The Impact Of Cell Phone And Internet Use On Communication...

The Impact of Cell Phone and Internet Use on Communication Skills in Adolescents Jontay Hendree Kennesaw State University 15 February 2015 Abstract The study that I have conducted examines the effects of excessive cell phone and internet use as primary means for communication in adolescents’, and their subsequent (lack of) ability and willingness to engage in verbal and/or face-to-face communication. This research explores the pros and cons of the reliance on communication technology, and attempts to estimate long-term effects it may have on these adolescents, should it continue. The importance of this research lies in the reality that computers, cell phones, and other technological devices that can serve as communication aids, have begun to take the place of verbal communication and hinder young adults’ comfort levels with developing and maintaining interpersonal relationships. Reading this essay will give any person living in today’s technologically motivated society, insight on what is soon to come if we continue to turn to texting, emailing, instant messaging, and more, as primary means for comm unication. Introduction The text messaging and social media phenomenon, over the recent years, has made possible new forms of interaction that were not possible before. One can now speak to someone in another country, or on another continent, with the click of a button! We can also use these methods to hold conversations with a neighbor, or someoneShow MoreRelatedMobile Phones And The Mobile Phone987 Words   |  4 PagesIn this day and age, it is almost impossible to not have a cell phone; the number of people who own a cell phone is growing every year. â€Å"At the end of 2011, there were almost 6 billion mobile subscriptions. That is a dramatic increase from 5.4 billion in 2010 and 4.7 billion mobile subscriptions in 2009† (International Tele - communications Union, 2011). With the introduction into society the cell phone established a convenient way to communicate between individuals, and they have also connectedRead MoreHow Cell Phones Affect Social Behavior1282 Words   |  6 PagesMobile Pho nes on Social Skills Kelly Schriever, Matt Seeberger, Mary Sweet, Emily Putnam Elizabethtown College March 17, 2014 Today we live in a world where communication through modern technology is almost required. Everywhere people are texting, emailing, writing blogs, and tweeting. It’s hard to go anywhere without seeing someone using a phone or the internet to connect with others. Most people would feel lost without the use of their phones. Of course the use ofRead MoreThe Effects Of Cellphones On Our Daily Lives Essay1679 Words   |  7 PagesCellphone use has been seen and noted as booming throughout the United States and all around the world. It was previously noted in the introduction how much smart phone ownership has grown in the past decade. With the rise in technological advances and continual rise in interest, large amounts of research have been done on the overall impact that technology has had. We have previously stated that the goal of our study is to determine the overall effects that cellphones play on face-to-face interactionsRead MoreTechnology Has Changed The Way People Comm unicate983 Words   |  4 Pagescommunicate. Originally the telephone replaced the telegraph. Today cell phones, email and the Internet top the list of preferred communication methods in society. As more businesses and educational institutions use technology to communicate, society seems to have accepted, if not embraced, the increased role technology now plays in daily lives. Age has an impact on an individual s preferred method of communication. Communication today is entirely different compared to thirty years ago. Today weRead MoreImpact Of Cell Phones On Society1509 Words   |  7 PagesImpacts of Cellphones use in Society Advancements in technology have resulted in the invention of devices and machines that increase the efficiency and quality of life. Notably, the design of the cellphone and the internet highlights the latest technology that captivates both young and old. Mobile phones have become an integral part of our society. Primarily, the development of cellphones which combine different sophisticated features has made the device one of the necessities of life. So far, statisticsRead MoreHow Technology Has Made It Easier For Students?1269 Words   |  6 Pageshas made it easier for students to cheat, in how the internet provides wrong learning opportunities and in the way students respond to learning while being engaged with technology. Consider the idea that technology has made it easier for students to cheat due to technological advancements. In Rachel Ellaway’s article eMedical Teacher, enumeration is used to list the effects of digital cheating. For instance, â€Å"three aspects of digital media use that challenge absolutist models of moral rectitude;Read MoreComputer Networking and Communication1065 Words   |  5 Pageswaves, satellites, or infrared light beams. This facilitates communication and resources sharing within huge amount of people in deferent location. Best known as Internet, is the computer network established using either cable media or wireless media. The only system been used before 19th century was postal system, and it would take several days depending distance between sender and the receiver. But now a day by the access of Internet you can communicate with people within seconds, and doesn’t matterRead MoreHow Technology Has Its Impacts On Family Life1585 Words   |  7 Page sindividuals are searching for better future utilizing innovation, internet and media shown to have several effects on human life on the other side. It has its impact in great and terrible routes on the brains of individuals. It is a key element in choosing the eventual fate of people in the mean time having its own impact on the human conduct creatures on the other side. This article focuses on how changing innovation has its impacts on family life. Family connections have taken a noteworthy changeRead MoreImpact of Technologies on Teenagers1700 Words   |  7 PagesThe Impact of Technologies on Teenagers An Assignment Submitted by Name of Student Name of Establishment Class XXXX, Section XXXX, Spring 2013 Nowadays, information technologies play a significant role in the modern world. Information technologies have a long history. Some technologies were created a few years ago, while some technologies are comparatively new. Technologies have penetrated all spheres of human activities: education, politics, trade, medicine, and this list canRead MoreThe Internet Is The Most Popular Medium For Data Sharing, And Communication1586 Words   |  7 Pagescomputers to communicate on one network (Evan Andrews, 2013). This model, now known as the internet, has become the most popular medium for data-sharing, and communication. According to the U.S. Census in 2013, internet use at home tripled from 18 percent to 54.7 percent between 1997 and 2003 (U.S Census Bureau, 2013). This large increase in use quickly created worldwide markets, breached the distance-communication barrier, and increased efficiencies in people’s daily lives. Whether you’re a businessman

Slavery Northern v. Southern Essay - 663 Words

Northern Wage Slavery vs. Slavery During the 1980s southern blacks from the United States dedicated to migrate to the north with the belief that the north had more opportunities and advantages blacks. Although, Frederick Douglas and Booker T. Washington opposed a migration to the north, millions of blacks migrated northward. The industries for the blacks migrating t o the north was what Douglas and Washington feared, black northern workers being placed in the same situation prior to their movement. Blacks were going to experience the same obstacles and disadvantages as they had in the south just with different situations. Northern blacks were going to experience prejudice, riots and murdering. Free blacks from the†¦show more content†¦Factories were able to hire many blacks, because of WWI. Many of the white factory workers were fighting in the war and the United States feared to admit many European immigrants in for work, leaving the workforce open to minorities and women. Blacks that moved upward were even eligible for overtime in the factories. Blacks begin to go from making $2.00 a day to making 75 cents an hour. Many black southerners saw this as a opportunity succeed or change their previous life. The free blacks that were moving to the north realized once they got to the north that it was similar to the south in many ways. The north, like the south, dealt with violent mobs and killings of blacks. In the south many whites would burn down the houses and property of blacks. While in the north they would have riots and kill the blacks in the riots. In 1917 in St. Louis riot between black factory workers and white factory workers lead to the death of 39 blacks and 2 whites and no whites were charged the deaths. The Urban League in 1910 was supposed to settle these problems, however, its efforts in protecting blacks rights ad safety were not done. Robert Abbott tried to establish a black community support through his newspaper, Chicago Defender. Northern blacks also tried to establish black ghettos, black entertainment, black restaurants and blacks shops. In the north they had the freedom to establish their own community and areaShow MoreRelatedThe Slavery Of The United Stat es1095 Words   |  5 PagesNorthern Republicans and Southern Democrats attempted to cure their complete opposition on the regulation of slavery by using federal power to coerce an end to the feud, yet the movement increased tension between the divided nation. By invoking both legislative and judicial power, politicians used laws which included slave codes and freedom laws as well as court decisions like Dred Scott v Sandford (1875) to convince or force the population into acceptance of stances on slavery. Each party viewedRead MoreImpending Crisis By David M. Potter1124 Words   |  5 PagesThe 1850s were believed to be a period of compromise to prevent Southern secession from the Union. Instead, it brought more divisions along sectional lines, Northern Democrats and Northern Whigs (free-states) against the Southern Democrats and Southern Whigs (slave states). David M. Potter’s book Impending Crisis provides evidence of sectionalism between free and slave states. Potter contends that during the expansionist period of the 1840s the country was experiencing a growth of American nationalismRead MoreThe Civil War Was A Long Term Issue1622 Words   |  7 PagesExplanations such as political and economic issues have been uncovered. Slavery has also been an explanation as to why the Civil War was caused. Historians have looked into the years before the Civil War to discover that slavery was a long term issue that caused many disputes and compromises. From how to give power to slave holders in the House of Representatives to how to get the northern states to comply with the southern slave laws, slavery was the issue that tore the two regions apart. President AbrahamRead MoreThe Coming Of The Civil War1371 Words   |  6 Pagestopics: slavery and state rights. In my opinion, it was because of slavery that state rights were argued. When Western territories were annexed from Mexico, they were admitted to the Union with the condition that that slavery be b anned through the Wilmot Proviso (History.com). Because of this, slave states felt they were unfairly treated and outnumbered. The religious fervor of the Second Great Awakening also gave way to new ideology. Combined with the growing abolitionist sentiment, Northern statesRead MoreCompromise Essay1263 Words   |  6 Pagesbrought on by slavery in the south. The south had always had an economy based on agriculture that could not strive without their uses of slavery. They did not plan on ending slavery anytime soon, especially since it was really all they had to support themselves. They were against establishing an industrial based economy like the north had began to do in the 1820-1830’s. The real cause of the sectional tensions between the North and the South during the 1820’s-1860’s was not slavery itself, but howRead MoreSummary Of Harriet Jacobs And Frederick Douglass702 Words   |  3 PagesSlavery (noun): a condition compared to that of a slave in respec t of exhausting labor or restricted freedom. Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass were both born into slavery, and both suffered the consequences of American ignorance. Jacobs and Douglass provided a brutally honest truth through their poetry about slavery, and how white Americans interpreted slavery. Everyone was subject to Jacobs and Douglass’ assessment on how differently people interpreted what slavery meant – just a means of laborRead MoreTo What Extent Did The Fugitive Slaves Acts Impacted Slavery?866 Words   |  4 PagesSlaves Acts have an effect on slavery in the United States of America? Table of Contents A) Plan of Investigation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Pg.1 B) Summary of Evidence†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Pg.2-4 C) Evaluation of Sources†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. D) Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. E) Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Plan of Investigation This investigation will assess to what extent did the Fugitive Slaves Acts impacted slavery in America. This will primarilyRead MoreHow Compromises Failed to Prevent the Civil War1726 Words   |  7 PagesAs tensions between the North and the South rose on the issues of slavery and states’ rights, numerous compromises were proposed to ease the conflict. Such compromises included the Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850, and the Crittenden Compromise. These compromises had intentions of defining where slavery was permitted and clarifying states’ rights. They were only temporary fixes to a more pressing issue. Between the Missouri Compromise and the Crittenden Compromise, a series of events changedRead MoreAbolition Of The Fugitive Slave Act865 Words   |  4 PagesIncrease in slavery (1830s)- Cultivation of cash crops thrived in the South causing a higher demand for slaves to provide a work force. Prigg v. Pennsylvania (1842)- Court ruling declaring that the state did not have to enforce the return of runaway slaves. Edward Prigg, an agent of Margaret Ashmore a slave owner from Maryland, on a mission to find Ashmore s escaped slave Margaret Morgan in Pennsylvania. Ashmore did not have proper documentation to prove her ownership of Morgan and her two childrenRead MoreSlavery During The Civil War1707 Words   |  7 Pagesthe textile industry in the North grew. Slavery was vital to the economic well-being of the South, and when the North began to question the â€Å"peculiar institution† of the South the wall of civility between the two sectionalized areas began to crumble. Due to the growing issue of slavery in the 1850s, the United States of America was in a state of total disarray and turmoil. The tension that had always existed between the North and South over the matter of slavery was no longer ignorable. As the United

Use of Statistics Symbolic Data Analysis

Question: Write about theUse of Statisticsfor Symbolic Data Analysis. Answer: Introduction Statistics is a mathematical branch that is highly used in the effective presentation of data for easy understanding and interpretation. It is important to choose the best statistical criterion to represent the data to ensure that the intended information is passed on the to the target individuals. In some cases, data might be represented in a manner that communicates different ideas from the set objective (Hahn and Doganaksoy, 2011). Firstly, the data and the associated statistics needs to be understood before deciding the most applicable statistical tools to use. Table and charts are among the most used data representation tools in the field of statistics (Charles Henry, 2016). These tools are used in presenting the data to ease the work of interpretation to the individuals who are not able to classify statistics displayed in an essay format. In addition, tools like graphs and pie chart reduce data ambiguity by directly associating the variables or factors to their equivalent weigh ts. Body The first step in dealing with data is data describing which describe the source of the data and how it was obtained. Data can be acquired by use of primary such as the use of questionnaires or another digital collecting criterion. In most cases, secondary data is credible for studies that need to cover larger capacities. In our case, determining the national growth in GDP and retail trade needs a massive data that can be used in generalising the information throughout the country. The second approach is to understand the data type and scales of measurements. A variable can be continuous or categorical, hence determining the analytical method to be used. In the business world, data is in the most case presented in monetary value and can be transformed into percentage forms depending on the reference points such as the base totals (Francis, 2009). Providing the data summaries is a crucial step in the data analysis and report writing to ensure that the findings are communicated to the targeted individuals. Summaries and presentations improve the levels of understanding of the core aim of the research or evaluation. These summaries can be presented in a tabular form, with relevant statistics being associated with the variables. Some of the statistics that describes the data effectively include the measures of central tendency and dispersion. These include meaning, median, mode, standard deviation, variance, range and standard error. These descriptive statistics can be used in developing confidence intervals that are used in testing hypotheses. Point estimating is also used to compare the existing situation to the observations achieved from the study analysis. Based on the economic update article, pie charts and table could be used to present the provided statistics in a more ethical manner. For instance, the total spending of 69% for household and 31% for retail could be represented in a pie chart as shown below (Billard and Diday, 2006). Using these statistics, the probability of having the same scenario being experienced in the next year would be based on the observations. For instance, the chance of having retail spending being 31% percentage in the next year would be high. Also, if the data is collected at minimum biases, the data can be generalised into other areas of the country's economy (Ward, 2010). The representation of the percentages could have been tabled based on the real values so the ideal change can be visualised. Using percentages might not indicate the true picture of the change that has been experienced. For instance, food sales rose by 0.2% and this might be seen to be a very small change for the sale. Probably, the change was very significant, hence creating a visible change to the market. A statistical technique in testing whether the increase was significant could be used to check if the rise in food sales were big enough to demonstrate a change (Kamath, 2009). It has been stated that Chinas tourists contribute up to 16% of the spending. It would be much informative to include the other main contributors in the national spending to develop an oversight of the main contributors. Hypothesis testing could have been used in this article to determine and proves the significance of the changes in sales and expenditures of the economy. It would be much effective if the a uthor would have explained if the changes are justifiable or they are insignificance (Graham, 2011). Conclusion In summary, it is very important for any author or data analyst should understand the type of data and the associated data types. This information will enhance the effectiveness of analysis and presentation of the data. Choosing the best statistical tools is a good criterion to ensure that the best information about the data is presented to the target population. These tools also make it easy and for the readers and users of the articles. Finally, use of inferences and hypothesis testing are effective tools in determining the effectiveness of the results obtained in the study (Sedgwick, 2010). Therefore, it would have been better if the author used these statistical tools in the article. References Billard, L. and Diday, E. (2006). Symbolic data analysis. 1st ed. Chichester, England: John Wiley Sons Inc. Charles Henry, B. (2016). Understanding Basic Statistics. 1st ed. Cengage Learning. Francis (2009). Effective Use of Numbers and Statistics. Acta Chirurgica Belgica, 109(3), pp.275-275. Graham, A. (2011). Statistics. 1st ed. London: Hodder Education. Hahn, G. and Doganaksoy, N. (2011). The Role of Statistics in Business and Industry. 1st ed. Hoboken: John Wiley Sons. Kamath, C. (2009). Application-Driven Data Analysis. Statistical Analysis and Data Mining, 1(5), pp.285-285. Sedgwick, P. (2010). Statistical hypothesis testing. BMJ, 340(apr21 1), pp.c2059-c2059. Ward, J. (2010). BIRT 2.6 data analysis and reporting. 1st ed. Birmingham, UK: Packt Pub.

My museum visit was very interesting to me mainly Essays

My museum visit was very interesting to me mainly because I have never gone to the museum of fine arts before so everything was all very new to me. I was very astounded by how huge the museum was when I first walked in. As I began to find my way around I had realized that the museum was bigger than I had expected. There was so much to look at all around me such as the beautiful paintings and sculptures. My favorite part of the whole experience was the awesome Wilson Tunnel that I walked through. It really did catch my attention as soon as I saw the pretty lights . I can say that I really did enjoy going to the museum because I was able to look at what the definition of art really means. In all honesty, I never really cared for art because I always found it so boring, but I do see that there are deep meanings into the arts that are being produced and at times I do find it interesting when I am able to figure out and kno w what those meanings are. The museum and what I w as able to experie nce was very eye opening to me, and it really did make me realize that art is very significant. Based on all the arts that interested me and that I chose there are three works of art that are most memorable to me. The first one is a painting by Jean- Achille Benouville titled "A view of the Roman Countryside". I absolutely love this work of art because it really does represent a landscape that I personally want to live on in my near future. I am all for the countryside and having many farm animals of mine living by me on a massive range of land. The painting really did spark my interest because it was able to give me vivid images in my mind of the kind of countryside that I dream to live in. Though a Roman countryside isn't necessarily what I 'm looking for, the painting was still able to help me relate to the kind of countryside that I am looking for. This painting w as truly one of my favorites and it really did fascinate me. The second work of art that also interested me is a painting by Pieter Claesz titled "Still Life with a Basket of Grapes". Though the title of the painting should have originally directed my attention straight to the basket of grapes, my attention was directed to everything else but the grapes. Maybe because I don't like grapes! Anyways, I just love the way all the foods are arranged in the painting and how the artist was able to make the entire image look so real . The artist did really well on making the foods look very precise and natural. The more food that the artist had put into the paint ing, the more it interested me. It had me think of Thanksgiving every year at my house when the whole table is stacked on a variety of delicious foods. I will say that the reason as to why this is a work of art that interested me as much as it did is because of the foods and how authentic they look. The third work of art that really caught my attention is a painting by Giovannia Battista Gaulli titled "The vision of Saint Ignatius of Loyola at La Storta ". This painting really stood out to me not only because it was very huge when I came across it, but also it is a very religious painting with a lot going on in it. As being a religious catholic myself, seeing this beautiful painting really did have me staring at it for a while. When I look a t this work of art I think of forgiveness. How I think of it is that t he man wearing the black drape represents our sins that we have committed and he is trying to run to Jesus for forgiveness and salvation. There is so much that you are able to direct your attention to in this painting

General Rules About Abbreviations

General Rules About Abbreviations General Rules About Abbreviations General Rules About Abbreviations By Mark Nichol This post outlines basic rules about abbreviations. There is a bewildering variety of standards, which will be explained in more detail in subsequent posts about specific categories of abbreviation, but the following guidelines cover an array of general types. Use of abbreviation varies widely depending on the formality of writing employed for a given publication or a piece of content. Generally, the more formal the content, the less likely it is that abbreviation will be used, except in multiple references to terms commonly abbreviated or in tabular matter and other graphic elements. In formal writing, journalistic contexts, and some informal content as well, terms are spelled out on first reference, followed by abbreviation in parentheses, as in â€Å"The Global Positioning System (GPS) uses satellite signals to fix the location of a radio receiver on or above the earth’s surface.† Thereafter, the abbreviation is used exclusively. However, this tradition applies to single pieces of content, so that- unless, for example, an entire publication is devoted to articles about GPS technology- two articles in a publication that mention it will independently introduce the full spelled-out version of an abbreviation on first reference. Note, too, that specialized publications will likely abbreviate all references to widely used terms in that specialty. Abbreviations consisting entirely of uppercase letters (including NY, US, FBI, and NASA) or that end with an uppercase letter (as in PhD) are not followed by a period; some publications retain periods in these types of abbreviations (at least two-letter ones), but that style is in decline. Abbreviations that end with a lowercase letter (a.m., Dr., i.e., etc.) are generally followed by a period. Acronyms (abbreviations of phrases using initial letters of each word to form new word, such as AIDS) are almost invariably styled in all capital letters, though some, such as laser and scuba, have lost their uppercase form, and Nasdaq is treated as a proper noun. Initialisms (abbreviations of phrases using initial letters of each word, each of which is pronounced, such as FBI) are also generally capitalized. When using an article before an abbreviation, choose a or an depending on the first sound, not the first letter, of the abbreviation: â€Å"an NBA [en-bee-ay] team† but â€Å"a NASA [nasa] program.† Avoid ampersands except in proper names (â€Å"Johnson Johnson†) and in widely known abbreviations (â€Å"RD,† for â€Å"research and development†). 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 Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Passed vs Past40 Synonyms for â€Å"Lie†50 Tips on How to Write Good

How to work hard without being a pushover

How to work hard without being a pushover If you’re like most of us, you’re dedicated to doing your absolute best at work- day in and day out- in order to prove to yourself, your colleagues, and to anyone else who’s paying attention that you not only deserve the position you’re in but that you have every intention of moving as high up your career ladder as possible. After all, who doesn’t like a hard worker? This often means that you not only give 100% effort on all of your work tasks and responsibilities, you also make every effort to help those around you- after all, smart employees know that a rising tide lifts all boats. It never hurts to gain a little good sentiment among coworkers, who hopefully see you as a strong link on the team chain and are more than willing to return the favor when needed. However, the truth is that this sort of good-natured and well-intentioned approach to work often comes at a price, and you may have to contend with an onerous species of colleague- the sort wh o will take advantage of your hard-working nature and use it to their self-centered advantage.Does this sound familiar? After spending countless hours toiling away on a long and involved project a scheming colleague swoops in out of nowhere and takes all the credit for your hard work. Does this sort of thing happen often to you? If so, don’t feel too defeated- the truth is, hard workers are often vulnerable to this bad behavior, as unscrupulous and infinitely lazier coworkers seek to capitalize on every opportunity to take advantage of the efforts of others. But that doesn’t mean you should sit idly by and let them take advantage of you.If you’d like to figure out some effective strategies for showing the world that you’re a hard worker who will routinely go above and beyond- but who will not be taken advantage of- consider taking advantage of the following steps.Step 1- DiagnoseThe first step to making positive change, if and when you feel as if you†™re hard work is being taken advantage of, is to recognize that there’s a problem. This often means realizing that there’s a pattern of poor behavior on the part of a colleague- after all, a one-time thing where someone received a little more credit on a work project than they deserved might just be a miscommunication or harmless mistake. But if it continues to occur repeatedly, then it’s a real problem. Once you recognize that there’s an issue, you can begin to mobilize a strategy for dealing with it head on.Step 2- ConfirmThe truth is, sometimes we’re our own worst witnesses to a situation that directly involves us. Why? Because we often simply lack the distance needed to have a completely rational perspective. As a result, it’s helpful in situations like these to either get a second opinion from a trusted colleague or, if not feasible, to try our best and take a step back from the situation in an effort to objectively confirm that what we think is happening actually is. After all, the last thing you want to do is accuse a colleague of taking advantage of your hard work when it isn’t really happening (talk about awkward!).Step 3- Confront (Carefully)For most people, this is the trickiest step, and for good reason. Once you’ve diagnosed and confirmed the problem, the only way to effect positive and lasting change is to confront the situation- but be sure to proceed with caution. There is a broad spectrum of approaches you can take, depending on how pervasive the situation is, as well as your relationship with the person in question and your position and standing at work- as well as theirs. After all, how you handle this situation if it was a subordinate taking advantage of your hard work vs. your boss behaving this way will likely be vastly different.This is why proceeding with caution is so essential. If feasible, try tactfully communicating your feelings regarding the situation to the person in quest ion. Best case scenario, with minimal effort you nimbly eradicate the bad behavior. If this approach fails, then it may be time to step up your efforts, but don’t jump from a 1 to a 10 on the assertiveness scale out of frustration- try incrementally more assertive approaches (we’re NOT endorsing doing anything that will put you or your job in jeopardy here) to send a clear signal that you will not sit by and idly accept your colleague taking advantage of your hard work. It may entail talking to your boss or the other person’s boss about the situation if all else fails, or trying to avoid working directly with them whenever possible.If it’s your boss or a superior who’s taking advantage of you, then the situation is even trickier. Simply put, you’re going to have tread lightly here. If your relationship with the superior in question is strong, you may stand a good chance of fixing the problem; if this isn’t the case, weigh your options and determine the approach that makes the most sense given your situation, always erring on the side of caution.Step 4- ChangeHow you behave moving forward will send a clear indication of how much others can treat you at work. Simply put, people are far less likely to try and take advantage of a colleague who radiates strength and confidence than someone who’s more meek and reserved. Continue your hard work and eagerness to be a team player, but start sending clear signals that you’re not a person to be underestimated or mistreated. Whenever possible, try and protect your work from the involvement of others, and claim fair credit for your work when you can. Trust us, if handled properly people will start to get the message and will think twice before trying to take advantage of you- you may even garner some newfound respect from others in your work orbit.

Corrosion Protection in Offshore Pipelines Essay

Corrosion Protection in Offshore Pipelines - Essay Example According to the research corrosion in offshore pipeline environments is a critical and unresolved issue for oil and gas industries. Due to the nature of subsea facilities and infrastructures, corrosive processes are more abundant and varied than their onshore counterparts. The maintenance and monitoring of such problems is also more expensive given the challenges of access and context of the location. The aggressive nature of sea environments leads to pipeline systems becoming vulnerable to corrosion from various internal and external forces such as chemical reactions induced by seawater composition. Currently there are several techniques used by oil and gas industries to combat offshore corrosion. Corrosion resistant alloys are often used to prevent corrosion, as well as certain pipeline coatings and cathodic protection of pipelines. Offshore monitoring is often executed as a preventative measure, via electrical resistance monitoring, electrochemical methods, hydrogen monitoring, w eight-loss coupons, non-destructive testing techniques and analytical techniques. Offshore pigging is also a common practice. Researching and investigating case histories is a crucial way in which industries may improve their knowledge of corrosion protection techniques. Overall, there are many diverse methods, various apparatuses, several technological platforms and a wide spectrum of concepts involved in preventing, combating, managing and monitoring corrosion in offshore pipeline environments. However, these measures alone do not guarantee corrosion protection. Further research and experimentation using cutting-edge technology must be used in order to fully mitigate this issue. Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION....................

Disclosure Laws in Real Estate, California Vs. Illinois Essay

Disclosure Laws in Real Estate, California Vs. Illinois - Essay Example The essay "Disclosure Laws in Real Estate, California Vs. Illinois" discusses the disclosure laws in California and Illinois residential real estate. They are not completely different, but they do have some distinct aspects. Both states require forms to be filled out. However, the liability completely falls on the shoulders of the seller in California, while in Illinois the liability for the property is not completely the seller’s responsibility. This is not altogether uncommon from Illinois residential property law, which also applies to the same amount of dwelling units. Additionally, within the disclosure forms of each state, any defects in the properties must be duly noted. This is confirmed by Galaty et. al. in the book Modern Real Estate Practice in Illinois.In law, liability is a serious issue. Liability is basically one’s financial and legal responsibility towards an issue - in this case, for the property. One’s financial liability with regards to propert y includes the fact that the person not only pays their property taxes on time but also pays all of the utilities. Additionally, financial liability with regard to any sort of property includes the fact that there must be a liability with regard to property loss. This is especially problematic in California, where any kind of property loss could preclude a financial liability investigation of such a loss. Legal responsibility with regard to property includes the fact that one must be responsible for any acts which occur on the property.

Criminal Justice Process Essay Example for Free

Criminal Justice Process Essay Juveniles are not extended the right to a jury of their peers. What is the most significant reason why this right is not extended to juveniles? Please explain in detail why you chose that particular reason. I do not think that there is only one significant reason as to why juveniles are not extended the right to a jury of their peers. I think that one of the multiple reasons for this right not being extended is because a jury has to be able to be responsible enough to actually show up, they have to be able to convict or not convict based on evidence beyond a reasonable doubt and be able to disregard any evidence or statements when a judge asks them to. I do not think that most juveniles are mentally, nor emotionally equipped to do deal with the responsibilities of being a part of a jury. Most juveniles are still immature and when someone’s life is at stake and their freedom can be taken away I do not think that having a â€Å"child† decide their fate is appropriate. Why do you believe that there are differences between the adult justice system and the juvenile justice system? Please explain in detail why you believe as you do? I believe there are differences between the adult justice system and the juvenile justice system because of the differences in age, experiences, knowledge, and maturity. The juvenile justice system focuses on the rehabilitation of the juvenile, whereas the adult justice system’s goal is to punish and obtain retribution for the crime(s) committed. Juvenile offenders are given sentences that seek to rehabilitate rather than punish. Some of the treatment options offered could include counseling and placement in juvenile institutions that were also created to help restore them. Adult offenders are given harsh sentences. The sentences given can include a fine and or incarceration in jail or prison. All of the sentences given are solely based on punishing the offender. The adult court system is primarily concerned with the offender paying for the damage that they have done to society and the courts isn’t interested in rehabilitating or trying to change the behavior of the offender. After reviewing this entire building in CJ Interactive, describe ways that you can use this interactive tool to improve your learning of criminal justice concepts. Describe in detail the ways you can use this tool to further your criminal justice education, identifying at least three specific ways you would use this tool. After reviewing the entire building in CJ Interactive, I was able to see how this tool will help my learning of criminal justice concepts. I am a visual and auditory learner and both of my learning styles are incorporated in the CJ Interactive tool. I was able to get a better understanding of many of the topics that we have discussed in class thus far. For example through this too I was able to get a better understanding of the differences between the adult and juvenile court systems as well as how crime is defined and measured. I will be able to use this tool as another way of learning and understanding the criminal justice system by using the glossary to learn the terms used to explain the criminal justice system and its process. I will also be able to use this tool to learn and understand the criminal justice system by utilizing the different ways information is given is given in CJ Interactive for example there are 14 buildings located in this learning tool and each building represents a different topic in criminal justice and gives us students access to different learning modules, myths and issues, simulation activities, homework and review, and glossary terms associated with each particular topic. I can see myself utilizing all of these resources as a way to better understand the criminal justice system, my assignments that I have to complete in class, and for me to just use to gain as much knowledge as I can about the different topics in criminal justice throughout my college career at Colorado Technical University.

The Presence of Darkness in James Baldwins Sonnys Blues Essay

The Presence of Darkness in James Baldwin's Sonny's Blues In the story Sonny's Blues the author, James Baldwin, uses the image of darkness quite frequently. He uses it first when the older brother (main character) talks about his younger brother Sonny. He says that when Sonny was younger his face was bright and open. He said that he didn't want to believe that he would ever see his "brother going down, coming to nothing, all that light in his face gone out." Meaning he had gone from good (clean and innocent) to bad ( giving into drugs like so many of the other young people). The older brother then goes on to talk about his students and how they had limited possibilities stating that "all they really knew were two darknesses, the darkness of their lives, which was know closing in on them, and the darkness of the movies, which had blinded them to that other darkness, and in which they now vindictively dreamed, at once more together than they were at any time and more alone." He believes that there is little opportunity for these kids to get out of the pretty much doomed future they have with drug addiction and crime being what it is in the city. There was one boy whistling through the "harsh, bright air," while the other boys were laughing in their unforgiving way. The brightness of this boys whistling could symbolise that some of them do get out and make something of themselves ( bright futures). The author then uses darkness to describe the faces of the adults on Sunday evenings after dinner when everyone is relaxing with their own thought's. "For a moment nobody's talking but every face looks darkening, like the sky outside...The silence, the darkness coming and the darkness in the faces frighten the child obscurel... ... way they are moving from the bad things all around them into the good, that is, the music. In this way they are in a way escaping from the darkness that is around them every day even if only for a short time. It's the only light they have. This is when the author uses the image of darkness for the last time. " For, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. There isn't any other tale to tell, it's the only light we've got in all this darkness." This supports that their music is the only thing that is totally good in their lives. With all the violence and despair that is around them all of the time, music is the only way they can free themselves. Work Cited Baldwin, James. "Sonny's Blues." The Norton introduction to Fiction. 6th ed. Ed. Jerome Beaty. New York: Norton, 1996. 47-70.

My mobile phone

My mobile phone – the ‘phone 5. My mobile phone is called the Iphone 5 and it is producted by Apple. It costs $850 plus taxes. I tried using it over the weekend and thought it was fantastic. I have given it four stars. This was a gift which my mother gave me on my birthday. Firstly, mobile phones are one of the most popular tools in life. There are many benefits when I use my mobile phone. It Is famous for Its light and application software. Before that, I used to have another smartphone, but it was very heavy. Now, when I have my favourite mobile phone, I eel that It Is better than the old one.It Is quick and convenient for me to call, text and keep In touch with each other despite long distances. In addition, It can help me surf the Internet easily and simply. It also helps users to find Information online, check emails, look up new words any time and anywhere. After a busy day, I can entertain myself through playing games, listening to music and reading newspapers. Th erefore, after doing so, I think that It Is necessary for me to study well. Secondly, although it has many good features, it also has some bad aspects egarding colour and battery.The ‘phone 5 has two colours black and white. You do not have many choices when you buy it. I bought the white one, but I think it looks monotonous and boring. It also has a problem with its battery. You cannot use it longer than 8 hours without recharging it. Sometimes it does not have enough battery for me to use when I have emergency situations. In general, my mobile phone is not bad if it is being used wisely. People use smartphone like accessory. It makes peoples' lives more enjoyable. It is a great and common mobile phone nowadays.

Business Studies – Investigating three shops

The following assignment investigates people and work at three different stores. The first is Sainsbury's Savacentre, a hypermarket located in Beckton. Very wide ranges of items are sold here, not just groceries but clothes and technology too. I have also chosen two specialist shops, each selling a product available in the hypermarket. I have selected ‘The Card Shop' as one of my specialist shops. This is a store, local to my area, specialising in the sale of greetings cards, one of the products made available by the hypermarket. In addition to this, I have chosen Kashmir Store as a specialist shop. This small family run business specialises in the selling of halal meat and certain Asian foods. The Savacentre hypermarket has recently begun to sell some of these products in-store. The aim of this report is to address certain key ideas related to work and industry. This assignment hopes to demonstrate the key ideas in a work environment. The principal key ideas tackled in this project are listed below. 1) There is an important relationship between the level of technology and the nature of work. 2) Workers in different industries are interdependent and modern industry is characterised by specialisation. 3) The way in which industry is organised has an important effect on job satisfaction. Key idea number one suggests that certain types of work require higher levels of technology than other types of work. For example, I would expect office workers to use more technology in the way of photocopiers and computers than builders who use less technology such as cement mixers. Key idea number two suggests that workers from different industries are interdependent. That is to say, the computer manufacturing industry is dependent on the retail industry to sell its product. One cannot survive without the other. Furthermore, the key idea states that modern industry is characterised by specialisation. This means that industry today is specialised and specific or fills a niche. Overall, this key idea implies that because industries are very specific, they may be limited and therefore need to be interdependent. This is analogous to a newspaper and a newsagent. The production of a newspaper is a specialised industry as is the newsagent. Both however are interdependent as the paper cannot be sold without the newsagent and the newsagent will suffer financially without the newspaper. Finally, the third key idea suggests that job satisfaction is influenced by the way in which industry is organised. Job satisfaction is a term to describe how much a person enjoys their job and finds it fulfilling. Industry organisation can lead to poor or very good job satisfaction. This can affect workers quite drastically. For example, poor job satisfaction may lead to inefficient work and high employee turnover, which is not good for the company or industry. In order to find out if these hypotheses are true for the retail industry and more importantly, for the shops that I have chosen, I will carry out two methods of investigation, a questionnaire and general observation. By collecting data using a questionnaire, a large sample can be targeted and answers compared amongst respondents. Due to time restrictions and work place limitations, a structured interview will not be employed. Instead, a questionnaire will be used so that staff can respond in their own time. However, questionnaires are rather limited in the types of data they generate. Boredom in filling out the forms can also lead to falsified results. To combat this, I will directly observe workers. This technique allows for study of behaviour in the ‘natural setting'. The interaction between workers can be studied, as can the behaviour and attitude of individuals. In an ideal situation, I would use participant observation instead but as it is unrealistic to take up employment in order to join the workers, I will just observe as a customer. I will carry out direct observation by visiting the stores and making notes on employee behaviour. I will then obtain questionnaire information by ringing the stores in question for permission to carry out my research. Once this has been established, I will visit the shops and then distribute questionnaires amongst the staff. The research will be carried out in this order to prevent staff from changing their behaviour after filling in their questionnaires.

Civil Rights of a Fetus - Law, Philosophy and Religion

Civil Rights of a Fetus - Law, Philosophy and Religion The Roe majority ruling of 1973 holds that the government has a legitimate interest in protecting potential human life, but that this does not become a compelling state interestoverriding the womans Fourteenth Amendment right to privacy, and her subsequent right to terminate her pregnancyuntil the point of viability, then assessed at 24 weeks. The Supreme Court did not state that viability is or is not when a fetus becomes a person; just that this is the earliest point at which it can be proven that the fetus has the capacity to have a meaningful life as a person. The Planned Parenthood v. Casey Standard In the Casey ruling of 1992, the Court scaled back the viability standard from 24 weeks to 22 weeks. Casey also holds that the state may protect its profound interest in potential life so long as it does not do so in a way that has the intent or effect of posing an undue burden on the womans right to terminate a pregnancy prior to viability. In Gonzales v. Carhart (2007), the Supreme Court held that a ban on live intact DX (partial birth) abortions does not violate this standard. In Fetal Homicide Statutes Laws that treat the murder of a pregnant woman as a double murder arguably affirm fetal rights in a statutory manner. Because the attacker has no right to terminate the womans pregnancy against her will, it could be argued that the states interest in protecting potential life is unrestricted in cases of fetal homicide. The Supreme Court has not ruled on the matter of whether fetal homicide, on its own, may constitute grounds for capital punishment. Under International Law The only treaty that specifically grants rights to fetuses is the American Convention on Human Rights of 1969, signed by 24 Latin American countries, which states that human beings have rights beginning at the moment of conception. The United States is not a signatory to this treaty. The treaty does not require that signatories ban abortion, according to the most recent binding interpretation. In Philosophy Most philosophies of natural rights would hold that fetuses have rights when they become sentient or self-aware, which presumes a neurophysiological definition of personhood. Self-awareness as we generally understand it would require substantial neocortical development, which seems to occur at or near week 23. In the premodern era, self-awareness was most often presumed to occur at quickening, which generally takes place around the 20th week of pregnancy. In Religion Religious traditions holding that personhood rests in the presence of a non-physical soul differ with respect to the question of when the soul is implanted. Some traditions hold that this occurs at the moment of conception, but most hold that this occurs much later in the pregnancy, at or near quickening. Religious traditions that do not include belief in a soul do not generally tend to define fetal personhood in explicit terms. The Future of Fetal Rights The conundrum posed by abortion rests in the tension between a womans right to terminate her pregnancy and the potential rights of the potential human being. Medical technologies currently under development, such as fetal transplantation and artificial wombs, could one day eliminate this tension, deprecating abortion in favor of procedures that terminate the pregnancy without harming the fetus.

How to Plan a Traditional Chinese Wedding

How to Plan a Traditional Chinese Wedding While Chinese weddings have become infused with Western wedding traditions, most Chinese weddings maintain some traditional cultural elements. Do you want to know how to plan a traditional Chinese wedding? From the engagement to the ceremony, heres what you should know. 1. Plan the Perfect Engagement As in Western culture, before a wedding, there must first be an engagement. In the past, most Chinese families relied on arranged marriages, but today, the majority of couples find their own match and marry for love. However, some elements of a traditional Chinese  wedding engagement remain intact. For example, the grooms family will typically send a betrothal gift to the brides family, which typically includes food and cakes. These gifts help seal the engagement. In addition to betrothal gifts, both the bride and grooms family will consult a fortune teller whose role is to help the family determine if the couple is compatible for marriage. The fortune teller will use various things such as names, birth dates, and time of birth to analyze compatibility. If all goes well, the couple will set a date for their marriage. 2. Choose the Right Dress For many Chinese women, picking the perfect wedding gown actually means picking three dresses. The typical traditional dress is called a qipao, which has been worn in China since the 17th century. Most women will wear one red qipao, a white Western-style gown, and a third ball gown throughout the night. The dresses are changed throughout the reception after courses are served. Some brides will even opt for a fourth dress, which they wear as they are saying their goodbyes as guests depart the wedding. 3. Invite Guests Traditional  Chinese wedding invitations are typically red and placed within a red envelope. Unlike the red envelopes used to give gifts of money, wedding invitation envelopes are typically wider and longer. The text is usually written in gold, which is a symbol of wealth in Chinese culture. Like in Western culture, the invitation features important information about the celebration. However, invitations are sometimes only mailed or hand presented several weeks or days before the wedding, as opposed to many months. The double happiness character, shuÄ ngxÇ Ã‚  (é›™åâ€"Å") is often written somewhere on the invitation. 4. Choose Decor Decorations at a typical Chinese wedding are usually provided by the reception venue. The Chinese character for happiness is often hung upside down as a symbol for the arrival of happiness. In addition to Chinese symbols, decor may include lights, candles, and flowers similar to those youd find at a typical Western wedding. Venues will often have a stage where the bridge and groom stands before the reception begins and while toasts are being made. Guests are not invited to the exchanging of vows, so the reception is the first time they see the couple.

Discusses a topical or current issue in microeconomics Essay

Discusses a topical or current issue in microeconomics - Essay Example Microsoft Corporation recently launched its latest innovation of the surface tablet at Windows 8 launch event with the aim of competing Google Inc and Apple Inc that are currently the main players in the computing market (Desai 46). Microsoft is attempting to reinvent the Windows personal computer in a new format to challenge Apple’s iPAD. It has twice the amount of storage capacity as the iPAD and costs the same price. The 32 GB Surface costs $499 while the full-sized iPAD of 16GB costs the same price. During its launch, Panos Panay, the head of the project demonstrated the tablet features such as the ultra thin cover that doubles up as the key board. He also dropped it on the floor to demonstrate its durability (Benassy-Quere 48). The question is to whether this innovation will convince consumers in this highly challenging economic time. According to Temi Reller, the finance and marketing director of Windows, 40 million licences of Windows 8 licences were sold in the first month. However, according to NPD research, Windows PC sales have dropped despite the release of the surface tablet (Desai 48). The sales have dropped by 21% by the 21st of October 2012 as compared to the 11th of November the previous year. The demand for windows 8 has not been commendable at all as remarked Asus CFO David Chang. In fact, Microsoft has had to reduce its order for Windows 8 down from four million to two million. During the time of Windows 7, it accounted to about 83% of PC sales. Today, only 58% of windows buyers opt for Windows 8. Despite the discrepancies, most marketers have elicited faith in the sales of these tablets. IHS iSuppli predicts over one million sales of the surface tablets in the last quarter of this year. In fact, the firm estimates a 1.3 million sale. It is undoubtedly a tough way forward for Microsoft to gain ground in the tablet market (Neely 46). The law of demand is experienced in

Career and Technical Education Challenges in the 21st Century Research Paper

Career and Technical Education Challenges in the 21st Century - Research Paper Example The career of a person is interdependent upon the field and area of the technical education he or she opts to select and get higher education. High schools play an essential and vital role for the career guidance of the students. In addition, they have developed into central body of interest and awareness for the improvement and development of the learning of the students (Sunal &Â  Mutua, pp. 1-9). The potential expectations of providing of career and technical education at the advanced level in the schools have come under many grave arguments and discussions on regional, and country levels. However, several countries and government are becoming conscious and aware about the tasks and job that a high school performs in the development of the career and technical education for a student, therefore, the program of study are coming under reformation as a part of the curriculum. The focus and emphasis by the high schools are on to the broad range of professional occupations that are in high-demand in the industry and that are high-earning careers. In addition, many of the advanced level schools are provide the students with the opportunity of exposure to these wide ranged professions existing in the world of commerce (Kazis &Â  Jobs for the Future, Inc & Aspen Institute, pp. 10-15). It can come under adequate conclusion that the tendency and ability of attainment, accomplishments and achievements augments for those students who receive career and technical education and learning in their schools of advanced level. In addition, as they pass out with better grades in contrast to the students who do not get the opportunities to have such teaching (Kazis &Â  Jobs for the Future, Inc & Aspen Institute, 23-30). As discrimination especially with the immigrants and minorities is one of the major factors that come under the experience in the professional world, but with the career and technical training offered and obtainable to them will lead to

Response Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Response Paper - Assignment Example Additionally, with an introduction of innovative Korean entertainment products such as Korean movies and television programs, the situation is more likely to improve. The writer, therefore, analyses the integration of Korean culture in Japan through the perspectives of Japanese women who are fans of Winter Sonata (Chua & Iwabuchi, 2008). In the article, the writer creates a social conflict by explaining the differing opinion in the perception of Korean culture. In this regard, the writer’s mother has a pre juristic hatred against Koreans living in Japan despite her having a strong preference for the Winter Sonata, a Korean based television drama. The writer is very concerned because she had many Korean friends, she had learned the Korean language and had at one time taught it to primary school students. Her mother on the other had had limited information on Korean culture, as well as limited interaction with Koreans (Chua & Iwabuchi, 2008). The writer is puzzled by the popularity of the Winter Sonata in Japan despite the Korean prejudice. In the research, the author evaluated the differences among the Sonata fans. In addition, the writer also examined on the reason behind Sonora’s high popularity in middle-aged and elderly women. The author questions as to whether the show can be used to transform the negative perception of Korean culture by the Japanese society. Traditionally, the Japanese society had undermined the Korean culture due to historical reasons that are dated back in the early 1940s during the Second World War. Political and social injustices of the Korean society by Japan worsened the situation. In spite of this, the Korean culture has popularized a contemporary modern culture that is acceptable to Japanese culture. In this regard, the writer appreciates the role of Korean films, contemporary Korean music and international events (including the 2002 FIFA World Cup) as the main cornerstones of promoting integration of Korean society in

A Critical Review Essay Politics Essay

A Critical Review Essay Politics Essay Arend dAngremond Lijphart born in Apeldoom, the Netherlands is a world renowned political scientist specializing in comparative politics, elections and voting systems, democratic institutions and ethnicity and politics Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behaviour within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporation, academia, and religion institutions. He is currently Research Professor Emeritus of Political Science Political science is a social science concerned with the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior.at the University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego is a public research university in San Diego, California, California. The schools campus contains 694 buildings and is located in the La Jolla, San Diego, California community.His work has focused on the broader contrasts between majoritarian and consensus democracies. The origin of this article under review was an invitation Lipjhart received to deliver at the Stein Rokkan Lecture, Joint Sessions of Workshops of the European Consortium for Political Research in Leiden on April 3rd, 1993 (Lipjhart 1994a). He uses this opportunity to present a report at that time on the latest phase of his work-in-progress a large-scale project, on which he has been working since the early 1980s, that attempts the systematic mapping of the worlds democracies in terms of their principal institutional characteristics. My purpose is to demonstrate if there is one best model of democracy while evaluating the approach Lipjhart has taken. Part of the argument has already been offered by Lipjhart (1994a), and this paper builds on his work. I will demonstrate his strengths while explaining the various forms of democratic methods proportional representation, consensus and majoritarian including implications of his weaknesses. Sartori (1968:273) adequately summarises the electoral system as the most specific manipulative instrument of politics. Democracies: Forms, Performance and Constitutional Engineering Lipjhart (1994a) argues that the choice between majoritarian electoral systems and proportional representation (PR) systems, there exists an exchange, as both are good forms of democracy but there is better minority representation in proportional representation systems and with the majoritarian system it leads to effective government. While Lijphart advocated consociationalism primarily for societies deeply divided along ethnic, religious, ideological, or other divisions, he sees consensus democracy as appropriate for any society. Lipjhart (1994a) strongly suggested that the government by the people or, democracy, as stated by Abraham Lincoln, is an ideal rather than a precise form of governmental procedures and goals. Lijpharts (1994a) article compares the two basic models of democracy: majoritarian or Westminster as used in the United Kingdom and New Zealand and consensus which is used in major Western European nations such as Switzerland. He goes on to state that each of these models use a different approach of an electoral model at how to best represent the citizens. In consequence one may ask, is it more democratic to delegate policy-making power to the majority only or is it better to include minorities, as well? (Lipjhart, 1994a:2) Lipjhart (1994a:2) defines the majoritarian model is characterized by a one party majority executive; an executive that predominates over the legislature; a two party system; a one dimensional party system (in which the two main parties differ primarily on socio-economic issues); a disproportional electoral system; and a pluralist interest group system. This maintains that majority rule comes closer to the democratic ideal than a government responsive to a minority. Furthermore, Lipjhart (1994a:2) states that the other type of electoral system, the consensus democracy has the opposite six characteristics: multiparty coalition executives; executive legislative balance; a multi party system; a multi-dimensional party system (in which the parties differ on issues in addition to socio-economic issues, for example, on religious, rural-urban and foreign policy issues); more or less proportional electoral outcomes; and a corporatists interest group system. He contends that majoritarian system when compared to the consensus form of government is a result of the more divided a country is, the more it is a plural society- the more consensual its form of democracy tends to be (Lipjhart 1994a:2) while countries with a British political colonial past adopted the majoritarian model. Lipjhart (2000:4) then extends his comparative analysis to plurality versus proportional representational systems. Here he analyses 13 advanced industrial democracies with parliamentary systems of government, contrasting four that use majoritarian election methods and nine that use proportional representational methods. He argued three main points: He then goes on to use the same performance variables comparing consensus versus majoritarian democracy where he concludes that Western European democracies with their consensus democracies have superior political representation while arguing that the majoritarian democracies are not performing better economically and that concentrating political power in the hands of a narrow majority can promote unified, decisive leadership and fast decision making (Lipjhart 1994a:11-12). Lipjharts findings are in a particular time period and he argues (1994a:12) the special advantage because of the 1990s are not only the decade of democratization but also the decade of renewed ethnic conflict, and because ethnic divisions are generally deeper and more severe in the democratizing world than in the world of established democracies. In the end his evidence points to consensus oriented political cultures are a strong counterforce to the majoritarian institutional conservatism and they provide fertile soil for the consensus model of democracy (Lipjhart 1994a:15). There are many good arguments that Lipjhart (1994a) makes using his methods of analysis and illustrated evidence. The first benefit of Lipjharts paper, Schmidt (1997) agrees with Lipjhart and what he addresses to be a truly significant topic of political science, comparative politics and that the article focuses the attention with a precisely stated and highly relevant research question Lipjhart (1994a:1) what can the new democracies of and democratizing countries of Eastern Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa learn from Western Europe?. Schmidt (1997) supports Lipjharts claims, which centres on the concentration of the relationship between constitutional structures and forms of democracy while Lipjhart measures political performance. Schmidt (1997:194) comments that this question is related to a recurrent topic in political science: which political system is more advanced than others in coping with social, economic and political problems and why? Lipjhart (1994a:1) answers this indispensible task in representative democracies is performed by the electoral system- the set of methods for translating the citizens votes into representatives seats. Thus the electoral system is the most fundamental element of representative democracy. Lipjhart (1994a:3) further states the conventional wisdom is that there is a trade off between consensus and majoritarian democracy where he goes on to comment consensus democracy provides more accurate representation and in particular, better minority representation and protection of minority interests while majority governments produced by majoritarian election methods are more decisive, and are more effective policy-makers. Similarly, Sartori (1997:8) states that the major factor establishing the proportionality or disproportionality of the proportional representation (PR) is the size of the constituency, where size is measured by the number of members that each district elects. So and regardless of the mathematical fine points, the larger the constituency, the greater the proportionality. Hence allowing for better representation. While Schmidt (2002:148) agrees however, the view that the English-speaking democracies (regardless of whether the Westminster model or the checks-and-balances model is concerned) are superior is no longer regarded as tenable. The second argument in favour of this (1994a) article, Schmidt (1997:195) applauds Lipjhart on the quality of the research design, the methodology and the empirical results. Schmidt (1997:195) argues in contrast to more traditional case-oriented theories of the ideal state, Lipjhart (1994a) addresses the research question within the framework of an empirical comparative analysis of 21 constitutional democracies. Moreover, the work builds on extensive research, such as his 1984 book, Democracies, not to mention numerous articles on related topics. In substantive terms, Lijphart demonstrates significant commonalities as well as differences between various democracies, such as those between consensus democracies and majoritarian democracy. The third merit of the article By Schmidt (1997:195) is due to the successful effort on the part of Lijphart to bring work on more formal institutions state structures and constitutional structures back into the investigation of public policy and policy outcomes. Following his own impressive research in comparative politics, Lijphart does this within the context of a comparative framework. Lijpharts article inspires other scholars in the field to follow more closely the avenue of a more fully integrated comparative analysis of the relationships between institutions and public policy choices. Finally, Schmidt (1997:195) states that the author derives relevant recommendations for purposes of constitutional engineering from his analysis. Pointing to the weaknesses and strengths of the various forms of democracies, the author has lessons to offer not only for constitution building in established democracies, but also for new political systems such as the new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe. This demonstrates in a particularly convincing manner that high quality political science can generate high quality policy advice. However, this discussion is not without flaws and by careful examination and review of perspectives which might have been neglected by Schmidt (1997) support for Lipjhart (1994a), the following will include theoretical perspectives ignored and exaggerated claims not fully supported by argument or evidence. As Geddes (1990:132) states the effort here is not to discredit arguments or belittle authors, who are, after all, working within accepted conventions-but to demonstrate the deficiencies of the conventions. Discussion First, Schmidt (2002:148) states majoritarian democracies were long regarded as more stable, fitter for survival even under adverse circumstances such as during the interwar period and World War II, and better at problem solving. That belief largely mirrored the survival of the English speaking democracies in the 1920s and 1930s as opposed to the breakdown of a wide variety of democratic states and the rise of Fascism in Italy and of National Socialism in Germany and Austria in this period. Questioning this statement, according to consociationalist empirical democratic theory, such as that put forward by Lijphart (1999) and Lehmbruch (1975), negotiation democracies are often of equal strength and sometimes stronger than their majoritarian counterparts. There is little evidence and inaccuracy to state one is better than other from the evidence that is put forward by Lipjhart (1994a). Infact Satori (1997:69) states the necessary condition for the successful working of a consociational democracy is an elite cooperation whose intent counters the disintegrative tendencies of their society; but this necessary and most crucial condition disappears in the definition of consensus democracy. Second, Sartori (1997:69) argues there is a false belief that proportional systems are inherently superior to majoritarian systems and therefore that they are always to be preferred. He (Satori 1997:73) also states that in the pure form of PR generally backfires; and in the extremist package recommended by Lipjhart its defects boomerang and PR may turn out to be the kiss of death. Sartori (1997:28) thus as a result states once an electoral arrangement is in place, its beneficiaries protect their vested interests and struggle to go on playing the game by the rules they know. Third, another unproven claim by Lipjharts (1994a) article about the two types of electoral systems, he does not go into detail on the discussion of Duvergers laws and is very uncritical of those laws. Maurice Duverger was the first author to address the effects of electoral systems. Duverger as stated by Sartori (1997:29) formulated two laws, the first one states that plurality (majoritarian) systems tend to party dualism while the second law asserts that PR tends to mutlipartism, i.e., that it has a multiplying effect. Saroti was setting up his evidence to show the weakness of Duvergers laws in relation to Lipjharts views in the (1994a) article under review. Sartori (1997:30) goes on to demonstrate that weakness by stating Duverger assumes that a causal relation can be deduced from a correlation; that is to say, he misses the difference between cause of and associated with' while in the second law, he states a causal generalization is verifiable if and only if, the cause and the effect are clearly specified, whereas the effect of Duvergers first law (party dualism) defies underpinning, and the effect of his second law (multipartism) also suffers from excessive imprecision. Sartori comments that Duvergers laws are not consistent and that he can be easily use his evidence to fit his purpose. Sartori (1997:31) states the bottom line is, then, that a law is required to declare more than a regularity and cannot consist of a mere generalization. Furthermore, since a law stands so long as it is not falsified, it must be formulated so as to permit empirical confirmation or refutation. Fourth, consensus democracies are not necessarily better at policy formulation and implementation. Schmidt (2002:150) argues they are also faced with certain problems such as challenges requiring swift response, the rapid development of political alternatives and rapid decision making tend to overburden the consensus democracies. And so, too, do challenges which require the capacity to design and implement significant policy changes. Due to the large number of participants in policy deliberation and decision making, consensus democracies usually need longer periods of time to reach a consensus or initiatives may even get stuck in a blocked decision-making process. Schmidt (2002:150) adds a further weakness of consensus democracies lies in the lower transparency of the process of deliberation and decision making as well as the indistinct accountabilities of the participants in the negotiations. These deficits often are overlooked in the comparison of political performance levels of majoritarian and consensus democracies. Sartori (1997:72) argues if you reward divisions and divisiveness (and this is precisely what proporz and veto power do), you increase and eventually heighten divisions and divisiveness. In the end, then, Lipharts machinery may well engender more consensus-breaking than consensus-making. Fifth, in contrast to majoritarian democracies there is incomplete arguments made, Lipjhart (1994:11) argues that consensus democracy with regard to minority representation and democratic quality is not surprising because consensus democracy may be said to be designed so as to achieve more accurate representation of interests and broad participation in decision-making. While Powell (2000:234) comments that concentrated power is valued by majoritarians for enabling elected governments to carry out their promises (mandates) and for giving voters clear information about responsibility for government actions (accountability). Unless public opinion is very homogenous, however, concentrating power in the hands of the government will be detrimental to the normative principle of giving proportional influence to agents of all the electorate, which is the process most valued by the alternative vision. Sixth, another factor against consensus democracy is that some perform better than others. Schmidt (2002:149) argues other blind spots also include the asymmetric availability of performance data, with less systematic coverage of democracies in economically less-advanced states as a major gap, as well as the tendency to overlook both the imperfections of all consensus democracies and the wide range of variation in policy performance among consensus democracies. Powell (2000:52) argues clarity of responsibility is greatest when a single, unified political party controls both the national legislature and chief executive. If control of these critical policy-making points is dispersed among various parties or among individuals not firmly connected by political parties, then it will be much harder for citizens to determine who should bear the responsibility for policy success or failure and to use their electoral resources effectively as instruments for reward or retribution. Seventh, another weakness of Lijphart, is that he uses different concepts of democracy. Van Schendelen (1981:8) states in his first book, he refers to the election process, in the second (Democracies of Plurality) to Dahls concept of polyarchy. Between the two there exist, of course, important differences: for Dahl elections are only one element of polyarchy among many. Van Schendelen (1981:8) further states in his first conceptualization Lijphart leaves open the possibilities that political parties fully control the recruitment of candidates for an election; that in the interelection period the relationships between electors and elected are almost non-existent or antagonistic; that elites opinions and behaviour are non-representative of the peoples demands; and that elite-politics is full of secrecy and immune to popular control. Eighth, while Lipjhart focuses on certain countries for his research, Barbara Geddes (1990:131) states that there is a problem with selecting cases for study when the dependent variable originates from the logic of explanation. She (1990:131) further states when one sets out to explain why countries A and B have, say, developed more rapidly than countries C through G, one is implicitly looking for some antecedent factors X through Z that countries A and B possess, but that countries C through G do not. Geddes (1990) argues that the crux of the difficulty that arises when cases are selected on the dependent variable is that if one studies only countries A and B, one can collect only half the information needed, namely what A and B have in common which is what Lipjhart (1994a) does. She (1990:131) goes on to state unless one also studies countries C through G (or a sample of them) to make sure they lack factors X through Z, one cannot know whether or not the factors identified are cruc ial antecedents of the outcome under investigation. Countries A and B may be the only countries that have X through Z, in which case the hypothesis seems plausible. But many other countries may also have them, in which case the hypothesis would seem dubious. Schmidt (2002:148) clearly states one result of comparative studies of the behaviour, output and outcome of democracies has been that simple generalizations do not fit. According to Lijphart (1994a), no significant difference exists between the two types of democracies with respect to macro-economic policy outcomes and law-and-order-management. However, when it comes to softer political issues, consensus democracy turns out to be the winner. As a group, consensus democracies, Lijphart (1994a) argues, they perform better than majoritarian democracies in the protection of minorities, voter turnout, income equality and ratings of democratic quality. Schmidt (2002:151) continues with his discussion stating this finding is undoubtedly preliminary, and future work will require more detailed analysis of the impact of alternative explanations and control variables. However, the major point in this context is that Lijphart (1994a) has asked the right questions, such as do forms of democracy make a difference to policy outputs and policy outcomes and, if so, to what extent? Moreover, Schmidt (2002:151) continues his discussion the research published from many academics thus far has already produced fresh evidence on the costs and benefits of governmental systems with different political arrangements and different forms of democracy in particular. In contrast to this, policy deliberation in a non-majoritarian democracy is frequently characterized by extended bargaining, time-consuming searches for compromises and circuitous attempts to develop a political consensus such features are not at all suitable to politics as a spectacle (Edelm an 1988). Finally, Schmidt (2002:151) says the higher level of transparency and accountability of majoritarian democracies also weighs in their favour. Political leaders in a majoritarian democracy are more exposed and accountable to the general public, while responsibility and accountability in non-majoritarian systems often tends to evaporate in the countless networks typical of a negotiation democracy. Satori (1997:72) adds consociational democracy is a cross-pressured system held together by countervailing, solidaristic elites bent upon neutralizing the centrifugal pulls of their societies; consensus democracy is, instead, a one way slope that leads to a self-reinforcing system of minority appetites. CONCLUSION The catalogue of collected criticisms raised against Lijpharts views demonstrates at least one thing: his views are widely and fundamentally contested. But it also demonstrates that Lijpharts views have been taken seriously and that they have at least provoked critical debate and analysis among scholars. This critical inquiry attests to the substance and importance of Lijpharts efforts. I agree with Sartori (1997) where he states Lijphart seems to be more concerned about the applicability or the engineering potential of his theory than about its political science validity. If, along the basic lines of his essential views, democratic stability could be realized in highly unstable countries, then the theory may be weak, but not wrong. In consequence, Edelman (1985:2) states in their obsession with the state, men are of course obsessed with themselves. If politics is as complicated and ambivalent as the men who create it, it is to be expected that its institutions and forms should take on strong meanings: meanings that men cue and teach each other to expect and that are vital for the acquiescence of the general public in the actions of elites and therefore for social harmony. I support Lipjharts consociational democracy as it presents us with a challenging and provocative point of view. But, at the present time, it provides less than is needed for solid prescriptions for deeply divided societies anxiously searching for stable democracy. Perhaps, after rigorous analysis and evaluation, it might lead us to answers for problems confronting such societies. Any answers it might provide would certainly be highly valued by those who seek a stable, democratic political system.

The local labour market :: Business and Management Studies

The local labour market Whilst looking into the local labour market, I have decided to study some of the figures from the national statistics and look into how WPA would use them if they needed to recruit new employees both locally and nationally. Resident population and age The resident population of west Somerset, as measured in the 2001 census, was 35,075, of which 47 percent were male and 53 percent were female. The majority of the population in west Somerset are aged 30 to 59 with 38.3 percent of the population being in this age group. This is slightly less than the percentage of 41.5 percent in the age group of 30 to 59 in England and Wales. .6 percent of people in west Somerset and aged 16 to 19 compared to 4.9 percent of people in England and Wales. There is a very minimal difference, therefore if WPA wanted 16 to 19 year olds as they have just finished school and may be going into full time or part time work, west Somerset has almost the same percentage of this age group. If WPA wanted school leavers they could look locally and have the same number of people on average from that age group. Health and provision of care In west Somerset, 64.7 percent of people asked said they would describe their health as good, this is only slightly less than the percentage of people in England and Wales with 68.6 percent. In west Somerset however 25.5 percent of people would describe their health as fairly good this is higher than the national average of 22.2 percent. West Somerset had a higher percentage of people who had a long-term illness with 22.3 percent, the national average is 18.2 percent. If WPA were to use this information they could see that 90.2 percent of people in West Somerset said they had good or fairly good health, but 90.8 percent of people as a national average said they had good or fairly good health, this tells WPA that people living in Somerset have good health so they would have a very large selection of people living in Somerset who have a good or fairly good health to choose from, they could therefore attempt to recruit locally then if they are unsuccessful they can then recruit nationally where there is only 0.6 percent more people who said they had good or fairly good health. Economic activity – unemployment Unemployment rates are lower with 2.9percent in West Somerset compared to a national average of 3.4 percent. This means that there may not be a large selection of qualified people in the West Somerset area so WPA

Agricultural economics

Department of Economics, Punjabi University, Patiala (Punjab), India. E-mail: 2Assistant Professor, Department of Distance Education, Punjabi University, Patiala (Punjab), India. E-mail: Abstract: A progressive agriculture serves as a powerful engine of economic growth of any country. It helps in initiating and sustaining the development of other sectors of the economy. In view of this, after independence the Government of India adopted a positive approach and specific programmes like new agriculture technology were introduced. Indian farmers being poor were not in a position to buy these expensive inputs.Then the Indian Government started the scheme of subsidies on the purchase of various agriculture inputs to facilitate the farmers. Subsidies are often criticized for their financial burden, on the other hand there is a fear that agriculture production and income of farmers would decline if subsidies are curtailed. The findings indicate that the increasing rate of total subsidies (f ertilizers, electricity and irrigation) is higher than gross cropped area (GCA) during pre, first as well as second phase of liberalization periods.There is a lot of variation to find out the relationship between gross cropped area (GCA) and in total subsidies in zones throughout the study period. The present study suggests that Government should keep aside its motive to please voters or strengthen the vote bank, it should frame rational policy in which small size category farmers, who are not actual beneficiaries of subsidies, could get more and subsides, which they do not want should be withdrawn.Keywords:-agriculture, electricity subsidy, fertilizers subsidies, irrigation subsidy, productivity. I. Introduction The socio – economic structure, which prevailed prior to the British rule in the country, resulted in the organization of self-sufficient villages. It has been maintaining some kind of static equilibrium. The Indian peasant, though not properly educated, has adequate experience of farming systems and he has been dependent on it for the means of living.The Royal commission of Agriculture in India observed that both the methods of cultivation and social organization exhibit that settled order which is characteristic of all countries in which the cultivating peasant has long lived in and closely adapted himself to the conditions of a particular environment. The Indian agrarian economy on the eve of independence was critical in situation. It could be characterized totally primitive, deteriorative and turbulent.After partition, the country is left with 82 per cent of the total population of undivided India as well as only with 69 per cent of land under rice, 65 per cent under wheat and 75 per cent under all cereals. The deficiency of food grains is quite alarming and aggravating at that time (Chahal, 1999). In view of this, after independence tremendous efforts are made to boost the economy through agriculture as one of the tools for development.The Government of India adopted a more positive approach and hence a well definedpolicy of integrated production programmes with defined targets and a proper distribution programme is adopted along with other measures for the overall economic development of the country. Specific programmes like new agriculture technology are introduced to convert agriculture into a successful and prosperous business, to bring more land under cultivation and to raise agriculture production. In India, the adoption of new agricultural technique is costly than that of traditional method of cultivation.In traditional method, inputs are least expensive, on the other hand, inputs in modern technology like high yielding varieties of seeds, fertilizers, farm mechanization and irrigation are very costly and Indian farmers being poor are not in a position to buy these expensive inputs. Then on the recommendations of food grain price committee (Jha Committee), the Government of India started the scheme of subsidie s on purchase of various agriculture inputs to facilitate the farmers (Singh, 1994).Subsidies have occupied agricultural economists for a long time because they are pervasive in agriculture, even though they are often applied in ways that benefit mostly richer farmers, cause inefficiencies, lead to a heavy fiscal burden, distort trade, and have negative environmental effects. Agricultural subsidies can play an important role in early phases of agricultural development by addressing market failures and promoting new technologies (Fan, 2008).All of these subsidies by reducing the prices of the inputs, served in the initial stages of green revolution, as incentives to the farmers for adopting the newly introduced seed-cum-fertilizer technology. These helped in raising the agricultural output, after some time, the amount paid on these subsidies began to rise. The input subsidies have often been accused of causing most harmful effect in terms of reduced public investment in agriculture o n account of the erosion of investible resources, and wasteful use of scarce resources like water and Agricultural Subsidies In India Boon Or Cursewww. iosrjournals. org 41 | Page power. Further, apart from causing unsustainable fiscal deficits, these subsidies by encouraging the intensive use of inputs in limited pockets have led to lowering the productivity of inputs, reducing employment elasticity of output through the substitution of capital for labour and environmental degradation such as lowering of water tables. (Gulati, 2003).In India, at present centre as well as state governments are providing subsidies on fertilizers, irrigation (canal water), electricity and other subsidies to marginal farmers and farmers’ cooperative societies in the form of seeds, development of oil seeds, pulses, cotton, rice, maize and crop insurance schemes and price support schemes etc. Out of these subsidies, the Central Government of India provides indirect subsidies to farmers on the purc hase of fertilizers from 1977, whereas state governments are providing subsidies on irrigation as well as on electricity (Government of Punjab, Agriculture Department, Chandigarh).Review of literature of the past theory and practice is necessary when conducting any research work. Sharma, (1982) examined the impact of agricultural subsidies on national income and agricultural production. For this purpose the author used the time period from 1970-71 to 1981-82 and a general equilibrium model. The study revealed that during this period, agricultural subsidies affected the national income and agriculture production positively. Gupta, (1984) tried to analyse the agricultural subsidies in India from 1970-71 to 1982- 83.The author used linear regression model. The study showed that during this period, the use of agricultural subsidies increased at faster rate but there was a large inter-state disparity. Sharma, (1990) revealed in this study that subsidies have become unsustainable. In orde r to release resources for higher investments in the agricultural sector, large scale price and institutional reforms are needed to relieve the pressure of subsidies on the exchequer. Gulati, (2007)reviewed the trends in government subsidies and investments in and for Indian agriculture.The author suggested that to sustain long-term growth in agricultural production and therefore provide a long-term solution to poverty reduction, the government should cut subsidies of fertilizer, irrigation, Power and credit and increase investments in agricultural research and development, rural, infrastructure and education. Promoting non-farm opportunities are also important. From the above studies, it may conclude that agriculture subsidies are a worldwide phenomenon.Some studies showed the distribution pattern of agriculture subsidies in different countries and in different states of India. Whereas some studies showed the impact of agriculture subsidies on income of farmers of different states of India, on agriculture production, on gross cropped area, on cropping pattern etc. Subsidies are often criticized for their financial burden. Some researchers assert to the extent that these should be withdrawn in a phased manner, such a step will reduce the fiscal deficit, improve the efficiency of resources use, funds for public investment in agriculture.On the other hand, there is a fear that agriculture production and income of farmers would decline if subsidies are curtailed. These are very important issues, which need serious investigation. Subsidies are often criticized for their financial burden. The objectives of the present study are to study the growth and distribution of agricultural subsidies in India, to study the impact of agricultural subsidies in India, to suggest ways and means for giving agricultural subsidies to farmers of India.The present study is related to agricultural subsidies in India from 1980-81 to 2008-09. In this study agriculture subsidies of fertil izers, electricity, irrigation (canal water), seeds, machinery etc. are discussed during pre-liberalisation period (1980-81 to 1985-86), first phase of liberalisation period (1990-91 to 1996-97) as well as during second phase of liberalisation period (2000-01 to 2008-09). For analysing the growth and distribution pattern of agriculture subsidies, five zones i. e.south zone (includes Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep), west zone (includes Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Goa, Daman and Diu and Dadra Nagar Haveli), east zone (Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal), north zone (Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Chandigarh) and north-east zone (Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Sikkim) have been taken.II. Gross Cropped Area in India Land is the fundamental basis for the most of the huma n or natural activities and is one of the major natural resources on earth. Agricultural productivity is entirely dependent on the availability of suitable land (State of Environment Punjab – 2007). In India, there are competing demands of area available for cultivation from increase in rural habitations, forestation, urbanisation and industrialisation.Consequently, gross cropped area in the country has registered a rapid deceleration in its growth over time (Bhalla, 2009). In this section, an attempt is made to analyse the gross copped area (GCA), total subsidies, fertilizers, electricity and subsidies at India as well as zone levels. The gross cropped area (GCA) in India during 1980-81 to 2006-07 is shown in table 1. This table reveals the west zone got topmost position, followed by north zone, south zone, east zone and north-east zone throughout the study period.In India, GCA has shown variations i. e. it has increased from 1,73,324 thousand hectares in 1980-81 to 1,85,403 thousand hectares in 1990-91 and further increased to 1,88,601 thousand hectares in 1996-97, it has declined to 1,86,565 thousand hectares in 2000-01 and further declined to 1,75,678 thousand hectares in 2006-07. As zone-wise analysis shows that in west zone, the GCA has Agricultural Subsidies In India Boon Or Curse www. iosrjournals. org 42 | Page increased from 69,882 thousand hectares in 1980-81 to 75,659 thousand hectares in 1990-91 and further increased to 78,097 thousand hectares in 1996-97 and declined to 72,833 thousand hectares in 2006-07.In north zone, it has increased from 38,806 thousand hectares in 1980-81 to 42,132 thousand hectares in 1996-97 and declined to 39,780 thousand hectares in 2006-07, whereas in south zone, the GCA has increased from 32,363 thousand hectares in 1980-81 to 34,688 thousand hectares in 1990-91 and further increased to 35,333 thousand hectares in 1996-97 and declined to 35,271 thousand hectares in 2000-01 and again increased to 36,368 thousand hectares in 2006-07.In east zone, the GCA has increased from 27,514 thousand hectares in 1980-81 to 28,741 thousand hectares in 1990-91 and declined to 27,416 thousand hectares in 1996-97 and further declined to 20,246 thousand hectares in 2006-07, on the hand the GCA has increased from 4,759 thousand hectares in 1980-81 to 5,163 thousand hectares in 1985-86 and further increased to 6,451 thousand hectares in 2006-07 in north-east zone. Agricultural economics Agriculture is defined as â€Å"the cultivation of land for the purpose of producing food for man, feed for animal and fibre or raw material for industrial companies. It also includes the processing marketing of crops. In other words, it embraces all activities involved in the primary and controlled production of plant and animals, such as fishing, forestry, farming, livestock, poultry and small scale industries connected with processing of agricultural products. The agricultural sector forms the background of Nigeria economy despite concerted effort in industralisation.Agriculture occupies the pride place as the source of livelihood for over 70 percent of the population. It is recognized as a pre-requisite to economic development. With large scale dependence on agriculture for food, raw-material for industries etc, one would expect production to increase, rather it is disheartening to note that this is not the case. Agriculture has suffered some neglect due to lack of investment si nce the inception of oil boom in 1970. In fact, Nigeria is experiencing a decline in the space of agricultural production in general, this situation is causing a great concern to the government.Throughout the 1960s, Agriculture contributed 61. 5%. in the 1970s, it declined miserably be 2. 3%. This decline may be attributed to the domination of the nations export by oil since 1970 which accounted for 57. 6% of total export income and rose steadily, attaining an overwhelming proportion of 98% in 1981. As a result there was an absolute neglect in agriculture to both God (Gross Domestic Product) and export earnings which has been the major factor dictating the need to reactivate our agricultural products.The need for this re-activity and in effort to revamp this sector has been the reason for raising budgetary allocation in recent years to it. It rose from 6% in 1970s to 22% in 1984. this increase acts as incentive and motivation to farmers, but these farmers while engaging in these agr icultural ventures are exposed to a lot of problem like diseases and pest attacks, fire destructions, industrial pollution, machinery breakdown and other problems. To these problems, the farmers need some aids in solving or minimizing them. Finance has been one of themost significant problems in the expansion of agricultural production. This was as a result of the neglect of the agricultural sector following the oil boom of 1970s, when the oil sector become a major aspect of the Nigerian’s foreign exchange earning. This contributed to the inadequate funding of the agricultural sector unlike before the boom. Also the establishment of industries in the urban areas during the 1990 – 1994 National Development plan to boast industrialization drew the rural populace with constitute the farming population to urban cities for search of white color jobs.A stage has reached, that average Nigerians are now underfed. In the words of or P. N. C. Akimbo in 1990 â€Å"The average Ni gerian consumed on the average, some 20. 23 calories per day and 56. 46 grammes of protein per day compared to the food and agricultural organization (FAO)minimum of 21. 91 calaries and 53. 8 grammes of protein. The average Nigerian was and still, is among the worst fed in the world.As a result of these situations; the successive Nigerian Governments showed concern over the decline situation of Agricultural production through policies and programmes aimed at revamping the agricultural production in attempt to encourage increase food production â€Å"The federal Government in 1993 tried the National Accelerated food production in programme (NAFPP) during the General Yakulu Gowon’s regime; Under the leadership of General Obasanjo, the Operation feed the Nation programme â€Å"(OFN) in 1976; Green Revolution came up under President Shehu Shagari and Directorate of food Road and Rural infrastructure under the regime of General Basangida regime. Neither of these measures halted the Agricultural decline or any lasting effect on food production.This is because â€Å"little or no meaningful attempt has been made to change the under developed status of the rural dwellers notwithstanding that these people constitute about 95 percent of the total population engaged in Agricultural in Nigeria. It has been attributed that inadequate funding of agricultural project and programme has contributed in large measures to the government low production of Agriculture in Nigeria, and the government and other financial institutions forms the major sources of finance for Agriculture though policies and programmes. Then what role and impact has the central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as the bank at the apex of Nigeria Banking system, (Bank of last resort, bank to the government and Banker to other banks)† played to reinforce the government policies or revamp the agricultural sector of the economy.The under – developed characteristic of the Nigerian economy has made the central Bank of Nigeria to be activity involved in the promotion of rapid economic development of other sector especially agriculture through its development roles unlike in developed economics where the role of central Bank is restricted to development of the financial system. According to Dr Belshaw in his book entitled â€Å"Agricultural credit in economically under-developed countries he wrote that â€Å"in respect of agricultural credit, a central Bank has an important part to play by helping to establish, strengthen and promote the extension of commercial banking facilities and agricultural credit institutions. Professor G.Nwankwo also wrote â€Å"it for instance mistaken to think and believe that only the function of a central Bank is to control or regulate the financial system; it was not conoinced nor thought to be an appropriate function that a central Bank also has to the task of developing the financial system if non existed and of organizing and mobilization of reso urces for development. To this end, the central Bank of Nigeria embarked on some programmes and policies to curb the under economic development and low trend in agricultural production. These policies include the following : i. The provision of credit to marketing board for the purchase of some agricultural produce for export.This has become the sole responsibility of the central Bank of Nigeria since May 1968, when the commercial financial still was abolished by the federal Government. ii. The establishment of the Nigeria Agricultural Bank (NAB) in 1976, this Nigerian Agricultural co-operative societies, improve agricultural production and storage facilities and promote marketing of agricultural products through liberal credits to farmers at softer terms. The bank started with a capital of #6 million which has increased to #250 million in 1991 with the CBN contributing 40 percent while the Federal Government has 60 percent share. The functions of the banks includes: grant in of loa ns to small and medium scale farmers. iii.The CBM also used another instrument in financing of agriculture, this is through its credit guidelines contained in its monetary and fiscal policies circulars which required the commercial banks to give preferential treatment to Agriculture. iv. The establishment of Agricultural credit Guarantee scheme fund (ACGSF) in 1977 by both the federal Government and the central Bank of Nigeria. The Act provided #100 million subscribed by the federal government, and the CBN at the ration of 60 percent or #60 million to the federal Government, 40 percent or #40 million to CBN. This is to grantee for loan default made by commercial banks to farmers for Agricultural purposes to the time of 75% of the default. The CBN was also appointed the managing agent of the fund. 2. STATEMENT OF PROBLEMSDespite the various policies and programmes mapped out annually for the economic development of Nigeria with emphasis on Agriculture, the agricultural production lev el remained very low and recently on the decline. Finance has been traced to be the major handicap to the typical Nigeria farmer, inadequacy of modern farming equipment, inputs, basic infrastructure and storage facilities, marketing and distribution system. Then the central Bank of Nigeria – the apex bank has been mandated by the federal Government of Nigeria to find a solution to these problems. Consequently, the central bank of Nigeria through its agencies grant credit for the purpose of agriculture. But was faced with the following problems. – Inadequate public enlightenment – Mismanagement – Technological constraints – Poor land tenure system – Environmental constraints– Above all financial constraints. Identifying financial constraints as the major handicap to increase agricultural production. The federal government increased its spending on agriculture by 12. 7 percent in 1981 as against 6. 5 percent in 1970’s. a total of #8 million was allocated to agriculture during the five years National Development plan 1981 – 85. still not much has been achieved in food production. To this end, the federal Government through the CBN policies and programmes aimed at adequate financing to increase agricultural productivity, for a nation that can not feed herself is said to be economically undeveloped. 3. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDYThe major objective of this study is to determine and appraise the performance of the central Bank of Nigeria and its agencies to agricultural finance and development. This involves: i. To identify the central Bank of Nigeria policies in relation to Nigeria Agriculture. ii. To evaluate various measures introduced to boost agricultural production and agricultural financing and how this affected the realization of the agricultural goals and iii. To identify the problems associated with the implementation of these policies and suggest solution so as to improve agricultural production. 4 . SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY Unless the cause of a problem is found, any attempt at solving the problem would likely be effort in futility. But when the basic causes of a problem are identified, solution would be easily found.This research work on the impact of central bank of Nigeria policies in relation to Nigeria agriculture would be of immense importance to the policy and credit guideline makers in ascertaining the efficiency of these policies on agriculture in particular and the economy in general. Also from the recommendations and suggestions, the problems and causes of failures in implementation would be taken care of. As the policies involves many financial and other credit institution the research would be of great worth to these institution, for instance, It would help in assessing the performance and cause of default in credit extension under the Agricultural credit Guarantee scheme fund (ACGSF), the Nigerian Agricultural co-operative bank (NACB) Credit and loan system. Th e research work when completed will be of use to the following: -The farmers and Agriculturist -The central bank of Nigeria (Federal Government).-The entire economy -Finally, this work will serve as an addition to the already existing literature and references in the area of policies of central Bank of Nigeria agricultural financing, monetary economics and finance in general. 5. LIMITATION OF THE STUDY The major source of some very vital data on the work of course is the central bank of Nigeria but because of its own policies, the major information areas are not accessible to the public. To this regard, the research has selected the salient roles of the central bank necessary for the research and finically examined and evaluated the effects of these policies in relation to agriculture.It is also very pertinent to state that the scope of this work generally is restricted to the programmes of agricultural financing that are directly under the supervision and control of the central ban k of Nigeria. 6. STATEMENT OF HYPOTHESIS The central bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its policies and programmes has made remarkable impact in Agricultural financing in Nigeria. The central bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its policies and programmes has made no impact in Agriculture financing in Nigeria. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its polices and programmes has evaluated various measures introduce to boost agricultural production. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its policies and programmes has made no remarkable measure to boost agricultural production. 7. DEFINITION OF TERMSIt is necessary here to introduce operational definition of some concept to be commonly used in this study for better understanding of the study. These terms are as follows. Development: this means the process of sustained increase in both per capital income and total income accompanied by structural modification of the social economic and political environment. Economic growth: This refers to the steady process by which the productive capacity of the economy is increased over time to bring about rising levels of national income. Economic Development: This can be known as nothing less than â€Å"The upward movement of the entire social system or it many be interpreted as the attainment of a number of ideas of modernization such as a rise in productivity, social and economic equal section.Modern knowledge, improved institutions and attitudes and a traditionally co-ordinate systems of policy measures that can remove the host of undesirable conditions in the social system that have perpetuated a state of under development†. Financial Institution: These are institutions either private or public that channels loanable funds from savers to borrowers. Example commercial banks and development banks. Policy: This is a cause oaf action pursed by the government to achieve some development is also a source of raw materials for the teaming industries the product for which mo dern man has virtually become over dependent on†. Butterssing these parts.Enikanselu (1985) stated thus† agriculture besides providing food for the people contributes positively to capital accumulation for the purpose of financing the industrial sector†. He maintained that the role of Agriculture in the economic development of a nation includes providing an initial stage of development, the purchasing power for the industrialization of the economy by supplying the necessary raw – materials for industries. Uka (1986) in his own opinion on the importance of Agriculture to Nigeria economy assert that â€Å"Food is a basic necessity of life; and it is only on a firm basis of food production that virile economy can be founded.Besides, dependent on external sources of food supply has grave instability consequence because it ties the nations independence to the international policies. Writing on the importance of Agriculture and the preferential treatment given to it by the central bank of Nigeria in policy consider eration and allocation, Egba (1978) Stressed that â€Å"since 1969 when the first circular was issued to banks, the CBN has consistently given preferential treatment to agriculture which was included in the broad sector refered to as production†. This preferential treatment covers both the volume of loans allocated to the sector and the interest rate chargeable on such loans.Agriculture provides the greatest avenue for employment, income and food for Nigerian populace. Also the position of agriculture as a source of raw-materials for key industries and a major foreign exchange earner. Thus the government has given such priority to agricultural production because of its realization of the numerous contributions. A highly developed agricultural sector could make to the development of the Nigerian economy Olayade (1986) said â€Å"the agricultural sector provides employment for about 67% of the active population in the count ry. It is abundantly clear therefore that this sector has constituted the back bone of our economy until only recently.