Bobby McFerrin Essays - Musical Notation, Tempo, Bobby McFerrin

Bobby McFerrin Don't worry, be happy was by Played by Bobby McFerrin in the seventies. The in this piece the texture changes a lot as the work progresses. Every time the music would take a slower beat the texture would become thicker and the dynamic or the volume becomes lower. When the dynamic slows, one instrument would only be playing, and all at once when the tempo picks up more, and than three or more instrument would be playing. It seemed that when there are more than one instrument playing, they would all have a solo part to contribute. For example, the violin would play a fast tempo and the clarinet would play a slower tempo. The instrument that I most noticed in this piece is the violin. Throughout the piece the violin keeps on changing tempo and dynamic. What I liked most about this piece this how the instruments answer each other with a different beat, and dynamics. Maged Saleh Professor, Ferguson Jazz Open Listening Report "All I Want" The piece called "All I want" was written by Bobby Mcferrin.. In this piece I would say that the texture stayed the same most of the time. It starts out with a very slow tempo. It is like walking in a desert without water. The tempo keeps on dragging you to a faster and more dynamic sound. When that happens it is like taking the first taste of water after a long walk in the desert. The violin plays as the main instrument when it comes to the faster tempo and dynamic part. The clarinet on the other hand takes the slower mood in the piece. The volume would get louder as the tempo picks up. What I liked about this particular piece is the way it changed its tempo from vary slow to vary fast. What I did not like is that their are not enough instruments involved. The only instrument that stood out I would have to say is the violin. Maged Saleh Professor, Ferguson Jazz Open Listening Report Good Loven The piece Good Loven was played the most by Bobby Mcferrin. The piece starts out with a slow tempo and changes to a vary loud dynamic. The texture did stay the same. Once the dynamic becomes louder the texture takes a different turn. What is quince about this piece is the how all the instruments play the same tempo. The volume does not change as much as in the other pieces. When the tempo slows the violin and the flutes would take over. As the volume gets louder more instruments join in. What I liked about this piece is how the bass was being used. The words seemed to take in a big part on with the instruments. Just by the words alone you can what jazz was all about. I think this was the only song that I listened too more than one time.

Steps to a Successful Family Reunion

Steps to a Successful Family Reunion With some creativity and advance planning, you can organize and plan a memorable family reunion that everyone will talk about for years. Who Is Family? It may seem obvious, but the first step for any family reunion is to decide who is family. Which side of the family are you inviting? Do you want to include only close relatives or all descendants of Great Grandpa Jones (or another common ancestor)? Are you inviting only direct-line relatives (parents, grandparents, grandkids) or do you plan to include cousins, second cousins, or third cousins, twice removed? Just remember, every step back on the ancestral tree adds a ton of new potential attendees. Know your limits. Create a Guest List Start by assembling a list of family members, including spouses, partners, and children. Get in touch with at least one person from each branch of the family to help you track down contact information for each person on your list. Make sure to collect email addresses for those that have them - it really helps with updates and last-minute correspondence. Survey Attendees If youre planning to include a lot of people in your family reunion, consider sending out a survey (by postal mail and/or email) to let people know that a reunion is in the works. This will help you gauge interest and preferences, and ask for help with the planning. Include possible dates, proposed reunion type, and a general location (discussing possible costs early on can discourage a positive response), and politely ask for a timely response to your questions. Add the names of interested relatives who return the survey to your reunion list for future mailings, and/or keep them up-to-date on reunion plans via a family reunion Web site. Form a Reunion Committee. Unless this is a get-together of five sisters at Aunt Maggies house, a reunion committee is almost essential to planning a smooth, successful family reunion. Put someone in charge of each major aspect of the reunion - location, social events, budget, mailings, record-keeping, etc. Why do all the work yourself if you dont have to? Select the Date(s) Its not much of a reunion if no one can attend. Whether you plan your family reunion to coincide with a family milestone or special day, summer vacation, or a holiday, it helps to poll family members to avoid time and date conflicts. Since family reunions can encompass everything from an afternoon barbecue to a large affair lasting three or more days, youll also need to determine how long you plan to get together. A good rule of thumb - the farther people have to travel to reach the reunion location, the longer the reunion should last. Most importantly, remember that you wont be able to accommodate everyone. Choose your final date(s) based on whats best for the majority of attendees. Pick a Location Aim for a family reunion location that is most accessible and affordable to the majority of people you want to attend. If family members are clustered in one area, then select a reunion location thats nearby. If everyones scattered, then choose a central location to help cut down on travel expenses for far-flung relatives. Develop a Budget This will determine the scale of the food, decorations, accommodations, and activities for your family reunion. You can choose to have families pay for their own overnight accommodations, bring a covered dish, etc., but unless you have another source of income, youll also need to set a per-family registration fee to help with decoration, activity, and location costs. Reserve a Reunion Site Once youve chosen a location and set a date, its time to select a site for the reunion. Going home is a big draw for family reunions, so you may want to consider the old family homestead or other historic site connected to your familys past. Depending on the size of the reunion, you may be able to find a family member who will volunteer to have it at their home. For larger reunions, parks, hotels, restaurants and community halls are a good place to start. If youre planning a multi-day reunion, then consider a resort location where people can combine reunion activities with a family vacation. Choose a Theme Creating a theme for a family reunion is a great way to interest people and make them more likely to attend. It also makes things more fun when it comes to being imaginative with food, games, activities, invitations, and just about every other aspect of the reunion. Family history themes are especially popular, as are reunions which celebrate a very special family members birthday or anniversary, or the familys cultural heritage (i.e. Hawaiian luau). Determine the Menu Feeding a large group of people with different tastes is perhaps one of the trickiest parts of planning a reunion. Make it easy on yourself by selecting a menu that relates to your theme, or perhaps one that celebrates your familys heritage. Organize a group of family members to prepare the food for the family reunion or, if you have a large group and your budget allows, find a caterer or restaurant to do at least part of the work for you. A tasty menu makes for an unforgettable family reunion. Plan Social Activities You dont need to occupy everyone all the time, but planned activities and ice-breakers at your family reunion will provide an easy way for people who do not know each other well to comfortably spend time together. Include activities that will appeal to all ages and further family knowledge of shared heritage. You may also want to award prizes for special distinctions such as oldest family member or longest distance traveled to attend. Set the Stage Youve got a bunch of people, now what do you plan to do with them? Its time now to make arrangements for tents (if an outside reunion), chairs, parking decorations, programs, signs, t-shirts, goodie bags, and other reunion-day requirements. This is the time to consult a family reunion checklist! Say Cheese! While many family members will no doubt bring their own cameras, it helps to also make plans to record the overall event. Whether you designate a specific relative as the official reunion photographer or hire a professional photographer to take photos or videos, you should prepare a list of the people and events that you want to be recorded. For spontaneous moments, purchase a dozen disposable cameras and hand them out to volunteer guests. Dont forget to collect them at the end of the day! Invite the Guests Once you have most of your plans in place, its time to invite the guests by mail, email and/or phone. Youll want to do this way in advance to make sure and give everyone time to get it on their calendar. If youre charging admission fees, mention this in the invitation and set an advance deadline by which at least a percentage of the ticket price is required (unless youre wealthy enough to cover all of the costs yourself and can wait until the actual reunion for reimbursement). Tickets purchased in advance also means people will be less likely to cancel at the last moment! This is also a good opportunity to ask people, even if they cant attend the reunion, to provide family trees, photos, collectibles and stories to share with other family members. Fund the Extras If you dont want to charge admission fees for your reunion, then youll need to plan for a little fundraising. Even if you do collect admissions, fundraising can provide money for some fancy extras. Creative ways for raising money include holding an auction or raffle at the reunion or making and selling family hats, t-shirts, books, or reunion videos. Print up a Program Create a program that outlines the lineup of scheduled reunion events to provide to family members as they arrive for the reunion. You may also want to send this out via email or your reunion Web site in advance of the reunion as well. This will help serve as a reminder to people of activities which may require they bring something with them, such as a photo wall or family tree chart. Decorate for the Big Day The big day is almost here and now its time to make sure it goes smoothly. Create catchy, easy-to-ready signs to point arriving guests to registration, parking, and important locations such as bathrooms. Purchase or make a guest book to collect signatures, addresses, and other important information, as well as serve as a permanent record of the reunion. Purchase pre-made name badges, or print your own, to facilitate mixing and mingling between unacquainted family members. Family tree wall charts are always a big hit as reunion attendees always want to know where they fit into the family. Framed photos or printed posters of common ancestors or past family reunions are also popular. And, if you want to know what everyone thought of all your reunion planning, print up some evaluation forms for people to fill out as they leave. Keep the Fun Going Designate a volunteer or volunteers to create and send out a post-reunion newsletter with stories, photos, and news items from the reunion. If you collected family information, send along an updated genealogy chart as well. This is a great way to get people excited about the next reunion, as well as include less fortunate family members who were not able to attend.

Translation Technology (Experience of using SDL Trados 2014 and its Essay

Translation Technology (Experience of using SDL Trados 2014 and its impact on translation method) - Essay Example The window opens presenting option for the Welcome view allowing an operator to open the Home tab. The subsequent process involves clicking the â€Å"Translate single document†. This gives a chance for opening document window whereby one can check the correctness of the source and target language as shown in figure 2. A new Translation Memory (TM) is set up by clicking â€Å"create† and then selecting â€Å"New File-Based Translation Memory†. The figure 3 below describes the process used in setting up New Translation Memory Window. In which case, a new TM name is entered (Translation Test). Next process involves browsing a folder for storing the TM and counterchecking on the source language and target language whether they are in alignment with the assignment. Character- based concordance search is enabled to allow efficiency during searching, especially when using a group of characters for the search. The file then opens in the Editor window giving a chance for translation. The translation is typed by clicking tin the first segment found in the target column. By clicking Ctrl+Enter, the first segment is confirmed and sent to the TM. Translating the other segments follow the same process aforementioned. The bilingual .sdlxliff file is saved (ctrl + S) in the folder where the source file was saved. Further, the target file is saved by clicking Shift + F12. This signifies the end of the process and the studio is closed by clicking Alt+F4. The following figure shows a sample of translation obtained when using the software: The SDL Trados 2014 translation process bears impacts on translation method as evident in a number of features it contains. Various features associated with using the software contribute distinctly to the impact of the software as will be discussed. These features yielding impacts include Global tag verification, alphanumeric strings,

Discussion #10 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discussion #10 - Essay Example Remembering things of the past ,increase attentive ability to observe things in the environment and a great sense of humor more urge to learn and being more informative,different ways of performing things, motor or physical activities and speech. Giftedness is either inherited or is adopted from the surroundings. It often runs in families. In order to cope up with such children they are indulging in school activities at an early age so that their abilities are more polished. (Mail Online, 2015) Such children must complete the curriculum early and move on to advanced level. Teachers must help them to learn to how to gain knowledge and how to make best use of their knowledge. Teachers must give them projects to enhance their knowledge.Teachers must engage them in decision making projects and help them to avail the chance of taking responsibility. (Globalpartnership.org, 2015) Gifted children as compare to others sleep less and are usually highly active when they are awakened. The Extended family all required in such cases including grand parents or close group of friends and families who can take care of the children while the parents are having rest. According to this article full time ability grouping of gifted students has been criticized. Students in regular classes and in special ones are divided according to their ability,sex and social status. It has been estimated that children in gifted classes have more interest in school. These classes make efforts to enhance the imagination of these children. Children with the same flaw happen to spend more with each other. They get along pretty well. Disabled children tend to consume more time during feeding. Even potty training requires a lot of time and patience. They also find it difficult to adjust in their age group of normal children. In this way, their parents need to be beside them 24/7, which costs their

Course project Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Course project - Coursework Example The company is quite strong compared to the peer group and the top competitors whose current ratio is 2.01 and 1.10 respectively. The strength emanates from the fact that the current ratio of the company is in between to indicate the assets are steering the growth of the company. The profitability ratio will measure the company’s ability to generate profits. Aswath argues that the gross margin indicates the percentage of net sales going towards fixed costs and profit (34-35). Macys aim for high gross margins that mean more money to cover fixed costs and increase profits. Asset management ratio is a good measure of the company’s efficiency and effectiveness in using the assets in revenue generation. Market value ratios relate to the stock price, observable market value and book value will get obtained in the company financial statement. Therefore, Equity Investors can extend credit to investors due to the report found in its financial ratios. The ratios show an upward trend to indicate that the company is

Influence Of Gambling Activities In College Students Psychology Essay

Influence Of Gambling Activities In College Students Psychology Essay My previous experience and lively interest in this subject motivated me to select Essence of gambling and influence of gambling activities in college students as a topic for my literature review. I had been problematic gambler for two years (gaming peers promoted tendencies to gamble) at first I started it as a means of recreation, but as a result it became major activity for me. I was spending great deal of time and money on it, without taking care of family budget or private life and it initiated real financial crisis and nervousness for me. But today, I am not gaming at all; I broke a deadlock, after loosing big sum of money, so I would like to scientifically realize the process of starting and terminating gambling by me. On the other hand, in Georgia sports betting (bookmakers) and Casino games are primary gambling activities, not only adults, but teenagers also are frequent users of these venues and I consider gambling as a large national problem. Increasing number of gambling v enues (for instance: my native city Batumi looks like a big casino) and promotion of gaming directed at students makes problem even more severe and large-scale. There had been hot debates around this topic, should gambling be declared illegal? Should it be removed from urban centers? Or simply prioritized as a profitable industry which is one of the main sources of taxation revenue? I want to assess where we are, acknowledge positive and negative sides of gambling, make judgments and as a voter support conventional wisdom. Why researchers even bother to tackle this topic? Because current developments in the world and mainly in USA makes lots of things around gambling challenging to investigate, analyze and conclude. On one hand there is profitable industry, which contributes a lot to taxation revenue, economic growth and development of services in urban centers, on the other hand negative consequences it yields to society, like emotional distress, personal bankruptcy, psychological trauma, so it is interest for researchers weather benefits cover those disadvantages or not. And why college students? Because studies of other risk behaviors have reinforced the opinion, that college students are at high risk for gambling ( LaBrie A. Richard; Shaffer J. Howard; LaPlante A. Debi; Wechsler Henry (2001) Correlates of college student gambling in the United States). Researchers examine different stages of gambling, when it becomes harmful, what are motives And which individuals are more inclined to gamble to deathà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦On the whole, the increase in the prevalence of gambling has stimulated a considerable body of research. (Platz Laurie and Murray Millar (1998) Gambling in the context of other recreation activity: A quantitative comparison of casual and pathological student gamblers.) As a prospective economist first I reviewed article by Koo Jun et al Rolling the dice? Casinos, Tax revenues and the social cost of gaming, (Journal of urban affairs. Volume 29, number 4.) Do the benefits from increased taxes and job opportunities associated with gambling outweigh those personal and social costs resulted from increased number of addicted gamblers? So three main issue worked out in this research are: 1)tax revenues and economic growth supported by these funds, 2) jobs at the casinos and improved public service, 3)possible social consequences. Wagering tax rates varies between 8.5 and 45.5% in US (Nevada, New Jerseyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Illinois) and as a percent of tax revenue it is between 3.4 and 27.8% (Illinoisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Nevada), in Detroit casinos are sixth largest employer (Source: Indiana Gaming Commission, 2006) rigid evidence to agree that this industry is special for states economic stability. Research also focused on social costs: do casinos induce higher leve ls of social problems? Is there a link between casinos and socially destructive behaviors like unemployment, bankruptcy fillings and crime rate? Direction of causality must be checked. Article tried to answer these questions by analyzing changes in Michigan, Virginia, Indiana and Ohio; in Ohio casino-style gaming is forbidden while in others not, so researchers compared outcomes relative to social problems. Quasi experiment was carried out, unemployment rates of casino and non-casino countries in Michigan between 1991 and 2003 were compared and result was that although there was a slight decrease in the unemployment rate gap, the opening of casinos did not significantly change overall levels. Similar patterns are observed in terms of bankruptcy rates and crime levels, presence of casinos had no observable incremental effect, macro factors seem to play much significant role (Koo Jun et al, 2007). This research also used regression models, designed to control differences in initial conditions between casino and non-casino counties and separate the effects of casinos on the social cost variables: crime rate, personal bankruptcy rate and unemployment, results showed that there might be some casino effects but they are unimportant (Koo Jun et al, 2007). We can conclude this research that gambling does not have significant and catastrophic effects on socially destructive behavior, even recognizing direct connection between them is difficult, so there is no reason to declare it unlawful and sacrifice financial benefits of it. Now the essence of gambling must be studied. Gambling: normal adolescent activity or pathologic addiction? abstract by Selekman Janice 2008, explains essence of gaming. Gambling sometimes referred as Gaming, is defined as the practice of playing games of chance or betting in the hope of winning money or something of value, it involves risk and uncertainty (Verbeke and Kittrick-Nathan,2007) Most adolescent gamblers are considered as recreational, who gamble for the purposes of entertainment, but of the 80% gamblers 10-15% are at risk of development of a gambling problem and 3-8% are considered to be problem or pathological gamblers (Derevensky and Gupta, 2007) in adult population only 1.5% are problematic gamblers (Labrie and Shaffer). The median age for starting gambling is 11-13 years, when small amounts of money are readily accessible, when local environment accepts such behavior and rules of the game are understandable to a child and he/she plays to win money, gain status and resp ect among friends, escape stress, relieve boredom. While gambling they feel more control of the situation, more independence and self reliability (Jacobs, 2004) But at some phase recreational gambling becomes problematic, impulse-control disorders take place and can be characterized by following criteria suggested by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual: Preoccupied with gambling. Needs to gamble with increasing amounts of money. Has repeated unsuccessful efforts to control, stop gambling. Is restless or irritable. Gambles as a way of escaping from problems or of relieving a dystrophic mood. Chases ones loses. Lies to conceal the extent of involvement in gambling in gambling Has committed illegal acts such as forgery, fraud, theftà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Has jeopardized or lost a significant relationship, job or career opportunity because of gambling. Relies on others to provide money to relieve a desperate financial situation.(American Psychiatric Association, 2000) Pathological gamblers are at increased risk for use of alcohol and drugs, they have symptoms of anxiety and depression, sudden change in mood and school performance, they sell expensive possessions and are unable to count for money (Griffiths and Wood, 2005). It is worthwhile now to scrutinize problem gambling and prediction of gambling behavior in more details. Abstract The prediction of gambling behavior and problem gambling from attitudes and perceived norms by Susan M, Moore is useful in this sense. In the study by Moore the aim was to test the Theory of Reasoned Action, central hypotheses were that attitudes and subjective norms would predict intentions and intention-behavior. Survey designed to measure gambling attitudes, subjective norms, gambling intention, gambling behavior and problem gambling was completed by 215 participants (mean age 22). Results showed that: Most respondents approved of moderate gambling and hold that some gambling should be legal, but they were against too much gambling and endorsed to set limits on gambling opportunities. Realizing figure 2 we find out that family and friends have a great impact on gamblers, and gamblers are often surrounded by gaming friends and family members, and disapproval of their behavior comes from family members not from friends (Moore M. Susan; Ohtsuka Keis 1999) As frequency of gambling behavior in the sample shows very few of the sample regularly engaged in any type of gambling, but at a low level there has been widespread engagement in gambling. Survey also showed that not all gamblers, that game more frequently than they intend, are problematic, so correlation between gambling frequency and problem gambling was, moderately high but not corresponding: (Moore M. Susan; Ohtsuka Keis) And finally with table five, there is expressed gambling intention, frequency and problem as independent variables and potential predictors are sex, age, attitudes to gambling, subjective norms, intention to gamble. Regression analyses showed intention to gamble was significantly predicted by attitudes and subjective norms: more positive attitudes greater intention to gamble. Also males, people with strong intentions and positive subjective norms are more likely to engage in this activity. (Moore M. Susan; Ohtsuka Keis, Social behavior and personality, 1999) Gambling behavior and problem gambling is partly predicted and influenced by independent factors, but is it stable or characterized by progression? It was helpful for me to answer these questions by contemplating longitudinal studies reviewed by Debi A. Laplant et al in the abstract named: Stability and progression of disordered gambling: lessons from longitudinal studies. Stability tendency for individuals to stay at one diagnostic level opposed to moving to another improved or worsened level (Laplante A Debi et al 2008). this review found out that in contrary to conventional wisdom individuals can recover from disordered gambling (contrary to persistence assumption), like the other one that holds that individuals who have gambling problems are not more likely to worsen than individuals without gambling problems (contrary to progression assumption), so this review demonstrates that disordered gambling is unstable and not persistent, that means that professional and conventional wis dom about problem gambling have no empirical support. This review by Laplante A Debi was based on 5 peer reviewed articles (Abbott et al, Defuentes-Merillas et al, Shaffeer and Hall, Slutske et al, and Winters et al) which used various time points, populations and measures of problem gambling: In the above figure level 0-1 represents no gambling or gambling without problems, level 2 subclinical gambling problems, level 3 gambling problems. Then were developed cross tabs classification of gambling courses: improving decreased number of gambling problems; worsening increased number of gambling problems; stable consistent gambling problems across all time points (there were different time points and large time span) and variable fluctuation of gambling problems without consistent direction. As this figure shows Level 3 or problem gamblers who reduced their level of severity exceeded the studies corresponding margin of error, in each study proportion of level 3 gamblers improving was greater than zero. Results are similar for Level 2 gamblers, who reduced level of severity and their number exceeded corresponding margin of error. Improving was greater than zero. (Table2, Debi A. Laplante et al) it confirms that gambling behavior is not persistent, as problem gamblers reveal tendencies of improving in each study. We can conclude that these longitudinal studies with short-term and long-term periods indicate that while healthy gambling behavior appears to be stable, individuals with gambling problems experience movement from different levels of severity of gambling disorder to other more or less severe levels. Now as we have covered main issues, structure and characteristics of gambling we should pay more attention to segment of population which is frequently involved in gambling and pathological gambling yields disastrous consequences for them. As a bottom line we can use article by Emily M. Verbeke and Karin Dittrick-Nathan-Student gambling. Gambling is an addictive behavior that is often hidden but erodes students quality of life; it has increased significantly among adolescents, who have grown up in a society where it is legal and widely accepted.(Emily M. Verbeke) As article points out problem or compulsive gambling is characterized by: increasing preoccupation with gambling, a need to bet more money more frequently, restlessness or irritability, increasing bets to make up previous losses and loss of control over gambling activity. Result of problem gambling can be low grades absenteeism, poor concentrationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Emily M. Verbeke) (Then we will discuss this in more details). Although regulations forbid anyone under 18 to play, illegal gambling takes place out of controlled areas. There are several reasons why adolescents gamble: for recreation, to socialize, to win money, to experience thrill, to relieve depression or simply to escape from problems at home or university. Youths who have certain personality characteristics, such as extreme impulsivity, extroversion, sensation-seeking behaviors or low self-esteem may be at higher risk of developing a gambling problem and they have higher rates of depression and suicide attempts. Prevention and intervention activities must me carried out by teachers, mental health professionals, coaches, parents to communicate to students about negative effects of gambling and change a positive attitude towards gaming as a harmless behavior (Emily M. Verbeke). College students gambling behavior: when does it become harmful? by Jeremiah Weinstock et al is another useful abstract which gives us beneficial information about student gambling. 159 college students were interviewed, who also completed demographic questionnaire. Patterns of gambling behavior associated with pathological gambling gambling more than 1.2 times per month, gambling more than 2.1 hours per month, intending to wager more than 6.1% of monthly income and wagering more than 10.5% of monthly income. Pathological gambling was also associated with the combination of psychological distress, gambling frequency and a history of parental gambling problems (Jeremiah Weinstock). Pathological student gamblers report poorer academic performance and greater risk taking, like alcohol consumption, nicotine use, illicit drug use and unprotected sex, than recreational or non-gamblers (Weinstock et al). Also Weinstock et al found that 50% of students who gambled at least once a month expe rienced problems related to their gambling. In this study 160 students were participating, 18 years or older, the sample was diverse in both demographic characteristics and gambling behavior. Study showed that the most common gambling activities were cards (58.3%), slots (48.1%), sports betting (33.1%) and games of skill (26.3%). Questionnaire filled in by participants asked for GPA, monthly income, ethnicity, sex, marital status and age, also whether their parents gambled or not. Questionnaire also included other behavioral variables like Gambling frequency, duration, Gambling Plan Adherence index and episodes when amount risked exceeded amount intended to risk. On the basis of diagnostic interview participants were classified as pathological or non-pathological gamblers. As shown in table 1, pathological gamblers are significantly more likely to report a parent with a gambling problem history, a lower GPA, greater psychological distress than were non-pathological gamblers. This numbers identify several strong behavioral indicators, highlighting a behavior associated with pathological gambling: risking more than 10% of monthly income, gambling more than once a month and gambling more than 2 hours per month were related to pathological gambling status in college students. As study showed demographic variables play small role in pathological gambling status, behavioral and psychological variables are more influential and such behavioral indicators can be utilized to assess, prevent and intervene in problematic gambling behavior in college students. Pathological gambling among students is further analyzed by Randy Stinchfield in the article Problem and pathological gambling among college students. Article is divided into four sections, overview of problem and pathological gambling, risk and protective factors associated with student gambling, problem gambling screening and assessment instruments, prevention and intervention approaches. Problem gambling individuals life is disrupted by gambling, gambling takes precedence over other activities and individual experiences adverse consequences. Pathological gambling is a psychiatric diagnosis (Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders-American psychiatric association). Three cardinal signs of pathological gambling are: preoccupation with gambling and obtaining money with which to gamble, loss of control of ones gambling and continuation of gambling despite negative consequences such as losing large sums of money. Experimenting with gambling, regular gambling, excessive g ambling are types of student gambling. Many college student gambles, but only small percentage becomes problem gamblers (Winters, Bengston, Dorr 1998). Rates of gambling and problem gambling remained stable over time, but there was a shift from illegal games to legalized games (Winters 1995). How many college students are problem gamblers? 9.3% of men and 2.4% of women(Shaffer, Hall 1997 SOGS),other study 4.9%men 1%women(Winters, Bengston, Dorr 1998) another study 8.5%men, 1.9% women (Engwall, Hunter, Steinberg 2004). What about risk and protective factors associated with gambling? Out of all possible risks, most salient is substance use, abuse, dependence. The link between alcohol, illicit drug, and tobacco use and gambling and problem gambling are strong (Clark, 2003; Engwall 2004). Heavy alcohol use was highly predictive of problem gambling, particularly size of bets made while gambling, unanticipated withdrawal of extra money at the casino and loss of more money than could be afforded (Giacopassi 1998). In terms of gender, males are more involved in gambling that women (Kveitel and Allen, 1998) males also have higher rate of problem gambling than females (Ladoucer 1994). Ethnicity, like gender is another salient risk factor, studies have shown that African-Americans and Asian-Americans tend to gamble more then European-Americans. Other important risk factors can also be listed: students overall level of gambling activity, general gambling veracity, tendency to minimize losses, general academic performance, typical leisure or extracurricular activities and parental or guardian history of gamblingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦(Randy Stinchfield 2006). Now briefly discuss about pathological gambling assessment instruments. Most commonly is used the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), the content of SOGS includes items that inquire about spending more time or money on gambling than intended, hiding evidence of ones gambling, arguing with family members about ones gambling borrowing money. The twenty item SOGS is scored by summing the number of items endorsed, a cut score of 5 or more indicates PPG. Second item is the Gambling Behavior Interview (GBI) 76 item instrument designed to measure signs and symptoms of problem gambling. GBI is made up of eight content domains: Gambling attitudes, Gambling frequency of different games, Time and money spent gambling, gambling frequency at different venues, SOGS, DSM diagnostic criteria, Research diagnostic items and demographics.(National Collegiate Association, 2004). At the end of this article are recommendations for practitioners at colleges and universities: Monitor student gambling behavior, extent of gambling, illegal gambling and problem gambling. Develop student policies for gambling that emphasize rehabilitation not punishment. Conduct research into the cause, development, maintenance and cessation of problem gambling, with an emphasis on risk and protective factors. Develop and evaluate prevention programs and messages designed for students. Provide treatment services for students who have already developed a gambling problem. (Randy Stinfield, William Hanson, Douglas Olson, 2006). Correlates of college student gambling are worthwhile to analyze. Article named Correlates of college student gambling in the United States by Richard A. LAbrie et al gives some profitable information about it. Primary research questions which were answered: Will a nationally representative survey of gambling among college students confirm the concept that college students are at high risk for gambling problems? And will the problem behaviors and the risk factors conform to those of alcohol abuse and thereby support the persistence of a problem behavior syndrome (Richard A Labrie). Research used 2001 CAS self-administered questionnaire, which repeated standard questions used in 1993, 1997, 1999 surveys. The survey questionnaire asked, during the past school year, how often did you bet or spend money on each of the following gambling activities: Betting on professional sports, Betting on college sports, Betting on horse or dog racing, Casino gambling, Betting on the lottery or the num bers, Internet betting or gambling, Betting with a bookie, Playing cards, dice, or other games of chance. The 2001 CAS collected data from 120 colleges, 10765 students, to improve the representativeness of the sample; data were weighted to the gender, age and race/ethnicity distribution at the schools. Approximately 52% of men and 33% of women reported that they gambled, the most popular type of gambling was playing the lottery (25%), 30% reported casino gambling, 13% gambling with playing cards and dice. Gambling venues for men: lottery, playing cards, betting on sports, skill games and casino gambling, women preferred lottery, casinos, slot machines, bingo, and playing cards. Men are about 4 times more likely than women to have bet on sports and played games of skill for money, 3 times more likely to have bet on animals and twice as likely to have gambled in the stock market and played dice games (Douglas Engwall 2000). Of the students who gambled, 45% participated in only 1 type of gambling activity, the majority of student gamblers restricted their gambling to 1or 2 types (Richard A Labrie 2001). Students also answered questions about time spent on various activities in the past 30 days, these questions provided with an opportunity to evaluate the demographic and other factors that distinguished students who gambled from those who did not. Results showed that three demographic variables significantly predicted college student gambling for the total sample. Being male was the strongest demographic predictor of being a gambler, followed by being older than 20 years, and finally by having parents who had not completed the 4 year college. For men but not women, being white was a significant predictor of being a gambler, for women but not men having never been married was also significant predictor (Richard A Labrie 2001). Other covariates: those students whose families did not disapprove of drinking were more likely to gamble. Students who gamble intensely consider parties to be very important and religion and art less important. Male gamblers consider athletics to be very important. Men who lived in fraternity houses were more likely to be gamblers; having a grade average less than a B+ was more common among gamblers and also having 5 or more close friends was one of the predictors. Alcohol related behavior were the strongest risk correlates of gambling. Use of marijuana and illicit drugs also predicted gambling. Students of both sexes were more likely to be gamblers if they watched a great deal of television, spent time on a computer for non-academic reasons, studied less than 3 hours a day (Richard A Labrie 2001) The results of this nationally representative survey of gambling among college students do not indicate that students are at high risk for gambling problems, fewer college students in the 2001 CAS gambled in the last school year than adults in the last year. The CAS also found that 2.6% of students gambled frequently. Although findings reported in this article do not indicate a large national gambling problem among students, promotion of gambling could change a current situation. As we noted several times, intensive alcohol usage is most significant predictor of gambling behavior, so decision of choosing article The co-occurrence of alcohol use and gambling activities in first-year college students by Matthew P. Martens. Study written in this article was participated by 908 first-year college students, who were surveyed in 2005; research showed that alcohol use and alcohol-related risks were related to gambling frequency and peak gambling loss. National studies have indicated that approximately 40% of US students engaged in heavy episodic drinking, with men consuming more alcohol than women. In this study Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) was used as a measure of alcohol use. AUDIT is a 10-item measure designed to assess alcohol consumption, dependence symptoms and alcohol related risks and problems. To assess gambling behaviors, participants completed a 7-item inventory, these items were taken from the South Oaks Gambling Screen, six items as sessed gambling activities: playing cards for money, betting on horses or sports betting, playing slot machines, playing casino games, playing the lottery and playing a game of skill. The mean AUDIT score among participants was 8.61, men reported higher total scores than women (Matthew P. Martens 2005), results also showed that most played gambling activity was lottery games(55%) followed by playing cards for money(44%) and games of skill(26%), men reported gambling more frequently and having a greater peak gambling loss than did women. Goal of this study was to examine the co-occurrence of alcohol use and gambling. Table 2 shows the correlation between AUDIT scores and gambling variables, correlation between AUDIT and gambling frequency was 0.29 indicating the co-occurrence. By assessing differences in gambling behaviors between high-risk drinkers, low risk drinkers and abstainers, analysis of results indicated that high-risk drinkers gambled significantly more often than did others and had higher peak gambling loss. The finding of this study was that alcohol-related variables (use, dependence and alcohol related risks) and gambling frequency and peak gambling loss co-occurred in a group of students: Consuming large amounts of alcohol may make it more likely that a student chooses to gamble or it could negatively affect a students gambling-related decision. Similarly students may drink more heavily when they are engaged in gambling activity. (Matthew P. Martens et al, journal of American college health 2005). As we noticed lotteries are most common form of gambling and they are readily available to students, so next article is Predictors of lottery gambling among American college students by Beverly A. Browne and Daniel J. Brown. In this study gambling behavior of 288 American college students was examined and it was found that student lottery gambling was related to having parents and friends who were lottery gamblers. Students who were frequent lottery gamblers were more likely to participate in other forms of gambling. Discriminator analyses using parental gambling, peer gambling, games played, sex and locus of control could predict frequency of lottery playing for 72% of gamblers and non-gamblers. A small body of research that addressed the relationships between gambling and personality (Reviewed by Kusyszyn, 1984) indicated that college students who gambled on lotteries were similar to non-gamblers in characteristics such as intelligence, psychoneurotic tendencies and extroversion, m ale college students who gambled were found to be more secure, masculine and happy but less socially responsible. People who believe in luck may be more likely to gamble. The personality trait of locus of control has been linked to believing in chance rather than individual control over ones destiny (Rotter, 1966; Rotter, 1972). The sample of this research consisted of 288 students, as attitudes toward gambling might vary with nationality the sample was restricted to persons from the USA. The respondents completed a self-administered questionnaire that asked about gambling practices and the gambling of parents and friends. Results showed that almost 80% of the sample had purchased lottery tickets at one time or another; only 2% reported that they were frequent lottery players and 63% as occasional players. The average age of subjects when they bought their first ticket was 17.7 years, 31% of students reported that they had played lottery illegally before the age of 18. Responses als o showed that 61% of college students played the same frequency as they did before they came to college, so college environment is not motivator of gambling. Study used discriminator analyses to determine how well a combination of variables would predict lottery playing behavior. The analyses indicated that the combination of other gambling, parental gambling, peer gambling, sex, and locus of control could predict gambling status. Most predictive variables were engaging in other gambling, parental gambling, and peer gambling. Gaming peers may promote tendencies to gamble; nevertheless other influences (time, money, knowledge) may constrain those tendencies. Review gave me a great deal of information around gambling to make conclusions, researches indicated legal gambling is not directly connected to unemployment growth, crime rate or personal bankruptcy, it is not significant influencer, so if we consider those benefits expressed in huge taxation revenues, developed services, and employment in casinos, we can find legal gambling acceptable and sometimes necessary too. Those funds received from taxation will stimulate economic growth and result in greater GDP. On the other hand, it is persons legal right to gamble, if he is above 18 years and has desire, so it would be less than democratic to abolish gaming as a purpose of evading excessive or pathological gambling. I perfectly realize negative effects and bad sides of gambling, mainly influencing adolescents and problem gamblers, as excessive gambling frequently results in disruption of private life, psychological distress, big debts, failures at jobs, universities and in relationships with relativesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ so population must be informed about it timely, and then people will make informed choice to gamble or not. Restrictions in age must be controlled strictly; juveniles under 18 years must not be allowed to gamble at all, not only in casinos but anywhere. It means that illegal gambling must be eliminated, also in schools and universities have to be conducted monitoring of student gambling behavior, prevention programs must be developed and policies should emphasize not punishment of those who became problem gamblers but rehabilitation. By looking at predictors of gambling behavior profile of prospective problem gambler can be created, people who fit this profile noticed and eliminate threat until it becomes dangerous. In some dimensions gambling has negative effects on society as a whole(social distress) so there is one view and I agree with it that gambling ventures can be removed

Carson :: essays research papers

Carson   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I would like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Smith for asking me to speak today on behalf of Carson. First things first, everyone grab a tissue and wipe your tears. I know Carson is here right now and she is watching us come up here and cry, I know she hates that. She hates it when anyone cries, so everyone cheer up, crying is not what she would have wanted. We are here to celebrate and commemorate the life of a truly wonderful girl. I never in a million years thought that one day I would have to say good bye to such a wonderful soul. Carson, you were a shining light in my life for thirteen years. How can let you go with so much of our lives left still to experience. I remember the first day we met; truthfully I didn’t get a good impression of you. You were wearing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles t-shirt, I hated that cartoon. But you redeemed yourself by inviting me inside for snacks and a soda. It was only a matter of time before we were on the front lawn selling lemonade and playing house. I even broke my wrist in your backyard, boy did I feel stupid when everyone else could do a cartwheel and I couldn’t. The countless sleepovers, bike rides, movies, and fights made our friendship flourish.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Today, though I want to tell you about the Carson I knew. The girl who always put others before herself, the girl who loved, the girl who was beautiful inside and out. Carson was a straight A student who was very hard on herself, grades were very important to her. She also knew that there were those who didn’t do well in school, so she would tutor anyone who asked. I know I would have never passed physics without her.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Carson was a talented child right from the start. She would give me chills when she played Beethoven’s 5th symphony on her piano. Oh yeah, did I mention she was also an extremely gifted artist. She put her heart and soul in her drawings; I always thought they were her essence sketched onto paper.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  She was athletic, one of the best soccer and tennis players I have ever seen. Carson spent hours on end practicing; she was determined to be the best she could be. It never mattered what others thought of her ability, her self satisfaction was all she was aiming for.

Lack of Responsibility Kills Essay

When it comes to the battle between obesity among Americans and fast food chain companies, fast food falls hard for the one to blame. For many years, big food companies have been constantly under attack from health advocates and consumers for the contribution of growing waistlines, chronic diseases and lack of exercise in the United States. Of course, it is easy to blame fast food corporations given the ubiquity, proximity convenience and low cost of food options available. But who really is the one to point the finger at? We, the consumers, are fully responsible for what enters our mouths. No individual should sue any restaurant company from getting fat from eating their food. A decline in physical activity and a rise in more sedentary lifestyles have made it more difficult to balance food intake with energy spending in the last generation, leading to overweight people. It wouldn’t be such a big deal if the problem were simply aesthetic. But excess weight takes a terrible toll on the human body, significantly increasing the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, gall-bladder disease, osteoarthritis and many forms of cancer. The total medical tab for illnesses related to obesity is $117 billion a year. According to the Surgeon General, and the Journal of the American Medical Association reported in March, poor diet and physical inactivity could soon overtake tobacco as the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. And again, Americans recognize the problem but do not seem to want to change. In the TIME/ABC poll they rated obesity alongside heart disease, cancer, AIDS and drug abuse as among the nation’s most pressing public health problems. Consumers’ attitude toward fast food has changed since there is a wide assortment of factors at work ranging from fewer sit-down meals, much more snacking, more latchkey kids who make their own food decisions without supervision. Consumers, as well as parents (kids are also falling victim to the obesity rates), need to engage in personal responsibility when it comes to consuming an abundant amount of fast food instead of putting the obesity blame on fast food franchises. Obesity and fast food chains were never an issue back in the day; Americans seem to have taken advantage of the easy availability and cheap prices of many unhealthy foods. The human lifestyle and diet 4,000 years ago seem to have changed dramatically over the years where our ancestors ate and drank in the healthiest way possible as nomadic hunter-gatherers. 50%-80% of food came from plants, and 20%-50% came from animals (The World is Fat 18). Chronic disease, diabetics, obesity, heart disease and even cancer were unknown. In the 1950s, less than 100 million Americans were overweight and obese individuals. People used to have to do daily activities that were extensive just to live their everyday lives like cooking food from scratch, walking most places and doing most things by hand rather than using technological machines to do it for them. Food wasn’t easy to get if you were poor. Walking somewhere was still common regardless of appliances such as dishwashers and ovens, and in 1960, only about 13.3 percent of people in America were obese, according to the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics. And things haven’t been moving in a promising direction. Just two decades ago, the incidence of overweight in adults was well under 50%, while the rate for kids was only a third what it is today. From 1996 to 2001, 2 million teenagers and young adults joined the ranks of the obese. People are clearly worried. A TIME/ABC News poll released June 2004 shows that 58% of Americans would like to lose weight, nearly twice the percentage that felt that way in 1951. But only 27% say they are trying to slim down and two-thirds of those aren’t following any specific plan to do so. Americans love and strive for flavor and bigger portioned sized foods that’s fast and easy to attain, that is where fast food corporations come in place. Americans now are taking adv antage of the bigger, cheaper and faster foods that it has become a national problem. So, where do we draw the line between self-control and responsible business practice? For the past 10 years, McDonald’s and other fast foods chains have been victimized with numerous lawsuits because they either â€Å"got consumers fat, hypnotized kids or bribed with deals and promos† (Fast Food 19). In 2003, the United States district court for the Southern District of New York responded to a complaint filed against McDonald’s by a class of obese costumers (Fast Food 18). In 2011, sixty-four year old Martin Kessman filed a lawsuit against the fast food company, White Castle and was seeking unspecified financial damages against the fast-food chain, claiming that his local White Castle is in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act because the seating could not accommodate a customer of his size, keep in mind this man ate at White Castle on a regular basis. These frivolous and unnecessary lawsuits against corporations show the ignorance of many irresponsible Americans who cannot control their eating habits. It is not right to sue a fast food company based on the fact that consumers knowingly and voluntarily consumed the foods from McDonald’s knowing that the foods McDonald’s serves were in fact high in cholesterol, fat, salt and sugar. Consumers voluntarily spend over $100 billion annually on fast food per year. (Fast Food 8). The famous documentary, Supersize Me, shows Morgan Spurlock consuming McDonalds every day, 3 days a week. This of course led him to gain a significant amount of weight and develop some health complications. Spurlock makes his point by a way of exaggeration, he tells us something that we already know, fast food is bad. Of course it will be bad because he ONLY consumed fast food and nothing else, he did not eat anything healthy and did not exercise, all of this was done voluntarily. Should consumers eat fast food on a daily or even a weekly basis? The answer is simply no. Today Americans eat an extra 300 calories per day than in 1985 (Buzzle). When this trend occurs we get overweight Americans, and that is exactly what we are dealing with. 500 million Americans are now obese and an additional 6 or 7 million are â€Å"morbidly obese† (Chew on This 209). With this ridiculous amount of unhealthy people, you would think there would be a solution. And there is, lawsuits. Americans decide to turn to their lawyers for their ignorance and blame corporations for something that is obviously done by their own will. Consumers are too ignorant and blind to understand what it’s their mouth. We cannot deny that people are eating more and are getting fat, but that does not prove that fast food franchises are the culprit. Kids today are suffering severely and falling victim to obesity because of many unhealthy diets that are being practiced in their own home. Parents bring home the importance of food safety, quality and nutrition. When this habit continues to occur it leads to kids becoming teens who make poor choices who in turn leads to obese adults and a lifetime of health problems. Children in the United States are gaining more weight than ever before. They’re eating too much high-fat, high-sugar food and are spending less time be ing physically active. In 1989-1996 kids caloric intake became 80-230 extra calories per day (Food Inc. 225). The diets of American children don’t meet nutritional recommendations. In 1997, American children obtained about 50% of their calories from added fat and sugar while 1% of them resemble portions of food pyramid (Fast Food 29). At this early age kids can show early signs of health problems and of course obesity. A quarter of kids age 5-10 show premature warning signs for heart disease such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure with unhealthy eating habits, physical inactivity and obesity (Food Inc. 229). Weight problems that develop during childhood can lead to weight-related illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. So, is parent’s lack of responsibility for their children’s food habits the one to blame? Of course, one thing kids will unfortunately experience is variety. With all the fast food chains serving the same stuff no matter where in the US. Parents with obese kids are struggling with a horde of problems when it comes to their child’s weight. They range from a lack of education about nutritional food, not knowing how to cook and limited money to buy healthier food, to longer working hours and marketing campaigns for junk food aimed at kids. But the more sedentary and lazy lives children now have are also creating huge problems. Type 2 diabetics actually increased in children when a study conducted in Cincinnati should that type 2 diabetics went up tenfold from 1982 to 1994. 75% of junior school children preferred to stay at home than go to their nearby park (Child obesity: Why do parents let their kids get fat). Watching TV was one of the most popular activities, with 89% saying it was how they liked best to spend their time away from school, according to researchers Lightspeed. In July, scientists from University of Montreal claimed that by the age of ten, toddlers had added inches to their waistlines each week t hey spend an extra hour in front of the television. Parents need to, from the start, control the eating and overall lifestyle of their children. It is dangerous for the future of the children to get used to such a risky addiction. Not only are we and our children eating more, but we are also exercising less. Lack of exercise is another factor to lack of responsibility. Fewer American adults today work in jobs that require physical labor. People drive to work in cars, rather than walking or biking; they take elevators instead of stairs; they use vacuum cleaners rather than brooms; and they cut the lawn with riding rather than push mowers. All of these simple changes reduce the amount of energy used to perform the tasks of daily living. A typical office worker today walks only about 3000 to 5000 steps in their daily activities. In contrast, in the Amish community where driving automobiles and using electrical appliances and other modern conveniences are not allowed, a typical adult takes 14000 to 18000 steps a day. The overall incidence of obesity in the group is only 4%. With 46.9% of the population meeting Physical Guidelines for aerobic/cardio physical activity (Exercise and Physical Activity). The problem for individuals is that willpower is not enough. We live in an environment where there’s food every half mile. It’s tasty, cheap, convenient, and you can eat it with one hand. We, the consumers, need not only to cut back on calories and fast food, we need to get active in any possible way we can to increase our health. Although simpler sounding on words then it is to actually pursue, exercise is Americans biggest challenge. Imagine a 7-year-old boy named John who, his whole has been given to-go fast food meals as his daily dinner at home. John has always been overweight for his age. As John has entered his teen’s years, he has become a hectic straight A student who studies constantly but never has time to make his own meals at home. John drives to local fast food joints and spends about $70 per week on his in-between-studies meals. Although, he has never worried about the way he looked and no matter what it has never occurred to him to want to change his eating habits, he continues to eat fast food on a regular basis. He consumes about 1,200 calories more than he is suppose to. Now being a grown adult with a settled job and cozy suburban home, he continues to eat unhealthy. No exercise is ever incorporated into his daily routines. He enters a McDonalds and stares blankly at the menu and clearly sees the sign that McDonalds has introduced a new Premium Caesar Salad with Crispy Chicken Strips but John chooses to ignore it because he thinks going to McDonald’s for a salad is like asking a prostitute for a hug. It just doesn’t make sense. He orders a Big Mac meal that costs him around $9.25 and around 1,130 calories (including drink), this does not bother John because this simple meal tastes great and satisfies his hunger and appetite (keep in mind John ate this meal in-between lunch and dinner so he has eaten more calories with breakfast, lunch and dinner). Oh, and why not make it supersized for 2 dollars more, he won’t be hungry till 2 hours later. John continues this routine for about two more months; he feels extremely tired and out of breathe just walking down the stairs of his home. He also has major pains in his hips and knees only to think this is due to age. As the shortness of breath and joint pains begin to intensify, John finally decides to go to the doctor to get a check-up. His result, John is morbidly obese and has developed osteoarthritis, which is the reason for the joint pains. He also has a respiratory problem that causes his shortness of breath. John is outraged at how he could develop such a health problem. He blames McDonalds for giving him such a horrible and negative effect on his health. He plans to sue the fast food company. Does John win his case? No, he does not. With his irresponsible lack of a healthy diet or exercise, he does not have a fair case against McDonald’s. His overweight and health i ssues are due to his irresponsible lack of awareness to his body and his lifestyle. McDonald’s is not the one to blame; he had the choice to eat unhealthy. No one is forcing him to consume fattening foods. The real culprits in his obesity problems (as well as many other obese Americans) are lack of personal responsibility and its henchmen, gluttony and sloth. What really causes obesity besides the overconsumption of food? Genetics is one factor. Some common forms of obesity are probably the result of variations within a large number of heritable genes between families. Obesity risk is 2-3x higher for a person with a history of obesity as oppose to someone with no family history. Genetic studies have shown that the â€Å"particular set of weight-regulating genes that a person has is by far the most important factor in determining how much that person will weigh† (The Real Cause of Obesity). The heritability of obesity, which shows how, many genes is a factor to obesity versus other factors is the same as the heritability of height. Also, many psychological disorders can lead to obesity as well. The basis of eating disorders and obesity usually lies with mixtures of psychosocial and environmental attributes. Individuals who suffer from psychological disorders (e.g. depression, anxiety, and eating disorders) may have a tough time managing control of their consumption of food, exercising an adequate amount, and maintaining a healthy weight. Those with weight problems can use food as a relieving mechanism, particularly when they are sad, anxious, stressed, lonely, and frustrated. In many obese individuals there appears to be a random cycle of mood disturbance, overeating, and weight gain. When they feel distressed, they turn to food to help them feel better which in turn leads to obesity (Psychological Risk Factors of Obesity). The culprits responsible for America’s progressively expanding waistline have little to do with the usual suspects popularized by the media. Many Americans believe Fast Food is the main culprits for obesity because of the clever tactics and unknown ingredients they use to get costumers to buy and their food and make them wanting more later. Fast food companies outnumber actual restaurants because it is affordable, easy to attain, big portioned and delicious. With the United States being the most obese nation, it has also become the nation that craves flavor and variety. Many turn away from greens because of its unappealing taste and lack of flavor. Fast Food companies produce food with flavor and hunger satisfying taste. Many become angry because of the effective advertising done on TV, ads, giveaways and deals. But what really angers consumers most are the chemicals they put in their food that makes it so delicious and irresistible. Polyfluoroalkyl phosphate pesters, PAPs, are chemicals that line fast-food packaging to make it grease- and waterproof, this leads to a number of health problems including cancer and liver disease. Dimethylpolysiloxane, a type of silicone, is added as an anti-foaming agent to McDonald’s chicken nuggets. This is the same ingredient that is used in breast implants and silly putty. Sodium Phosphate, which acts like a foam agent to many types of meat, is constantly used in many fast food joints. Dyes (red and yellow) behavioral attributes. Along with the mystery chemicals that go into fast food for its flavor, companies also supersize or increase the portions of their meals. During 1970s, marketing director of McDonalds corporations, David Wallerstein, determined that consumers would by more of a food item if sold in larger sizes and costs weren’t high. Portions increased from since 1980s to about 5x larger, which includes the drinks and side orders (Buzzle). A supersized coke, big mac and fries takes about 7 hours to burn with walking, now imagine people actually eating this without any exercise. We’ve been supersizing what we eat and that’s what consumers can’t get enough of. Many blame fast food for numerous health problems as well; asthma, strokes, type 2 diabetics, cancer, and cardio vascular disease. I myself have fallen victim to fast food, for example when I go on road trips with the family, we have no time to sit down and have a proper breakfast since we have to get on the road right away. We stop by a McDonalds because their breakfast is cheap and quick since we can eat it in the car. Also, it is no coincidence that fast food chains are everywhere where there are colleges and schools as well. College educated people or not poorly educated Americans are the most rapid growth in BMI between 1970 and 1990 (Fast Food 20). Obesity in college students in 1970 increased to 163% with many students claiming that with so much hectic studying and no time to eat, fast food is close by and quick to eat. So, it is no joke as to why people would blame fast food for their health troubles, since it is easy to attain and delicious but with many deadly ingredients. Personal responsibility is all it takes to decrease obesity. We live in a supersized world but as they say bigger is not always better. Fast food companies should not be blamed for obesity and instead be blamed on the consumers for lack of self-control. Fast food may look delicious but if people are aware of the health problems that are in the food, why do some continue to consume it regularly. Many need to take responsibility for their actions instead of taking it out on the companies by filing ridiculous lawsuits. No one forces us to eat a burger. It is not fast food that kills it is lack of responsibility that kills.

Nestle Environmental Essay Example

Nestle Environmental Essay Example Nestle Environmental Paper Nestle Environmental Paper Two types of environments External Environment The external environment comprises of two environments, the Mega and Task environments. The Mega environment is the general external environment in which organizations operate and exerts pressure on the organizations ability to achieve its Vision, Mission and Goals. The Task environment is also comprised of elements from the external environment which can directly affect the operations of the organization. ( Business Management student manual, December 201 1 ) Here are external environment that Nestle deal with. Political environment. Political issues are one of the major concerns for the company to operate in he county. Political status in many countries that Nestle entered is belongs to stability although there are existence of different language groups and cultural regions. With the political stability in the market, Nestle can actually maintain the sales or even boost up the sales, as the stability will actually bring economic growth, therefore, the consumer purchasing power will eventually growth due the improvement of living standard. For example, Nestle can actually enjoy the tax benefit compare to most countries of the EH and ASSAI and can be enjoy by Nestle is the company can actually deduct the axes from the income as an expense that relatively lower effective tax rate compare to most other countries where the taxes are not deductible(Colic, M, 201 1). Economic environment. Demand for basic food supplies persists even in times of economic downturn. However, the patterns of eating and drinking changes, with full meals more likely to be prepared and consumed at home. With operations around the globe, Nestle had to make adjustments for variations in demand fluctuations and price sensitivities in different countries and geographic regions. Although Nestle was based in Switzerland and most Of its key leaders were from the United States and the European continent, one third of 2007 sales came from the developing world and analysts projected that by 201 0, 90% of the worlds population would live in developing and emerging countries. Technological environment. Throughout the industry, technologies are vital to defining recipes, producing food and beverages, locating and purifying water. As the companys own GLOBE initiative demonstrates, internal technologies are vital to coordinating operations. Internal Environment The internal environment refers to the environment inside the organization. It forces acting on the organization from within and take a similar from to those discussed under external forces. ( Business Management student manual, December 2011 ) Here are internal environment that Nestle deal with. The internal economic element. Nestle has some very strong brands like Ensnare, Imagined Crueler. These brands are almost generic to their product categories and the Company has been continuously introducing new products for its Pakistani patterns on frequent basis, thus expanding its product offerings. (Porter, M. E, 2008) The internal technology environment. Nestle not only has Well-developed apply chain, but also good relations with suppliers and farmers. The company also has ability to customize and localize products. The human environment. Nestle concerned with employee competence productivity. Wherever employees work in Nestle, theyll enjoy a selection of core benefits, including a competitive salary, contributory pension scheme and a range Of flexible benefits to choose from. Environmental uncertainty and strategies to manage it Environmental uncertainty is a core concept upon which the organizational design framework is based (Chandler 1962), and stems from factors in an organizations environment. The concept refers to the degree, or variability, of change that characterizes environmental activities relevant to an organizations operations such as the unpredictability in the actions of the customers, suppliers, competitors and regulatory groups to which probabilities can not be attached because of their constant change (Child 1972; Des and Beard 1 984; Dragon 1998). It is stochastic in nature and con not be easily predicted. At the same time, it is also a constraint to which managers must adapt. For example, in Dingdong, Gudgeon province, people were proud Of Nestle in the past, but now, most people are thinking it elute their environment and they even boycott the extension of Nestle. This situation appears because that the area of Nestle factory become residential quarters where is farms twenty years ago and people pay more attention to protect environment. Besides that, Nestle needs to face many competitors, such as Coca-Cola, Milliner, Meaning and Wilily, so Nestle must keep vigilance and hard-working to reply all kinds of problems which may appear. Bandages, Bates and some other people(2008), in their book Fresh Perspectives: Business management: JUJU Custom Publication, say that no organization exists in an environment in which it knows exactly what happen from one minute to the next. Every day, opportunities and challenges present themselves. The way in which managers use opportunities and prevent problems will decide how effectively the organization deals with uncertainly. The strategies to deal with uncertainty include internal and external strategies. For internal strategies, managers use internal strategies to make changes to their organization and its operations, allowing it to cope with uncertainty. These strategies include such actions as recruitment, buffering, smoothing, rationing and geographic dispersion. In 1997, Nestle discovered the management of it was so chaotic that there Were 29 prices when all the factories got vanillas from the same supplier because that every factory did not communicate each other. Then, Nestle carried out the ERP Project to make the whole company unify. For external strategies, managers respond to the uncertainty of challenges in the outside environment by using external strategies. The some of the best external strategies include advertising, and so on. In 1987, Nestle set up the first factory in an unknown to public city, Gaucheness in China while other international companies hose development in prosperous cities. Then, Nestle made many specialists teach local people to look after milk cows and collect milk. It helped local economic develop and made Nestle have a stabilized milk source. Due to this strategy, Nestle keep its position in China while Deanne, Milliner and some other international companies left China because of the lack of milk sources in 2004. Adaptive and non-adaptive cultures Adaptive and non-adaptive cultures are two different choices for a company. Cultures that facilitated the adaptation of strategies and practices to continuously respond to changing markets and new competitive environments were the most likely to sustain high performance over time. These cultures supported the organizations immediate strategy and business context, and were also forward looking and guided positive change. An organization which has non-adaptive cultures could be successful in the short-run, and some had been highly successful at one point in their histories. However, they were unable to continue that success when markets turned, because they could not respond quickly enough to changing business conditions. The key to a successful organization lies in its ability to move award with its current endeavors while always maintaining an initiative to innovate without hindering that organizations overall operation. By definition, an Adaptive Culture is simply a way of operating where change is expected and adapting to those changes is smooth, routine and seamless. With an Adaptive Culture in place, change, growth, and innovation are a given part of the business environment. In Europe, most coffee drinks are packed with glass bottles because of the dry climate. Moreover, Europeans like to use coffee machine with coffee beans to make coffee. While in the Philippines, due to the high Temperature and immunity, most coffee drinks is not to sell with bottled, but a small packet which capacity is only 1. 7 grams. The customer can purchase a small packet of coffee. When Nestle first enter the Philippines market, they did not realized this distinction, so they still sell their coffee as they do in Europe and America, which result in their failure. The author of the The survival environment of enterprise (1 995), states that it is important for enterprise to adapts to the change of market environment. After this failure, Nestle started to research the eating habit and spending habit of Philippines. According to this, Nestle start produce more small package of coffee, and plus a little sugar due to local custom. Through making this change, Philippines gradually accept Nestle coffee and Nestle have opened the market of Philippine successfully. However, because of the policy in Philippine, Nestle company run into obstacles again. In the year of 1996, the government of Philippine introduced new penalties for limiting the imported coffee bean and coffee product, and the raw material Of coffee must only from Philippine. This policy made many foreign company got into trouble, so did Nestle. Because the coffee bean that Nestle usually used is come from Latin-America, and the flavor of coffee bean between Latin-America and Philippine exists big differences. Before the principle roll out, the local customers have already adjusted the unique flavor of Nestle coffee, so it is difficult to change the raw material. Finally, Nestle made a decision: let the customers to make a choice. They held many activities to made customers taste different flavor coffee and choose which one is the best and even let customers made coffee themselves. Through these activities, Nestle have found a way to make sure both the raw material room Philippine and the flavor that customers like. After 2 years continuous study, Nestle finally adapt the Philippine market perfectly. To sum up, environment is a double-edged sword for a company and it is very important for a company to have a better understanding Of the environment both external and internal. Nestle company should take advantages of the environmental factors to change dilemma into an opportunity or to make better achievements. Whats more, there is no doubt that environmental uncertainty is inevitable. What a company should do is to take effective measures to minimize the risks. In addition, adaptive and non-adaptive cultures of a company bring two completely different outcomes.

Recommendation Letter Requirements How to Find

Recommendation Letter Requirements How to Find SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Along with researching your colleges’ deadlines and requirements, you also need to figure out exactly what each one’s policy is toward recommendation letters. Some schools may ask for one or two letters, while others may actually prohibit them outright. This guide is meant to help you locate the crucial information you need. First, we’ll go over the questions you need to ask. Then, we’ll take you through the process of searching for this info, step by step. To begin, what do you need to know? What Do You Need to Know About Recommendation Letter Requirements? Before you can make sure you have all the answers, you need to know what questions to ask. There are a few key answers you need to gather: How many letters do you need? More specifically, do you need one from your counselor? From a teacher? If so, do you need one, two, or (in rare cases) three teacher recommendations? Does it matter who you ask? Do you need to ask teachers of a certain subject, or can you ask anyone? Does your school have any special requirements, like a personal, artistic, or peer evaluation? (This is rare, but applies to a few schools.) Can you send a supplemental recommendation? Does your school encourage, discourage, or prohibit extra letters? How do your recommenders submit their letters? Do they upload them on tothe Common Application or school application? If necessary, can they send them via mail? And last, but not least - when’s the deadline? These are the most important questions that need answers. You should be able to find this information on each school’s admissions website. If it’s not spelled out there, then you should feel free to call up the admissions office and ask. Some schools won't even read letters if you send them, like those in the University of California system, while others make space on the Common App for you to submit two additional teacher letters, like Brown. More commonly, schools want one or two teacher recommendations, but it's important to check because there's such a range of policies. Since every school’s website is different (and some are inexplicably confusing to navigate), let’s go through the steps of researching a few popular schools with differing policies towards recommendation letters. Let’s start with schools in the University of California system, and then take a look at the University of Virginia and Harvard. The journey begins. How to Search for the University of California’s Recommendation Letter Policy Your first step for all these schools should be to head to Google. Search for â€Å"name of school + admissions† and findits admissions page. PrepScholar also has a large database of colleges and their requirements and admissions rates, so you can find data by searching for â€Å"PrepScholar + name of school.† Every admissions site is a little different, so you may have to do a little digging around before getting to the information you need. Often a page called â€Å"Application Instructions† or â€Å"Application Checklist† will get you where you need to go, usually along with choosing whether you’re a U.S. prospective freshman, transfer student, or international student. On the University of California admission page, you’ll see its rec letter policy in a sidebar: â€Å"UC does not require (nor read) letters of recommendation at the time of application. A campus may ask for them later as part of a supplemental review, so be sure to check your email.† You can see why it’s so important to check policies. Not only does UC not require you to send a rec letter, but it won’t even read one if you do! What’s the lesson here? Always do your research before sending any supplemental recommendation letters. When you create your online account to apply to a UC school, you’ll see that there’s no tab to invite recommenders. For other schools, this will be part of the school’s app or Common Application. Now let’s take a look at the University of Virginia, which asks for one counselor and one teacher recommendation. How to Search for University of Virginia’s Recommendation Letter Policy Back to Google! Start by searching for â€Å"University of Virginia + admissions.† Double check that you’re in undergraduate admissions, by the way, if your college has a graduate school. Once you get to UVA’s site, you’ll see a dropdown menu where you can click on â€Å"Instructions.† These instructions tell you to send â€Å"recommendations from one counselor and one teacher.† You can also click on School Forms and Deadlines for more detailed info. If you’re wondering about UVA’s policy towards supplemental letters, unfortunately its website doesn’t say. Not to worry! A search of â€Å"UVA + supplemental recommendation† brings up the UVA blog. According to this blog, UVA doesn’t really want you to send an extra letter, but will consider it if it really adds something significant to your application. Generally speaking, it’s discouraged. Finally, let’s consider Harvard and its guidelines for recommendation letters. How to Search for Harvard's Recommendation Letter Policy The first step should be old hat to you by now. Head over to Google and search for "Harvard + admissions." Once you get to Harvard's admissions page, you can click on "Application Requirements." Then select whether you're a freshman applicant, transfer student, or visiting student. Here you'll find that Harvard wants to see the evaluation from your counselor and two teacher letters. Compared to other Ivy League schools, Harvard's website is pretty tight-lipped about what it's looking for in teacher recommendation letters. All it really says is, "Ask two teachers in different academic subjects who know you well to complete the Teacher Evaluation forms." The website does refer you to its posts in the New York Times blog for more insight into the admissions process. According to this blog, recommendations are "extremely important" in the admissions process. Officers read them "with great care" and look for "such personal qualities as character and leadership as well as intellectual curiosity, creativity, and love of learning...[they] can offer evidence of an applicant's potential to make a significant difference to a college community and beyond." As you can tell, recommendation letters are closely reviewed in Harvard's process, as well as at other selective schools. Also like other schools, Harvard seems to consider supplemental recommendations if they truly add something substantial to your application. At the same time, it neither expects nor encourages them. Now that you know how to track down your schools' recommendation letter policies, you also want to make sure you know how to submit them. How Do Your Recommenders Submit Their Letters? If you're applying through the Common Application, then you'll invite your recommenders to upload their letters. As long as you fill in their name, position, and emails correctly, then the rest is up to your recommenders. The same should go for a school's individual online application. Since Harvard allows you to submit a supplemental recommendation, it leaves space on the Common Application for you to assign an "additional recommender." If your recommender can't upload her letter online for some reason, you should be able to send a hard copy by mail to the school's admissions office. In this case, make sure to provide your recommender with a pre-addressed, pre-stamped envelope, and to follow up with her that she sent it off by the deadline. If you're clear on all the guidelines, then you can communicate them clearly to your recommenders. Let's briefly review what that key info is. Key Points to Remember There's a lot of planning that goes into asking for recommendation letters and getting them submitted. Make sure to search online for each of your school's rec letter policies, which should be outlined on its admissions page. The schools mentioned here don't specify exactly who you should ask for rec letters, but some schools do give guidelines. MIT and CalTech, for instance, instruct you to ask one humanities or social studies teacher and one math or science teacher. If you still have questions that aren't answered online (unfortunately, sometimes they won't be), you should contact the admissions office directly. The people there will be able to get you the information you need. Finally, be thoughtful and intentional about who you ask for recommendation letters, whether they're your core recs or supplemental ones. You want to make sure each letter adds something insightful, complimentary, and substantial to your story. If your letters accomplish this, then they can be extremely helpful in tipping the admissions decision in your favor. What's Next? Check out these detailed guides that will help you get the best recommendation letters and impress admissions officers: How to Request a Letter of Recommendation What Makes for a Good Letter of Rec? Why Are Recommendations Important to Your Application? How Admissions Officers Read Rec Letters Recommendation Letters for Harvard Examples of Great Teacher Recs and Counselor Recs Want to improve your SAT score by 240 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Why did the First World War have such a disruptive effect on the Essay

Why did the First World War have such a disruptive effect on the international trading and financial system - Essay Example Only the USA have won. From the beginning of the 20-th century the pure market (besides it was in many respects an abstract theoretical structure) began to be supplemented and partly to be replaced with the new public institutes. These institutes had various origin and nature. All of them operated, however, in one direction, reducing a degree of capitalism spontaneity with its destructive consequences in the form of periodic mass ruins. Besides these new institutes have allowed realizing the rights to the best life, have raised the workers’ share, actually creating public riches, in distribution of a product created by all society (Ashworth, 1962, p65). Then there was the First World War. It has occurred because of the impetuous aspiration of the private capital to the profit and has brought many sufferings to the nations of the world. After the First World War there were the significant changes for capitalism. The so-called system of ‘free trade’ has been reorganized in system of interstate agreements. In the frames of national economies the top was taken by healthy forces, which understood the banefulness of the impetuous competition for domestic economic structure, first of all for new, progressive industries. The archaic system of the gold standard, which leaned to the prejudices concerning value of gold, has been replaced with more modern international monetary system assumed close coordination of national banks. The impetuous competition has received a worthy counterbalance in the form of the antimonopoly law and, in some cases, elements of economy planning. The social rights of workers became better protected - the role of trade unions has amplified, in some countries the elements of social protection, the forerunner of the modern systems ‘welfare state’ began to appear (Aldcroft, 1978, p68). Then there was the most destructive economic crisis for all world history. It occurred because the out-of-date system ‘laissez

Marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Marketing - Assignment Example This would be followed by a few recommendations for the company, which would mark the end of the discussion Industry Environment Porter Five Forces Model presents a good framework to explore the environmental and industry forces, which are affecting the marketing of the company. First, the rivalry against the existing competitors within the industry is high (Armstrong, Harker, Kotler & Brennan, pp. 19-22, 2009). Despite the fact that more than 500 independent bookshops have closed as of 2009 due to their inability to compete with the big bookstores, the barriers of borders are coming down and thus exposing companies like Waterstones, with the help of internet and others, to competition on an international level. Furthermore, currently, there are three big players in the market namely Waterstone’s, Amazon, and WH Smith; however, the problem here is that none of them has a considerable lead and in the absence of huge differences in size, these competitors would fuel the rivalry to greatest limits. Rivalry decreases when competitors are aiming for different market segments or different niches in the industry; however, it appears that all of the major competitors are trying to appeal to all of digital and traditional segments of the market, thus, intensifying the rivalry (Armstrong, Harker, Kotler & Brennan, pp. 19-22, 2009). ... tailers here is that they cannot achieve a high degree of differentiation for the books they sell since the product remains the same (Kotler & Armstrong, pp. 41-48, 2008). Due to low degree of differentiation, the competition rests on the price alone thus forcing the customer to look for better bargains. As mentioned in the case that UK booksellers are having the lowest profit margins because of excessive discounting to appeal to the customer as compared to the book retailers in Ireland, USA, Finland, Holland, and Ireland. The supplier power in the industry remains moderate. Four major companies namely Hachette Livre, Bertelsmann, Pearson, and HarperCollins hold more than 50 percent of the market share in the publishing industry. Many authors cannot get their books published, sold, or promoted if they do not have any association with big publishers. Furthermore, they also pose a strong threat for forward integration in the market. However, there power is moderate because they depend highly on these high street retailers for promotions and shelf space for both new and old authors and books. Furthermore, with well-established players in the industry, they have lesser options to get good bargains (Peter & Donnelly, pp. 122-123, 2010). The threat of substitutes is high due to the illegal and pirated books that are easily accessible on the internet through various websites. Furthermore, these substitutes cost way less than the original books; in many cases, these are free, thus increasing their attractiveness to great limits. Lastly, the threat of new entrants also remains moderately high. This is true because not only setting up a bookshop is relatively easy but also because lately many supermarkets such as Tesco, Sainsbury and others have jumped into the industry with