Dubaya :: Essays Papers

Dubaya He brought his father's sterling name, degrees from Yale and Harvard, some $13,000 left in his trust fund, and his strongest personal asset — an exuberant charm spiked with wisecracks. Bush never found much oil in Texas, but he slowly found his way. He married and fathered twin girls, quit drinking, began studying Scripture, and made his an unsuccessful foray into the family business by running for Congress. He learned to court friends and political supporters of his father, the vice president. And he hooked up with the oil investors who would eventually help him become managing partner of the Texas Rangers baseball team. Bush used the Rangers post to cultivate celebrity status and prepare for a gutsy, winning challenge to Democratic Gov. Ann Richards in 1994. The Rangers deal also made him a multimillionaire. George Walker Bush was born July 6, 1946 in New Haven, Conn., where his father, already a flying hero of World War II, was charging through Yale. When he was 2, his parents moved West to chase the oil boom. But young George also endured great sorrow at age 7, when his little sister Robin died of leukemia. The next child, now Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, was seven years younger. Three others followed: Neil, stung by the S&L scandal of the 1980s and now a business consultant; Marvin, a venture capitalist; and Doro, wife of a Washington lobbyist and mother of four. None seems to have felt the weight of their father's successes as much as the eldest, often called ``Junior'' although he's one name short of George Herbert Walker Bush. He followed his father's path to prep school in Andover, Mass., and then Yale, but failed to live up to his legacy in academics or sports. Instead, he's remembered at Andover for organizing stickball tournaments and lavish pep rallies that brightened an otherwise rigid campus. At Yale, like his father, he was tapped for the secret Skull and Bones society and became president of Delta Kappa Epsilon. Fraternity brothers remember him as ``the life of the party'' among a group preoccupied by beer, sports, soul music and, of course, girls. Friends say Bush avoided the nascent Vietnam War protests at Yale and didn't brook criticism of his father, then a Texas congressman supporting the war. Shortly before graduation in 1968, Bush signed up for pilot training in the Texas Air National Guard, where it was unlikely he would be sent to Vietnam.

In Defence of Harry Flashman Essay

It is understandable why the first mention of the character of Harry Flashman – the opportunistic philanderer of his Majesty’s service who lied and cheated his cowardly way through the Victorian pages of his fictional memoirs by George MacDonald Fraser – is enough to deter the browsing lady, though far be it from anyone to say it should. Since patterns of book-buying snake across the sexes like a flailing sidewinder, it would be hopeless to say as to where on the shop shelf the hand might lay to rest. Nevertheless, for a series of stories far too overlooked for the public’s common good, what could the otherwise fairer sex also find to appreciate in a man whose charm seems as fictitious as the women who fall for it? To put it more simply: can this man – to borrow the blurb – be all bad? If the name â€Å"Flashman† is shouting forward from the back of your mind, dare the â€Å"Lord Flashheart† be named as the bothering heckler? Don’t think him an unwanted associate, for ‘Blackadder’s’ slavering womaniser could be seen as an exaggeration of the â€Å"Flashman persona† and certainly close to what Harry himself may have become had he not, by hand and boot of queen and empire, been thrown into the Flemingesque scenarios he haphazardly emerged from, some the wiser and better-shaped. Unlike the all-consuming debauchery of his comedic counterpart, Harry’s lechery is merely a tempered impetus; punctuating his desire for the English comforts that makes for the only form of patriotism you’ll see in him, if you can call it patriotism – the patriotism of Bond it most certainly is not. What differs Harry from James is awareness, and when taking stock, the idiom trumps the ammo. It would be daft to credit Harry’s decision making with the weighing of political consequence, however; that would be a laughable excuse; something he doesn’t begin to admit. It’s fear that has his mind running back to the jolly English riff-raff and the spread of beds that await. Though isn’t to think with your legs the best strategy for the reporter? Reluctant maybe, Harry is a better reporter than he is a soldier. This cowardice kept him alive ’til a time when he could afford to admit the truth. Concerning the First Afghan War, the truth about a man, General Elphinestone who single-handedly stripped the meat from his ranks as he rung them through the Khord-Kabul pass on their retreat from Afghanistan. Long after witnessing rom on high, the massacre of the regiments from which he had high-tailed the night before, Flashman verbally guts he whom he declares â€Å"No fate could be bad enough for†: â€Å"I still state unhesitatingly, that for pure, vacillating stupidity, for superb incompetence to command, for ignorance combined with bad judgement – in short for the true talent for catastrophe, Elphy outshines all as the greatest military idiot of our own or any other day†¦ † Now what a sorry waste of insightful wit it would have been to have it lost amidst the idiot pride of a fellow more gallant than Harry. Elphinestone is not alone; Harry considers many of the figures he meets to be – to varying degrees – morons, despite his care to concede a grace here and there. It’s no surprise that he met such a top-heavy pile of fools; he was, after all, involved in some of the worst disasters of British imperialism – all the more reason to flee when he could. But you know the fastidious type. Perhaps you’ve a friend whom fits this description, in which case, you’ll understand how empowering it feels to have them praise you – you’re worth a cheer! When chance encounter pairs Harry with one he considers of rare dignity, you too, as the reader, hold them as praiseworthy, or rather, worthy of investigation. It was in 1842 when he jumped into the carriage of Lola Montez – an Irish dancer girl turned adventuress of Europe whose life was spent â€Å"playing with kingdoms† as one might romantically say. Her appearances in ‘Royal Flash’ are glimpses; moments too brief to capture her entirety, yet he alludes to a life beyond the pages with so delicate a respect that one is inspired to follow. Whilst Harry never himself existed, he may as well have. It’s very easy to speak of his personality as anything but fictional. Perhaps to no great surprise considering we get to know the fellow through his own confessions, worded not merely to the benefit of his own authenticity, either. The true blue honesty rubs off well onto those he brushes shoulders with. It’s what we have to thank this bounder for – dramatising without disfiguring a past of characters pallid to most today and enriching the pursuit of history for ourselves. Harry once said about the Earl of Cardigan, that some human faults are military virtues; for Harry, some human faults are literary virtues.

Running head: WHAT ARE ADULT LEARNING PRINCIPLES?

Running head: WHAT ARE ADULT LEARNING PRINCIPLES? Title Principles about Adult Learning Author Michael McElrath Author Affiliation Liberty University Author Note This paper was prepared for INFT-101, B61, taught by professor K Abstract Adult learning theory became well known in the US during the 20th century. Industrialization resulted in substantial demands for training. Then, they continue education for adults for the one already completed their elementary and secondary education.There is several numbers of dimensions of learning. There are also several kinds of memory. The training performance should remember and exercise the independence of the trainee as a self-directed person. The training materials should guarantee the trainee as a self-directed person, as well as exercise the experiential base that the trainee brings to the training position. Adult learning theory can certain improve and format training activities. They should be carefully by being reviewed by both the traini ng staff and line manager. What Are Adult Learning Principle?A previous issue of â€Å"Effective GMP† (Journal of GXP Compliance, Summer 2009, Volume 13, Number 3) identifies and briefly discusses the following key points that should be considered in management of GXP training program: 1. Training policy, standards, and procedures documented. 2. Training process strategy and approach defined. 3. Principles of adult learning theory considered. 4. Training needs analyzed and prioritized by risk analysis. 5. Collaboration of affected groups with defined responsibilities and requirements for each group. 6. Trainees and their organizations are â€Å"customers† of training. . Training appropriate for task. 8. Training materials and materials and methods appropriate and effective. 9. Qualified training personal. 10. Training performance. 11. Training effective monitoring and maintenance. 12. Change training if needed. 13. Training documentation. 14. Efficient and cost-effecti ve training. 15. Senior management support training. Also, the authors of the Journal of GXP Compliance have received several questions about the principles of adult learning. The questions were combined into seven and they have important material for learning in them.Principles about Adult Learning Learning Theory Adult learning practice and theory became well known in the history and education in the new life age. There were so many reasons for this. Industrialization results in many requests for whose training and continuing education for their self as an adult. The requests were on the rise by the development of the science-based companies. Adult education became organize in the system and then they learned professional. †During the 1920s, Lindeman, proposed a set of adult learning principles† (see in Table 1) (Eduard C. Lindeman, 1926, p. 39-40).Implications For Training Persons are responsible for organizing the training programs to classify to the groups about the differences in conduct training. The questions that are considered: 1. Is this training for new hires or repeat training for people who have been doing the job for 20 years? 2. Will the trainees be doing this work for one week and then be released, or will they be doing this work for an extended period-like one year? 3. What are the perspectives of the individuals to be trained? 4. Are they highly educated and experienced pharmaceutical scientists or newly hired workers without any background in the industry?Each of these questions can highly affect the performance of your training or your work. Table 1: Lindeman’s principles of adult learning| MotivationOrientation to learn| As adults experience needs and interests that can besatisfied through learning, they are motivated to learn. Adults have a life-centric orientation to learning. | Experiential base| The richest source for adult learning is experience. | Self-direction| Adults need to be self-directed. | Individual diffe rences| Individual differences increase with age. | Adults Learn Differently Than ChildrenThis is a principle of adult learning theory that discuss that adult learns differently than children do. Pedagogy comes from a Greek name. 1Pedagogy means the teaching of children. The spokesman during the adult training was Malcolm Knowles. â€Å"Influenced by a Yugoslavian adult educator Dusan Svicevic, Knowles began to use the term â€Å"andragogy† (Malcolm S. Knowles, 1989, p. 8). 2Andragogy is the meaning of teaching of adults. â€Å"Knowles stressed the difference between the education and training of children (pedagogy) and the education and training of adults (andragogy)† (Malcolm S. Knowles, 1989, p. 79). He argued that there are a number of dimensions along which adult learning differs from that of children† (Malcolm S. Knowles, 1984, p. 12). †These include self-concept, experience, readiness to learn, orientation to learning, and motivation to learn† (see Table2). (Malcolm S. Knowles, 1970). Table 2: Dimensions of Andragogy vs. Pedagogy. | Self-concept| The maturing person’s self -concept moves from one of being a dependent personality toward one of being a self-directed human being. | Experience| | Readiness to learn| The maturing person’s readiness to learn becomes oriented increasingly to the developmental tasks of his social roles. Orientation to learning| The maturing person’s time perspective changes from one orknowledge to immediacy of application, and accordingly the orientation toward learning shifts from one of subject-centeredness to one of problem centeredness. | Motivation to learn| As a person matures, the motivation to learn is internal. | There are some many that are alike and different in Lindeman’s principles. The principles of Knowles are clear. There is a major difference in one of Knowles principle that he stresses it is called vocational learning. Implications for Training The i mplications of Knowles’ principles for training are also clear† (James C. Fisher and Ronald L. Podeschi, Oct-Dec. 1989, p. 345-353). †There are two implications that should especially be stressed† (Malcolm S. Knowles, Dec. 1979, p40-42). The trainee’s should understand remember the process of the training as a self-directed person. †The trainee’s experiential base† (D. Randy Garrison, Fall 1997, p. 18-33). The manager of the training materials should advance the material to involve the trainee as a self-directed person.They also applied the experience to the training program. An example to this is that when someone reads you something out loud that is poor approach to training -it means that the trainee can’t read for themselves. The program gives you least one or two days to read over the procedure. Then you can bring anything that you need to discuss with you during your training at your work. †Technical training is a response to some performance gap on the part of employees† (p. 18-33). 3No gap means no training is needed. When work places require unneeded training it has a negative effect on it that’s the bottom line.During, a training session let the employee test out in a training session. This way it will be cheaper, faster, and better for the employee’s to meet the training requirements. How Can We Tell If Employees Have Really Learned? The best way to discuss this question is to recognize the complex of the problem. † There are a number dimensions of dimensions of learning; there are several kinds of memory; there are multiple environmental and cultural factors; and there are methodological differences between various studies of learning across the lifecycle (Christopher Hertzog and John R.Nesselroade, 2003, p. 639-657). All of these factors are the answer to the question. †In 1950s,in a series of publications called the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Benjamin Bloom (1913-1999) and his colleagues distinguished three domains of learning: cognitive, affective, and psychomotor â€Å"(David R. Krathwohl and Lorin W. Anderson,2009,p. 107-110). † For instance, within the cognitive domain are the categories of knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation† (Benjamin S. Bloom, 1956, p. 62-200). These groups are ordered: to understand a fact.The affective departments are the groups of receiving, and responding are the inputs. The other groups are organizing, valuing, and internalizing values. The groups are also ordered to receive an input. † The knowledge dimension has four categories: factual knowledge, conceptual knowledge, procedural knowledge, and meta-cognitive knowledge† (Hugh Munby, Nancy L. Hutcchinson, and Peter Chin, 2009, p. 1765). All of them are nouns. †The process dimension has six categories: remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creatin g.These are all verbs. Like Bloom’s earlier categories, these categories are ordered†(Lorin W. Anderson and David R. Krathwohl,2001). This allows the development of a taxonomy table that handles the behavioral objectives. (see Table 3) Table 3: Taxonomy table for cognitive domain (2001). Categories of knowledge Categories of Categories of Categories of process Remembering process Understanding process Applying Factual Conceptual ProceduralMeta-cognitive Categories of knowledge Categories of Categories of Categories of process Analyzing process Evaluating process Creating The proper cell is identified in each of the training objectives. For example, the manger comes up to you at end of your shift to ask you to clean the machine. This way you can â€Å"identify† any visible residue on it. 4Identify refers to process category remembering, specifically to this particular behavioral objective. Visible residue refers to the knowledge category factual, specifically to the sub-category specific detail. To make sure as a trainer your train your trainee right way through the objectives and adult learning theory. How Can We Tell If Employees Will Remember The Training? You know you do a good job at training other people, but how do we know they are going remember and use the training that you taught them? This leads a long talk about the measurement of memory. Dimensions of Memory Turning from all the involvement of the learning domains and it is measurement.Turning all the groups into a learning department is a process of memory is just as difficult. † The supposition that exists a unitary memory has been abandoned decades ago in favor of the concept of the fractionation of memory (Alan D. Baddeley, 2007, p. 151-154). †Different kinds of memory involve different systems within the brain (Neuroscientists Ranganath and Robert S. Blumenfeld, August 2007, p. 208-291). Three of the systems are short term, long term, and working memory. We as an adult going have them sometime in our lifecycle. ConclusionsIn conclusion, the points have been discussed. There is a person responsible for all organizational training programs. They must make sure the groups they are training become most successfully in conduct training. There are so many differences among employees that can impact the effectiveness’ of training, and plus they should be taken into account to make training be as effective as possible. Reflection We are fixing to get into my point of view in adult learning theory. First I want to tell you what I have learned during while I am an adult.M y kids come in from school asking me questions that I didn’t even get to learn while I was in school. I think that’s why we as adult go back to school to get updated on the new things in education. Another thing I have learned when I got married to my wife now is I didn’t know how big of a challenge it is having an autistic child . I got on the computer research something’s on it. Then, my wife sat me down to explain how to do everything with him. The 2nd point of view I want to tell you about from my point of view is collaboration of affected group request responsibilities and requirements for each of their groups.You learn as an adult to make sure you clean and keep things clean where you won’t spread any germs. Kids don’t understand what germs are because they spread them easier than adults. That’s why you want to teach them to clean everything where they won’t spread germs to one thing to another. For example, you want teach your child to do good hand washing. That will reduce the spread of germs. You may get request to go do some type of cleaning while you are at work. This request helps us not to spread germs to everyone.For example, if you are working in a fast food place and you go to use the bathroom you have to wash your hands. This helps use not spreading germs to everyone even to the customers. While you are at home you always make sure things stays clean where you won’t spread or have germs. This helps with your kids not getting sick so much. The 3rd point of view I want to tell you about from my point of view is training needs analyzed and prioritized by risk analysis. By being in school, we all will have to have short term and long term memory. We have to use this to learn different things in life.You will use short term memory for a short period of time it can be for rest of your life. Sometimes, I go back ask myself if I really did do something I post to do for that day. What is that called? That means you has a short term memory lost for a short period of time during the day that you didn’t remember if you did it or not. When you get older you can have long term memory lost or even if you had head trauma you can also have it. The working memory has control over your behaviors that you do on a daily day. How do you control that? Nobody can con trol it but you.You have to control your own behaviors because nobody else can control them for you. There are some many principles in adult learning theory that you need to know. Adults have their ways learning differently and children have their ways of learning. We all have to learn the principles in life to be able to learn throughout life as we go. We as adults have our own ways of learning things. You have to find the way you like to learn. You have to ask yourself if you like learning by pictures, diagrams, voices, or even sound References (1. ) Eduard C.Lindeman, The Meaning of Adult Education, NY: New Republic, 1976, p. 39-40. (2. ) Malcolm S. Knowles, The Making of an Adult Educator, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1989, p. 8. (3. ) Malcolm S. Knowles, The Making of an Adult Educator, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1989, p. 79. (4. ) Malcolm S. Knowles, The Modern Practice of Adult Education: Andragogy versus Pedagogy, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1970. (5. ) Malcolm S. K nowles et al. , Andragogy in action. Applying Modern Principles of Adult Education, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1984, P. 12. (6. ) James C.Fisher and Ronald L. Podeschi,†From Lindeman to Knowles: A Change in Vision, â€Å"International Journal of Lifelong Education, Vol. 8, No. 4, Oct-Dec. 1989, p. 345-353. (7. ) Malcolm Knowles, Training and Development Journal, Vol. 33, No. 12, Dec. 1979, p. 40-42. (8. ) D. Randy Garrison,†Self-Directed Learning: Toward a Comprehensive Model,† Adult Education Quartly, Vol. 48, No. 1, Fall 1997, p. 18-33. (9. ) Christopher Hertzog and John R. Nesselroade,†Assessing Psychological Change in Adulthood: An Overview of Methodological Issues, â€Å"Psychology and Aging, Vol. 8, No. 4, 2003, p. 639-657. (10. ) David R. Krathwohl and Lorin W. Anderson, â€Å"Bloom’s Taxonomy, â€Å"Psychology of Classroom Learning, Eric Anderman (ed. ), NY: Macmillian, 2009, Vol. 1, p107-110. (11. ) Benjamin S. Bloom (ed), Taxonomy of Edu cational Objectives. Handbook I: The Cognitive Domain, NY: David McKay, 1956, p. 62-200. (12. ) Hugh Munby, Nancy L. Hutchinson, and Peter Chin,† Workplace Learning: Metacognitive strategies for Learning in the Knowledge Economy, â€Å"International Handbook of Education for the Changing World of Work, 2009, p. 1765. (13. Lorin W. Anderson and David R. Krathwohl (eds), A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing, NY: Longman, 2001. (14. ) Neuroscientist Ranganath and Robert S. Blumenfeld,†Prefrontal Cortex and Long-Term Memory Encoding; An Integrative Review of Findings from Neuropsychology and Neuroimaging,† Neuroscientist,Vol. 13 ,No. 3, 2007, p. 280-291 (15. ) Alan D. Baddeley,†Working Memory: Multiple Models, Multiple Mechanisms, â€Å"Science of Memory, Henry L . Roediger III, Yadin Dudai, and Susan M. Fitzpatrick (eds. ), NY: Oxford University Press, 2007, p. 151-154. | |

Outline and assess the usefulness of official statistics in measuring crime Essay

Sociology: Outline and assess the usefulness of official statistics in measuring crime. Crime is basically any sort of behaviour or an act which breaks laws of a society and is punished by the legal system. What is considered criminal or deviant is culturally determined. This means that what is considered criminal or deviant changes with time and place, as the values, norms and expectations change. What may not be acceptable in one society at a particular time may be acceptable in another country or acceptable at another time, for example drug cafes in Amsterdam. Police Crime Figures have been recorded and published annually by the Home Office since the year 1857. Crime statistics are compiled in the basis of â€Å"offences notified to the police†. In this respect, they provide evidence of crimes that are known to the police and officially recorded by the police. Official statistics are useful in measuring crime because they allow us to spot trends and patterns in the crime rates and the social background of criminals/victims (quantative data). Also, these statistics help inform government policy. Theories like functionalism have used official statistics to develop theories to explain patterns in the official statistics. Durkheim used statistics to measure suicide rates, a form of deviance between societies and groups and developed theories about suicide. Others, like Merton assumed that the statistics were valid and reliable and went on to develop explanations about working-class criminality. Many people now turn to victim Surveys such as the British Crime Survey (BCS) as more reliable sources of information. Victim Surveys are so called because they ask a sample of the population what crimes they have been a victim in the previous 12 months. This increases validity as they include all crimes that people have been a victim of, regardless of whether or not they reported the crime to the police. A number of crimes are not covered by the survey. These include crimes against business, crimes where there is no direct victim, such as possession of drugs, crimes against victims under 16 and crimes that have involved death. Another source of survey data on crime and deviance is self-report studies,  where people are asked if they have committed any crime. Self-report studies are similar to victim surveys except that they ask respondents to admit to crimes they have committed. This type of survey data are less widely used than BCS, but are also anonymous and representative of the population. Steven Box, a Marxist, analysed 40 self-report studies and concluded that juvenile crime was not a working-class problem but rather that the middle-class were less likely to get caught. I believe respondents may not tell the truth because they may feel embarrassed, may exaggerate or they may have forgotten the offence. To conclude, I believe the official statistics are very useful to us as they help to inform us about the rates of crime as well as government policy. They are annually published and anyone with internet access can view/download the data. These statistics cover a large part of the population and as they are collected by the state they are seen to have a great deal of validity. They can easily be compared to the previous statistics and their quantative nature allows trends and patterns to be established. The ability to go back and check the findings means that the data are reliable. However, there are some disadvantages of official statistics. It is reported Official Crime Statistics only show 30% of crimes committed. The other 70% is described as the â€Å"Hidden Figure of Crime†. Official crime statistics only show crime known to the police. In other words, not all crime is reported to the police. This may be because people may be reluctant to report a criminal incident if they do not have faith in the police to investigate and solve the crime. Another reason may be because they are scared, they could have been threatened by the criminal. Interactionism have a negative view on official statistics, they believe it as being of little worth. Cicourel stated that police are more likely to suspect and arrest some people than other due to labelling.

God of Small Things Essay

In â€Å"God of Small Things†, written by Arundati Roy, Roy talks about many things but one thing that stood out was her negativity of what the colonist had brought over into India. Her argument could be that the colonist brought materialism into their culture making the natives think that they need things that they really do not need. The colonist bring the thought that making money any way possible is acceptable and Roy points out that ritual dances are even being used as a way of profit. Roy is just pointing out what effect colonialism has had on the people of the native country. Like many other text from post-colonial nations â€Å"God of â€Å"Small Things† points out the negative aspect of colonialism. Roy throughout the book talks about the city of Ayemenem and the river that used to flow through it. On one side of this river there was a place called the â€Å"history house†. Roy describes this place as a worn and old abandoned estate in a couple of her chapter but in one chapter she is describing what it looks like now and how different it is from when she was just a child. In chapter five a hotel is described; this is the chapter that I think she criticizes the rich and how they have become rich. Roy is showing her disapproval for the colonist making what was once an abandoned land fill into a tourist attraction that is no longer an eye sore and is now a beautiful estate. In chapter five Rahal returned to the river she used to know as a child. She describes how it used to be compared to how it is now that she has returned. Rahal does not seem to care about progress â€Å"So now they had two harvests a year instead of one. More rice-for the price of a river† (Roy 59). Sure people were making a profit from the rice but there will always be someone that is making a profit from something. The only good thing that Roy sees from the people making barges is that there is one more harvest; there are many rewards from having another harvest and they are not recognized; it is not that she probably does not see them but she is just pointing out the negativity from the colonist. Roy continues on and describes a five-star hotel that had bought what they used to call the â€Å"Heart of Darkness†. She says that the History House no longer could be approached from the river and that the house had turned its back on Ayemenem. Roy described this place as an abandoned haunted estate that nobody ever went to when she was a child but she says that it has turned its back on Ayemenem. Once again progress is looked at in a negative way. The hotel guests were transported to the estate by a speed boat through the backwaters and Roy describes the boats as leaving a film of gasoline. She does say that the hotel does have a beautiful view but says that they try to cover up the slum part of Ayemenem, which is understandable, it is not nature, all the slum was man made and they do not want to look at slummy areas. There was not much that the hotel could do about the smell of the waist. Roy makes many assumptions about the â€Å"hotel people†. First the thoughts are that the people actually care what is going on around them, and they do not care. She calls the estate a â€Å"smelly paradise†; the guest are to get used to the smell as they have become immune to other peoples poverty; with that statement she is claiming that everyone that owns the hotel and stays there is rich and does not know what poverty taste like; everything was a matter of discipline, nothing more to them. Roy then goes on to criticize the way the people are making money; through selling their history. In chapter five Roy not only criticizes and shows the negatives of progress, with hardly any positives, but also criticizes the way the people are making a living and profit. The â€Å"hotel people† advertise their estate as a paradise with history making many sensational claims just to draw the tourist to their paradise. She called many of the buildings that had history for sale â€Å"Toy Histories†. Roy does not like the fact that these people are trying to make a profit off of their own history and culture. The biggest thing of all probably is when the hotel hires dancers to perform dances that are classic ritual dances that have actual meaning and are not just for show; six hour classics are turned in to 20 minuet shows for pleasure. The ancient ritual dances were diluted into nothing more than entertainment where at one time they had meant something to the culture that those people once love so dearly. Here it is easy to see why Roy would criticize so much but one must realize that everyone cannot be pleased and never will be pleased. The colonial effect had some good effects and had bad, but Roy again only seems to point out the negativity that the colonialism has brought to the nation. Roy brings up many problems in her native land; I know that the point of her book is to point out the negativity of post-colonialism on her country but still, point out some more good things that did come out of colonialism. In many texts it is the same way though. In â€Å"God of Small Things† it speaks negatively of people from the native land sending their children to boarding schools in Britain, not directly but you can see that she is making a point that all the negativity is geared at those from the culture who have brought British culture and British economics back to their land. Whereas in Soyinka’s â€Å"Death of the King’s Horseman†, the horseman’s son has gone to Britain to study but comes back. After coming back he sees that his father has gone against customs and he decides to take it upon himself to see that the act is fulfilled in some form or another; in this text you have a native that stayed true to his native land but in Roy’s case the natives that went to Britain did not stay true and keep up their own culture but rather adopted another’s culture. Another example of colonist having an influence on the children of the native land and infiltrating through them is in Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo’s son becomes a Christian and Okonkwo does not like that, it is the beginning of his culture being put to a halt. Roy, I do not think, is pointing out all the people who sent their children to Britain but rather that even though India was â€Å"Independent† it still had Britain’s influence impacting almost everything in daily lives. In conclusion, Roy makes descriptive negative images because it is what she sees and has seen from the start. People that have not grown up in her culture from birth and seen the changes she has seen cannot fathom what she has seen. If someone from a more developed country was to go there they would see progression as a positive aspect because it is what they have grown up with but for people in that culture they can see the negative aspects of some progress; and that is what Roy is pointing out, she does point out some positives but the majority of the description about the way society is looked at is negative. The book becomes a very dreary read and quite depressing at some points because of all the negativity and horrible things that happen. However, all of the description of even the negative parts make you really get a since of what Roy is trying to say and that is that even with all the negativity one can break barriers. At the end of the day it is not the colonist fault for making Roy’s society what is but rather the people that refuse to change what needs to be changed. It does not matter about how much negativity is directed at the colonist, if the native people do not take responsibility they are to blame just as much as the British. The negativity is not geared at the British but rather her own society and own people.

American Express Essay

Bonnie Wittenburg, the plaintiff in this case filed an age discrimination lawsuit against American Express Financial Advisors, Inc. ’s (AEFA). AEFA filed a motion for summary judgment, the district court granted and the United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit affirmed. Wittenburg started working at AEFA Equity Investment Department (EID) in November 1998 at the age of 46 (Walsh, 2011). According to the portfolio managers, Wittenburg provided outstanding service and displayed excellent investment skills and in 2000, she was name Analyst of the Year (Walsh, 2011). In 2001, AEFA hired a new Chief Investment Officer (CIO) and 2002 the CIO initiated a redesign of EID. The project would take approximately two years; add an additional three portfolio managers, a new satellite office and the merger or movement of certain funds to AEFA’s satellite office (Walsh, 2011). During a discussion regarding new hires, the CIO stated he was not averse to hiring younger managers or analysts to grow with the company (Walsh, 2011). The new design plan would include a reduction in force (RIF) which according to the CIO was necessary. The first RIF terminated Al Henderson, age 62. Henderson made a comment that Dan Rivera told him that AEFA fired him because the company wanted to retain the younger employees (Walsh, 2011). The second RIF eliminated three analyst positions but primarily focused on portfolio managers. During the second RIF, a team of managers reviewed about 25 people in the department giving each a rating of keep, maybe keep, maybe, maybe drop or drop (Walsh, 2011). They used the ratings to educate leaders about the individuals in the department and in late 2002 held a meeting to discuss employee ratings. Wittenburg received a low rating because of poor performance and negative input provided by portfolio managers but continued in her current position during the second RIF. Wittenburg along with two other analysts were terminated when the third RIF occurred; Wittenburg was 51 and the other two were 41 and 36. Wittenburg applied for a portfolio manager, she did not get the position and sued AEFA claiming Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) (Walsh, 2011). Wittenburg’s defense would rely on statements from co-workers such as â€Å"those that were younger† â€Å"not averse to hiring younger portfolio managers† and notes that indicated the analyst department would maybe add a junior person. In making a decision, the court will consider if the statements were made by decision makers or by someone who may influence the decision to terminate the plaintiff, the gap between statements and the date of termination, and if the statement itself was discriminatory or merely an opinion. The CIO’s comment regarding the company’s willingness to hire younger workers was a general comment. The statement was not discriminatory nor did it establish that age was the basis for Wittenburg’s termination over a year ago. The reference to adding a junior person did not show discriminatory intent and Wittenburg did not prove the employee equated junior person to a younger person or how such a notation related to her termination. Wittenburg admitted that Rivera was not a decision maker in the 2003 RIF and his statement made to Henderson did not relate to her termination. The court decided that these comments did not establish a pretext based on AEFA’s nondiscriminatory purpose given for her termination. A total of 31 analyst were affected by the 2002 and 2003 RIF, 17 of the analyst were 40 years old or older and of the 17, six were terminated, four resigned and seven retained their jobs (Walsh, 2011). In addition, there were four terminated, two resigned, two transferred and six retained their positions of the 14 analysts who were not in the protected class (Walsh, 2011). There were two members, ages 41 and 46, of the protected class who ranked first and second during the 2002 analyst ratings and the two analyst terminated in 2003 were both younger than Wittenburg, one was 41 and the other 36 (Walsh, 2011). Another analyst in the protected class whose age was the same as Wittenburg survived the 2003 RIF. Wittenburg’s accusation that scores were manipulated to retain younger employees during the 2002 RIF by ranking them in the â€Å"keep† category even though their scores were low was actually a moot point as she survived the 2002 RIF even though her score was low putting her in the maybe keep category. AEFA stated they needed only one Technology Sector analyst and then redistributed the workload amongst other employees, Wittenburg argues that pretext was shown however, as stated by the court, â€Å"employers often distribute a discharged employee’s duties to other employees performing related work for legitimate reasons† (Walsh, 2011). As far as the two vacancies, those were among the 10 analysts who had survived the RIF, they were not new positions (Walsh, 2011). The decision to downsize and redesign the Equity Investment Department was for the betterment of the company. Wittenburg’s argument that AEFA only relied on her 2002 performance review in making their decision to terminate does not help her case. The court noted there is nothing discriminatory in an employer choosing to rely on recent performance data in deciding which employees to RIF (Walsh, 2011). American Express had not been doing very well and the CIO explained analyst’s performance evaluations on an annual basis are important because consumers look at one-year performance and make decisions (Walsh, 2011).

Business Investments Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business Investments - Essay Example What does it mean to invest? During our grandparents’ time, it was called â€Å"saving for a rainy day,† which is exactly what investment means to the personal investor, with all its implications about intending it for a future time of need. However, instead of putting that savings under the mattress or burying it in a metal can in the yard, where it remains stagnant, savings nowadays are â€Å"placed† – either in a savings or time deposit with the bank, lending it to the government through government securities, or making it available for business through stocks or bonds – things we call financial assets. It could also be used to purchase land, jewels or works of art, things we call real assets, which grow only more valuable with time. Sometimes, investors prefer to place their savings in one asset, such as a savings deposit. Such a plan may be simple and straightforward, but it has all the disadvantages of the proverbial eggs-in-one-basket: drop the basket and you lose all your eggs – figuratively speaking, that is. The prevailing wisdom is to put some eggs each in several baskets – that is, to put part of one’s savings in each of several alternative investment vehicles. Each â€Å"vehicle† runs in its own way. Some, like Mini cars, are safe but don’t go very fast; some, like Ferraris, race like the wind but tend to crash at the hands of an inexperienced driver. Some, like BMXs, are quick to sell off for cash, while others, like BMWs, take time and effort – and sometimes a middleman – to liquidate at a good price. Let’s take a look at these â€Å"vehicles,† which are also called â€Å"instruments† because they are used to realize future goals. At present, your money is in some sort of deposit account, maybe a savings or time deposit. This is the safest place you could keep your money in. Unfortunately, it isn’t a good investment at all. The best savings account interest rate offered at present is 1.78%