning process for a business. Pieces of a Puzzle A master budget is comprised of several parts combined to form the master budget. The main parts of the master budget consist of the operational and financial budget. It is within these two parts that most if not all of the information needed to form a master budget of a company exist. Master budgets seek to outline a plan for the future in the upcoming year or quarter for the companys finances. The master budget is a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the first year of the long range plan, (Horngren, et. al. , 2008, p. 304). The year review of the master budget takes the components of the operational and financial budgets and break down the important information contained within each. Fitting the Pieces Together Elements of the operational and financial budget interact and affect each other; changes in one will cause changes to occur for wi thin the other. The operational budget consists of the sales, operating expense, along with the purchases and cost-to-goods-sold budgets to form a budgeted income statement. The operational budget assist the manager in planning with purchases and expenses of materials along with labor cost required to maintain the company. The financial budgets primary elements consist of the cash budget along with the capital budget. The two budgets when information in each is combined form the budgeted balance sheet, which is the primary result in the financial budget. This budget provides useful information managers as well as investors how well the company is doing financially and can it invest in future projects to assist in the growth of the company. Finishing the Puzzle Companies rely on accurate information to plan and conduct operations that will create profits and not losses. Creating a master budget will allow the person making the decisions within the company to use the data to make wise decisions. It is for this reason that master budgets are useful in most companies with multiple departments and budget needs. In a small company that does not have a large managerial staff, creating a master budget would consume a lot of time and is considered non-productive. This time spent on the master budget results in time taken away from business activities. Advantages of creating a master budget provide an idea of where a company wants to go and what it is doing in order to get there. Master budgeting allows the company to realistically project future cash flows that help in getting certain types of financing. Depending on what the company views as important will determine how much focus is placed on constructing a master budget. References: Horngren, et. al. (2008). Introduction to management accounting (14th ed. ). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Concepts of Unions

The Hip-hop culture in Aotearoa New Zealand essays

The Hip-hop culture in Aotearoa New Zealand essays The Hip-hop culture in Aotearoa New Zealand is similar to other countries where reclamation of identity has been achieved using music. Is Hip-hop a backlash of the colonisation process? Discuss the Hip-hop culture as a medium for expressiveness and a way of defining identity. Hip-hop has emerged as a significant musical genre in Aotearoa New Zealand creating an awareness of cultural diversity and ethnic identity and is similar to other countries where reclamation of identity has been achieved using music. Hip-hop has long been seen as the voice for the disenfranchised. The New Zealand Hip-hop scene began in the 1980s when artists such as Upper Hutt Posse began recording and gained recognition for lyrics relating to tino rangatiratanga, Maori Sovereignty. Is the success of Hip-hop in New Zealand the backlash of the colonisation process? New Zealand has a colourful past in terms of race relations, which has contributed to Maori and Pacific Islanders, amongst other minority groups, sense of disenfranchisement. The Hip-hop culture has provided a medium for young people to channel their talents and have a voice about their place in society. Exploring the character of youth subcultures such as Hip-hop provides an opportunity for better understanding of t he role that popular music has for youth as they endeavour to construct ideas about their own individualism and their place within the social world. Particular attention has been given to a local High School in Christchurch as an example of flexibility and resourcefulness with tailor made courses specifically aimed to appeal to students from diverse musical backgrounds. In addition to the exploration of Hip-hop youth culture, further exploration of the relationships found between the social world, the cultural creators, objects and the receivers of the cultural objects is made drawing on the larger influences that create such connections. What is this global musical force ...

Crime, the Media and the Law Policy Research Paper

Crime, the Media and the Law Policy - Research Paper Example The power of the media and its responsibilities towards ensuring a harmonious state shall be looked into and the effects of such media coverage on the people shall be explored. Apart from this, the commercial aspect of the media and the advertising industry that forms a large part of the media and depends on sensationalism to a great extent for drawing its revenues shall also be a part of the focus of this paper. The only way in which the masses of a particular place would get to know about the crime rates of the area that they live in is through the media. Kenneth Dowler states – â€Å"The mass media play an important role in the construction of criminality and the criminal justice system. The public’s perception of victims, criminals, deviants, and law enforcement officials is largely determined by their portrayal in the mass media† (2003). Statistics regarding the performances of specific sectors of the law enforcement agencies are often let out to the society through the work of the media. Te channel of communication between the rulers and the ruled being the media, it has the onus of redirecting power back to the people from whom it is supposed to originate. The working of a democracy in an ideal manner has thus, a lot to do with the way in which the cycles of power are managed. The interest of the people at the helm of affairs would lie in the way in which the negative aspects of their tenure along with the positive ones are reported. This would result in a balanced analysis that would enable the smooth functioning of democracy in a nation. The media would then be able to fulfil its role as a check on the power of elected representatives in a government. Problems arise, however, when this system is subverted for the sake of profits on the part of increasingly profit-oriented media ventures. The effects of commercialization can be seen the most in the news media which provides people with the maximum amount of knowledge regarding crime s and the mechanisms that seek to control it. Such control is dependent on the taxes that people pay and hence depends on their consent regarding the modes of prevention of crime and the punishments that are meted out to people who violate the law. The opinions of people regarding the methods that seek to tackle crime are always factors that decide the person that occupies the seat of power. Consequently, the process of dealing with crime is something that is important to not just the people who cover it as a part of the media but also for the people who make laws for the prevention of it (Current Problems in the Media, 2012). The credibility of the media too has undergone erosion in the last few decades. With a growth in the corporatisation of the media, the power of its lobbies has grown too. The power of the media in shaping public opinion too is something that provides it with immense clout in deciding the social affairs of the state. This has however, instead of encouraging hon est investigative reporting led people to look for easy successes and fame through sensationalism (ibid). An unhealthy state of affairs in the media reflects badly upon the health of the nation’

How to think English language Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

How to think English language - Assignment Example t types of communication in your home country and the U.S.), to the more subtle (like how your father’s or mother’s style of persuasion differs from your grandparents’). What kind of rhetoric do you use at home? At school? In the grocery store? With your friends? Online? How have these different uses of language impacted the way you see yourself as a rhetor? What do they reveal about how and why language might change across contexts? I encountered clear explanation when the doctor was giving me the exact instructions of what caused shock to my diseased friend. The doctor was trying to put across the most probability of the death and kept tried to give the smallest detail. I experienced this in political rallies in my home country. The political aspirants used words and phrases like â€Å"we†, â€Å"us† and other inclusive verbs in their speeches to make the electorates to vote for them. These rhetoric’s in improved my interaction between me and the other people in the following ways: The use of rhetoric in the context shaped my understanding of the world to know that through proper communication that is enhanced by use of rhetoric’s in context can generate proposal, ideas and discussions that can be used to solve the world current problems Mostly when our parents give instructions and warnings to us they will pause a question to us to confirm if we have understood what they are trying to tell us. Mostly the question needs answers that we often reply to them to show obedience to them. At home the context that may arise is the emphasis on the togetherness of the family. in such audience as the speaker u may use the rhetoric that is likely to be used to emphasis on unity is the power of one In school the teaching activity goes on, the teachers try to make the students to understand the new concepts that they have never learned before, the teacher we will try to refer to the things the students knows best and compare them with the new concept. This

English Class Writing Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

English Class Writing Assignment - Essay Example Their chance came when Carl was recruited to work in the U.S. Navy with both the father and son expecting too much from this break, not knowing he will just be helping in the kitchen, giving him the mocking of his own color. While on break on the deck, Carl and his co-workers were watching the divers do their exercises and being lured by the waters; the young man readied himself to dive, against the will of his companions and the white Americans. When an attempt was made to make him get out of the water, he swam towards the middle of the sea with skill that impressed the trainer. He was then promoted as a diver, allowing him to see the dangers of his job. When an accident happened that called for an immediate rescue, Carl witnessed Billy Sunday, played by Robert DeNiro, do the rescue without any diving gear to protect him in the water, with all passion and fervor to his duties, dived against his commander’s will. This event led to a sickness that prevented him from continuing with his responsibilities, thus, was appointed to training master divers. Carl boldly went to the trainer who promoted him and expressed his wishes to become what he wanted, a master diver. The trainer laughed at this idea because black men are not allowed to be in the U.S.

The Nature Of Prejudice Psychology Essay

The Nature Of Prejudice Psychology Essay In the multi cultural setting, prejudice has become normalized and has synchronized into our daily lives due to the efforts of authorities to harmonized people together. However, given that everyone comes from a very different and diverse background and family situations, there are bound to be misinterpretation and assumptions that we make on a daily basis that is somewhat skewed towards or against a different group. And with the efforts of the authorities to sanction prejudice, it does not necessary mean that prejudice has withered off but instead it may have become an innate thought that has continued on. In this essay we will look into the psychological theories, concepts and researches to understand the continued existence of prejudice and discrimination within each person, even though our modern society views it as undesirable. The Nature of Prejudice In a personal context, a persons behavior towards a certain group of people or people with distinct differences can be due to the social schemas that a person develops with time, through experience and or through social influence. Prejudice can be described as a negative attitude or observable behavior towards a certain socially defined group or members of that group. It is also known as prejudgment, the emotions felt or behavior portrayed cannot be quantified nor can it be justified. Even though in the modern society, prejudice and discrimination are seen as inappropriate or undesirable, it does still exist within each person and they vary in magnitude and severity individually. In this essay, we will cover the psychological theories, concepts and researches to understand the continued existence of prejudice and discrimination within each person, even though our modern society views it as undesirable. In the research done by Kenneth Clark (1914 -2005), on the effects of prejudice, discrimination and segregation have on child development, he demonstrated the effects by observing the responses of black children, age between two to seven, when they are presented with two sets of dolls, differing only by the dolls skin and hair colors. And from the observation, majority of the participants would prefer the white dolls over the black dolls. Apart from that, the research also showed that thirty nine percent of the participants would choose the white dolls as a representation of themselves. It became apparent that the social norm that children were exposed to pre-defines the definition of being socially desirable and socially undesirable. It also meant to steer individuals towards changing themselves mentally and or physically to become socially desirable in order to belong and fit the social norm. And the idea of being socially desirable and undesirable brings about prejudice and the fo rmation of groups. A classic example and origin of social prejudice can be traced to the social inequalities which suggest and predicts women being assumed to perform better in a caretaker role because they are perceived to be unassertive and sensitive (Hoffman Hurst, 1990). The attitude of prejudice can be described as a composite of three factors the influence of social beliefs are seen to cause over generalizing of the behavior of a person and also result in stereotyping. The emotions felt by an individual such as hostility and fear, when a person is found to be in an unfamiliar situation, it predisposes a person to emotionally respond either to feel, think or to act in a way towards a group or an individual when exposed to a certain stimuli in a certain way. The observable actions can be observed through behaviors such as discrimination. Prejudice can also be examined in relation to three factors, the severity of prejudice, the level of discrimination and the formation of beliefs, and stereotyping. These factors make up the basic structure of forming prejudice, as a mental schema that a person can refer to as a guide when situation calls for them. The mental schemas will influence how a person react and interpret the various experiences. And the pre- assumptions or conceived ideas about a certain group of people tend to skew ones interpretation of the observed behaviors and prediction of future actions of the member of the certain group. Prejudice can be categorized into two different types, blatant prejudice and subtle prejudice. Blatant prejudice refers to the open rejection of a certain groups or refers to certain groups to be inferior to them. The actions of blatant prejudice can be easily observed and it is usually not withheld. An example of blatant prejudice can come in the form of riots and demonstration against an opposing group or member of that certain group (Pettigrew, 1998). The other type is subtle prejudice refers to negative emotions felt towards or against the other group or individuals which are usually being disguised or is being hidden behind other values that allow the individual to dislike that certain group in a less direct manner as oppose to blatant prejudice. Some examples of subtle prejudices are the belief that the certain groups are becoming too pushy in wanting more rights than the rest, the denial of discrimination and the resentment of favoritism (Lambert, 1998). Prejudice can also be unconscious to people who denies having any racial or gender prejudices, that they may still have negative associations linking to the socially defined group or individual. It is illustrated in the research and it had been observed that nine out of ten white participants of the research took longer time to link pleasant words with a black faces than linking pleasant words to white faces (Greenwald, McGhee, Schwartz, 1998). It demonstrates that even though individuals do not recognize themselves to be having any stereotypes or discrimination towards a socially defined group or individual, the unconscious behaviors that was observed illustrates that social beliefs and social norms do actually influences a persons judgment and unconsciously forming prejudice against it. The other factor that can influence prejudice is the environment that an individual is found to be in. It influences the prejudice behavior of the individual that can either be observed or remains undetected. For example a person will and can act non-prejudiced when the situation that they are in does not require them to. For example, an individual makes a non-prejudiced comment towards a prejudiced behavior, so as to not offend members of the other group. In the same direction, prejudice can also be strengthened in situations where the social norms that govern them are either weak or ambiguous and it becomes justifiable and deemed acceptable for negative behavior towards the socially defined group or individual. In social psychology there have been many theories formulated to define the formulation of prejudice. There is the Psychodynamic or personality approach according to Freud, prejudice is seen as a response to an unresolved conflict during the stages of child development. He refers it to as a combination of personality characteristics and that the incompatible and unconscious motives and urges which exist in our minds and depending on our relative strength, moral values and external reality either one of the motives and urges will dictate the conscious thoughts and actions (Freud, 1917). The socio-cultural approach suggests that the cultural factors influences and creates social norms which plays an important role as to how a person is predisposed to results in formation of prejudiced view of the certain group or individual. A theory derived from this is the scapegoat theory which suggests that prejudice can also be an expression of anger such that when things go wrong, the scapegoat will provide a convenient emotional outlet and target for this anger which manipulates and influence people to create a common goal for the group (Katz, Glass, Cohen, 1973). The cognitive approach refers to the information processing and cognitive systems of the brain where prejudice arises out of normal mental processes, which can be explain through stereotyping and categorization. Social categorization and stereotyping refers to the formulation of illusionary relation between a certain group and the perceived deficiencies. They also categorize people into certain groups and that they are categorized based on the social norms or traits they are associated with the others in the same group. People tend to favor those that are within their group than those people that are not within the group. Social categories are formed with association to stereotyping when we encode information in terms of social categories. Social categories are ingrained in a person that it is easily accessible and prominently that they are automatically used in social perception. The need to belong, dictates humans as group bound species in the search attain an identity of self when belonging to a group. This is associated with the negative out-group stereotypes and positive in-group stereotypes that the group which means to be mentally differentiating and defining the grouping of us and them which also leads to people showing favoritism to their own group when dividing any rewards (Wilder, 1981) . Stereotyping provides general expectations about a certain group and it simplifies perception and evaluation of the individual members. Stereotype can affect the type of information that the brain is attending to and how it is being interpreted, they are easily accessible, and prominent that it can automatically be used in social perception to reduce ambiguity during critical situations. The generalization are guided by two elements, the trait information concerning what people of the certain group are like and the expectation of how this group of people will act. Stereotyping is not easy to be modified and acts can easily and automatically trigger stereotyping. It will have an impact on the effects on a persons behavior and results in unintentional self-fulfilling prophecies and implicit behavioral effects (Mackie, Hamilton, Susskind, Rosselli, 1996). The most researched common stereotype is sexism, where males are more than always perceived and commonly linked to stronger traits and attributes and on the flip side, females are often perceived and linked to weaker traits (Fiske, 1998). This stereotype originates from the prejudicial perspective that females are valued lesser than males, which can be traced back in history that males had all along been the breadwinner and females plays the caregiver role and thus resulting in the stereotype of women represents weakness and are better in taking up a more subtle role. Another typical stereotype that is relative to us would be racism, which refers to discrimination against an individual on the basis of the individuals race. It is often being generalized that people from the same race shares the same set of characteristic traits like abilities and qualities. And that personality trait such as intellect, morality, and other cultural behavioral characteristics are also inherited which in turn influence their reason to act, their practices and their beliefs. However, there are little or no scholarly evidence that agrees with the concept of race. The generalization forms an unintentional discrimination and stereotype towards a certain group and that people tend to make assumptions based on this stereotype. Racism assumption also includes discriminatory behaviors and beliefs that can be based on cultural, ethnic, or religious stereotypes. The relationship between stereotyping and prejudice can be explained through the dissociation model (Devine, 1989). Where stereotyping is the knowledge about the attributes stereotypically associated with a particular group and it is automatically activated with stimulus and it can be acquired as early as during child development before we can critically evaluate. And that it is more accessible with greater activation and stronger association overtime. Whereas, prejudice refers to the endorsement and acceptance or non-acceptance of the cultural stereotype and that activation of prejudice is known to be controlled and that activation must be with the inhibition of stereotype and it requires time and cognitive capacity. The research shows that both high and low prejudice persons has equal knowledge of the cultural stereotype. Also, both high and low prejudice person uses stereotyping to evaluate ambiguous behaviors. And that low prejudiced person exhibited more positive thoughts, belie fs and less hostile descriptions. The dissociation model concludes that the relationship between stereotype and prejudice is conditional on the task at hand and that stereotype can have effects on out decision without us making the explicit or conscious judgment (Devine, 1989). Social discrimination and prejudice can create a vicious cycle that entraps the individual or group within an illusionary boundary that is hard to get out from. An example of this cycle can originate from as simple as job discrimination, which determines how much wealth a person has and in turn determines the living environment of the person. The living environment also determines the level of education that the children will receive and thus affect the kind of job they will hold in the future, which sets them in a material disadvantage. And the types of discrimination also include reluctance to help, tokenism which refers to intentionally create a false appearance of inclusiveness and to deflect accusations of discrimination and reverse discrimination (Vaughan Hogg, 2011). And the victims of prejudice can also suffer from psychological disadvantages, low self-esteem, and depressed aspiration, and also include physical and verbal abuses. And the consequences of prejudice can range f rom the least serious type like pre-assumption and prediction of an individuals behavior from the certain group, to open discrimination of the certain group which could lead to violence against the group and ultimately, extermination of the group and its members such as the holocaust. It is then apparent that prejudicial behavior are almost inevitable for any individual given the different backgrounds and culture everyone had been brought up in, and the acquisition prejudice may well have happened even before we can comprehend anything. Which results in prejudice both conscious and unconsciously in the decisions that we make in our daily life. Therefore, society plays an important role to sanction and subdue any overwhelming prejudice against any social discrimination, and that every individual should make a conscious effort to avoid taking advantage of it as a vehicle for personal gains. And that even though many would publicly deny as having any stereotype or prejudice against someone, prejudice has always been an innate thought process that can and has influence our behaviors externally.

The Hero and Anti-Hero in Joseph Conrad?s Heart of Darkness Essay

The Hero and Anti-Hero in Joseph Conrad?s Heart of Darkness In studying Joseph Conrad's, The Heart of Darkness, many critics dwell on the issue of heroism. Who is the hero, Marlow or Kurtz? It is clear that both Marlow and Kurtz are the protagonists of the story; however, protagonist and hero are not always synonymous. Marlow is the hero in the traditional sense of the word, while Kurtz is the more modern hero, often referred to as the anti-hero. Marlow starts out as just as everyman, trying to put some bread on the table. His original plans were setting out to make money, but his journey turns into so much more. His expedition turns into a quest to find and save Kurtz, and to understand the people so many were prejudice against. Despite the opinion of certain critics, Conrad did not create Marlow to be a prejudice character. One of his first Marlow?s first Reactions to the villagers is the exact opposite, ?They were not enemies they were not criminals(Conrad, 189) While his initial response may not seem altogether accepting, it is far beyond the understanding of his peers. As the story continues Marlow is slightly sarcastic in his understanding of the villagers, ?Fine fellows-Cannibals-in their place. They were men one could work with, and I am grateful to them. And, after all, they did not eat each other before my face? (189)? Marlow shows his ability to be sarcastic in the face of popular criticism, even making the mold step to refer to these African?s as ?Fine Fellows?(189), ?They howled and leaped, and spun, and made horrid faces; but what thrilled you was just the thought of they humanity-like yours-the thought of your remote kinship with this wild(189) Although the natives... ...s to look at Kurtz as a hero for all that he had accomplished, no matter how evil. Marlow?s obstacles as the hero are not the overcoming of a dragon or evil villain. It is the eternal battle of the story of a Hero versus Antihero. Marlow?s blindness to Kurtz?s impurities are both his strength and weakness. His ignorance to the greatness of his own qualities can best be stated one way: ?The Horror.? Works Cited page Conrad, Joseph ?The Heart Of Darkness? Schwarz, Danie Reference Guide to English Literature, 2nd ed., edited by D. L. Kirkpatrick, St. James Press, 1991 Dean, Leonard Fellows Heart of darkness. Backgrounds and criticisms Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall, 1962,c1960 ?The Gallery of Antiheroes and Villains? Flowerstorm 2004 www.flowerstorm.net/disa/Gallery/anti-explain.html ?The Existential page? Connect 2004 www.connect.net

A Letter from Birmingham Jail

Reflection of â€Å"A Letter from Birmingham Jail† by Martin Luther Kingjr. For our honors portfolio this quarter we were required to read three documents. We, then, were quizzed over each of the readings. First, we read â€Å"Letter from a Birmingham Jail† by Martin Luther King, Jr. , then, we read the transcript of President John F. Kennedys inaugural address, and last but not least, we read â€Å"Millennial Makeover† by Morley Winograd and Michael Hals.Furthermore, we had to read and analyze the documents because the quizzes required us to think deeper than the written words on the paper. I believe these documents are critical because they have shaped the government and our society today. My favorite of these three documents, if I had to pick. would be â€Å"Letter from a Birmingham Jail†, not only because I admire Martin Luther King Jr. , but also because this letter Is a very powerful and Inspiring piece of work.Luther wrote while being confined in a jail in Birmingham, Alabama, for participating in civil rights demonstrations. His letter states that he will continue resisting nonviolently against racial discrimination and pleads the readers to see segregation from a different point f view. Moreover, I noticed that he quoted many people including Apostle Paul, St. Augustine, Reinhold Niebuhr and many others. This made me realize that he most likely had the quotations memorized since he didn't have access to those sources while imprisoned.He mentions that â€Å"injustice anywhere is a threat to Justice everywhere† and that â€Å"an unjust law is no law at all† (Luther). This means that an unjust law causes harm; for example, If it Is lawful to torture a certain group of people, then that is not a law whatsoever. This idea of injustice affects many directly, ut also affects everyone else indirectly in the fact that prejudice is occurring around them. Furthermore, his words describe in detail what segregation was Ilke and what people like him had to go through.This impacted me because now, the idea of racial discrimination is completely frowned upon, while in the 1900's it was something that seemed right and normal. It took years of hard work, bloody massacres. and non-stop action to obtain equality and I hate to see that a little bit of racism still exists today. The idea that immigrants are taking away Jobs and opportunities that should be for U. S. citizens. surprises me because this country was founded and created by immigrants.Instead of seeing different countries and different people in one world, we should see the whole world as one, because every human being, no matter what race. has his/her own rights and should have the same opportunities that his neighbor does. Luther is one of the most charismatic and persuasive people in history and has not only inspired many, but also revolutionized a country's view. He wrote this letter hoping to stir up some emotion and I think he got his point a cross in very non-violent and mature kind of way that was unexpected and at the same time, admirable.His stance ofa nonviolent action and the desperate cry for an end to social discrimination is as powerful now as It was 50 years ago. We now stand by these liberal values and believe the God has made us all equal and has given us n r gnts tnat no law can take away. A tnougn tnls was not an easy project, I certainly did learn something from it and it inspired me to stand up for my beliefs, but also, in a way, allowed me to see that anything is possible through hard work.

Definition of a Percentile in Statistics

Definition of a Percentile in Statistics In statistics, percentiles are used to understand and interpret data. The nth percentile of a set of data is the value at which n percent of the data is below it. In everyday life, percentiles are used to understand values such as test scores, health indicators, and other measurements. For example, an 18-year-old male who is six and a half feet tall is in the 99th percentile for his height. This means that of all the 18-year-old males, 99 percent have a height that is equal to or less than six and a half feet. An 18-year-old male who is only five and a half feet tall, on the other hand, is in the 16th percentile for his height, meaning only 16 percent of males his age are the same height or shorter. Key Facts: Percentiles Percentiles are used to understand and interpret data. They indicate the values below which a certain percentage of the data in a data set is found. Percentiles can be calculated using the formula n (P/100) x N, where P percentile, N number of values in a data set (sorted from smallest to largest), and n ordinal rank of a given value. Percentiles are frequently used to understand test scores and biometric measurements. What Percentile Means Percentiles should not be confused with percentages. The latter is used to express fractions of a whole, while percentiles are the values below which a certain percentage of the data in a data set is found. In practical terms, there is a significant difference between the two. For example, a student taking a difficult exam might earn a score of 75 percent. This means that he correctly answered every three out of four questions. A student who scores in the 75th percentile, however, has obtained a different result. This percentile means that the student earned a higher score than 75 percent of the other students who took the exam. In other words, the percentage score reflects how well the student did on the exam itself; the percentile score reflects how well he did in comparison to other students. Percentile Formula Percentiles for the values in a given data set can be calculated using the formula: n (P/100) x N where N number of values in the data set, P percentile, and n ordinal rank of a given value (with the values in the data set sorted from smallest to largest). For example, take a class of 20 students that earned the following scores on their most recent test: 75, 77, 78, 78, 80, 81, 81, 82, 83, 84, 84, 84, 85, 87, 87, 88, 88, 88, 89, 90. These scores can be represented as a data set with 20 values: {75, 77, 78, 78, 80, 81, 81, 82, 83, 84, 84, 84, 85, 87, 87, 88, 88, 88, 89, 90}. We can find the score that marks the 20th percentile by plugging in known values into the formula and solving for n: n (20/100) x 20 n 4 The fourth value in the data set is the score 78. This means that 78 marks the 20th percentile; of the students in the class, 20 percent earned a score of 78 or lower. Deciles and Common Percentiles Given a data set that has been ordered in increasing magnitude, the median, first quartile,  and third quartile can be used split the data into four pieces. The first quartile is the point at which one-fourth of the data lies below it. The median is located exactly in the middle of the data set, with half of all the data below it. The third quartile is the place where three-fourths of the data lies below it. The median, first quartile, and third quartile can all be stated in terms of percentiles. Since half of the data is less than the median, and one-half is equal to 50 percent, the median marks the 50th percentile. One-fourth is equal to 25 percent, so the first quartile marks the 25th percentile. The third quartile marks the 75th percentile. Besides quartiles, a fairly common way to arrange a set of data is by deciles. Each decile includes 10 percent of the data set. This means that the first decile is the 10th percentile, the second decile is the 20th percentile, etc. Deciles provide a way to split a data set into more pieces than quartiles without splitting the set into 100 pieces as with percentiles. Applications of Percentiles Percentile scores have a variety of uses. Anytime that a set of data needs to be broken into digestible chunks, percentiles are helpful. They are often used to interpret test scores- such as SAT scores- so that test-takers can compare their performance to that of other students. For example, a student might earn a score of 90 percent on an exam. That sounds pretty impressive; however, it becomes less so when a score of 90 percent corresponds to the 20th percentile, meaning only 20 percent of the class earned a score of 90 percent or lower. Another example of percentiles is in childrens growth charts. In addition to giving a physical height or weight measurement, pediatricians typically state this information in terms of a percentile score.  A percentile is used in order to compare the height or weight of a child to other children of the same age.  This allows for an effective means of comparison so that parents can know if their childs growth is typical or unusual.

Eric Clapton essays

Eric Clapton essays Eric Patrick Clapton was born in the small English town of Ripley, Surrey on March 30, 1945. He was the son of Patricia Molly Clapton and Edward Fryer. After Fryer returned from service, Patricia left Eric in the custody of his grandparents, Rose and Jack Clapp. Eric was raised believing that his grandparents were his parents and his mother was his sister. However, the truth was later revealed to Eric by his grandmother. As an adolescent, Clapton fell into Rock n Roll when he watched Jerry Lee Lewis perform on television. Erics love of blues and American R Clapton didnt get his big break until he joined the Yardbirds in 1963. Also in the band were Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck. This is where he got his nickname Slowhand because he would bend his strings so violently that he would break them. The crowd would then do a slowhand clap while he restrung. After a couple of years in the band, he left. And in 1965, he joined John Mayalls Bluesbreakers. Again, not staying long, he left to form Cream with bass player Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker. Cream achieved great success with such classics as White Room and Sunshine of Your Love. After Cream broke up, Clapton joined the bands Blind Faith and John Lennons Plastic Ono Band. After these journeys were said and done, Eric decided to form his own band, Derek and the Dominos. About the same time he formed Derek and the Dominos, Clapton began to fall in love with Pattie Harrison, the wife of his close friend George Harrison. It was Pattie who inspired Eric to write the classic song, Layla. In 1977, Eric released his Slowhand album. It was also ...

Current Issues in Corporate Reporting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Current Issues in Corporate Reporting - Essay Example Traditionally the focus was solely on the financial information for investment, but scenario has changed now. Corporate reporting does not only mean focusing on the value drivers in terms of financials, but on the non-financial aspects too (Mallin, 2009, p. 17). Corporate reporting process will keep evolving and improving according to the market condition and requirements. Companies have started getting the pressure from the regulatory bodies for developing meaningful disclosure and reports in order to present a transparent image before the stakeholders (Everingham, 2008, p. 1). This study is regarding the need for new approaches of corporate reporting and the problems that have been faced by the regulatory body in developing and producing such a framework. The new approaches were proposed to reflect the wider and long-term outcomes of decisions that are taken by the organization. Integrated reporting mainly focuses on the strategically significant requirements that would assist the firm in developing a strong competitive advantage. It will also assist in securing the credit and capital, build good business relationships, and help to develop strategies for competition. The stakeholders would be receiving an enhanced information source regarding the sustainability and quality of the performances of the company (Hopwood, Unerman, and Fries, 2012, p. 36-39). The integrated reporting has moved beyond the traditional silo approach of gathering and reporting information. In integrated reporting comprehensive assessment approach is followed, in which the company’s performance and values are presented in an inclusive manner, so that the investors has information other than only the financials of the company (Loska, 2011, p. 9). The comp rehensive approach requires understanding the strategy drivers of the company, identification of the key stakeholders and their explicit expectations, and implementation of different processes for obtaining the

The results of the credit crunch Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The results of the credit crunch - Essay Example Significant sums of money were pumped into the economy in order to facilitate its expansion. Though a number of banks failed it was proportionately far less than had occurred during the Great Depression. The Obama Administration did not just sit and watched as happened in 1929. They acted and they did so swiftly. It was this swift action that resulted in less jobs being lost as would have been the case if things were allowed to work themselves out. The government did whatever it could to meet with automobile manufacturers and other business interests to prevent the industry for collapsing. This helped to save a number of jobs in that industry as well other industries that supplied them with raw materials and services.     It should be quite obvious from the foregoing that the Great Recession was not as severe as the Great Depression of 1929 which lasted for more than a decade. Things could have been even worse if the response was similar to that of the 1930’s. What is ther efore significant is that things were not allowed to run their course as happened in the 1930’s. While World War 11 appeared to have shortened the period of the Great Depression of the 1930’s, it was the intervention by the Obama Administration in the United States that prevented this from getting to the stage of the Great Depression of 1929. It is therefore important that it is clearly understood that the results of a situation is affected by the response mechanisms that are put in placed to deal with the situation.

Data Mining - Questions to answer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Data Mining - Questions to answer - Essay Example Back-Propagated Delta Rule Networks (BP) is an example for multiple perceptron which contains additional hidden layers. It can function effectively compared to the single layer. In the prediction process of neural networks to make accurate prediction the training cases are increased which eventually leads to overfitting (George N. Karystinos, 2000). This occurs when the number of input variables is large compared to the training cases or when the input layers are highly correlated with each other. In methods like kernel regression and smoothing splines, the under fitting and overfitting of neural networks is usually encountered. The overfitting occurs in more complex networks. This leads to unprecedented predictions or wild predictions. Data cleansing is the process of removing inaccurate and inappropriate data records, which is an integral process of data processing and maintenance. In large data sets, the process of finding error and correcting the same needs interaction with the domain experts which is an expensive and time consuming process. Since it involves a comprehensive assignment of identifying and rectifying errors and hence the task is complex. Initially these operations are carried out manually and later computational means of data cleansing evolved and even this process are time consuming and error prone (Heiko Mller et al ). 3. What is the significance of Bayes Theorem in Data Mining Give an example of how statistical inference can be used for Data Mining. Most of the presently available statistical models in data mining are prone to overfitting and also unstable (sensitive to minor changes in the data). These difficulties can be overcome in the Bayesian methods of statistical mining. The reliability of these algorithms has been reviewed (J. Kolter and M. Maloof, 2003). The Bayesian algorithm facilitates integration of clustering and produces scalable powerful algorithm apt for data mining. Capturing correlation of large number of variables is possible using the Bayesian method. Example: In the search process of similar sequences (gene or protein sequences) in a sequence database, the data mining algorithm works by searching for similar matches which is based on the statistical preferences (e- value). Lower the expected value higher the relationship between the query and the retrieved results. Since the data involved is a mere combination of string only statistical measures ensures comparative account of the data sets. 4. Explain the concept of a Maximum Likelihood Estimator with an example. This is practically applied in prediction of phylogenetic relationships of protein sequences by tree algorithms. The maximum likelihood estimator forms the basis for the evolutionary prediction algorithms. The likelihood function predicts the relative function of all the given datasets (protein sequences). The algorithm eventually finds the most likely relative to the other sequences in the datasets by maximum likelihood estimator and hence it is easy to predict the ancestral route as well as how

Common Sense Summary Essay Example for Free

Common Sense Summary Essay Summary of Thomas Pains Common Sense Thomas Pain believed strongly in supporting the colonies for colonial independence. The sun never shined on a cause of greater worth, says Thomas Pain. He believed that not only the country should be involved but of at least 1/8 part of the globe. He illustrates in his article that a new era for politics has struck which leads to a new method of thinking. Pain also shows that reconciliation with Britain is not the answer. He states that America will flourish as much or more without Britain. Pain also illustrates how people think that Britain is protecting them. He responds saying that Britain was only thinking of Britains own interest instead of thinking of the interests of the colonies. Pain concludes in his article four of why they must show their declaration for independence. First he states that Britain and the Colonies may quarrel forever. Secondly he states that France and Spain want help the colonies unless they rebel and fight. Thirdly he states that they should be considered rebels and unite to fight the British. Fourthly they will send out to foreign courts published documents that state miseries that they have endured and the peaceful methods they used in return.

Catapulting though Time & Physics Essay example -- Essays Papers

Catapulting though Time & Physics Hurling an object towards one’s enemy may seem as old as time itself. People have hurled fists at each other, thrown spears, and launched giant rocks into enemy territory. The use of catapults, and other objects that hurl projectiles, also seem as old as human civilization itself. The effectiveness of the catapult in flinging objects over a great distance and causing destruction is due to a few basic physics principals that govern force, energy, motion, speed and mass to name a few. The design of the catapult denotes a change in modern warfare to the engineer behind weapons being just as important as the actual soldiers and people who use them. Projectile-throwing machines are found in three main categories: the catapult, the ballista, and the trebuchet (How Stuff Works). The catapult has a lever arm attached to a â€Å"bucket† that is usually pulled back by rope and the projectile is released when the rope is cut (How Stuff Works). The ballista is basically a giant crossbow and the trebuchet is similar to the catapult but is a weighted beam with a sling carrying the projectile (How Stuff Works). In this examination, we will mainly be discussing the design of the catapult and trebuchet. Catapults have been traced back to many different civilizations throughout history, but its modern origins are usually attributed to the Greeks and the ancient scientist Archimedes who designed them (Paul 58). We know that in 339 A.D. Dionysius ordered their design in Syracus (Hansen), but their history goes back even further. The first recorded description of the catapult found in the Bible 2,800 years ago (Paul 58). One passage gives the following description of a ruler of the kingdom of Judah : And i... ...nd projectile motion among others. Even though the catapult and its physics are ancient, it has changed the way warfare is waged in the present. Works Cited Hansen, Peter V. "War Engines of the Middle Ages." The Medieval Center Seige Engines. 1998. 2 Nov. 2005 <http://www.middelaldercentret.dk/warengines.htm>. Hewitt, Paul G. Conceptual Physics 10th Edition. 10th ed. San Francisco: Pearson Addison Wesley, 2006. "How Does a Catapult Work?" How Stuff Works. 2 Nov. 2005 <http://science.howstuffworks.com/question127.htm>. "Mechanics of a Simple Trebuchet." 2 Nov. 2005 <http://www.angelfire.com/in3/trebuchet/physics/mechanicsandoptimization.doc>. Paul, Jim. Catapult: Harry and I Build a Seige Weapon. New York: Villard Books, 1991. 54-62. Vogel, Steven. Cat's Paws and Catapults. New York, London: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1998.

Personal Narrative - The Day the Police Came for Me :: Personal Narrative

The Day the Police Came for Me The door opened and in walked the hated vice-principal of my high school, who walked straight up to my 3rd hour English teacher and whispered something into his ear. They both turned and looked in my direction. I stared back blankly, wondering why they were looking at me. Through an undoubtedly bad experience in high school, I learned a very valuable lesson about life, people, and events. Mr. Burton, also the "dean of discipline", asked me to take my things and come with him. I obeyed as my mind scanned itself over and over to think of what I had done. I had always been a good kid in school, had always received at least honor roll or principal’s list every quarter since elementary school, and never got in trouble. Yet, here I was riding with the vice-principal in his golf cart through the rows of cars in the student parking lot, until he stopped behind mine. We got out and then he asked me to open my trunk, and then asked a very confusing and ridiculous question at the time, "Do you have a gun or any other weapon in your vehicle?" I almost laughed at him, and then stopped, realizing I did have a pellet gun I accidentally left in my car. How he knew or why he cared I didn’t know, so I said "Yeah I have a b.b. gun under the front passenger seat," as I reached under and grabbed it for him. We then proceeded to his office, where a police officer was waiting for me. They then informed me then of what the incident was about. The day before, like I always do, I usually take home about three or four friends in my car. That day, there happened to be about five or six people who wanted a ride. However, me being a nice guy and kind of gullible, and them being my friends, I couldn’t say no. So we crammed about three or four people in the backseat, one in the passenger seat, and one in the trunk. It was not a very wise decision to let my crazy friend Chris ride in the trunk with it open. I had left my b.b. gun in there by accident one day when I was bringing it to a friend’s house. Chris found it as we were driving down the road, so he opened the trunk up and pointed the gun at cars driving behind us.

The Twilight Saga 3: Eclipse Acknowledgments

I would be very remiss if I did not thank the many people who helped me survive the birthing of another novel: My parents have been my rock; I don't know how anyone does this without a dad's good advice and a mom's shoulder to cry on. My husband and sons have been incredibly long-suffering-anyone else would have had me committed to an asylum long ago. Thanks for keeping me around, guys. My Elizabeth-Elizabeth Eulberg, publicist extraordinaire-has made all the difference to my sanity both on and off the road. Few people are lucky enough to work so closely with their BFF, and I am eternally grateful for the wholesomeness of cheese-loving Midwestern girls. Jodi Reamer continues to guide my career with genius and finesse. It is very comforting to know that I am in such good hands. It is also wonderful to have my manuscripts in the right hands. Thanks to Rebecca Davis for being so in tune with the story in my head and helping me find the best ways to express it. Thanks to Megan Tingley, first for your unwavering faith in my work, and second for polishing that work until it shines. Everyone at Little, Brown and Company Books for Young Readers has taken such amazing care of my creations. I can tell it is a true labor of love for you all, and I appreciate it more than you know. Thank you Chris Murphy, Shawn Foster, Andrew Smith, Stephanie Voros, Gail Doobinin, Tina McIntyre, Ames O'Neill, and the many others who have made the Twilight series a success. I can't believe how lucky I was to discover Lori Joffs, who somehow manages to be both the fastest and the most meticulous reader at the same time. I am thrilled to have a friend and accomplice who is so insightful, talented, and patient with my whining. Lori Joffs again, along with Laura Cristiano, Michaela Child, and Ted Joffs, for creating and maintaining the brightest star in the Twilight online universe, the Twilight Lexicon. I truly appreciate all the hard work you put into providing a happy place for my fans to hang out. Thanks also to my international friends at Crepusculo- es.com for a site so amazing it transcends the language barrier. Kudos as well to Brittany Gardener's fabulous work on the Twilight and New Moon by Stephenie Meyer MySpace Group, a fan site so large that the idea of keeping track of it boggles my mind; Brittany, you amaze me. Katie and Audrey, Bella Penombra is a thing of beauty. Heather, the Nexus rocks. I can't mention all the amazing sites and their creators here, but thank you very much to each of you. Many thanks to my cold readers, Laura Cristiano, Michelle Vieira, Bridget Creviston, and Kimberlee Peterson, for their invaluable input and encouraging enthusiasm. Every writer needs an independent bookstore for a friend; I'm so grateful for my hometown supporters at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona, and especially to Faith Hochhalter, who has brilliant taste in literature. I am in your debt, rock gods of Muse, for yet another inspiring album. Thank you for continuing to create my favorite writing music. I am also grateful to all the other bands on my playlist who help me through the writer's block, and to my new discoveries, Ok Go, Gomez, Placebo, Blue October, and Jack's Mannequin. Most of all, a gargantuan thank-you to all of my fans. I firmly believe that my fans are the most attractive, intelligent, exciting, and dedicated fans in the whole world. I wish I could give you each a big hug and a Porsche 911 Turbo. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any formor by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Little, Brown and Company

pushcart war essays

pushcart war essays Harry S. Truman was sworn into office on April 12, 1945 as the thirty-third President of the United States of America. He did not win an election, but he was the Vice President under President Franklin Roosevelt who had died so Harry Truman became President. On August 6, 1945 President Truman announced the dropping of the A-bomb known as the Atomic Bomb. Truman, on August 9, 1945, announced he dropped a second atomic bomb on Japan that World War II. In June 1945, Harry S. Truman witnessed the signing of the formation of the United Nations, to hopefully preserve peace. President Truman presented to Congress a 21-point program, proposing the expansion of social security, a full employment program, and other things. The program became know as the Four Deal. In 1947, the Soviet Union tried to takeover Turkey and Greece. Truman asked Congress to aid those countries. This aid is known as the Truman Doctrine. In 1950, when the Communist government of North Korea invaded South Korea, Truman conferred promptly with his military advisers. A long, discouraging struggle happened as U.N. forces held a line above the old boundary of South Korea. Truman kept the war a limited one, rather than risk a major conflict with China and Russia. His term as President ended in 1953 when he decided not to run for another term. ...

Meet Ulysses (Odysseus), the Hero Homers Odyssey

Meet Ulysses (Odysseus), the Hero Homers Odyssey Ulysses is the Latin form of the name Odysseus, the hero of Homers Greek epic poem The Odyssey. The Odyssey is one of the greatest works of classical literature and is one of two epic poems attributed to Homer. Its characters, images, and story arc are integrated into many more contemporary works; for example, James Joyces great modernist work Ulysses uses the structure of The Odyssey to create a unique and complex work of fiction. About Homer and The Odyssey The Odyssey was written in about 700 BCE and was intended to be recited or read aloud. To make this task easier, most characters and many objects are provided with epithets: short phrases uses to describe them each time they are mentioned. Examples include rosy-fingered dawn, and gray-eyed Athena. The Odyssey includes 24 books and 12,109 lines written in a poetic meter called dactylic hexameter. The poem was probably written in columns on parchment scrolls. It was first translated into English in 1616. Scholars are not in agreement as to whether Homer actually wrote or dictated the entire 24 books of The Odyssey. In fact, there is even some disagreement about whether Homer was a real historical man (though it is probable that he did exist). Some believe that Homers writings (including a second epic poem called The Iliad) were actually the work of a group of authors. The disagreement is so significant that the debate about Homers authorship has been given the name The Homeric Question. Whether or not he was the sole author, however, it seems likely that a Greek poet named Homer played a major role in its creation. The Story of The Odyssey The story of The Odyssey begins in the middle. Ulysses has been away for almost 20 years, and his son, Telemachus, is searching for him. In the course of the first four books, we learn that Odysseus is alive. In the second four books, we meet Ulysses himself. Then, in books 9-14, we hear of his exciting adventures during his odyssey or journey. Ulysses spends 10 years trying to get back home to Ithaca after the Greeks win the Trojan War.   On his way home, Ulysses and his men encounter various monsters, enchanters, and dangers. Ulysses is known for his cunning, which he uses when his men find themselves stuck in the cave of the Cyclops Polyphemus. However, Ulysses trick, which includes blinding Polyphemus, puts Ulysses on the bad side of the Cyclops father, Poseidon (or Neptune in the Latin version). In the second half of the story, the hero has reached his home in Ithaca. Upon arriving, he learns that his wife, Penelope, has turned away more than 100 suitors. He plots and takes revenge on the suitors who have been wooing his wife and eating his family out of hearth and home.

Top 10 Confused Words in English [E-F]

Top 10 Confused Words in English [E-F] Top 10 Confused Words in English [E-F] Top 10 Confused Words in English [E-F] By Maeve Maddox The words in the following list represent misunderstanding of the words’ meanings and not simply an inability to spell them correctly. This post covers words starting with the letters e and f (the a-b list is here, and the c-d one here). 1. economic / economical Both adjectives are related, but have distinct meanings. Economic refers to economics or the economy: â€Å"Reagans  economic policies  came to be known as ‘Reaganomics.’ † Economical means, â€Å"giving good value in relation to the resources used†: â€Å"Buying in bulk is an economical way to shop.† 2. ensure / insure To ensure is to guarantee: â€Å"The librarian held his passport to ensure that he would return the book before leaving.† To insure is to enter into an agreement to assure against future loss: â€Å"The Joneses decided to insure their house against flood as well as fire.† 3. envelop / envelope The word without the final e is a verb meaning â€Å"to surround†: â€Å"Come, let me envelop you in my arms.† The word with the final e is a noun, meaning â€Å"container for a letter†: â€Å"She placed the letter in the envelope and sealed it with a kiss.† The verb is pronounced with stress on the second syllable. For the noun, the stress falls on the first syllable. As for the pronunciation of the noun’s first syllable, both EN and ON are heard. For an extended commentary on the pronunciation of envelope, see The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations by Charles Elster. 4. famous / infamous Many bloggers seem to be unaware that these two words are not interchangeable. Not only have I seen people like Hitler and Al Capone referred to as â€Å"famous,† I’ve recently seen infamous used in reference to people who, as far as I know, are not noted for doing bad things. Both adjectives mean â€Å"well known,† but famous means well known for admirable qualities, whereas infamous implies despicable behavior. Princess Diana is famous for her work in ridding the world of landmines. The gangster John Dillinger was an infamous bank robber. 5. farther / further A great deal of ink, real and virtual, is spilled insisting that further must never be used in reference to physical distance. According to this argument, we may say, â€Å"I walked farther than you,† but not, â€Å"I walked further than you.† This is one of those prissy distinctions that has found its way into stylebooks, but is belied by centuries of usage. Either farther or further is acceptable in the context of physical distance. However, as Paul Brians (Common Errors in English Usage) puts it, â€Å"Some people get really testy about this.† Further, on the other hand, is the preferred form in abstract and figurative senses: â€Å"This office will be closed until further notice.† Further is the only choice as a verb: â€Å"Mr. Smith’s generous donation will enable us to further our plans for expanding the homeless shelter.† 6. flaunt / flout â€Å"To flout† is to express contempt for something. If you’re showing something off, you’re  flaunting  it. If you’re disregarding a law, a rule, or a social convention, you’re  flouting  it. For example: â€Å"I unfriended Charlie because he was constantly flouting civil behavior with his vulgar language.† â€Å"She is unbelievably wealthy, but she doesn’t flaunt it.† 7. flounder / founder Used as verbs, these two words are often confused. Literally, to flounder means â€Å"to struggle†: â€Å"The cat floundered desperately in the water.† Literally, founder may be used in any of the following senses: [of a building] to fall down [of a horse] to fall helplessly to the ground [of a ship] to fill with water and sink Figuratively, flounder retains the meaning of â€Å"to struggle† with the added connotations of ineptness, confusion, or embarrassment: â€Å"He floundered  for a bit,  trying  to figure out how to rephrase the question.† Figuratively, founder means â€Å"to fail†: â€Å"Even with that money, there’s no guarantee the daycare wouldn’t founder later.† 8. forbear / forebear The first, forbear, is a verb meaning â€Å"to refrain from†: â€Å"Prince Charles will forbear from making political pronouncements when he becomes king, The Observer reported yesterday.† The second, forebear, is a noun meaning ancestor: â€Å"The British must rediscover the boldness and ambition of their Victorian forebears, say the politicians.† 9. forward / foreword The confusion between these words is understandable. The adjective forward describes something that is in front of or ahead of something else. The noun foreword is a preface, a brief essay that stands at the front of a book. An easy way to keep them straight is to pay attention to the word in foreword. A foreword is made up of words. 10. fortuitous / fortunate Both words derive from Latin fortuna, â€Å"luck or chance.† Fortuna could be either good or bad; it was what happened to a person. In modern English, fortunate has the connotation of good fortune only: â€Å"It was fortunate for him that someone heard his cries for help.† Fortuitous, on the other hand, retains the notion of happenstance or accident. â€Å"A fortuitous meeting† is an accidental meeting. However, because of the similarity of fortuitous to fortunate, the expression â€Å"a fortuitous meeting† is most commonly understood to mean a meeting that was lucky as well as coincidental. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Has vs. HadPeople versus Persons20 Names of Body Parts and Elements and Their Figurative Meanings