Educational years Essay

School’s Reading Goal: * All students improve a grade level or more on Individual Reading Inventories Professional Development (PD) Focus: *All strategies presented in PD are geared towards reaching this goal. Individual Teacher Approaches: *The third grade teachers have used second grade test scores to identify that their students are weak in the area of comprehension Dawn has presented a strategy called Question Answer Relationships to help improve comprehension in students. The strategy helps students to learn to identify what kind of question is being asked to assist them in strategically finding the answer. Angie Heppner is a first year teacher who participates in the mandatory district teacher induction program. The induction program includes meeting with her mentor teacher, who is released from the classroom full time. The mentor teacher and Angie use data collected from classroom observation to set goals to work on in the classroom. The Participants Literacy Coach Dawn Benke works with 2nd and 3rd grade teachers as a literacy coach at a K-6 Teacher #1 Lillian Kurz has 31 students in her class, with five of her students falling far below in reading as identified through test data, 10 students approaching, 11 students meeting and four students exceeding. My comments: I totally understand the reasoning for Lilian not being offered the coach’s position. Based on her class data, it is evident that she is an effective teacher, and is very much valued in her grade level. She is working with a rather large class, which is difficult to consistently provide meaningful instructional activities as she would like to (particularly if she is dealing with behavioral issues). Teacher #2 Duane Keller has 29 students, with seven of his students falling far below in reading, seven approaching, 14 students meeting, and one student exceeding. My comments: I think the Duane seems to know what he is doing, based on the reading distribution data for his class. In addition, if it is not already being done, I think that a reading intervention time should be included in the daily schedule. The interventionist should be Duane, as those are his students and he would be better able to keep up with their progress and make connections with other grade level work being done in the classroom. Teacher #3 Jesse Vree’s class consists of 20 her students. She has three students who are falling far below, three students who are approaching, 19 students who are meeting and five students who are exceeding. My comments: WWOW! Jesse’s students are doing great! Based on her data, I think that Dawn should encourage her to share what works for her. Those three students, who are falling below, may have issues that need to be addressed by someone other than the classroom teacher. In some cases learning disabilities become clearing apparent as instruction intensifies. Teacher #4 Angie Heppner has 28 students; six of whom are falling far below, 10 who are approaching, 10 who are meeting, and two are exceeding. My comments: Angie is one lucky first-year teacher. It is great that she has a full-time mentor teacher. I know that she will amass a great deal of knowledge and avoid many failures. Collaboration with someone who has taught for many years is a windfall. DAWN’S CURRENT PLAN OF ACTION Weekly professional development by grade level one day in the week during PD time 1. Presents a piece of the literacy strategy they are working with. My comments: Dawn’s response to intervention is certainly on the right track, and will definitely assist her teachers in making some progress. Modeling the lesson will definitely assist her teachers in instruction. In my personal experience, I have found that the true effectiveness of a lesson is most accurately note when it is performed for the students in their own learning setting, by the coach, with the teacher as an â€Å"involved onlooker† In this way the teacher can take notes on how the coach interacts with the students in regards to class-work as well as classroom management. It gives the teacher the opportunity to observe and reflect while teaching is going on. Thus after teaching the lesson, both the coach and the teacher can discuss and reflect on whether or not the students had fully understood what had been taught. 2. Models a lesson using the strategy My comments: Yes! Yes! Yes! I totally agree. However that’s not where it stops. In order to get those students to improve one grade level or more, lots more need to be done. That’s where differentiated instruction comes into play. Dawn needs to make her teachers aware that their Struggling students are indeed at risk or failure, for possibly the lack fundamental skills necessary s to work or read on their grade level. She should encourage her teachers to use any diagnostic reading data that they have available or otherwise perform their own. Although time-consuming, conducting a QR1 (qualitative reading inventory), saves a lot of headache- â€Å"when little Johnny just doesn’t seem to get it†- a QRI will let you know on exactly which reading level he/she is: struggling, instructional or independent. The findings of this type of assessment supports instruction and provides concrete data that teachers could share with the literacy coach, to support the need for proposed intervention various areas, such as phonics instruction, vocabulary and comprehension and adapting curriculum. A teacher knows his/her students and is the best advocate. Ultimately success is accomplished through collaborative efforts of the literacy coach, the classroom teachers and definitely the students. Literacy coaches don’t know it all, and neither do teachers. However, the data provided in the case study is indicative of a strong team, supportive of each other, despite their previous varied teaching assignments. Effective communication is fundamental in planning for effective reading instruction. Knowledge of each student’s instructional and independent levels is beneficial in planning center activities and teacher directed instruction i.e. small groups. 3. Leads a discussion amongst the teachers about the strategy and how it applies to their own classrooms My comments: I like the fact that Dawn elicits teacher response, as to whether or not the modeled strategy would work in their classroom. She is giving them the opportunity to make adjustments and possible adaptations to the instructional delivery. In this forum the can be immediate feedback for clear expectations on both the literacy coach’s par and the teachers’ part. Dawn shows awareness of the diverse learning styles that are contained within a classroom. Here she identifies challenges and allows opportunity to address them. 4. Offers time for teachers to plan to use the strategy in their classroom. Requires teachers to implement the strategy in the upcoming week Bring student work samples to the next session, where they evaluate the effectiveness of the strategy. My comments Dawn makes her teachers accountable, not only for theirs students learning gains, but their own as well. When her teachers can effectively deliver lessons, it will certainly reflect in the reading performance of their students. Through their collaborative efforts dawn and her third grade team are well on their way to achieving their school goal. My Activity/Skills Recommendation Developing a Love for Reading As literacy coach Dawn can provide her teachers with a compile list of reading approaches that they may use to promote reading interest in their classroom, through interaction and involvement with text, thus improve overall reading performance. Instructional procedures will be intensive and include: (i)Purposeful explicit & implicit teaching of concepts (ii)Teacher- student interaction that targets understanding of various text structures-cause & effect, chronological order, (iii)Use differentiated instruction – student will participate in independent as well as teacher-led activities (iv)Student selection of leveled text for home reading. (v)Providing student with clear meaningful explanations and expectations of all tasks Targeting Comprehension Sequence activities will provide â€Å"At Risk† students with opportunity to practice and strengthen their ability to recall specific events as well as retelling text in a more cohesive manner. Vocabulary instruction will focus on words selected from the word lists and selected instructional text to provide instruction in the areas of synonyms, antonyms, affixes, words in c.

Formal Writing †Students should have complete freedom to choose their own courses! Essay

At the present day, the educational system of upper secondary school resembles major parts of the already established system. The system compels students to study subjects considered important by the government. I highly disagree with the current school-system because of several reasons. I support the vision of students having themselves to choose their own courses. First of all, I believe the working climate in general will be remarkably better as a result of the fact that the students most likely choose subjects they are really interested in. Thanks to that, the students will be more active and focused during lectures. They will work harder and be more prone to do their homework.They will study adequately and they will acquire knowledge more easily and knowledge will persist longer. Furthermore, when the students learn to appreciate studying, they will put more effort into studies which will result in preferable possibilities of achieving favored marks, which is satisfactory toward the students likewise their teachers. With own experience on hand, if a student is constrained to study plenty of subjects, which he or she is not even interested in, it will just make him/her feel tired and stressed. In many cases this leads to avoiding certain courses the students have no interest in, sometimes even giving up on school. Secondly, since it is only the students who know what they are really good at, it seems fair that they should be given more freedom to choose their own courses. In fact it is very important for the students to choose their own subjects without reserve because they are the only ones who know what they are interested in, what they prefer and what they need. That is the main reason why they will pay more attention to the subjects which they are concerned about, they will work more by themselves and search for necessary information that relates to the course and potential future job. On the other hand, I understand that some people believe schools should push the students to study for all-round development. The students can discover their interest through different subjects and also realise their full capabilities in areas they would never even come to think of. Of course, there would still be some negative side-effects of selecting courses freely, like in cases when teachers are known to give good grades for less challenging courses. On the contrary, there is always a different side and I find it essential for the school to guide the students among the most fundamental subjects. In conclusion, I find it important that students in upper secondary school should have the opportunity to choose their own courses. The students are sufficiently mature to know what is best for themselves, if they obtain a limited assistance with selecting subjects and planning, they will have only good in return. Teachers should of course be strict and put some pressure on the students so they eventually start studying when they are supposed to. Obviously it is important to be all-round tutored for the future but I would say that it is better to concern about things that is going to be really useful in the future instead of learning about useless subjects. The question is: Would it not be better if all students in upper secondary school and above had the complete freedom to choose their own subjects?

Children and Advertising Essay

Children are the most vulnerable to advertising. They are the most susceptible because their minds are immature and are unable to distinguish good advertising versus bad advertising. Television commercials have a huge impact on how it affects children. Commercials are the biggest form of advertisement geared toward children. â€Å"Children between the ages of two and eleven view well over 20,000 television commercials yearly, and that breaks down to 150 to 200 hours† (MediaFamily, 1998). Television advertisements geared towards children have the biggest market by far. â€Å"The advertising market in 1997 showed that children under twelve years of age spent well over twenty-four million dollars of their own money on products they saw on television† (Kanner & Kasser, 2000). Kanner and Kasser go on to say that advertisers have even hired psychologists as consultants to help the advertisers come up with fine-tuned commercials that attract children (2000). In 1999, a group of psychologists wrote to the American Psychological Association asking them to restrict the use of psychological research by advertisers to help sell their products to children. This letter also called for, â€Å"an ongoing campaign to probe, review and confront the use of psychological research in advertising and marketing to children† (Hays 1999). â€Å"Some child advertisers boldly admit that the commercials they use exploit children and create conflicts within the family† (Kanner & Kasser, 2000). Kanner and Kasser also say that, advertisers work very hard to increase their products â€Å"nag factor†. This term often refers to how often children pressure their parents to buy the item they saw advertised on television (2000). The effects on advertising to children can be very noticeable. There have been numerous studies done that document that â€Å"children under eight years old are  unable to understand the intent of advertisements developmentally, therefore  they accept the advertising claims as true† (Shelov, S., et. al., 1995). â€Å"The American Academy of Pediatrics continues to say that children under the age of eight cannot distinguish commercial advertisements from regular television programming. In addition, advertisers have become sneaky about the way they convey their product† (Shelov, S., et. al., 1995). For example, when the announcer says, â€Å"some assembly required† for a toy, it is at the end of the commercial and the announcer speaks very quickly. Sometimes, the disclaimers are written in small print and shown at the end of the commercial, and are not understood by most young children. Excessive television viewing often times causes higher obesity rates among children. Children often see foods that are high in fat and calories advertised on television and end up consuming too much of these foods. The American Academy of Pediatrics says that the bombardment of advertising for food and toys to children may result in the increased number of conflicts between parents and children. The American Academy of Pediatrics believes that, â€Å"advertising directed toward children is inherently deceptive and exploits children under eight years of age† (Shelov, S., et. al., 1995). Cigarette advertisements seen in magazines or billboards are an area that is in need of change. â€Å"In 1988, teenagers alone spent well over $1.26 billions on cigarettes and smokeless tobacco† (Shelov, S., et. al., 1995). This number has rose significantly since 1988, and continues to rise rapidly. Although there is an advertisement ban of cigarettes on television, logos and billboards are prominent in televised sports. This makes television advertising of cigarettes very prominent. There were two studies down in the early 1990s on cigarette advertisements. This study looked at how familiar children were with the Old Joe Camel logo on Camel cigarettes. â€Å"These studied revealed that nearly one third of three-year-old children, and almost all of the children over the age of six could identify the Joe Camel logo. By the age of six,  the Joe Camel logo was as familiar to children as Mickey Mouse† (Shelov, S., et. al., 1995). The advertising campaign for Camel cigare ttes was more  effective among children and adolescents than it was among adults. â€Å"In 2000, a study showed that on average, eighty-two percent of children in the United States see the numerous magazine advertisements for cigarettes† (Siegel, 2001). Alcohol advertisements on television are another touchy area. â€Å"American children view nearly 2000 beer and wine commercials every year on television and these ads specifically target young people by showing the â€Å"advantages† of drinking† (Shelov, S., et. al., 1995). There is a public health interest in trying to protect children from alcohol and cigarette advertisements. â€Å"The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends banning all tobacco and alcohol advertisements in the media, but some researchers believe that counter-advertising advertisements are more effective† (Shelov, S. et. al, 1995). Recently though, there have been counter-advertising campaigns aimed reducing the number of young people who smoke. In 2001, the â€Å"I Decide† campaign started airing on television. â€Å"This anti-smoking campaign, sponsored by the Illinois Department of Public Health, is the current anti-smoking campaign in Illinois. The â€Å"I Decide† advertisement aired on local ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, and the WB networks in Winnebago, Macon, Champaign, Tazewell, Sangamon, Peoria, and McLean counties. I Decide advertisements also run on the following cable networks, ESPN, MTV, BET, Comedy Central, and TBS† (Illinois Department of Health, 2002). Alcohol and cigarette advertisements are still around and promote the wrong message to children. The effects on advertising to children can be very evident. There are laws and organizations out there to help protect children from advertisers. Advertising is a powerful tool in American culture today; it exists solely to sell  products and services. Advertising to children has not always been legal. ‘In 1750 BC, the Code of Hammurabi made it a crime to sell anything to a child without obtaining consent† (Shelov, S. et. al, 1995). Things in the advertising industry have changed significantly since then. In 1978, Michael Pertschuk, the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, tried to restrict television advertisements aimed at children under thirteen. Due to a  ferocious lobbying campaign, his proposal did not pass (Kanner & Kasser, 2000). In the last fifteen years or so, there have been a few laws passed about advertising to children on television. â€Å"The Children’s Television Act of 1990 mandated that all broadcasters must show either educational or instructional children’s programming in order to renew their broadcasting license. This act also limits commercial time to ten and a half minutes per hour on weekends, and twelve minutes per hour on weekdays† (Shelov, S. et. al, 1995). Shelov and others continue on to say that, the main problem with this law is that television stations can cite public service announcements to fulfill the Children’s Television Act. They also said that this Act also established the Children’s Television Endowment Fund, which encourages the development of new educational programming for children (1995). There is currently an organization called the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) that is part of the Council of Better Business Bureaus. CARU reviews advertising and any promotional materials directed at children in the media (Council of Better Business Bureau, 2000). The Council of the Better Business Bureau continues on to say that CARU’s main duties are to review and evaluate child-directed advertisements in all forms of media, and to review the online privacy practices if they affect children. â€Å"If the advertisements are inconsistent or misleading with CARU’s Self-Regulatory Guidelines for Children’s Advertising, they seek change through the voluntary cooperation of advertisers† (2000). They work closely with advertisers to promote educational messages to children that are consistent with the  Children’s Television Act of 1990. The CARU’s Self-Regulatory Guidelines for Children’s Advertising gives criteria for evaluating advertising that is child-directed. There continues to be many more organizations out there that help protect children from advertisements. Until advertisers stop targeting children, there will always be a need for organizations that help protect children from advertisemen ts. It seems to me that the best ways to protect children from what adults fear will harm them- alcohol, drugs or advertising, is to set an example by our own behavior. We can talk with them  and encourage them to talk about the subject. The effects of media are minimized when parents talk to children about them. Whether we like it or not media education begins at home. The Internet is also another medium where children are at risk. Numerous web sites feature advertising to children. † In fact, many web sites are set up exclusively for children, such as, Nickelodeon’s and Disney’s. A growing number of web sites are now eliciting personal information. Some even use incentives and gifts to get e-mail addresses or other personal info† (DeFalco 1996). There is a very important law that helps protect children on the Internet. In April 2000, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA) took effect. â€Å"This Act says that if any personable identifiable information about a child under thirteen years of age is collected online, a privacy notice must be posted† (Federal Trade Commission, 2000). â€Å"Website operators must also get parental consent before collecting, using, or disclosing any personally identifiable information. In addition, this Act allows parents to review any personal identifiable information collected from their children. When the parents review their child’s personal information, they have the right to revoke their consent and ask that the information they collected about  their child is deleted from that website† (Federal Trade Commission, 2000). The Federal Trade Commission also says that site operators are required to list any third parties that the website operator gives information to, about a child. If the list of third parities changes, the website operator must have parental consent again (2000). The Center for Media Education (CME) is an organization that is dedicated to protecting children online by visiting websites to make sure that the COPPA rules are being enforced. CME is a national nonprofit organization, which dedicates itself to creating quality electronic media culture for children  and youth, for their families, and for the community. Their research focuses on the potential for children and youth in this rapidly evolving digital media age. â€Å"Over the years, CME has been the leading force in expanding both children’s educational television programming and fostering television and Internet safeguard for children and teens† (Center for Media Education, 2001). The Internet is an area that is growing rapidly, and is one area where children are the most vulnerable to advertising. Advertising to children also has many positive benefits, for both the marketers’ pocket and for the development of the child. â€Å"Kids are little human beings that need to grow up and learn valuable lessons, that throughout their lives they are going to want things that they can not have† (Fletcher and Phillips 1998). Also, in the media demanding society that we live in, learning how to decipher the truth of advertising messages is critical. Likewise, advertisers argue that parents still have ultimate control over household purchasing decisions. This presents an opportunity for children to learn to respect authority, which is another step critical to a child’s development. Additionally, advertising money helps pay for educational opportunities. â€Å"Without  advertising there would be a lot less toys and a lot less children’s programming such as Nickelodeon and the Cartoon Network† (Fletcher and Phillips 1998). Marketers are also using their advertising dollars to benefit education in other ways. â€Å"Cadbury, Pentax, C&A and Coca-Cola are advertising in textbooks and other learning materials such as wall charts† (Marshall, 1997). Due to under-funded school budgets, money may have not been otherwise available to pay for these supplementary educational materials. Advertising to children definitely has both positive and negative benefits that help and hinder the development of the child. Regardless of the effects  that marketers have on our youth, advertisements will continue. Mainly in part due to the high amount of dollars involved. New areas of the ethical debate will also continue to grow. Some of these new issues are the controversies that are arising from the exponential growth of the Internet and of global marketing. Both governmental agencies and parents need to be aware of this continuing debate as these new issues arise. Also, awareness needs to be developed on how these new issues affect children based on existing psychological research so that parents and the government can react in the best approach possible. The boundaries in media and advertising are rapidly changing. Young people will benefit more by learning to make intelligent media (and consumer) decisions than by attempts to limit their exposure to information that they will inevitably be exposed to regardless of the regulatory climate. Works Cited Center for Media Education. (2001). About the center for media education (CME). Retrieved March 20, 2002, from Http://www.cme.org. Council of Better Business Bureau. (2000). About the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU). Retrieved January 30, 2002, from Http://www.caru.org/carusubpgs/aboutcarupg.asp. Federal Trade Commission. (2000). How to protect kids’ privacy online. Retrieved January 31, 2002, from Http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/online/kidsprivacy.htm. Fletcher, Winston and Phillips, Richard. (1998, May 29). â€Å"A children’s character for advertising; analysis of advertising which targets children.† Campaign, page 28. Hays, C.L. (1999, October 31). Group says ads manipulate children with psychology. New York Times, p. C6. Illinois Department of Health (2002). I decide. Retrieved March 20, 2002, from Http://www.idecide4me.com/html/campaign/schedule.asp. Kanner, A.D., & Kasser, T. (2000). Stuffing our kids: Should psychologists help advertisers manipulate children? Retrieved January 30, 2002, from http://www.commercialalert.org/ Marshall, Caroline. (1997, September) â€Å"Protect the parents; exploiting parents and children via advertising.† Management Today, Page 92. Mediafamily (1998). Children’s advertising and gender roles. Retrieved January 31, 2002, from Http://www.mediaandthefamily.org/research/fact/childgen.shtml. Mediascope (2000). Children, health, and advertising. Retrieved January 31, 2002, from Http://www.mediascope.org/pubs/ibriefs/cha.htm. Shelov, S., Bar-on, M., Beard, L., Hogan, M., Holroyd, J.H., Prentice, B., Sherry, S.N., & V. Strasburger. (1995). Children, adolescents, and advertising. American Academy of Pediatrics, 95(2), 295-297. Siegel, M. (2001). Tobacco ads still aimed at kids, experts advise stronger protection. Ca, 51(6), 324-326.

Composing Self Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Composing Self - Assignment Example They have stated that this tool purports to nurture students. However, it stunts the growth of our minds as students (Wesley, 2000). Leaving the form behind meant that you hand an intention of expanding our level of reasoning. I had read in several published journals about the effects of the five paragraph theme. In my opinion, I felt that this writing tool had become a national phenomenon for most of us as students. The status quo that has always reinforced the high school composition instructions is quite dangerous. It came to my mind that you might found out that the five paragraph theme had become so bring in writing and we needed to learn other tools (Wesley, 2000). The idea of abolishing the five paragraph theme as a writing style caused a lot of anxiety. I knew that we would now be taught about a new writing style. I became more eager to learn about a new style and put it into practice. I started feeling that being introduced to a new style would give me a chance to write more. The five paragraph theme had always been restricting me to only five paragraphs in my writing. For example, our teacher would ask to write a seven page essay about two novels. In these kinds of situations, I used to find it quite challenging in fitting a seven page essay in five paragraphs. I felt so excited when our teacher abolished the 5PT. I have a chance to write more without

Gang Violence in Charlotte Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Gang Violence in Charlotte - Research Paper Example Over the past quarter, a century the American society has experienced an increase in the gang activity. Most of the gang members are young people who are highly prone to peer influence. Numerous studies have acknowledged the significant role that firearm play in perpetuating the menace of gang violence. However, there are few studies that have examined how the accessibility of firearms has facilitated the growth of gang violence. Studies estimate that the state of North Carolina has over 100,000 gang members (Smith & Furuseth, 2006). These statistics are merely estimation since there are no statewide records that accurately depict the numbers of gang members. These figures indicate a growth by approximately 200% of gang activity over the past decade. Due to this upsurge, the State government has been forced to initiate a task force specially dedicated to dealing with the gang menace.Other reports indicate that the gang members are responsible for over 1000 homicides and nearly 10,000 felonies in the city of Charlotte over a period of five years. Other crimes reported to be attributed to gang member include 9000 robberies and nearly 500 rape cases (Smith & Furuseth, 2006). A recent survey that profiled the gang member found out that a significant number of gang members lie with the age bracket of 10-25 years (Smith & Furuseth, 2006). This has greatly worried the policing department as it appeared that gangs were getting younger and aggressive. In Charlotte, gang membership is largely dominated by male.

Third Writing Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Third Writing Assignment - Essay Example Other than the domestic powers, the President also has broad rights over foreign policy. He can appoint ambassadors. The president with the aid of the Secretary of the State can maintain all contact with foreign powers. In many cases, the president can personally be present in Summit conferences where all heads of state assemble for direct consultation. For instance, President Woodrow Wilson represented his country in the Paris peace conference after WWII was over. Since then, US Presidents regularly meet with world leaders for discussion of economic and political matters to reach bilateral and multilateral agreements. The President’s job is also to protect the Americans abroad and look after the foreign nationals in America. The President has the right to approve new nations and government, and enter into treaties with other nations which is however subject to approval from two-third of the Senate. The President also has the right to enter into â€Å"executive agreementsâ₠¬  with other nations which do not need approval from the Senate. The President also acts as the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces since only with power over the army he can add credibility to his foreign policies. He has the power to decide when to intervene abroad. For instance, US Presidents have intervened during wars in Korea and Vietnam by deploying troops as required (â€Å"Presidential Powers†; Watts, 99). The power of the Congress is concerned with collection of taxes, duties, excises and imports. The Congress also allocates funds for the defence and general welfare of the country. According to the US constitution, the Congress has the power to frame foreign policies. The laws passed by the Congress, or the treaties and nominations that the Senate agrees can have impact on the country’s interaction with other nations. Although the president has the right to establish and implement foreign policies, it is the Congress who has the right to approve fund

Bottled water vs. tap water Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Bottled water vs. tap water - Essay Example No longer a luxury item, the beverage has become a common sight worldwide.† (Owen, 2006). However, the author, Ann Pietrangelo of the text, Bottled Water vs. Tap Water: Which is really safer? raises question on how clean and hygienic is the bottled water, when compared to the tap water and gives the answer that the bottled water is not at all better than the tap water, and in some cases could be even inferior to the tap water. The text written was by Ann Pietrangelo in July 2009 and was featured under the section, Healthy reform policy in the website Care2.com, which mainly focuses on environmental and health issues. While ‘googling’ about the topic, Bottled Water vs. Tap Water, this website or webpage came as the second web entry or result, and appeared as the apt text for this topic and paper. In the initial part of the text itself, the author starts to spell out the argument that bottled water does not any safe qualities, and it is same or even inferior to the tap water. By using data from another website, FoodandWaterWatch.org, the author argues that with tap water being regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency and state and local governments, and bottled water being regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, there are clear evidences to show that bottled water is not effectively tested and so it is not better than the tap water. Author Pietrangelo first points out the basic point, which is 40 percent of bottled water originates only from the tap, with some minerals added and some extra filtration done. She provides this fact to send the message to the readers that bottled water is just another version of the tap water, without any major differences, quality wise. Then she provides some more facts, to justify that tap water is more clean and hygienic than th e bottled water, as the tap water has to conform various rules and tests under different conditions and standards. She states that tap water is not permitted to contain E. coli

Comparative between two countries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Comparative between two countries - Essay Example The US government is divided into 3 branches that enable its separation of powers, distinguish the control and power the US president receives once elected, and that of the British prime minister who operates in an undivided government. The party systems of both the US and Britain have a common element of the two party system that impact differently on their governance. Constitution The original constitution in USA resembled a version of the former constitution of Great Britain that came with the colonists, who settled on American land with the hope of reforming the rule to avoid oppression that they experienced under the British system of government back then. A central government was hence formed from the alliances of the different states under a written and signed constitution in 1787 that guides in governing the US, and in its distribution of power (â€Å"A more perfect† archives.gov). The constitution hence takes the center place as a superior authority over the law of th e land, from which the judiciary interprets in their regular reviews to make judgments based on the legislature, as expressed in the constitution. On the other hand, the British constitution remains customary and unwritten (lack a single constitutional document), such that though the constitution exists, it occurs in distinguishable documents (Williams 13). The sources of its constitution are fragmented into international treaties and agreements, the common law of judicial interpretation, statute law by parliament, and conventions. These differences in existence of the constitution influence their flexibility to amend their constitutions when need be. The lack of codification of the British constitution makes it more flexible and able to evolve with political circumstances, since all that is required is the majority of the parliament to make changes, while the US constitution can be termed as rigid in its codified manner, requiring two thirds of both the senate and house representat ive, and three quarters of the individual state’s legislature to amend it (Wlliams 13-4). Basically, the US constitution tends to involve different levels of authority from the national figure to all states power, which makes it difficult to change the constitution because of the embedded original idea of federalism. For example, the USA has had about 11000 amendment attempts since 1789, with only 27 being successful after 230 years (Becerra politifact.com) , compared to Britain that recorded numerous reforms affecting referendums, electoral, regional governments and house of lords activities within 1992 to 2001 (â€Å"Constitutional reform† historylearningsite.co.uk). The procedure in theUS is quite onerous and intends to prevent arbitrary changes to the original documents, which is extensive enough to allow participation of the relevant authority right from states to national levels that support efficient decision making without being politically biased. Electoral sy stem The US and British elections are conducted by means of secret ballot, involve prior campaigns, and hold by-elections to replace vacant seats in the parliaments. However, there are numerous variations in requirements for electing individuals into branches of the government, in terms

CASE STUDY Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

CASE STUDY - Research Paper Example Each dimension separately assesses and evaluates the financial performance and financial position of the company. And the purpose of this assessment is to decide whether the shares of this company should be purchased based on its current performance which is reflected by these ratios provided below. The company profitability is constantly deteriorating. The graph 01, which highlights the return on equity, demonstrates that the company has experienced a decrease of more than 1 per cent since 2012, highlighting that the financial and operational performance are not generating results for the company and it is becoming very challenging for the current management to increase return on equity. Similarly, return on assets has also fallen from 8.11 to 7.83 in 2014. In other words, the company management is not utilizing their assets in way to increase their productivity and their performance as well. At the same time, the figure 03, which displays return on sales, also highlights decreasing trend for sales over the mentioned period. This also validates that the company is not using its current and fixed assets in a way to increase their sales over these years instead the profitability ratios highlight that the company management is struggling to retain its financial position and perfo rmance instead of focusing on those strategies which increase the potential of the company to experience rise in the sales. Leverage ratios highlight that the company uses more debt for financing its business requirements. For example, debt to equity ratio demonstrates that the company has been substantially leveraged over these years. In the year of 2012, 2013, 2014, 1.55, 1.48, 1.51 debt to equity ratio has been respectively recorded by the company. As a result, it can be deduced that the real owners of Wal-Mart, who are shareholders, will not be given enough and attractive returns and

Scope and System Dynamic Modeling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Scope and System Dynamic Modeling - Essay Example From this discussion it is clear that the model will be unable to tell the whole story behind the topic. Therefore, only impacts of interest are selected and included in the model. With the green house effect rising to alarming levels over the past decade, it seems worhtwhile to investigate the relationship between CO2 emission and global manufacturing in the current model. In addition, monetary relations between the multinationals and the host country which include taxation, contribution to Gross Domestic Product from global manufacturing and gross profit of the multinationals are likewise include in the model. Change in living standard and creation of employment from global manufacturing are also integrated into the model for better understanding between these global multinationals and the host country. This paper outlines that the Vensim software is used to simulate a system dynamics model of the situation being studied. Running "what if" simulations to test certain policies on such a model can greatly aid in understanding how the system changes over time. In the brainstorming phase, a ‘perfect’ model is the primary goal. Such a ‘prefect’ model will require the inclusion of every possible component with respect to the topic of interest. As a prerequisite, a causal loop diagram must be drafted before constructing the system dynamic model. A causal loop diagram is a diagram that aids in visualizing how interrelated variables affect one another. The diagram consists of a set of nodes representing the variables connected together. The relationships between these variables, represented by arrows, can be labelled as either positive or negative. The following is the first draft of the causal loop diagram.