Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Music - Essay Example The group’s song â€Å"I’m Gonna Sing Till the Spirit moves† is one best example of their song which has uplifted the spirits of the many. The song is in â€Å"a capella†. Just the soft yet powerful voices of the singers can be heard. They just used their own voice, blended their tone qualities with each other and produced accompanying sounds making the song more effective and interesting to hear. The overall structure of the song is very solemn. In fact, this song can be sung inside the church. Listeners, like me, can even imagine to serious faces of the singers giving all their hearts and soul while singing the song. The mode and/or tone is very emphatic. It is as if the singers are directly talking with each listener. But despite this, listeners can enjoy every lyric of the song. I even noticed myself tapping my fingers and silently humming the song. Indeed the title of this song is very apt with its content and melody. It will not take too much of the time of the singers in singing the song because the listeners’ spirits will surely be moved in less than a time. Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry were two famous soloists during the early 1930’s. But these two tried sharing their music together and their fans loved them more for this move. Brownie was a superb and smooth guitarist and singer, while Sonny was known for his able playing of his harp and voice quality which is in a rough country style complete with whoops and hollers. Sonnys solo "Mountain Blues" from the 1938 Spirituals to Swing concert was one of his finest recordings and was sung completely in falsetto. Nearly blind since childhood Sonny had almost always played music, at first on street corners and later in recording studios with Blind Boy Fuller. Sonny met his partner of many, Brownie McGhee. Together they became the folk-blues musicians - recording and gigging with people like Lead belly, Woody

Native Americans in California Missions Essay Example for Free

Native Americans in California Missions Essay Spanish wanted to colonize some of America, just like the Europeans. Building religious based Missions all throughout California was a way for them to maintain ultimate social, political, and economic control. Spanish explorers arrived on the border of California during the 16th century. The very first Franciscan mission was built in San Diego during 1769. By 1833, twenty two Spanish Missions existed from Southern California to Northern California. Native Americans made up about one-third of those who lived and worked at the Missions. There were an estimated 310,000 Indians living in California during the 16th century. The Spanish provided the Native Americans with the necessities such as food, clothing, and shelter. Although the California Missions had the right intentions of providing for the Native Americans, the Spanish acted in an inhumane and unfair way. Junipero Serra arrived in San Diego in 1768 and lead a group of Franciscans to find property and more importantly, workers. He welcomed the Native Americans with open arms and open doors. In a primary document written by Junipero Serra himself, he admitted that he used the Native Americans solely for work. However, he said that providing them with food and shelter compensates for their hard work. â€Å"So if families other than Indian come from there, it will serve the same purpose very well—that is, if we can provide for them†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Serra). Serra’s defenders state that he respected the Natives’ culture. However, his criticizers argue that he used force to urge the Native Americans to live at the Missions against their will. Although the Natives did not agree with Serra’s beliefs and actions, they were very respectful for the most part. For those who did not respect Serra received physical punishment with â€Å"whips, chains, and stocks to enforce religious obedience† (Serra). Junipero Serra was a great leader who made sure the California Missions were in order. The California Mission had worthy intentions and plans for the Native Americans. The Spanish welcomed them into their ‘homes’ and provided them with the essentials such as food, clothing, and shelter. However, living at the Missions had its consequences. The Native Americans were forced to change their entire lifestyles – from their beliefs, their daily routines, to the way they dressed and what they ate. Although anthropologists conducted that some Native Americans enjoyed their new lives, more than eighty percent refused to convert their ways of life (Sandos, 13). For thousands of years, the Natives were accustomed with their own lifestyle and beliefs, and all of a sudden, everything was stripped away from them. Even their personal identity was taken away from them. The Franciscans provided each individual with Spanish names which were to be used instead of their native birth names. â€Å"The missions were not agents of intentional enslavement, but rather rapid and therefore violent social and cultural change† (Archibald, 24). The Native Americans ended up becoming tax pay citizens along with being under Spanish wing twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The Franciscans had very different beliefs and traditions from the Native Americans. The Native Americans were forced to convert their religion to Roman Catholics. The Native Americans were more of a â€Å"spiritual† group rather than a religious group. Instead of believing in personified figures, such as Jesus, they believed spirits lie within their nature. Native Americans feed their energy off of nature. They believed that they are protected by the Mother Nature that surrounded them. The Spanish used religion to explain their actions, which made it ‘okay’ for them to convert the Native American’s beliefs because they were backed up by their god (California). Every person living and working at the Mission had to be officially baptized as a rite of passage. On Sundays and holidays everyone was obligated to go to church and worship. The Natives were forced to memorize Catholic rituals, songs, and scriptures. Prayer lasted four hours on Sundays and feast days. On a regular basis on typical days, prayer lasted two hours. Catholicism was a huge part of living at the Missions. The Missions were surrounded by Spanish soldiers so everyone was watched very closely. Once the Native Americans accepted the Spanish lifestyle, it was nearly impossible to escape. It was as if they were held against their own will. A few sources compare the treatment of Native Americans to slavery (Archibald, 48). Slavery is defined as an economic exploitation that benefits only the slave-owner. In the California Missions, the Native Americans worked solely to provide and maintain a certain lifestyle for the Spanish. Besides minimal food and shelter, the Native America’s natural human rights were stripped from them. Native America women made clothing, prepared meals, cleaned the rooms, and whatever domestic chores needed to be done at the Mission. Native American mothers even had to care for Spanish children instead of focusing on their own (Mission). The Native American men had to hunt for food and build new Missions. In addition, they learned carpentry, leatherworkers, smiths, and farm work. The Franciscans controlled their days into a rigorous schedule announced by church bells (Archibald, 104). If the workers were not done with their tasks by the chimes of the church bells, they would suffer major consequences. The Franciscans did not view their actions as imprisonment because they believed that the providence of food and shelter compensates for Natives’ hard work. In reality, the Missions were not a place to live a life of ease nor was it a place to acquire personal fortune and prosperity. The Native Americans were not worked to death like the slaves in southern United States at this time. However, the strict regulation, cruel and unusual punishments and forced new traditions are extremely inhumane acts. According to Julio Cesar, â€Å"When I was a boy the treatment given to the Indians at the Mission was not good at all. We were at the mercy of the administrator, who ordered us to be flogged whenever and however he took notion† (Mission). Every Mission had two priests. One priest’s duties were to preach and teach about religion. The other priest’s duties were strictly on the work field. He instructed and gave the Native Americans and other workers their duties. The lifestyle in the California Missions was set in a very rigorous schedule so it was nearly impossible for the Native Americans to take a break or escape the hardship. The Natives resisted colonization after just a short time living and working at the Missions. There were a few deadly rebellions conducted by the Native Americans. They destroyed Mission property and even threatened to kill priests. The most infamous attack occurred in San Diego. On November 4, 1775, hundreds of men completely destroyed the Cuiamac Rancheria Mission of San Diego. The men also killed three Hispanics, including the Father, Padre Jaime (Sandos, 92). In addition, in 1824, another great Indian rebellion in California occurred at the Missions of Barbara. A large part of the Mission building was wrecked by a large fire. On the same day, hundreds of Native Americans attacked the Spanish defenders and soldiers. Leaders of the rebellion were severely punished. Seven were executed and the others were imprisoned or required to do even crueler labor. The Natives revolted because of their poor treatment and forced labor enforced by the soldiers and Fathers (Sandos, 73). These rebellions were among the many others throughout the 16th century in the California missions. This proves that the Native Americans were furious about getting different beliefs and work forced onto them. The Spanish settlers caused a lot of health problems to flourish all throughout California. Soon after the arrival of Spanish colonists, diseases spread from Southern California to Northern California so Native American fatalities heightened. Highly infectious diseases such as smallpox, measles, and syphilis killed thousands of Native Americans, especially children, so the Indian population dropped drastically (Sandos, 64). About sixty percent of the Mission Native Americans’ death was due to introduced diseases. In just a few decades, the Native American population in California decreased from 310,000 to about 100,000. Since the California Missions held many residences, people lived in such confined spaces which caused contagious diseases to spread rapidly. In order to keep the population at a steady rate for enough workers, Mission leaders separated Native American children from their parents to maintain the children’s health to save them to work at the Missions as they got older (California). The Natives were furious that their families were being separate. Mothers were not there to care for their children, so the Native children were on their own. There was a lack of physicians to care for the ill so not everyone could be helped. Diseases were not the only reason why the Native population dropped drastically. They went through rigorous changes in diet so their bodies were not used to the food they were eating. In addition, malnutrition caused toxins in their bodies. In addition, the intense demanding manual labor is a factor that contributed to their inability to overcome the sickness. Death rates were higher than birth rates so the Mission had to keep recruiting different tribes all throughout California (Mission). By 1834, there were only about 15,000 Native American residents in the twenty two Missions. The Spanish were only in contact with the Native Americans for personal gain. The Franciscans maintained total economic, social, and political control all throughout California. Very few Native Americans chose to stay at the Missions voluntarily. During their time at the Missions, they had to conduct harsh labor and all of their rights were taken away from them. Although they provided the Native Americans with food, shelter, and clothing, the Franciscans treated them like slaves. The Spanish’s involvement backfired since a majority of Native Americans died due to illness, making them nearly extinct. The physical and metal demands required were a major strain on the Native Americans.

Jack Kerouac’s On The Road - The American Quest Essay -- On The Road

On The Road and the American Quest      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jack Kerouac's On The Road is the most uniquely American novel of its time.   While it has never fared well with academics, On The Road has come to symbolize for many an entire generation of disaffected young Americans.   One can focus on numerous issues wh en addressing the novel, but the two primary reasons which make the book uniquely American are its frantic Romantic search for the great American hero (and ecstasy in general), and Kerouac's "Spontaneous Prose" method of writing. On The Road is an autobiographical first-person book written in 1951 and based on Kerouac's experiences of the late 1940's. At the time, America was undergoing drastic changes and the sense of sterility brought on by a mechanized Cold War era society resu lted in a feeling of existential dislocation for many. Numerous Americans began to experience a sense of purposelessness and the air was rife with disillusionment.   Kerouac was one of these restless postwar young people and he longed for...something.   A n ew kind of hero?   A return to a Romantic tradition and simpler days?   When Kerouac met Neal Cassady, he knew Cassady was the kind of hero he had been seeking.   Eventually, as Robert Hipkiss notes, "Kerouac began to see Neal as an 'archetypal American Man' "....and, in fact, when Kerouac created Dean Moriarty out of Neal, "he created a new symbol of flaming American youth, the American hero of the Beat Generation" (32-3).   Indeed, as Hipkiss argues, Dean Moriarty   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   is the most singular hero of the road America has ever had.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Mixing the individualism of the freeborn American with that      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   great present-day extension of this freedom, the motor car, ... ...opeless and yet be determined to make them      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   otherwise.... On The Road is an example of such a test's      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   being taken -- and passed.... (132)    Kerouac, like Bellow and Plath, sees that things are hopeless but he remains determined to go on, and on, and on....          Works Cited    Bartlett, Lee, ed.   The Beats: Essays in Criticism.   Jefferson, C.: McFarland, 1981.    Bartlett, Lee.   "The Dionysian Vision of Jack Kerouac."   Bartlett 115-26.    Dardess, George.   "The Delicate Dynamics of Friendship: Reconsideration of Kerouac's On The Road."      Hipkiss, Robert A.   Jack Kerouac: Prophet of the New Romanticism. Lawrence: Regents P of Kansas, 1976.    Hunt, Tim.   Kerouac's Crooked Road.   Hamden, CT: Archon, 1981.    Kerouac, Jack.   On The Road.   New York: Signet, 1957.      

Ethics Dilemma Paper Essay

ETHICS DILEMMA PAPER One of the most difficult things in the criminal justice field is related to ethics in the criminal justice profession. Whether it being a corrections officer, police officer, or a judge. The main goal is to ensure you as a professional are making the right decision for the greater good and that it falls within the guidelines that are set before you in the laws that have been written. In the recent dilemma that occurred in Broward County on February 19, 2014 is an example of an ethics dilemma in the criminal justice field that happens much too often. I will explain to you the nature of the dilemma, the ethical/unethical decision that was made, the outcome of the situation, and suggest some alternative courses of actions that could have taken place instead and why. NATURE OF THE DILEMMA On February 19, 2014 a Broward County Sheriff’s deputy of 20 plus years on the force conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle traveling unlawfully in the HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lane. Once the deputy had the vehicle stopped he was informed by the woman in the driver’s seat that she was recording him conducting the traffic stop. Once the sheriff’s deputy gained knowledge of  this he proceeded to force his way into the woman’s vehicle trying to grab her phone, then pulling her out of the vehicle and dragging her onto the ground causing injuries in several places as another deputy stood by with his gun drawn. All the while this was going on he continued to yell at her stating she was committing a felony and telling her â€Å"I know the law better than you† , and placing her under arrest. The ethical dilemma this situation brings forward is: was the actions taken by this deputy really necessary and justified on an ethical basis? (Miller, 2014). ETHICAL DECISION MADE In this particular situation an unethical decision was made based on the circumstances of the incident at hand. The deputy was committing a crime (felony) himself by unlawfully forcing his way into her vehicle, and detaining her against her will for a crime she did not commit. All for a simple civil infraction (driving in an HOV lane), that could have been handled in a totally different and professional manner. This was the only law the woman was breaking at the time, and the only probable cause the deputy had to go on for the actions that he took. OUTCOME OF THE SITUATION Once the dust settled upon this unfortunate situation, the deputy assumed and thought that the woman was breaking the law by recording the audio and video of the deputy. He assumed that he had to give the woman permission to audio record him. Unfortunately to his disadvantage the Florida courts ruled upholding a â€Å"expectation of privacy provision† (Silverman, 2012) to their all-party law, which the courts ruled does not apply to on-duty police (or anyone in public), as long as you are not interfering with them in conducting their duty. In this particular case the deputy appeared to be uneducated in this revision to the law that the law enforcement agency clearly neglected to educate its department on. ALTERNATIVE COURSES OF ACTION/ WHY According to the situation at hand some of the alternative courses of actions that the deputy could have taken and the woman that was being stopped could have been drastically different. Ethically speaking the deputy could have not taken his actions to the extreme that he did all over the simple recording violation that he thought the woman was committing. His life was not in danger nor was there any indication of any physical threat coming from the woman. The deputy totally handled that situation in a very unprofessional and unethical manner. On the other hand the woman could have easily been justified in using deadly force on the deputy if he was not a law enforcement officer. She would have been justified well within the guidelines of Florida’s Justifiable Use of Force law considering he unlawfully forced his into her car and violently dragged her out. Fortunately for him he was a law enforcement officer or he could have been killed. Another course of action for the sheriff’s deputy and the department could have been to properly educate themselves and their officers of the most current laws regarding these types of situations. In addition to making sure each and every deputy gets a refresher course on the necessary use of force procedures every few years. CONCLUSION In conclusion of this ethical dilemma situation, what I can draw from this is several things. One being always treat people in a way I would like to be treated unless circumstances dictate otherwise; it is the right and ethical action to take. Sometimes we just do not get that luxury of doing such an action when dealing with certain types of people and situations and yes certain actions are necessary. Always take the time to educate yourself on certain laws or information you are not sure of before acting on what you think may be correct. Just like the famous saying, â€Å"Ignorance of the law is not an excuse†, and this is very true but it does go both ways for law enforcement and the public. References Miller, C. (2014). Photography is not a crime. Retrieved from http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2014/02/19/broward-sheriffs-deputy-violently-attacks-woman-recording-traffic-stop/ Silverman, S. (2012). Reason.com free minds and free markets. Retrieved from http://reason.com/archives/2012/04/05/7-rules-for-recording-police

Helping Parents and Caregivers Fight Chilhood Obesity Essay

Helping Parents and Caregivers in the Fight Against Childhood Obesity Young children acquire their knowledge through direct instruction, modeling, and experiences within their environment (Lanigan, 2010, p. # 369). Children who are obese are known to have lower self-esteem, and a higher risk of becoming drinkers, smokers, and/or socially isolated as they mature. Health concerns such as Cardiovascular Disease; Gall Bladder problems; Hypertension; and Sleep Apnea have all been associated with childhood obesity (Robinson; Geier; Rizzolo; Sedrak, 2011). Teaching portion control, implementing a healthy balanced diet, and adding in daily physical activities can help parents and caregivers in the fight against childhood obesity. Portion control is something that has to be developed from within a person. By introducing and practicing the use of healthy eating habits early in life, parents and caregivers are increasing the opportunities for a child to learn behaviors that can help them to dev elop a healthy life style. This type of life style can in turn increase the child’s chances of reversing or even preventing obesity. Teaching children to recognize what it feels like in their bodies when they are hungry or what could be called their hunger signals, while encouraging them to eat their food more slowly, and persuading them to stop eating when they feel they have had enough, even though they may still have food left over, are all ways of promoting healthy eating habits in children. The practice and observation of these skills will benefit children in their journey to a healthy life. Creating a healthy balanced diet can be a challenge for families. The convenience of the fast food industry has increased the challenge for families. Most families have parents or caregivers who work long hours and have little down time, causing them to â€Å"grab† dinner verses preparing it as was once the norm. In a balanced diet, the recommendation of carbohydrates is 45% to 50% of the total daily calories, while fat intake is at 30% to 35% (Philippas; Lo, 2005). Focusing on the right fats and carbs are of extreme importance. Making choices with fruits, vegetables, legumes, and healthier poly- and  monounsaturated fats, verses saturated fats and refined carbohydrates like white bread, refined sugar, soft drinks, cakes and candies, can dramatically assist in the battle against childhood obesity. While portion control and a healthy balanced diet are essential in the fight against childhood obesity, the benefits of physical activity should not be ignored. Exercise is a key component in the treatment and prevention of obesity in children (Robinson; Geier; Rizzolo; Sedrak, 2011). Exercise will assist in weight loss as well as improve metabolic risk factors such as hypertension, and has been known to have led to the lowering of blood pressure, along with reducing in depression, anxiety, and improvement of self-esteem (Robinson; Geier; Rizzolo; Sedrak, 2011). The obesity epidemic is being blamed for the rise in serious diseases and disorders (Robinson; Geier; Rizzolo; Sedrak, 2011). With this information of the multiple health concerns that have been associated with childhood obesity, parents and caregivers must be armed with education and resources to fight against this disease. Teaching portion control, implementing a healthy balanced diet, and adding in daily physical activities can help parents and caregivers in the fight against the disease known as childhood obesity.

6 reasons you need to quit your jobâ€now

6 reasons you need to quit your job- now If you hate your job, most people will tell you to stick it out for a number of very reasonable reasons. They’ll try to convince you that it’s not so bad, that you can make lemonade, that it takes lots of time to plan another move. Here, however, are 6 reasons why you should think about actually quitting  sooner rather than later. We know that some things are not worth sticking out even another week.1. It’s making you physically ill.Your body is literally done with the place. Your stomach is in knots, you have headaches, you feel anxious and depressed at work- or even at the thought of going into work. Listen to your body. This job is wearing you down. The stress is making you sick. Staying at a job like this can have really bad long-term effects on your overall health and happiness.2. The best you can hope for is mediocrity.If you aren’t being given sufficient opportunities to grow or challenges that allow you to stretch your abilities, chances are you won’t excel- personally or professionally. You’ll continue to be bored, your work will be mediocre, and your self-esteem will have nowhere to go but down. Is that the best you can expect (or want) for yourself?3. You’ve stayed way too long- and everyone knows it.Do you get the sense that your job has effectively passed its sell-by date and you’ve outgrown the position? When you think of doing the same tasks you’ve been doing for ages, does it leave a rotten taste in your mouth? If this sounds familiar, there’s a good chance your job has run its course. Why are you sticking around? You have the experience and skills, so come up with a plan  now for how you can use them to get a promotion or new position that deserves the new you.4.   You have dreams of entrepreneurship.You really want to go out on your own, have a great business idea, and are sick of working for other people and pushing papers around. Take a deep breath and put yourself i nto position to take a shot at your dream. If you fail, you can always go back, but if you never try you’ll never know what’s out there for you.5. Your boss is terrible.Bad bosses never get better or more bearable. If there’s no way for you to move to a different department or get promoted to a new manager, then you’re just signing yourself up for endless, daily misery by staying under your toxic boss.6. Your good reputation is fading fast.You’re miserable, so you’re calling in sick all the time. You’ve had a few public confrontations with your boss. Your work has begun to suffer. Leave now before your formerly stellar reputation starts to slide.Ask yourself: can you survive (i.e. pay rent and bills and feed yourself) if you were to quit today? If the answer is yes, go forth and quit. Make sure you have some vague idea of how to line a job up for yourself next month, but focus on getting out of a bad situation this month. You might fi nd that actually quitting forces you to make the changes you need to end up where you really want to be.

Hello World CGI Script in Perl

Hello World CGI Script in Perl A CGI script can be as simple or complex as you need it to be. It could be in Perl, Java, Python or any programming language. At its core, a CGI application simply takes a request via HTTP (typically a web browser) and returns HTML. Lets look at a simple Perl  Hello World CGI script and break it down into its simplest forms. Hello World CGI Perl Script #!/usr/bin/perl print Content-type: text/html\n\n; print HTML; html head titleA Simple Perl CGI/title /head body h1A Simple Perl CGI/h1 pHello World/p /body HTML exit; If you run the program on the command line, youll see that it does exactly what youd expect. First, it prints the Content-type line, then it prints the raw HTML. In order to see it in action in a web browser, youll need to copy or upload the script to your web server and make sure the permissions are set correctly (chmod 755 on *nix systems). Once youve set it correctly, you should be able to browse to it and see the page displayed live on your server. The key line is the first print statement: print Content-type: text/html\n\n; This tells the browser that the document coming after the two newlines is going to be HTML. You must send a header so the browser knows what type of document is coming next, and you must include a blank line between the header and the actual document. Once the header is sent, its just a matter of sending the HTML document itself. In the above example, were using a here-doc to simplify printing a large chunk of plain text. Of course, this is really no different than having a plain HTML document sitting on your server. The real power of using a programming language like Perl to create your HTML comes when you add in some fancy Perl programming. Adding on to the Basic Script In the next example, lets take part of this  time and date script and add it to your web page. #!/usr/bin/perl months qw(Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec); weekDays qw(Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun); ($second, $minute, $hour, $dayOfMonth, $month, $yearOffset, $dayOfWeek, $dayOfYear, $daylightSavings) localtime(); $year 1900 $yearOffset; $theTime $weekDays[$dayOfWeek] $months[$month] $dayOfMonth, $year; print Content-type: text/html\n\n; print HTML; html head titleA Simple Perl CGI/title /head body h1A Simple Perl CGI/h1 p$theTime/p /body HTML exit; This new CGI script will insert the current date into the page each time the script is called. In other words, it becomes a dynamic document that changes as the date changes, rather than a static document.

Free sample - Psychological Disorders. translation missing

Psychological Disorders. Psychological DisordersPsychological disorders which are also called mental disorders are models of behavior or psychological symptoms that influence many different areas of life. Such disorders cause affliction for the individual having these symptoms. Though psychological disorders are in general signalized by some form of strange behavior, sometimes it is hard to find out the abnormality, especially as it differs depending on the culture (Merrell, 2008). There are some kinds of standard approaches for determining abnormality with the aim to diagnose the disease. The statistical approach has to reckon up behavior by establishing how closely it relates to or differs from that of the most of people. Behavior of an individual can also be determined by whether it corresponds to social norms and cultural standards, an approach that eludes blaming heretics as abnormal for behavior that, while being extraordinary, may not encroach on social rules and may even be appraised in the certain culture. Personality is the mixture of thoughts, feelings and conducts that makes every individual unique. It's the way people treat, comprehend and relate to the world, as well as how they consider themselves. Personality is formed in childhood subject to the influence of two elements: - inherited tendencies, or genes, i.e. traits of character which influence an individual’s personality through parents, namely shyness or having a happy outlook which is known also as temperament. - environment, or life situations, i.e. the place where a person grows up, events that happened in his or her life, and relationships with family and other people. It also embraces such moments as the type of parenting a person had, namely loving or offensive (Coon and Mitterer, 2008). Personality disorders are considered to be caused by a mixture of these genetic and environmental features. Some individuals may be born with a genetic vulnerability to evolving antisocial personality disorder - and different life situations of a person may initiate its actual development. There may be a connection between an early lack of sympathy, i.e. realizing the perspectives and problems of other people, including other children as well - and later attack of antisocial personality disorder. A person may inherit such personality problems, so it they can be defined in early stage, it may help make better long-term results. The other way to evaluate if the behavior is to be considered as normal or not should be made by determining whether it is adaptive or maladaptive, and to what extent it intervenes with the behavior of everyday life of people. There are certain situations when psychologists may also determine the normality exclusively on the grounds of whether or not an individual is made unhappy or uncomfortable by his or her own conduct. Antisocial personality disorder is characterized by the behavior violating legal and moral standards that are typical for the society. American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is accepted to be the norm for the classification of psychological disorders; its latest edition is referred to as DSM-IV. It has established five axis for determining conduct and conception models, and presented a complete setting in which to determine a person's psychological image (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). According to DSM-IV people suffering the antisocial personality disorder are characterized by constant lying or stealing, conning for profit or pleasure, lack of behavioral self-control, impulsiveness and inability to plan actions and fulfill financial obligations, annoyance, intolerance, assault. Individuals with antisocial personality disorder may also have periodic difficulties with the law, promiscuity, they show tendency to encroach the boundaries and rights of other people, hostile, often cruel conduct; disposition to getting involved in fights, incapacity to permit tedium, neglect for right and wrong, poor or offensive relationships, irresponsible work conduct, indifference for safety etc (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Antisocial personality disorder has a tendency to be congruous with criminal conduct and is mostly known as sociopathic conduct. Individuals suffering from antisocial personality disorder have lack sympathy and tend to be superficial. In most cases they think very high about their personality while looking down on other people or blaming them for their problems. Besides, it is common for individuals suffering from antisocial personality disorder to show fascination which is helpful for taking advantage of others. Persons suffering from antisocial personality disorder show no compassion for hurting other people, will easily cheat in order to get profit or some other pleasure, and demonstrate a thoughtless inattention for their or other's safety. In many cases, such people will not have close relationships because of these conduct patterns. As for gender differences, it is proved that antisocial personality disorder affects more men than women at a three to one ratio. It is known that it is very hard to cure antisocial personality disorder. People suffering from such disorder may not even wish to be treated or think they have such an illness. People suffering from antisocial personality disorder may also need treatment for other illnesses, such as depression, fear or thyroid disorders. Such people may need help of family or primary care doctor, psychiatrist, pharmacist, members of the family and different social workers. Both psychological and pharmacological interventions for people suffering antisocial personality disorder are not researched enough and direct proofs on the treatment of this population are not numerous. Duggan reports that at least three researchers did not find positive effect of psychological and pharmacological treatment (Duggan, 2009). There can be some other ways of treatment of antisocial personality disorders such as stress and anger management skills, hospitalization, psychotherapy and medications. It shall be admitted that the effectiveness of anger management is doubted as anger is not a symptom of the antisocial personality disorder. Generally, the choice of treatment depends on the certain situation and severity of symptoms. DSM-IV informs that psychotherapy is the major kind of treatment of antisocial personality disorder, a general term for the process of treatment by talking about the illness with a mental health provider. The usage of psychotherapy was explained in a number of guidelines. Cognitive behavioral therapy is aimed to reveal unhealthy, negative opinions and conducts and supersede them with healthy and good ones. These guidelines also emphasize on the applying of moral reasoning as an active part of treatment, social information processing approach, and planning in order to prevent relapse. In addition, the treatment should be organized in the way that patients will be not required to tell about their emotional states. Asking them about ‘feeling states’ is not applicable for the patients who have difficulty with assessment of such states, and who may be aggressive if confronted with a potential personal shortcoming. High level of external structure (supervision of the patient a nd contingent reinforcement of specific pro- social behavior) is likely to lead to improved outcomes in antisocial patients. (Hesse, 2010). If you have a person you love who is suffering from antisocial personality disorder, it's essential for you to get help for yourself. Mental health professionals can help teach you the way how to protect yourself from the attacks, fury and indignation which are often present in the nature of people with antisocial personality disorder. Mental health professionals can also provide some recommendations about support groups for families and friends influenced by antisocial personality disorder Nowadays there is no certain way to prevent antisocial personality disorder from developing. The only thing that may help is attempt to determine those most at risk, such as children living with carelessness or insult, and providing early interference may help. Receiving proper treatment in early stage may forestall symptoms from getting worse.

Problems in Total Quality within the Workplace Assignment

Problems in Total Quality within the Workplace - Assignment Example Unfortunately, this in itself has been a perplexing task since TQM has had various definitions for different people. The TQM philosophy revolves around assumptions that are manifested in people, quality, corporations and the role of top management (Hackman & Wageman, 1995). The strategy outlines four core principles that bring about quality improvement. The first pertains to the process control and design which requires training at all levels of the organization (Hackman & Wageman, 1995). The second pertains to elimination of uncontrolled variance in process standards (Hackman & Wageman, 1995). The third relates to the methodical collection of data and finally, the fourth pertains to continuous improvement (Hackman & Wageman, 1995). However, the implementation of TQM and its application to industries is not as simplistic as its explanation; it is plagued by several problems. Recent research suggests that more than 80% of TQM efforts have failed to achieve desired tangible results since top management fails to set SMART goals (Kearney, 1992). Most organizations have failed to realize significant competitive edge through initiation of these efforts. TQM requires a culture whereby organizations are devoted to increasing quality, often at the expense of short term profits. However, several profit organizations take a myopic view when they aim for short term profits rather than quality. In organizations in the public sector, the issue is that of excessive government intervention and influence on the organization’s activities (Sarkar, 1991). State run organizations are often bureaucratic in nature and tend to deviate from quality improvement activities. In such organizations it is difficult to embed the TQM culture. Furthermore, in certain developing countries the culture is such that it negates change and does not encourage empowerment that is fundamental to the achievement

Economic Growth Models Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Economic Growth Models - Essay Example Y = AKL1-, 0where A measures the level of technology. Output per worker, y = Y/L, is thus given by y = Ak where k denotes the capital-labor ratio. Capital accumulation is given by k = sy - (n + )k, 0 where s denotes the propensity to save, n > 0 the exogenous rate of population growth, and the rate of depreciation of physical capital(Agnor and Montiel 1999, p.671). The Solow-Swan growth model predicts that growth should be uncorrelated with the ratio of national investment to total output (gross domestic product or GDP). If capital markets are open, the model predicts instantaneous convergence of output per capita across countries. Convergence is achieved by capital flows from rich to poor countries and a consequence of these flows is that the ratio of national savings to GDP in each country should differ substantially from the ratio of investment to GDP since there is no reason to expect that countries with high savings rates should be those with large investment opportunities. In the presence of capital market imperfections, such as the inability to borrow to finance human capital accumulation, convergence is predicted to occur more slowly (Farmer and Lahiri, 2003). Figure 1. Equilibrium in the Solow-Swan Model Source: Kalyvitis (n.d., p.6) Assuming that all regions possess similar technology and similar preferences, and that there are no institutional barriers to the flow of both capital and labor across state borders, the Solow-Swan neoclassical growth model predicts that states would have similar levels of real per capita income in the long run (convergence). Across regions of a given... Assuming that all regions possess similar technology and similar preferences, and that there are no institutional barriers to the flow of both capital and labor across state borders, the Solow-Swan neoclassical growth model predicts that states would have similar levels of real per capita income in the long run (convergence). Across regions of a given country that share such a common long-run level of real per capita income, convergence of per capita incomes is driven by diminishing returns to capital. That is, each addition to the capital stock generates large increases in output when the regional stock of capital is small. If the only difference between regional economies lies in the level of their initial stock of capital, the neoclassical growth model predicts that poor regions will grow faster than rich ones—regions with lower starting values of the capital-labor ratio will have higher per capita income growth rates. Other channels through which convergence can occur are interregional capital mobility; the diffusion of technology from leader to follower economies; the redistribution of incomes from relatively rich regions to relatively poor regions of a federal country by its central government; and flows of labor from poor to rich regions (Cashin and Sahay 1996, p.49).Agà ©nor and Montiel (1999, p.677) note that the neoclassical growth model only predicts â€Å"conditional† convergence, that is a tendency for per capita income to converge across countries only after controlling.

Interest of Tree Growth along the Tagliamen River Statistics Project

Interest of Tree Growth along the Tagliamen River - Statistics Project Example Site A was the furthest upstream site, with the other sites following in an alphabetical order to the seventh, site G. Measurements were taken in two sessions; the first in 2005 and the second in 2010. 140 measurements were taken in each of the two sessions. The average tree height was 304.75 cm (std. dev. = 28.67), with the tallest being 407cm and the shortest 247 cm. The average trunk diameter for the 180 trees was 2.12 (std. dev. = 0.55), with the thickest being 5.0 cm and the thinnest 1.1 cm. The average number of annual growth rings was 8.38 (std. dev. = 3.38); the maximum is 20 and the minimum 3. Based on the ‘river data’, measurements of the various components of the river’s waters were done between the 65th and 90th years. The 90th year had the most measurements, with 19 (6.8%) occurring in that year. The 71st year had the least number of measurements (1, 0.4) recorded. Through the years, June and November recorded the lowest number of measurements taken ( 20, comprising 7.2% for each) while July and December recorded the highest number (26, comprising 9.3% for each). Most measurements were taken on the 1st day of any month (96, translating to 34.4%) while none were taken on the 21st and 25th days. The average depth of the water in the river was 0.389m (std. dev. = 0.147), with the deepest measurement taken at 0.782m and the shallowest 0.036m. The average discharge rate was 10.663m3/s (std. dev. = 4.203), with the highest rate reported at 22.653m3/s and the lowest at 3.751 m3/s. The research sought to investigate the research question: is there the significant positive correlation between the depth of water in the river and the rate of discharge reported? Correlation analysis was undertaken. The test hypothesis is: The Pearson correlation coefficient was statistically significant (Ï  = 0.764, p < 0.001). The null hypothesis was rejected at the 5% level of significance.  

Political Consensus Decision-Making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Political Consensus Decision-Making - Essay Example Perhaps the most notable instance this mode of political consensus has been implemented is in wartime situations. Within the United Kingdom the 20th century witnessed a major instance of wartime consensus proceeding World War II where it’s argued that consensus politics culminated in the Labour party’s victory. This essay considers that the idea of a wartime consensus culminating in Labour’s election victory fades the closer you get to it. The popular perspective had considered that following World War II the political situation in Britain was such that an overwhelming consensus resulted in the election of the Labour Party. Recognition of this perspective takes into account historical perspectives on the Labour Party. While the Labour Party has been in existence since the early years of the 20th century they assumed great control during the period surrounding World War II. In 1940 the Labour Party returned to government as a part of the wartime coalition; during this period Clement Attlee was appointed the Lord Privy Seal (Pimlott 1994, p. 225). Following the end of the war, the Labour Party contested the 1945 general election and won a large-scale victory. Clement Attlee then assumed control and one of the most radical government’s in British history was instituted. It is this victory that many have contested was the result of wartime consensus. ... mplements a number of notions within this spectrum of investigation, perhaps the central thorough-put of his argument is the contention that rather than constituting an actual consensus, this notion has been constructed by individuals attempting to establish a mythic ‘golden age’ of British history. As noted, this perspective has been embraced by a large number of theorists (Rollings 1994; Kelly 2002; Ellison 1994). The broad spectrums of these theoretical perspectives have considered a variety of ideological differences that occurred between the main political parties during this period. Rather than constituting a golden age of consensus politics, Pimlott (1994, p. 231) notes that there was considerable Conservative hostility towards universal welfare benefits. Kelly (2002, p. 21) considers that in 1956 Anthony Crosland made a large-scale plea for the left to oppose conservative ideas; this is believed to demonstrate a general lack of qualitative accord among political perspectives during this period. Pimlott has extended the situation through metaphorical notions. He states (1988, p. 232), â€Å"sandbagged in their electoral trenches, early postwar voters can be seen as the anonymous infantry of two implacably opposed armies in an era of adversarial politics, with the middle-way Liberals floundering in no man’s land.† To a large degree what Pimlott has established with these notions is a mode of myth-making that seemingly implements higher degrees of fact-based understanding. While Pimlott’s perspectives have gained widespread support there also exists a strong contingent of theorists who hold to the consensus perspective (Kavanagh 1994; Addison 1992). Paul Addison is the theorist perhaps most identified with consensus notions of post-war politics (Addison

Balance Score Card Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Balance Score Card - Essay Example of the management in terms of implementation of the strategy balance scorecard is often used by the management to analyze whether the objectives have been properly implemented or not. Balanced score card is the most popular tool of performance management. Balanced scorecard helps the manager in keeping a track on the progress of the activities and matching them with the desired level. In this project the balance scorecard of the Coca-Cola Company has been made on the basis of the four different perspective and objectives of each perspective. Different types of metrics have also been used to let in building the balanced scorecard. Performance management is very important for every company. It enables the management to assess the performance of the company and also helps the company to analyze the loop holes or the room for improvement. It helps the management to identify the direction in which the organization is moving. It helps the organization to perform better by enabling the organization. The performance management is done on the basis of various tools of performance management system. The performance management system helps the organization to plan control and measure the performance of activities of the organization beforehand. The different performance management system used for performance management are balanced scorecard, activity based management, quality management, economic value added etc. among the various performance management system the most popular methods are balance scorecard, activity based management and economic value added. Activity based management is done by analyzing those activit ies which adds value to the organization. This is done on the basis of activity based costing. It mainly focuses on reducing the cost and increasing the value received by the customers. The economic value added method enables the organization to analyze the overall performance of the organization. In this method the financial measures are used to measure the

American Industrialization after the Civil War Essay

American Industrialization after the Civil War - Essay Example This period marked the start of the big budgets of federal government and direct governmental liaisons with the corporate sector, especially those that expanded the railroad lines and other infrastructures. Railroads had immensely contributed in Union victory, hauling supplies and ferrying servicemen. Foner avers that the â€Å"second industrial revolution† was achieved with limited government interference in the corporate sector affairs; businesses developed through self-regulation (512). Civil War had taught the average citizens that real economic emancipation would be achieved if everyone played his or her role as required, especially in demanding moments, such as grappling with water privation and power rationing as well as taking up the arms to defend national goals. The short but often severe conflict taught Americans to not only exercise stoicism, but persevere in order to realize sound economic goals. As the country achieved better economic growth and industrialization transformed the nature of American ideology, the society achieved the growth of middle class, and a generation unique innovations within the industries. The country joined forces in the wake of strong government support, a steady supply of labor and a spirit of sacrifice and determination to achieve a mature industrialized society. Gilded Age political system The Gilded Age saw an ineffective political system that failed to effectively meet its goals, despite the fact that the period experienced remarkable economic and social transformations, which required the input of the political leadership. Although, some political figures made significant contribution during this period in an effort to tackle the challenges faced by the society, most national goals went unattended. The failure of the political leadership can be attributed to a larger proportion of the national leaders, who abandoned their call to formulate good policies for the country, maybe because they ascended to office d ue to their financial muscle, rather than ideology. The â€Å"Politics in a Gilded Age† according to Foner, saw influential businessmen control state institutions from the private sector platforms, to the chagrin of public good (523). The political parties in the Gilded Age were divided by parochial interest. The era was marked by rampant corrupt practices in the political system, a culture that presently would be classified as grand corruption, was the order of the day. Businessmen wantonly bought public officers at all levels of government. Political machinations turned democratic elections into a sham, hence denying voters rightful and deserving leaders. The slim majority between Republican and Democratic political parties made both sides unwilling to make good policies for the good of the country for fear of losing political support. In a nutshell, political accountability in the use of public funds; and few legislations passed by Congress drew the country back in terms o f socio-economic progress. The outcome was that the country made slight achievement of national goals. The Gilded Age and American Freedom According to Foner, â€Å"freedom in the Gilded Age,† was a significant aspect of the era (528). The economic growth of the Gilded Age impacted American freedom in the labor market and the running of business in the country. The period influenced the development of a liberal market, with decreased tariffs, affordable taxes, and low inflation

Balance Score Card Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Balance Score Card - Essay Example of the management in terms of implementation of the strategy balance scorecard is often used by the management to analyze whether the objectives have been properly implemented or not. Balanced score card is the most popular tool of performance management. Balanced scorecard helps the manager in keeping a track on the progress of the activities and matching them with the desired level. In this project the balance scorecard of the Coca-Cola Company has been made on the basis of the four different perspective and objectives of each perspective. Different types of metrics have also been used to let in building the balanced scorecard. Performance management is very important for every company. It enables the management to assess the performance of the company and also helps the company to analyze the loop holes or the room for improvement. It helps the management to identify the direction in which the organization is moving. It helps the organization to perform better by enabling the organization. The performance management is done on the basis of various tools of performance management system. The performance management system helps the organization to plan control and measure the performance of activities of the organization beforehand. The different performance management system used for performance management are balanced scorecard, activity based management, quality management, economic value added etc. among the various performance management system the most popular methods are balance scorecard, activity based management and economic value added. Activity based management is done by analyzing those activit ies which adds value to the organization. This is done on the basis of activity based costing. It mainly focuses on reducing the cost and increasing the value received by the customers. The economic value added method enables the organization to analyze the overall performance of the organization. In this method the financial measures are used to measure the

Wernicke's aphasia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Wernicke's aphasia - Essay Example Included in the effects of aphasia is the problem in the articulation and comprehension of a particular language which can be perceived in both the written and spoken activities (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders [NIDCD], 1997). There are different types of aphasia on the basis of the specific area affected and damaged in the left hemisphere of the brain. The focus of the study, Wernicke’s Aphasia is a type of aphasia affecting the distinct part of the brain referred to as the Wernicke’s area. The Wernicke’s Aphasia is a specific type of language impairment on the basis of the damage in the specific area of the brain for language development and control. The said are is located in the left hemisphere of the brain for speech related skills and activities specifically for comprehension (NIDCD, 1997). The said area of the brain damaged is named after one of the earliest contributors in the field of psychiatry as well as neuropathology Dr. Carl Wernicke, a Polish expert in the anatomy of the brain. He is responsible for creating the clinical picture related to the pathoanatomic analysis of the brain which can be considered as essential in the correlation between the physiology of the brain and the functions performed in the different parts of the body. The parts of the brain affected by the disease are presented in figure 1 (NIDCD, 1997; University of Illinois Department of Neurology & Rehabilitation, 2003). The discovery then of the Wernicke’s disorder can be attributed to the establishment of the field in science that correlates psychology with neurology. For that matter, modeling allowed the critical analysis helpful in both fields. In the said study, Wernicke being one of the strong and essential proponents and active participant in research had been honored by giving his name to the concepts he established. Included in the

Poetry Is Key Essay Example for Free

Poetry Is Key Essay I interview Amani because she is a teenager guided by mentorship. She revealed to me how being mentored by positive, loving, and caring people has changed who she is as a person. She said â€Å"I see a big change in myself. It’s like my whole life I’ve been so angry and upset, and it was all because I was being misguided and I didn’t have the chance to become who I am now. † This interview helped me because It kind of showed me what type of response I should be getting from the kids in my program. It is simply a calibration of how the kids that decide to participate in my mentorship program should react. Frohman, Denice. Denice Frohman Gangsta Poetry YouTube. YouTube, 16 June 2009. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. This video is a video of a youth poetry mentor for PYPM (Philadelphia Youth Poetry Movement) who also participated in the Unliter Us Campaign. In this poem she speaks about differ writing tools (metaphors, similes, personification, etc) and different types of poems (haiku, slam, etc). She also talks about motivating the youth to get involved in poetry and imagination. This poem will help me because It is not only an introduction to different types of poetry and all types of writing tools but it’s in a cool poem that, to me, will make the kids want to know more and be less reluctant to participate in my program. Howard, Zora. Zora Howard Mama (lyrics). YouTube. YouTube, 04 Mar. 2011. Web. 01 Feb. 2013. This is a video by a youth slam poet alumni named Zora Howard who is now on a traveling adult poetry group called Strivers Row. This video is of a poem she performed. The poem is in letter form so it starts out saying, â€Å"Dear Son,†. Evidently, she is talking to her son in the letter. Her son is in the army and she’s writing him on his birthday just reminiscing about all the things they used to talk about and do before he was drafted into the army. This poem will help me because performance wasn’t at a competition so the tension is low and she’s just releasing. Although, from my knowledge, the poem is just not real fact for her, it still tells a story in it. It will show the kids how to turn a poem from a regular free  form poem into a letter or a story. James, Cliche M. Who Needs Mentorship. Personal interview. 27 Jan. 2013. I interview the mom of a boy who had never had any form of mentorship to ask her if she thought that mentorship was important and who did she think that it was for. She said that she thinks that it is a difference between â€Å"needing† mentorship and â€Å"wanting† it. She feels as though kids who going down the wrong road in life or kids who just have pain in there life that is hard to let go of should have mentorship. This interview helped me with my research because it, for the most part, proved to me that I made the right choice in targeting kids who have some pain in them, kids that practically have nothing to look forward to because of the situation that their parents are in. James, Nasir. The Importance of Mentorship. Personal interview. 27 Jan. 2013. I interview my nephew, a 15 year old boy who has had mentorship every super since he was 12. I asked him what the importance of mentorship was. At first he was a little reluctant because he though that he didn’t get much out of it but when I began to ask him other questions to break it down. Questions like was there anything about his personality that changed because of the interaction with someone who you could put your trust in and things like that. He ultimately said that after 3 years of being in contact with his mentors, he has seen a difference in who he is and that being with them, he now knows what kind of man he wants to be. He also said that if he didn’t have mentors, he would still have become a good person it would have taken a bit longer. This interview was important because I wanted to know how younger teens felt about mentorship because if they didn’t care, then there would be no purpose of me doing it in the long run because it wouldn’t have changed anything. Lissaint / Strivers Row, Carvens. Praise by Carvens Lissaint. YouTube. YouTube, 02 Feb. 2011. Web. 01 Feb. 2013. This is another video of a youth poet alumni from New York city. He is another member of the poetry group called strivers row and in his younger years, he was on the NYC poetry team that went to the nation wide poetry competition BNV (Brave New Voices) which  premiered on HBO in 2006. This poem is about poetry and every sense that plays a part in writing and speaking poetry. I think that this will help me because I know that a lot of people have a single story about poetry. A lot of people don’t really know what it cane be and in this poem, the poet Carvens Lissaint, touches in on all of that . Mans, Jasmine. Michelle Obama by Jasmine Mans. YouTube. YouTube, 25 Oct. 2010. Web. 01 Feb. 2013. This is a video of yet another strivers row poet. Jasmine Mans was on the NYC team in 2006. This is a video of a poem she recorded called Michelle Obama. This poem is about how first lady Michelle Obama inspires young black women to be great and do great things. It tells them that because she did it, that they can. I think that this will be a good video to use in my program because when I visited the shelter, there was a significant number of girls and I think that showing them this will help them find confidence. Perrin, Brianna. The Importance of Mentorship. Personal interview. 30 Jan. 2013. I interview a senior named Brianna Perrin about her experience with mentorship and community service to get a better understanding of how she felt about it afterward. I also got a chance to find out what she took from the experience as a person who had been mentored and decided to pass it on. I think that this interview was very helpful and very successful. It gave me a perspective of a person who had the same urge as I had. She expressed to me that to her it was more than just helping others and I feel the same way. Going to the shelter is about more than helping others its also a branch of growth for myself. Poetic Devices. Poetic Devices. N. p. , n. d. Web. 01 Feb. 2013. This is a link to a list of poetic devices. This link will be useful because I know that even I don’t know so It’ll help me and help the kids at the program. Poetry. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 30 Jan. 2013. Web. 01 Feb. 2013. I decided to use this link because some people think that poetry is only one thing, when in all actuality, poetry can be many things. This will be helpful because it will give a mor formal introduction than me saying this is was a metaphor is. It will actually explain to them what things are and how they should be used. I also think that this will show the kids the overall brand of poetry so that they know that poetry can be almost anything. This will be just an outline for what I want the kids to take from this program come April or May. Shearlds, Khalil. Mentorship. Personal interview. 7 Jan. 2013. This is the Manager, Center for Parenting Early Childhood Education at the People’s Emergency Center. I interviewed him about the importance of mentorship and who needs it. This interview was important for me to do because this is what he does on a day to day basis. He mentors kids to show them where they can go and to let them know that they don’t have to stay planted in a place where they aren’t happy just because someone put them there. This will be important in the long run because, not that I already didn’t know, i will always know my mission. What Is Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy? What Is Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy? N. p. , 05 Apr. 2007. Web. 04 Jan. 2013. This is a link to the definition of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. I was talking to someone about my capstone and they told me that my whole idea fell along the lines of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. When I looked it up it actually told me a lot about myself and why poetry seemed to work for me. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a psychotherapeutic approach that is directed toward dysfunctional emotions, maladaptive behaviors and cognitive processes. It’s basically disturbances of your feelings triggered by the things and stresses that you go through. This helped me because it told me almost exactly what these kids are going through inside. Young, B. I Am A Queen Urban Word NYC BNV Semis 2008. YouTube. YouTube, 24 July 2008. Web. 01 Feb. 2013. I decided to use this video of a New York City Poet B. Young. This poem was about his theory of why he would want to be a queen in the game of chess because it’s not about being the protected, he thinks that the protecter is the most important. I decided to use this video because I think it is a good perspective for young men to A realize how important a Queen/girl is and B to understand that being the protected or being the person who everyone who is always being looked after isn’t always who you want to be, sometimes you want to be apart of something bigger. Z. , Sharvon. Philly Youth Poetry Movement. Philly Youth Poetry Movement RSS 20. N. p. , 01 Feb. 2013. Web. 01 Feb. 2013. This is the website for PYPM or Philadelphia Youth Poetry Movement. This is the where I got my mentoring from so not to incorporate and utilize this source would be foolish of me. This website will give me the latest updates on the PYPM team, there videos and events that I could possibly invite my teens to. I can use the videos posted on the website and some of the ideas from poetry workshops to use during my program.

The Roles Of Non-Formal Education

The Roles Of Non-Formal Education Gandhi once said that Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. The saying shows that education is undeniably important in our daily life. Without education, we probably still wasting time washing clothes by using hands. Education is not only important for the purpose to get a good job but it is also to make our life easier. The definitions exist of education are numerous. Education to me means learning new things or knowledge, including attitudes and skills. I also believe that all of us are lifelong learners because we actually learn something new every day with or without our realisation. Learning process is not only happening in the classroom but also happen accidently outside the classroom. There are few concepts of education that we can analyze especially the formal education and non formal education. Generally, people know about formal education but unaware of non formal education. Formal and non formal education is two different terms. Formal education is an organized education model, which is systematic, well structured and also administered according to the laws and regulations that are set by the ministry of education (Dib, 1988). As an obvious example is, the education in schools, colleges, and universities are considered as formal education. Formal education institutions are organized curricularly, administratively, and physically and also require the minimum number of students that will attend the class (Dib, 1988). In formal education, the interaction between teachers and students are usually direct with each other. In general, formal education is restricted to a certain credit hours according to each institution and a full time learning process, but still based on the curricular provided by the education department of the country. Other than that, students need to comple te the assessments given by the teachers that lead to some form of qualification and accreditation which will be required to continue to the next learning stage. The assessments are regularly made on a general basis, where it is used for administrative purpose and also to improve the learning process. The method used in formal education normally does not really show the progression of the students. This is because the students are only receiving any information from their teachers and most probably they do not really paying attention since it is a one way interaction. On the contrary, non formal education includes skills and knowledge that are unusual in part throughout formal education whether in primary schools or secondary schools even in higher education institutions (Non-formal Education, 1979). Non formal education can be divided into three broad categories which the first one is oriented activities particularly for development of skills and knowledge of labour force who is employed, secondly, activities that are planned mainly to provide people, predominantly the youth, to get into the job and lastly, activities designed to develop skills, knowledge and understanding beyond the work world (Harbison, 1971). Unlike formal education, non formal education does not require a specific time such as timetable or school hours. It can happen anywhere and anytime as long as the knowledge is passed on. Non formal education does not need the studentà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s attendance and also decreasing the interaction between teachers and st udents because most of the activities happen outside of the institutions, for example, girlà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s scouts or any outdoor activities. Besides, the techniques and materials used in non formal education often do not require a high standard as the typical schooling methods (Non-formal Education, 1979). The process can be conducted by semi-professionals such as activities in religious centres, youth groups, or any voluntary organizations (Non-formal Education, 1979). In view of the fact that non formal education occurs outside the curricular provided by schools, thus the learning process may only use simple and low-cost technologies like story books, radio and others (Non-formal Education, 1979). In addition, non formal education is flexible because it is adaptable according to the condition or situation and also the needs of the society at a time (Non-formal Education, 1979). Non formal education has started at early years of the formation of Malaysia as a country especially during the expansion of Islam in Peninsular Malaya and the Malay islands in the 14th century (Abd. Hamid et al., 2003). Arabian and Indian traders who are Muslims came to the Southeast Asia and spread the knowledge about their religion to the local people (Abd. Hamid et al., 2003). At that time the existence of education institutions called hut school that is developed together by mutual cooperation among the communities and it is not considered as formal education yet. This is the starting point of the non formal education in Malaysia. During the British colonisation, the British administration formed five types of schooling which are Malay Vernacular School, Chinese Vernacular School, School Vernacular India, English Vernacular School and Religious School (Madrasa) (Abd. Hamid et al., 2003). These types of schools are formed as taking into consideration the political, economic, soci o-cultural and religious. After few decades, the non formal education system has been changed along with the modernisation. Nowadays, non formal education has emphasis more on Skill Training Programmes such as Vocational Education, Engineering and Trading. The Malaysian government has built few vocational schools for the children that have more interest in skills related education rather than going to the school and learn things they do not like. At the tertiary level of education, Polytechnics are provided for those who want to complete Advanced Diploma, Diploma and Special Skills Certificate in skills-based programmes. The newest programme, the National Service Training Programme is established for youth community in Malaysia to develop patriotic, loyal and full with positive attitudes young generation for the future. It is also become a practice for the potential employees to do internship before starting the real job. There are still some religious talks, or campaigns about info rmation that the society may need to know happening in Malaysia. For example, the campaigns about health care, recycle and many others are conducted to educate the society. All of these programmes are specially formed to teach values and knowledge that are not being taught in schools. One of the roles of non formal education is to make a difference in the community by raising the awareness of the changes in environment. Other than that, non formal education also help in providing youth for production activities by way of giving them relevant courses so that can improve themselves to be a better person for the country. Furthermore, non formal education will help to produce generation with good values and attitudes in order to form a developed country. Besides, formal education mostly applies only the theories of the lesson but non formal education let the students explore things by themselves especially in the skills knowledge that will make the students has higher capability in using skills and techniques to perform job. This will result in many potential employees have the skills that can increase the efficiency and productivity of workers in this country and it is also will help the national development especially in producing the best quality of employees that are properly trained to obtain the skills. This means that it can reduce the number of unemployed because they have larger opportunities to get a job which requires skills (Yassin Muhamad, 1990). Non formal education also assists in conveying information that may be regarded not significant to the community that will lead the society into a well-informed society and not be left behind by the modernization of the world. To sum up, non formal education should not be considered as less important because it is in fact as important as formal education. In some situation, non-formal education is the only useful way in the development of skills and knowledge. It also acts as an alternative and normally more effective education and training for formal education. Non formal education may not be fully organized and well structured, but it is still provides important information for the generation. Somehow, non formal education is undoubtedly helps in formal education to make it more proficient for the students to acquire knowledge.

Virtual Reality Essay -- Essays Papers

Virtual Reality Although some doubt the potential of virtual reality, the reality is our technologically dependent culture is making virtual reality a part of everyday life. Popular in video games, virtual reality allows the user to totally control a computerized character. Every action the user makes is imitated by the character and instantly displayed for the user. However, since the early 90’s, the use of virtual reality has developed and taken the spotlight past evolving video games. Virtual reality has already made its mark on fields such as aviation, medicine, and even meteorology. Where is this new technology heading in the future? According to the Millennium edition of the Wall Street Journal, â€Å"even conservative forecasts suggest education, entertainment, the workplace and the boundaries of human expression will be greatly transformed by virtual reality† (Cox 40). Increasingly advanced technology could put virtual reality in the driver’s seat of countless ind ustries. In recent years virtual reality has already been involved in several technological areas. Even those who have little knowledge about the production of virtual reality are most likely aware of its use in video games. However, many people may not be aware of the numerous other areas where it has been applied. For example, astronaut trainees have recently used virtual reality to simulate a trip to space. Medical students have substituted a carcass for a fiberglass mould of a body and a headset when training to perform surgery. A popular online chat is developing into a society of interactive, animated users. Introducing virtual reality to the real world has already proven to be beneficial for every industry it encounters. Welcome to the new world of virtual technology, the advantages have only begun. Virtual reality (VR), as defined by The Newbury House Dictionary of American English, is experiencing events that seem like real life by putting on special eye glasses, hearing devices ad gloves attached to a computer. With the help of these hardware devices, the VR user’s actions totally control of the computer’s resulting actions. This control sets virtual reality apart from previously developed technologies. Because of the amazingly fast processing speed of the computer, VR accepts the user’s every move and displays the differences in the virtual environment. .. ...on of any course in the world. After the ball hits the screen, it continues its path in the game. This game is extremely realistic, because the game reads the balls trajectory, power, direction and even spin when it is hit. I once played 18 holes at Augusta, one of the most premier courses in the world, and I didn’t even leave Ohio. These examples are just some of the possibilities virtual reality will bring to our future. Introducing virtual reality into the future will prove to be a benefit for our society. Several important issues involving virtual reality have previously been discussed. Surgery and surgical training are extremely crucial processes in which virtual reality has shown to be beneficial. Astronaut training is another critical procedure. Jim Newman, highly experienced in space, stated himself that without virtual reality it was â€Å"impossible† to train for certain events (Cox 40). Precise forecasts of the weather are not always easy. However, virtual reality has already been incorporated in the study of severe weather, giving forecasters more knowledge and the society more protection. The future is virtual reality, and its benefits will remain immeasurable.

Recreation and Wellness Intranet Project Essay

Need to reduce internal costs. MYH, Inc. pays 20% more on healthcare premiums than the industrial average. This project would save $30 per employee per year for the next four years. Employees will benefit from the company sponsored recreational programs. Healhcare Coverage costs Business Model This will reduce internal cost by allowing business modeling of various scenarios as well as tracking past employee expenses. This project would save $20 per employee per year for the next four years and cost about $100,000 to develop. This will help revise policies and help negotiate for lower premiums. Cross-selling System This project will increase sales to current customers. This project will increase profits by $1 million for the next three years. Development and maintenance cost each year is $800,000 This project develops an application to improve cross-selling to current customers when purchasing multiple products/services. Web Enhanced Communication System This project will increase sales to current customers. Will save the company $2 million for the next three years. It will cost $3 million to develop and 20% a year to maintain. Web-based application that will improve development and delivery of products and services. Recreation and Wellness Intranet Project allows employees to register for company-based programs and classes, such as soccer, bowling, jogging, walking, and other sports. This project also allows the employees and employers to track data on the recreational and health management programs.  This will offer incentives for people to join the programs and do well in them. this in return will help to negotiate a lower insurance premium. Health Coverage Costs Business Model Is an application that tracks employees health care expenses and company health care costs. This application allows business modeling of various scenarios as well as tracking and analyzing current and past employee healthcare expenses and company healthcare costs. Cross-Selling System helps improve cross-selling to current customers. The current sales management has separate sections for major products/services categories and different sales based on these products and services sales to the current customers by providing the customer with discounts when purchasing multiple products. Web-Enhanced Communications System is a web-based application to improve development and delivery of products and services. These are currently several incompatible systems related to the development and delivery of products and services. This application allows customers and suppliers to provide suggestions, enter orders, view the status and history of orders. 1.0 Introduction/ Background Manage Your Health, Inc. (MYH) is a Fortune 500 company that provides a variety of healthcare services across the globe. 2.0 Business Objective MYH recently updated its strategic plan, and key goals include reducing internal cost, increasing cross-selling of products, and exploiting new Web-based technologies to help employees, customers, and suppliers work together to improve the development and delivery of health care products and services. 3.0 Current Situation and Problem/Opportunity Statement A recent study found that MYH, Inc. pays 20 percent more than the industry average for employee health care premiums, primarily due to the poor health of its employees. By developing a program to help employee wellness and track employee involvement and progress. This would also offer incentives for employees that join and do well. 4.0 Critical Assumption and Constraints Recreation and Wellness Intranet Project would organize current services and provide easy access to new services. The new system will run on existing hardware and software and will be easily accessible by employees. 5.0 Analysis of Option and Recommendation There are three options for addressing this opportunity: 1. Do nothing. We can continue to operate without the new project 2. Design and implement the new intranet capabilities in-house using existing hardware and software. 3. Require employees to pay a higher rate for insurance. Based on discussions with stakeholders, we believe that option 2 is the best option. 6.0 Preliminary Project Requirements The main feature of the Recreation and Wellness site includes the following: 1. Allow employees to register for company-sponsored recreational programs. 2. Allow employees to register for company classes and programs. 3. Track data and progress of employee involvement in these programs. 4. Offer incentives for employees to join the programs. 7.0 Budget Estimate and Financial Analysis The estimated costs for the project is $200,000 based on the cost to develop the new system. Maintenance costs of $50,000 to update the information and changes. Reducing the insurance cost per employee by $30 each year for four years. Project benefits are about $600,000 per year for four years. 8.0 Schedule Estimate Project completion within six months and the new system will have a lifespan of at least four years. 9.0 Potential Risks Lack of interest in the new system by employees which will hinder lower insurance premiums. putting money in the project and unable to recoup the  costs.

Power of Cash Flows

The Power of Cash Flow Ratios EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CASH FLOW RATIOS ARE MORE RELIABLE indicators of liquidity than balance sheet or income statement ratios such as the quick ratio or the current ratio. LENDERS, RATING AGENCIES AND WALL STREET analysts have long used cash flow ratios to evaluate risk, but auditors have been slow to use them. SOME CASH FLOW RATIOS COMPARE THE RESOURCES A company can muster with its short-term commitments. OTHER CASH FLOW RATIOS MEASURE A COMPANYS ability to meet ongoing financial and operational commitments.THERE IS NO CONSENSUS ON THE DEFINITION OF NET free cash flow, although the authors suggest taking off-balance-sheet financing into account. AUDITORS CAN USE THE INSIGHTS uncovered by cash flow ratios to spotlight potential problem areas, thus helping them plan their audits more effectively. JOHN R. MILLS, CPA, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Accounting and CIS at the University of Nevada, Reno. His e-mail address is www. [email  protected] unr. edu1. Mills experience includes auditing and consulting in the gaming industry. JEANNE H.YAMAMURA, CPA, PhD, is an assistant professor in the accounting and CIS department at the university's Reno campus. Her e-mail address is www. [email  protected] edu2. Yamamura worked as an auditor overseas, including a stint in Papua, New Guinea. To fully understand a company's viability as an ongoing concern, an auditor would do well to calculate a few simple ratios from data on the clients cash flow statement (the statement of sources and uses of cash). Without that data, he or she could end up in the worst possible position for an auditor—having given a clean opinion on a client's financials just before it goes belly up.When it comes to liquidity analysis, cash flow information is more reliable than balance sheet or income statement information. Balance sheet data are static—measuring a single point in time—while the income statement contains many arbitrary noncas h allocations—for example, pension contributions and depreciation and amortization. In contrast, the cash flow statement records the changes in the other statements and nets out the bookkeeping artifice, focusing on what shareholders really care about: cash available for operations and investments.For years, credit analysts and Wall Street barracudas have been using ratios to mine cash flow statements for practical revelations. The major credit-rating agencies use cash flow ratios prominently in their rating decisions. Bondholders—especially junk bond investors—and leveraged buyout specialists use free cash flow ratios to clarify the risk associated with their investments. That's because, over time, free cash flow ratios help people gauge a company's ability to withstand cyclical downturns or price wars.Is a major capital expenditure feasible in a tough year? If the last time total cash got a hair below where it is now the company's capital structure had to be r evamped, the auditor should treat the deficient value like a loud buzzer. Many auditors and, to a lesser extent, corporate financial managers have been slow to learn how to use cash flow ratios. In our experience, auditors traditionally use either a balance sheet or a transaction cycles approach. Neither approach emphasizes cash or the statement of cash flows.While auditors do use the cash flow statement to verify balance sheet and income statement accounts and to trace common items to the cash flow statement, their use of ratios for cash-related analysis has been limited to the current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) or the quick ratio (current assets less inventory/current liabilities). According to an informal survey of Big 5 and other national accounting firms, even now their audit procedures have not changed in ways that take advantage of the information presented in the cash flow statement, even though that statement has been required for over a decade.The value of cash flow ratios was evident in the collapse of W. T. Grant. Traditional ratio analysis performed during the annual audit did not reveal the severe liquidity problems that resulted in a bankruptcy filing shortly thereafter. While W. T. Grant showed positive current ratios as well as positive earnings, in fact it had severely negative cash flows that rendered it unable to meet current debt and other commitments to creditors. Educators have not been emphasizing the cash flow statement either. Auditing textbooks commonly include only ratios based on the balance sheet and income statement with little or no discussion of cash ratios.The next generation of auditors needs to learn how to use cash flow ratios in audits because such measures are becoming increasingly important to the marketplace. Investors and others are relying on them. The cash flow ratios we find most useful fall into two general categories: ratios to test for solvency and liquidity and those that indicate the viability o f a company as a going concern. In the first, liquidity indicators, the most useful ratios are operating cash flow (OCF), funds flow coverage (FFC), cash interest coverage (CIC) and cash debt coverage (CDC).In the second category, ratios used to assess a company's strength on an ongoing basis, we like total free cash (TFC), cash flow adequacy (CFA), cash to capital expenditures and cash to total debt. Lenders, rating agencies and analysts use all of these. Auditors should know when and how to use them, too. The gaming industry expanded to 12 states from 2 between 1989 and 1995. During that time, many of the traditional casino corporations managed asset growth rates of 200% and more. Rapid expansion led to major problems, including bankruptcy, when revenues did not meet projections.As this examination of two gaming companies shows, cash flow analysis can help avoid business meltdowns, providing auditors and clients with an additional level of comfort in both planning the audit and ev aluating the strength of the going concern. Boomtown was a relatively young but successful Nevada company that went public in October 1992, with assets of $56 million. By 1995, its assets were up to $239 million, dropping to $206 million in 1996. Company operations grew from one casino in the local Nevada market to four properties in three states—Nevada, Louisiana and Mississippi.In the same period, Circus Circus was one of the largest and most profitable gaming corporations in the industry. Its properties, also all in Nevada at that time, included the Excalibur and the original Circus Circus in Las Vegas, the Colorado Bell and Edgewater in Laughlin and the Circus Circus in Reno. The company grew from total assets of $783 million in 1992 to over $2. 2 billion by 1996, including acquisitions. By the end of 1996, it had operations in three states—Nevada, Louisiana and Mississippi. Liquidity Assessment Exhibit 13, shows a variety of ratios calculated from the financial st atements of Boomtown and Circus Circus.The figures cover the period from 1992 to 1996, although Circus Circus was on a January 31 fiscal year while Boomtown used a fiscal year ending September 30. Look at the lines for the current ratio (current assets/ current liabilities) and the quick ratio (current assets less inventories/current liabilities) for each. Viewed through the lens of these traditional balance-sheet-based ratios, Boomtown appears to be stronger financially than Circus Circus. But this was not the case. Boomtown's current ratio was frequently well over 1. 00, even soaring to 4. 4 in 1993, while Circus Circus current ratio never strayed over 1. 32. Boomtown was able to maintain a higher quick ratio as well. Over the five years in question, Boomtown's current ratio showed fairly consistent improvement, a trend that would be reassuring to most auditors. Although the balance sheet ratios for both companies are fairly low, that is normal for the gaming industry. Casinos jus t don't carry much inventory—mostly perishable foods and the like. And gaming companies carry practically no receivables because gaming generally is a cash business.The traditional measures don't address operating cash flows or cash interest coverage directly, but auditors can use cash flow ratios to answer questions about their clients liquidity—Are these companies generating enough cash to cover their current liabilities? How many times does cash flow from operations cover interest expense? Running a Casino†¦ Image Boomtown's cash interest coverage was considerably weaker than that of Circus Circus, except in 1993, when Boomtown had no long-term debt. Circus Circus consistently maintained cash in excess of 5 times debt. Now look at the line for OCF.Over the interval shown, the Circus Circus OCF ratio slipped under 2. 00 only once, meaning that it generated enough cash to cover its current liabilities twice over—and even improved on that despite a rapid gr owth rate. The company's cash interest coverage ratio also was consistently high. Boomtown's cash flow ratios, however, might surprise an auditor relying solely on balance sheet ratios. Its OCF was consistently weaker than that of Circus Circus, even slipping into a negative position in 1994. Once Boomtown's OCF slipped below 1. 00, it was not generating enough cash to meet its current commitments.Accordingly, it had to find other sources for financing normal operations. An auditor relying solely on the quick and current ratios in this instance would have missed that important point. An auditor who bothered to calculate two other cash flow ratios—FFC and cash/current debt—would have gotten even more remarkable results. Because Circus Circus carried very little current debt, its cash covered current debt well over 175 times in every year, while Boomtown's cash didn't even cover current debt in 1994, and its cash/current debt coverage was in the single digits for three o f the other four years.More remarkably, Boomtown's FFC went negative in 1994 and again in 1996 and was consistently weaker than that of Circus Circus in every year. Accordingly, the conclusions an auditor might draw after looking at the cash flow ratios might differ sharply from his or her opinion based solely on balance sheet ratios. Going-Concern Analysis Traditionally, auditors have used the balance-sheet-based debt-to-equity ratio (total debt/total equity) and the times-interest-earned (EBIT/annual interest payments) ratio to examine a company's longer-term financial health (see exhibit 24).These measures do provide one perspective on the company's ability to carry its long-term debt obligations and its solvency. The traditional solvency ratios reveal big differences between Circus Circus and Boomtown. Although both companies expanded considerably in 1993 and 1994, the effects on each corporation's financial position were drastically different. Circus Circus showed a downward tr end in its traditional debt-to-equity ratio, an indicator of an increasingly strong balance sheet, while maintaining a fairly stable times-interest-earned ratio.After 1992, Boomtown's debt-to-equity ratio rose steadily, showing increasing reliance on outside borrowing. Its times-interest-earned ratio also weakened, even going negative twice. Cash flow ratios, however, provide an even clearer picture of each company's financial solvency. Consider the lines for TFC, two for each company—one based on actual capital expenditures and the other on estimated maintenance spending. Negative figures in 1993 reveal that Circus Circus needed to go outside to raise cash for capital expenditures in both 1993 and 1994.However, using a capital maintenance approach, figures consistently greater than 1. 0 show the company was clearly generating enough cash flow from operations to maintain its normal operations and to provide at least some funds for additional growth. But 1993 and 1994 were yea rs when total assets grew at 21% and 37%. Few companies could expand at this rate solely with internally generated funds from operations. Analysis of Boomtown's cash flow ratios unveils a very different kind of growth. Its TFC (maintenance) ratio slipped below 1. 0 for three years in a row.An auditor who notices that Boomtown wasn't able to fund normal operations from internal sources for three consecutive years has heard an alarm; however, the noise from the TFC (actual) ratio is even louder. Boomtown did not manage any of its growth from internally generated cash—it's TFC (actual) ratio never got above 1. 00! That can't go on forever. Now look at the total debt ratio line and the two cash flow adequacy (CFA) ratio lines for each company. The total debt ratio, to which credit-rating agencies and loan officers pay close attention, was quite stable for Circus Circus throughout.Boomtown's, which started out weaker, took one wild fluctuation way up and then collapsed. Looking at the CFA ratios, once again Circus Circus exhibits more than adequate funds for maintenance and sufficient internally generated cash for new capital investments in all but one year. The one exception was attributable to rapid growth. Boomtown's spectacularly negative ratios shout the company's need for substantial outside funding. Turning to the capital expenditures ratio lines, Boomtown was unable to generate enough cash internally to even maintain plant and equipment in 1994, despite more than doubling its total assets.Circus Circus, on the other hand, had plenty of cash for maintenance throughout and needed outside cash to fund growth only for a two-year interval. In fact, Boomtown's cash ratios do indeed reveal that drastic changes would have been needed for this company to survive on its own. It didn't. Boomtown was acquired by Hollywood Park, Inc. , on June 30, 1997. Boomtown also disposed of its Las Vegas property, which had generated continuing operating losses. Despite its earlier promise, Boomtown ran out of cash. Traditional ratios would not have provided sufficient warning, but cash flow ratios would have.Auditors who employ cash flow ratios to assess corporate liquidity and viability can help their clients spot trouble in time to take corrective action. HOW TO TEST SOLVENCY WITH CASH FLOW RATIOS Creditors and lenders began using cash flow ratios because those ratios give more information about a company's ability to meet its payment commitments than do traditional balance sheet working capital ratios such as the current ratio or the quick ratio. When a loan officer evaluates the risk she is taking by lending to a particular company, her greatest concern is whether the company can pay the loan back, with interest, on time.Traditional working capital ratios indicate how much cash the company had available on a single date in the past. Cash flow ratios, on the other hand, test how much cash was generated over a period of time and compare that to near -term obligations, giving a dynamic picture of what resources the company can muster to meet its commitments. Operating cash flow (OCF) Cash flow from operations Current liabilities Company's ability to generate resources to meet current liabilities Operating cash flow (OCF) ratio. The numerator of the OCF ratio consists of net cash provided by operating activities.This is the net figure provided by the cash flow statement after taking into consideration adjustments for noncash items and changes in working capital. The denominator is all current liabilities, taken from the balance sheet. Operating cash flow ratios vary radically, depending on the industry. For example, the gaming industry generates substantial operating cash flows due to the nature of its operations, while more capital-intensive industries, such as communications, generate substantially less. The gaming giant, Circus Circus, exhibited an OCF of 1. 37 for fiscal year l997 while the media king, Gannett, produced an OC F of 1. 148 for a similar period. In order to judge whether a company's OCF is out of line, an auditor should look at comparable ratios for the company's industry peers. (For further details, see the case study5. ) Funds flow coverage (FFC) EBITDA (Interest + Tax-adjusted* debt repayment + Tax-adjusted* preferred-dividends) Coverage of unavoidable expenditures *To adjust for taxes, divide by the complement of the tax rate. Funds flow coverage (FFC) ratio.The numerator of the FFC ratio consists of earnings before interest and taxes plus depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), which differs from operating cash flow. Operating cash flow includes cash paid out for interest and taxes, which EBITDA does not. The FFC ratio highlights whether the company can generate enough cash to meet these commitments (interest and taxes). Accordingly, interest and taxes are excluded from the numerator. The denominator consists of interest plus tax-adjusted debt repayment plus tax-adjusted preferred divi dends. To adjust for taxes, divide by the complement of the tax rate.All of the figures in the denominator are unavoidable commitments. An auditor can use the FFC ratio as a tool to evaluate the risk that a company will default on its most immediate financial commitments: interest payments, short-term debt and preferred dividends (if any). If the FFC ratio is at least 1. 0, the company can meet its commitments—but just barely. To survive in the long run, any company must have enough cash flow to maintain plant and equipment. To be really healthy, it should be able to reinvest cash for growth. Accordingly, if a company's FFC is less than 1. , the company must raise additional funds to meet current operating commitments. To avoid bankruptcy, it must keep raising fresh capital. Cash interest coverage Cash flow from operations + Interest paid + Taxes paid Interest paid Company's ability to meet interest payments Cash interest coverage ratio. The numerator of cash interest coverag e consists of cash flow from operations, plus interest paid plus taxes paid. The denominator includes all interest paid—short term and long term. The resultant multiple indicates the company's ability to make the interest payments on its entire debt load.A highly leveraged company will have a low multiple, and a company with a strong balance sheet will have a high multiple. Any company with a cash interest multiple less than 1. 0 runs an immediate risk of potential default. The company must raise cash externally to make its current interest payments. The cash interest coverage ratio is analogous to the old-fashioned coverage ratio (also known as the interest coverage ratio). However, where the numerator of the coverage ratio begins with earnings from the income statement, the numerator of the cash interest coverage ratio begins with cash from the cash flow statement.Cash interest coverage gives a more realistic indication of the company's ability to make the required interest payments. Earnings figures include all manner of noncash charges—depreciation, pension contributions, some taxes and stock options. A company with a low income-based coverage ratio may actually be able to meet its payment obligations, but the mask of noncash charges makes it difficult to see that. A cash-based coverage ratio gives a direct look at the cash available to pay interest. Cash current debt coverage Operating cash flow—cash dividends Current debtCompanys ability to repay its current debt Cash current debt coverage ratio. The numerator consists of retained operating cash flow—operating cash flow less cash dividends. The denominator is current debt—that is, debt maturing within one year. This is, again, a direct correlate of an earnings current debt coverage ratio, but more revealing because it addresses managements dividend distribution policy and its subsequent effect on cash available to meet current debt commitments. As with the cash interest coverage ratio, the current debt ratio indicates the company's ability to carry debt comfortably.The higher the multiple, the higher the comfort level. But like most other ratios, as long as the company is not insolvent, the appropriate level varies by industry characteristics. HOW TO USE CASH RATIOS AS A MEASURE OF FINANCIAL HEALTH Beyond questions of immediate corporate solvency, auditors need to measure a client's ability to meet ongoing financial and operational commitments and its ability to finance growth. How readily can the company repay or refinance its long-term debt? Will it be able to maintain or increase its current dividend to stockholders? How readily will it be able to raise new capital?Banks, credit-rating agencies and investment analysts understandably are very concerned with these questions. Accordingly, they have developed several ratios to provide answers to them. Auditors, who are more concerned about full disclosure, can use these same ratios to pinpoint area s for closer scrutiny when planning an audit. Capital expenditure Cash flow from operations Capital expenditures Company's ability to cover debt after maintenance or investment on plant and equipment Capital expenditure ratio. The numerator is cash flow from operations. The denominator is capital expenditures.A financially strong company should be able to finance growth. This ratio measures the capital available for internal reinvestment and for payments on existing debt. When the capital expenditure ratio exceeds 1. 0, the company has enough funds available to meet its capital investment, with some to spare to meet debt requirements. The higher the value, the more spare cash the company has to service and repay debt. As with all ratios, appropriate values vary by industry. Cyclical industries, such as housing and autos, may show more variation in this figure than noncyclical industries, such as pharmaceuticals and beverages.Also, a low figure is more understandable in a growth indu stry, such as technology, than in a mature industry, such as textiles. Total debt Cash flow from operations Total debt Company's ability to cover future debt obligations Total debt (cash flow to total debt) ratio. The numerator is cash flow from operations. The denominator is total debt—both long term and short term. Total cash flow to debt is of direct concern to credit-rating agencies and loan decision officers. This ratio indicates the length of time it will take to repay the debt, assuming all cash flow from operations is devoted to debt repayment.The lower the ratio, the less financial flexibility the company has and the more likely that problems can arise in the future. Auditors should take diminished financial flexibility into account when identifying high-risk audit areas during planning. NET FREE CASH FLOW RATIOS Other ratios that spotlight a company's viability as a going concern rely on a computation of net free cash flow. Net free cash flow (NFCF) is not yet well defined, although bankers are working to standardize these computations in a way that would facilitate comparisons across companies and across industries.However, at present, there are still many variations of net free cash flow. We propose a total free cash (TFC) ratio developed by First Interstate Bank of Nevada, which uses it to make loan decisions and loan covenant agreements. This TFC computation offers the advantage of incorporating the effects of off-balance-sheet financing—by taking into account operating lease and rental payments. Total free cash (TFC)†  (Net income + Accrued and capitalized interest expense + Depreciation and amortization + Operating lease and rental expense – Declared dividends – Capital expenditures) (Accrued and capitalized interest expense Operating lease and rental expense + Current portion of long-term debt + Current portion of capitalized lease obligations) Company's ability to meet future cash commitments †  These rat ios require computation of the company's net free cash flows. As net free cash flow can vary by company as well as by industry, the formulas should be considered as recommended rather than absolute. TFC ratio . The numerator of this ratio is the sum of net income, accrued and capitalized interest expense, depreciation and amortization and operating lease and rental expense less declared dividends and capital expenditures.The denominator is the sum of accrued and capitalized interest expense, operating lease and rental expense, the current portion of long-term debt and the current portion of long-term lease obligations. Varying definitions of capital expenditures can confuse the issue. Since different definitions change the value of free cash flow ratios, it is best to be clear about which definition the auditor is using and why it makes sense for a particular purpose. For example, if the auditor is trying to determine whether the company can maintain its present level of operations, the capital spending figure used hould exclude new investments and be limited to the amount of spending required to maintain operating assets. Sometimes maintenance spending is estimated at 2% of total assets, or up to 5% of property, plant and equipment. Industries with very long-lived capital assets may use smaller percentages to estimate maintenance spending. However, if the auditor is more interested in long-term growth potential, then actual capital expenditures from the cash flow statement should be used. Cash flow adequacy (CFA)†  (EBITDA – taxes paid – interest paid – capital expenditures) (Average annual debt maturities scheduled ver next 5 years) Company's credit quality †  These ratios require computation of the company's net free cash flows. As net free cash flow can vary by company as well as by industry, the formulas should be considered as recommended rather than absolute. Cash flow adequacy (CFA) ratio. The numerator is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) less taxes paid (cash taxes) less interest paid (cash interest) less capital expenditures (as qualified above). The denominator is the average of the annual debt maturities scheduled over the next five years.Cash flow adequacy helps smooth out some of the cyclical factors that pose problems with the capital expenditure ratio. It also makes allowances for the effects of a balloon payment. Companies with strong NFCF compared with upcoming debt obligations are better credit risks than companies that must use outside capital sources. Thus, a high CFA means high credit quality. KNOW YOUR CLIENT In order to fully understand where to set the levels at which the cash flow ratios discussed here should trigger deeper investigation, auditors need to understand their clients businesses and the industries in which they operate.As with any other ratio, an auditor should listen to the client's explanation of any unfavorable changes in cash r atios before becoming too alarmed. An auditor should know what cash concerns are critical to a company's business. We wouldn't suggest that a successful audit is just a matter of picking the right equations and plugging in the numbers. There are no absolutes. But properly applied, cash flow ratios can be revealing to auditors during the audit planning stages and can give the auditor a more accurate picture of the company. Auditors must ascertain whether the financial statements are fairly presented in accordance with GAAP.They must be satisfied with the accuracy of the transactions and balances summarized in the four financial statements and the related disclosures. Effective auditors can use cash flow ratios to improve their understanding of the cash concerns critical to the particular company and to plan the audit more effectively. References ^www. [email  protected] unr. edu (www. readability. com) ^www. [email  protected] edu (www. readability. com) ^Exhibit 1 (www. journalo faccountancy. com) ^exhibit 2 (www. journalofaccountancy. com) ^case study (www. journalofaccountancy. com)