Saturday, November 30, 2019

Recall A Day In Your Life That Stands Out And Explain Why You Will Alw

Recall a day in your life that stands out and explain why you will always remember it THE MATCH One day that I will probably never forget is the day that I had to play Jonathan Walker. He was easily the best table tennis player in our school and he had even been offered to play on the National Junior team. I remember the match as if it was yesterday. It was the time of year when competition smelled thick in the air and everyone was excited about Inter-House Sports. I was particularly involved in Tennis and Chess but I was really excited about Table Tennis as I had been named Vice-Captain. It was a grueling school day that had ended with an arduous 120-minute Chemistry practical. The school bell that rang was like sweet music to my ears and the only thought that whisked through my mind was that of going home and sleeping in my big, comfortable bed. Just then, I remembered that the Table Tennis contest between Team C and Team D which also incidentally the finals, was at 4:00 p.m. I sluggishly changed into the clothes that I had in my locker and headed for the Games Room. I was very tired and hoped that I would have an easy opponent. However, this was not to be my lucky day. The captain of our team, Jason, was sick so I had to play the opposing captain, namely, Jonathan. Panic and doom were those thoughts that dominated my mind when I was told this. However, I was always an optimist and tried to convince myself that I could defeat him (Yeah right!). We approached the table and shook hands. In the few initial minutes, we warmed up, just casually rallying the ball around, but even then he was playing better tennis than I ever had. The coach then blew his whistle which concluded the warm up and signaled the commencement of the match. At this point in time, I tried to swallow all the fear and anxiety that I had and to face my opponent valiantly and courageously. The match began and before I had fully realized, he had won the first game 21-05. He had won it with the utmost ease, returning even my best shots without any struggles or even remote difficulty. I tried not to feel discouraged, saying to myself that he still had two more games to win and that I would not give in without a fight. The second game was closer but I was still not able to break his rigid backspin defense that he used against all my good serves. I realized here that the key here to me winning the game was to use my brain and not just my table-tennis skills. I started to experiment with a variety of serves until I found one that gave him great difficulty to return. It was a rather simple serve which one would not expect to find in a match of this caliber. I learned at that point in time that sometimes simple things could be better solutions to a problem than complex ones could ever be. I lost the second game 21-17 but was confident now that I had a good chance of defeating this adversary of mine. Jonathan made a critical mistake in the third game that I believe worked to my advantage. He became over-confident and therefore careless, giving me easy points and hence 'keeping' me in the match. The game went to a tie-break. I was tired but somehow I found the strength to play on and won the game 28-26. With this win, I became even more confident and aggressive in my game-play which I believe intimidated Jonathan and though he tried to discourage me by using his fancy serves to get the crowd on his side, I won the fourth game 21-18. Jonathan was furious that he had let me win two games and was determined to crush and humiliate me in front of the crowd. He used all his lethal shots against me and I was also becoming worn out. I tried to keep up with him but his better style of playing kept the crowd on his side. The score was now 19-17

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Hannaford Bros. Cyber Security Lessons Learned Essays

Hannaford Bros. Cyber Security Lessons Learned Essays Hannaford Bros. Cyber Security Lessons Learned Paper Hannaford Bros. Cyber Security Lessons Learned Paper Introduction Virtually every business today uses at least one form of computer information technology. Business firms use computers to automate and assist in managing everything from operations, sales, finance, and logistics. Internal databases and intranets are used for internal controls and organizations are connected via the internet to conduct sales, marketing and many other communications and transactions. Electronic business, or e-business, is dominating modern markets and the business world. This new world of technological innovation has exponentially increased efficiency and globalized the world’s economies. Unfortunately criminals still exist and continue to exploit businesses, committing acts of theft, vandalism, and terror. E-business is not immune to criminal mischief and in fact can be quite vulnerable to sophisticated cyber criminals known as hackers. In early 2008 it was reported that the North East Supermarket mogul, Hannaford Bros. Company fell victim to a computer hacking attack that compromised approximately 4. 2 million customer credit cards. This act created a financial nightmare for thousands of consumers and for the Hannaford Bros. grocery company. The incident was a black mark on Hannaford’s public image and a financial burden to their corporation. Cyber Security is a growing priority of today’s business leadership. Boon, Kurtz (2011) Hannaford Bros. Co. Hannaford Bros. is an upscale North American grocery retail chain headquartered in Scarborough, Maine. Hannaford was founded in 1883 and now runs supermarkets throughout New England and upstate New York. Hannaford is owned by the American subsidiary of the Belgian Delhaize Group, Delhaize America, the parent company of Food Lion which operates over 1,500 stores on the East Coast, mostly in the Mid-Atlantic States. : The Hannaford Bro. Website (2011), The Delhaize Group website (2011) Hannaford Bros. administers a comprehensive website for their grocery chain. The Hannaford website found at: hannaford. com/home. jsp offers customers a wide range of shopping and food related planning activities. Hannaford does not offer their grocery products for delivery on their website; rather they make all of their grocery and pharmacy products available for customers to browse and purchase for pick-up. Customers can easily navigate through categorized product lists with eye catching visual cues. Products can be places on a virtual shopping list that the customer can use in the store or purchase on-line to be picked up at their nearest local store. Coupons and sales discount promotions are also readily available and easy to find on the website. Hannaford also gives customer’s options and assistance for planning different types of parties and organizing shopping lists. The primary services provided by the website in addition to on-line browsing and ordering of groceries includes pharmacy prescription refills, ordering gift cards, special orders, and Redbox video rentals. Instead of promoting broad scale on-line shopping and delivery like other supermarkets and on-line retailers, Hannaford uses their website to draw people to their stores and make the shopping experience easier and more appealing. The Hannaford Bro. Website (2011) Hannaford Bros. displays numerous lines of communication on their website. Their contact information is found thorough a â€Å"contact us† tab on the home page. The Hannaford Corporate office address and several 1-800 customer service phone numbers are listed. There are also several online feedback forms for customers to give Hannaford feedback and ask questions about their products and services. Hannaford even offers the advice and expertise of nutritionist for customer questions and concerns. The Hannaford Bro. Website (2011) The Hannaford Bros. website is designed and maintained with meticulous detail. Hannaford Bros. online marketing strategy is simple; to give customers a warm and inviting way to make their shopping experience easier and more pleasant. Hannaford Bros. is easily accessible through simple search engine searches and is then easy to navigate for even the most novice web users. The company is targeting people who shop for groceries the most, families. The visual colors and photographs are geared towards women and create a warm and enticing mood. Hannaford creates a competitive advantage for them by offering the shopper planning services to their customers. They are not just a cold internet retailer where somebody logs in to buy products and leaves. The website creates an environment that endears people to their stores. The Hannaford Bro. Website (2011) The Security Breach and Hannaford Bros. Reaction On March 17, 2008 Hannaford Bros. Co announced that it had been the victim of a computer hacker attack against their computer network. The Hacker, Albert Gonzalez , who was eventually arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison had accessed Hannaford’s network and stole approximately 4. 2 million credit and debit card numbers between Dec. 7 2007 and March 10 2008. The security breach affected all of Hannafords stores in New England and New York, as well as subsidiary stores under the Sweetbay name in Florida and several independently owned stores selling Hannaford products. The data breach forced banks across the East Coast to block and reissue hundreds of thousands of credit and debit cards. Jaikumar Vijayan (2008) The State of Maine Bureau of Financial Institutions website (2011) Hannaford later posted an advisory on their web site signed by President and CEO Ronald Hodge, stating that the grocer had contained the illegal intrusion after being made aware of suspicious credit card activity on Feb. 27. The advisory stated that credit and debit card numbers as well as expiration dates were taken from Hannafords network while the data was in transit for transaction processing. Ronald Hodge went on to apologize for the compromise and the inconvenience to the consumers, but also urged the consumers that Hannaford had been upholding the highest standards of cyber security. Hodges ended his statement with assuring customers that Hannaford would work with the banks in rectifying the situation and would double their efforts in increasing their security measures. Hannaford immediately shut down all links on their website after the disclosure of the security breach. Hannaford launched an investigation into the matter and worked diligently to rectify all weaknesses in their cyber security system. Jaikumar Vijayan (2008) Analysts claim that Hannaford like many other retailers did not encrypt the credit and debit card data collected from customers during financial transactions. This allowed the hacker to easily steal the data once he discovered a back door into Hannaford’s system. Hannaford was quickly served with a massive class action lawsuit claiming Hannaford was negligent in protecting consumer data. Jaikumar Vijayan (2008) Hannaford’s website now offers a highly in-depth and comprehensive privacy policy page with multiple links to detailed explanations of their privacy and security procedures. Hannaford now goes out of their way to inform the consumer and provide protection against any other possible security breach of financial information. It appears that Hannaford Bros. has been very thorough in controlling the damage to their image and maintain their brand identity and good will with their customer base. The Hannaford Bro. Website (2011), The State of Maine Bureau of Financial Institutions website (2011) Cyber Security Methods and Procedures for Protecting Customers Cyber Security is a growing responsibility for business leaders in today’s market. Not only do corporations and small businesses need to protect their own financial and proprietary information, they need to protect the data of their customers. In fact cyber security is now a strategic decision point not only in business technology but in the business planning cycle as whole. Business firms now have to continually analyze the dangers and work together to combat the growing cyber threat. Business leaders should take strategic steps towards combating the cyber threats. Michael Neumann (2008), Boon, Kurtz (2011) The first step in combating cyber threats is to maintain an accurate and comprehensive data analysis team to continually monitor and track past, current, and emerging cyber threats. The next step in the process should be the establishing and maintaining evolving industry guidelines and procedures to define and combat the cyber threats. Without a united front against cyber threats, business firm security specialists will not be properly equipped to keep up with the threats. Another key step in the process of countering cyber threats is establishing critical infrastructure benchmarks, defining and actively working against cyber threats. Ultimately, fighting cyber threats is much like fighting against global terrorists. Business leaders must protect their greatest assets, their customers against the attacks from cyber criminals. Michael Neumann (2008), Boon, Kurtz (2011) Conclusion Hannaford Bros. like many other corporations learned firsthand the damage one person with a computer could commit against their business. The hard lessons learned were not to take for granted the capabilities of cyber criminals and the negative possibilities of their actions. Cyber security is strategic priority not only for corporations but for small business owners as well. Business leaders must stay vigilant and cognizant of the impending and emerging threats to their livelihood and maintain their responsibility to the consumer. References 1)Boon, Kurtz (2011) Contemporary Business, New Jersey, John Wiley Sons Inc. 2)The Hannaford Bro. Website (2011) Retrieved from: hannaford. com/home. sp 3)The Delhaize Group website (2011) Retrieved From: delhaizegroup. com/en/PublicationsCenter/PicturesandBiographies/Stores. aspx 4)Kim Zetter (2010) Hacker Sentenced to 20 years for Breach of Credit Card Pocessor. Retrieved from: wired. com/threatlevel/2010/03/heartland-sentencing/#more-14740 5)Jaikumar Vijayan (2008) Update: New retail data breach may have affected millions of Hannaford shoppers. Retrieved from: computerworl d. com/s/article/9068999/Update_New_retail_data_breach_may_have_affected_millions_of_ Hannaford_shoppers )Jaikumar Vijayan (2008) Hannaford hit by class-action lawsuits in wake of data-breach disclosure. Retrieved from: computerworld. com/s/article/9070281/Hannaford_hit_by_class_action_lawsuits_in_wake_of_data_breac h_disclosure 7)Michael Neumann (2008) The Rand Corporation: Cybersecurity Economic Approaches and Challenges to Decision Making. Retrieved from: rand. org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9365-1/index1. html 8)The State of Maine Bureau of Financial Institutions website (2011) Retrieved from: http://maine. gov/pfr/financialinstitutions/data_breach

Friday, November 22, 2019

Archeological dig in Israel

Archeological dig in Israel In 2015 there was an archeological dig in Israel where researchers found different types of nuts.  ¨The nuts types were water chestnut, wild almond, prickly water lily, and 2 varieties of both acorns and pistachios. ¨(Nutcracker Museum) Also there were 50 pitted stones were found at the Israel site. Each stone had a dent. Dents in the stones appeared to have been formed when the stones were used to open or crack quantities of hard nuts. (Nutcracker Museum) They were called, nutting stones. Nuts formed a major part of mans diet 780,000 years ago. Archaeologists have found cracking equipment related to the isrealiites from some Native Americans. Native Americans would do the same process as the (Nutcracker Museum) pThe most common nuts used by the Native Americans were beechnuts, chestnuts, hickory nuts, and walnuts. After removing the inside of the nuts, the shells were used to make their fires. (Nutcracker Museum) 50,000 B.C. the oldest walnuts were found by the Greeks and the Romans. They were considered the food of the Gods. Walnuts were a traded item by English ships throughout the Mediterranean and that is why it is called the English Walnut. (Nutcracker Museum) In the 18th century, Walnuts were brought to California from Spain. Today California produces much of the worlds supply. Also, they used them as oil and for thickening cornstarch. The earliest remains of pecans were found in Texas. (Nutcracker Museum) They dated back to 6100 bc. The pecan was mainly in the diet of the natives and the early settlers. The macadamia originated in the rainforests of Queensland, Australia. (Nutcracker Museum) It was brought over to Hawaii in the 19th century where most of the worlds supply is grown today. Almonds are thought to be among the earliest harvested foods. (Nutcracker Museum) They have been found in both Cyprus and Greece and were mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible. The hazelnut is known by many names such as the filbert, Cobnut, or Spanish Nut. The hazelnut is among the five sacred nourishments God gave to human beings based off of a manuscript found in China from the year 2838 B.C .(Nutcracker Museum) The cashew nut originates in Brazil. It was brought to India and Africa in the 16th century. (Nutcracker Museum) It was brought to the Philippines by the Spanish traders. The Brazil nut originated in South America and is mostly found in the Amazon basin. (Nutcracker Museum) It grows in section like an orange with 10-15 nuts at the same spot (Nutcracker Museum)The peanut is a member of the pea family, not a nut. They originated from South America where the Indians have used produced and consumed them for over 2000 years.(Nutcracker Museum) By the 20th century, there w as a huge demand for peanut oil, roasted and salted peanuts, as well as the new peanut butter. (Nutcracker Museum)

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Modren and tradition family Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Modren and tradition family - Research Paper Example Since I had a question in mind I was somehow sunken in thought was not very keen to notice the old man approach me. He greeted me casually. Without hesitating, he went ahead to answer my question even before I presented it to him, he seemed to have read my mind. He said, â€Å"I missed something when I was a child. I missed the childhood games. My son, during our times we played with small glass bells in the street, hiding, and swimming in the pool†, He paused, I wanted to intervene but he proceeded, â€Å"Our grandfathers dug wells by their bare hands using crude tools, and it was pure water and stemmed from under the ground. We were excited when we played in front of our mothers. Our mothers cleaned our clothes and utensils using it. We also played with neighbors’ children after we had finished studying holy Quran. There were no schools in those days. The days were awesome, those days are gone my son†. When he had finished his speech, he took a deep breath. Act ually, I liked his speech, and I admired the days. The conversation looked more like an imagination despite being the naked truth. When I reported home that night, I talked with my mother about the old man that I had met in the beach. She told me, â€Å"listen my daughter, everyone lives in their generation. If you went back to those old days, you would loathe them and admire to come back to your days, the old were characterized by difficulties that could only be handled by them that lived at that time†. She went on to mention that there was no electricity, cars, planes, and electronic machines among other things. Just like the old man, she reiterated that formal education was nonexistent. I agreed with her that if it were not for education today life would be very boring. The industries were undeveloped and the jobs done were manual in most occasions, they revolved around farming, fishing, hunting and gathering, grazing cattle, and delivering water to houses. She noted sever al benefits that emanated from the traditional way of life. People used to live in communities, the concept of capitalism was nonexistent, and the families had no privacy. The responsibilities were clearly defined; the women cooked food, took care of the children, brought water from the spring, cleaned stuff, and served their husband’s family without any objection. The community defined individual rights, most women and men had no rights in those days because the man’s father was the ultimate decision maker even if the man got married. The old man and my mother had similar points of view as well as differences; I realized that they had different opinions between traditional and modern family setups. This arouses a desire in me to focus about traditional and modern family systems in my country. Although some people believe that the traditional family is the best than modern family structure, both traditional and modern family has positive and negative implications in te rms of their lifestyle, education and the rules governing them. The traditional and modern family setups are different in the way individuals used to reside and the way it is done today. Traditionally an extended family lived in one big house. It consisted of the grandfather, parents, uncles, aunts, and their children. Both the male and female children occupied the same bedroom, likewise the parents would share bedrooms and

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Music in Baroque Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Music in Baroque Society - Essay Example A third characteristic of the baroque age was significantly manifested through social living in Europe; the prevailing class structure had widely demonstrated the attitude and opinion on extravagance in the society via architecture, music, arts, and literature which had been promoted, in part, by the lavish life of King Louis XIV. Music of the period – 1600-1750 – projects an essential attribute of the baroque style as perceived through its grandiosity, irregularity, and strangeness. Compared to the music of the preceding Renaissance age, baroque music is found rich in various textures, levels of intensity, and melodies that seemed to form more embellished or intricate sound. To normal listeners, the characteristics of the original musical pieces of this era appeal to the senses not only emotionally but also experimentally. In either approach, a genius baroque musician had a particular unity of mood, form or style, and selection of instruments. By unity of mood, compose rs followed a specific kind of affection in generating rhythmic and melodic patterns, and this affection unified the mood in music, enabling the audience to recognize a theme or subject that is consistent all throughout the piece. When it comes to musical style, baroque is identified with the recitative manner of singing compositions or with speech rhythms designated for sung texts, which later evolved to arias or expressive melodies of a different order and instrumentation.

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Teenage Wasteland Essay Example for Free

Teenage Wasteland Essay Many mothers make mistakes with their first child. They may not give them enough attention, or they may give them too much attention. In the two short stories â€Å"I stand Here Ironing† by Tillie Olsen and â€Å"Teenage Wasteland† by Anne Tyler, both of the mothers reflect back on the struggle they had raising their first child. They talk about how they handled situations and what they would change if they could do it over. Both â€Å"I Stand Here Ironing† and â€Å"Teenage Wasteland† depict a mother struggling with guilt, thereby showing the difficulties involved in raising children. Lastly, both stories depict mothers struggling with guilt over past decisions made concerning their first child. In â€Å"I Stand Here Ironing† the mother regrets that she didn’t have the knowledge then, that she does now. She shows this when she says â€Å"My wisdom came too late† (Olsen 813). The mother feels that she did better raising her other children, and only made mistakes concerning her first child. When she looks at her daughter’s life she finds herself wishing she could have done more for her. Just like in â€Å"I Stand Here Ironing† by Olsen, â€Å"Teenage Wasteland† by Tyler also depicts a mother struggling with guilt over decisions she made while raising her son. The author shows the mothers helplessness by saying â€Å"Had she really done all she could have? † (Tyler 1170). The mother felt helpless in the problems with her son, and feels guilty for not trying to do more. She also wonders if she had really done all that she could have to help her son or if she pushed him too much. Both mothers struggled with guilt and the consequences of their decisions concerning their first child. There are many difficulties that arise while raising children; these short stories are about two mothers that both struggled with the guilt of their decisions involving their first child. The majority of new mothers make mistakes with their children that they later regret. It’s all part of learning the best way to do things and finding the way through unfamiliar territory.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

The Themes of Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter Essay -- Scarle

The Themes of The Scarlet Letter      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Scarlet Letter is a romantic novel, mainly because it is a long, fictitious tale of heroes and extraordinary events.   Unfolding over a seven year period, we are treated to the heroism of Hester Prynne and her adulterous beloved, the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale and the mysterious actions and behavior of their love child, Pearl, and the witch, Mistress Hibbins.   The story is set against the background of Puritan, New England, a stern, authoritarian, colony founded by a group of religious reformers.   Before the novel begins, Hester is guilty of an affair which produced Pearl while her husband was abroad.   Her husband, Roger Chillingworth, comes to America just as Hester is being pilloried.   He determines to remain in Boston in disguise in order to discover the man with whom she had the affair.   Chillingworth soon uncovers the identity of Pearl's father, the young and emotionally captivating pastor.   He proceeds to torment Dimmesdale's soul, event ually foiling the escape of the pastor, Hester, and Pearl.   At the end of the novel, Hester and Dimmesdale mount the pillory with Pearl together, where he reveals that he, too, has a scarlet "A" etched on his chest from remorse.   However, this act of public repentance allows him to be free of the Satanic clutches of Chillingworth.   Pearl, too, a child that barely seems human to others in the novel, reclaims her humanity by giving her real father a kiss and crying for the first time in the story.   There are two main themes at work in the novel.   The first is the conflict between romanticism and religion.   The second is the nature of sin, which the novel suggests is a guilty secret of all people.   The novel also portrays the sin of Chillingworth ... ...in the novel come off less sympathetically than those who sin because they are human in the face of oppression.    In conclusion, we see that for Hawthorne there is sympathy and some kind of identification with imperfect beings oppressed by some arbitrary religious interpretation to be perfect.   While Hester and Dimmesdale do, indeed, sin, it is only a sin in the eyes of others but an act of human love to them.   In a world where no philosopher has ever absolutely defined the will of God, i.e. the divine truth, it is amusing to view this Puritan community so sure of its divine right to judge that it tramples the human heart to shreds in the process.      WORKS   CITED Gross, S., Bradley, S., Beatty, R. C., and Long, E. H.   (eds.).   The Scarlet Letter:   An Authoritative Test, Essays in Criticism, and Scholarship.   New York, W. W. Norton & Company, 1988.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Articles Of Partnership Essay

That no transfer will reduce the ownership of Filipinos citizens to less than the required percentage of capital shall be recorded in the paper books of the partnership. ARTICLE VII. That the profits and losses shall be divided pro-rata among the partners. ARTICLE VIII. That should there be any additional contribution made by a limited partner, such must be agreed upon by all the partners in writing and duly recorded at least two (2) days after signing of same agreement. Such contribution shall amend Article VI of the Articles of Partnership and in no case shall such amendment be done less than one (1) year after the original recording of said partnership by the Securities and Exchange Commission. ARTICLE IX. That the contribution of each limited partner may be returned to him/ her three (3) years after the original recording of said partnership by the Securities and Exchange Commission. ARTICLE X. That the limited partner may be given the right to substitute an assignee as contributor in his place, provided that he has duly notified his partners in writing, stating the reasons therefor, five (5) days before affectivity of said substitution. Provided further that such limited partner has already settled his obligations to the partnership prior to the notification of substitution. ARTICLE XI. That a partner may admit an additional limited partner, provided that the other partners have been duly notified in writing five (5) days before effectivityof admission and duly concurred by all the partners in writing. ARTICLE XII. That the remaining general partner or partners shall have the right continue the business in cases of death, retirement, civil interdiction, insanity Orin solvency of a general partner. ARTICLE XIII. That the firm shall be under the management of Jorgielyn F. Pardilla, as General Manager and as such she shall be in charge of the management of the affairs of the partnership. ARTICLE XIV. That the partners willingly undertake to change the name of the partnership immediately upon receipt of notice/ directive from the Securities and Exchange Commission that another partnership, corporation, or person has been declare misleading, deceptive, confusingly similar to a registered name or contrary to public morals, good customs or public policy.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Poverty, Hunger Prevent Filipino Kids From Getting Basic Education

Twelve-year-old Marian (not her real name) is one of the millions of Filipino children whose education has taken a backseat due to poverty. The fifth of eight children, she fled her home when she was 10 because she said her jobless parents hurt her. Marian is supposed to be in the sixth grade this year, but she’s currently enrolled as a Grade 1 pupil, learning basic language lessons and math skills in a public elementary school in Cainta, Rizal. A certain â€Å"Ate Rowena† took her in and convinced her to go back to school.Marian has to face challenges in school. â€Å"Marami pong nanlalait sa ‘kin dahil Grade 1 ako pero malaki ako†¦hindi ko pinapakinggan yun kasi ito na po yung simula para maipagpatuloy ko po yung pag-aaral ko at makatapos po ako (Other children tease me because I’m still in Grade 1†¦but I don’t mind them because this is my chance to continue and finish my studies),† she said. Despite the challenges, Marian is lucky compare to thousands of other Filipino children. 1 out of 6 kids not in schoolOne out of six school-age Filipino children is not enrolled, figures from the Department of Education (DepEd) and the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) revealed. The net enrollment ratio (NER) or participation rate at the elementary level for school year 2006-2007 was 83. 2 percent, down by 1. 2 percentage points from the previous school year and a far cry from school year 1999-2000’s 96. 95 percent. The NER is the ratio between the enrollment in the school-age range and the total population of that age range.That means that out of all Filipino children aged 6-11—which is the official age range for elementary pupils—17. 8 percent or almost one-fifth are out of school. DepEd figures also show that from 1999 to 2007 participation in elementary education decreased, save for a 0. 19-percentage point increase in 2002. The rate of participation in secondary education is even wo rse. From 2002 to 2007, almost half or 43. 7 of all Filipinos aged 12-15—the official age range for high school—failed to enroll. This is lower than the participation rate of 65. 43 percent in 1999-2000.With these figures the country is still far from achieving the Millennium Development Goal of providing basic education to all, the NSCB said in its report. The Philippines is also far from achieving its own Education for All 2015 Plan, which serves as the blueprint for the country’s basic education. Disparity among regions It is not just the overall figures that reflect that the country is unable to meet international and national goals for education. Government data show that there is a wide disparity in education figures among regions, with most of conflict-ridden Mindanao trailing behind urban centers.The National Economic and Development Authority in its 2006 Socioeconomic Report observed that despite a 0. 38 percent increase in the enrollment of children in 2006 compared to 2005, the figure is lower than expected. NEDA’s figures show that 12. 91 million of the 19. 25 million children enrolled in 2006 are elementary pupils while 6. 33 million were in high school. The overall figure is slightly higher than that of the previous year by only 72,969 children. â€Å"An assessment of the situation points to poverty as the main cause of thislower-than-expected increase. This is further exacerbated by the high cost of schooling-related expenditures. High school students seeking employment to augment family income also contributed to the low increase in enrollment,† the NEDA report stated. The Department of Education admitted that the country’s â€Å"volatile economic situation† is preventing children from going to school. Even with the â€Å"zero tuition† offer of the government, poor families are hindered by lack of employment, hunger and malnutrition, among other problems.â€Å"Time and again parents have complained of financial obstacles,† said Kenneth Tirado, communications officer of DepEd. Poverty to blame Poverty is one of the main causes of the country’s poor education record and has affected participation in education in more ways than one, according to â€Å"Education Watch Preliminary Report: Education Deprivation in the Philippines,† a study done by five advocacy groups including E-Net Philippines, Asian South Pacific Bureau of Adult Education, Action for Economic Reforms, Popular Education for People’s Empowerment, and Oxfam.Citing data from the National Statistics Office 2003 Functional Literacy, Education, and Mass Media Survey, the study said the top reason of people aged 6-24 for not attending school is employment or â€Å"looking for work,† with almost one-third or 30. 5 percent citing that reason. Lack of personal interest came in second at 22 percent, while the high cost of education came in a close third at 19. 9 percent. Other rea sons include, among others, housekeeping, illness or disability, failure to cope with school work, and distance from school.â€Å"The lack of interest among school children indicates a weakness on the part of the school system to make education interesting for the students. This may be due to poor teaching quality, inadequate facilities and supplies and poor infrastructure. Poverty, social exclusion, school distance and poor health are, likewise, factors that weigh heavily on children and dampen their interest to pursue schooling,† said the report.â€Å"The challenge, therefore, is how to make the school interesting and encouraging rather than intimidating; how to make it inclusive, non-discriminatory and poor-sensitive rather than exclusive and elite-oriented; and how to make it accommodating rather than restricting. Finally, the education content, process and experience should be made more meaningful to the children’s life experiences by ensuring appropriate, cultur e-sensitive and values-based interventions,† it added. Increase in budget does not helpGovernment figures show that the budget for education has increased over a 10-year period – from P90 billion in 1999 to P149 billion in 2008. It does not include the P4 billion acquired in 2007 from the private sector, a dramatic increase from 2003’s P400 million after Education Secretary Jesli Lapus re-launched the Adopt-A-School program in 2006. Despite the budget increase, government agencies observed a gradual decline in the net participation rate of students in the past nine years, especially in the regions.Luzon has the highest NER, followed by Visayas, with NERs on the opposite side of the spectrum, and Mindanao with the lowest percentage of school-age children going to school. The National Capital Region and Region IV alternately topped the NERs for elementary education, with the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon, having the highest NER from 2004 to 2006. Even NCR’s relatively high figures—at least 92. 6 percent since 2002—have declined by about 0. 6 to 2. 2 percentage points, except in school year 2006-2007 when it increased by a meager .03 percent. Region IX or Western Mindanao posted the biggest NER decrease of 12. 1 percent, from 89. 7 percent in 2002 to 77. 6 percent in 2006. Surprisingly, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao placed 4th out of the 17 regions, with no less than 85. 8 percent net enrollment rate. Unfortunately the trend didn’t continue until high school, where ARMM ranks lowest, consistently placing 17th with only 23. 7 percent to 35. 6 percent when it peaked in school year 2005-2006. The figures went down by three percentage points the next year.In school year 2006-2007 alone 13 out of the 20 provinces with the lowest elementary NER were from Mindanao, while in secondary education 17 were from the area. â€Å"Various programs have been created to cater to the lagging prov inces in Mindanao. DepEd has been implementing these projects with assistance from the private sector and Official Development Assistance from the US Agency for International Development and the Australian Aid for International Development,† said DepEd’s Tirado.Tirado said AusAID’s Basic Education Assistance for Mindanao is seeking to improve the quality of and access to basic education, while USAID’s Education Quality and Access for Learning and Livelihood Skills focuses on targeting high illiteracy and drop-out rates. â€Å"These two projects have contributed to the success of DepEd’s education interventions in Mindanao,† Tirado said. Another project, the Strong Republic Distance Learning School, was established in 2003 â€Å"to provide disadvantaged, impoverished sectors access to formal and non-formal school systems.† Tirado said the 2008 General Appropriations Act has a special provision for the construction of classrooms and scho ol furniture and the hiring of teachers in the ARMM. Peace in Mindanao needed Education advocacy group E-Net Philippines pointed out that since poor education in Mindanao can be attributed to poverty and armed conflict, a long-term solution to address its declining enrollment would be to bring peace to the area. â€Å"During armed conflicts, schools are used as refugee centers, thus disrupting classes.At the same time, children and teachers suffer from trauma which prevents them from effectively learning – or teaching, as in the case of teachers,† said E-Net’s national coordinator, Cecilia Soriano, in an email interview with GMANews. TV. She also said that since there is a concentration of Muslim students in Mindanao, the curriculum â€Å"should be founded on the Muslim wisdom while incorporating the core competencies that will provide children and youth the necessary knowledge to ‘compete’ in the labor market. â€Å"The group is also calling for a budget allotment of P70 million for Learning Centers in indigenous communities in Davao del Sur, Agusan, and South Cotabato, where education is virtually inaccessible, as well as an allotment of P800 million for alternative learning services targeting out-of-school youth. The DepEd provided P420 million to ALS in 2006, according to its March 2008 Performance Report from July 1998 to March 2008. Hunger, malnutrition In a March 2008 report, the Education department said hunger and malnutrition are also barriers to participation in education.In 2007, DepEd improved its school feeding program, with 300 percent more beneficiaries compared to the previous year. Tirado said that to make the distribution more effective, the DepEd-Health and Nutrition Council implemented a â€Å"targeted scheme† that categorizes â€Å"priority provinces† according to the severity of lack of food and vulnerability to hunger. DepEd started implementing the Food for School Program under the Acce lerated Hunger Mitigation Plan during the last quarter of 2005. It was done with the Health, Social Welfare departments, the National Food Authority and local government units.A daily ration of a kilogram of fortified rice is given as subsidy to families through preschool and Grade 1 pupils. The program, which covered 6,304 public schools nationwide and benefited 111,584 preschool and Grade 1 children, distributed a total of 25,338 bags of rice. E-Net Philippines said the strategy is flawed. â€Å"As a motivation to go to school, it sends the wrong message to poor children: go to school to get one kilo of rice instead of the value of learning; it is also an added burden for children as poor parents encourage their children to attend classes to be able to avail of the daily ration,† said Soriano.Strategy for patronage Soriano said the scheme has become a strategy for patronage as local government units select the beneficiaries of the program. â€Å"In fact in 2007, in April, when there were no classes, and just before the elections, the DepEd released rice to preschool and elementary and high school students,† said Soriano. â€Å"There were also problems in implementing the [strategy] which were exposed during the 2007 budget deliberations, such as alleged overpricing of rice, deficiency in deliveries and low quality of rice,† she added. E-Net believes there are other strategies to keep poor children in school instead of giving rice.Addressing health and poverty situations that prevent access to education are among the group’s proposals. Aside from the Food for School program, DepEd has also proposed increased funding for interventions aimed at children aged 5-11. (DepEd claimed that there were significant boosts in budget allotment to certain programs in 2006. These include the Preschool Education Program, which went up to P2 billion from P250 million, the settlement of unpaid prior years of teachers’ benefits, PhilHealth and GSIS premiums, which were given P1. 94 billion from nothing, and a P345 million boost in Alternative Learning Services.) E-Net’s Soriano, however, said there should be â€Å"more targeted education programs for child laborers, indigenous people, children and youth with disabilities and adult illiterates and other marginalized groups. † Despite the odds, Education Secretary Jesli Lapus is optimistic. â€Å"The key reforms and well-focused policy directions to improve basic education are slowly but surely bearing fruit,† he said, adding that the Education department â€Å"has been concentrating its human and financial resources on key performance indicators aimed at improving classroom instruction. â€Å"If it’s up to DepEd, the result of the National Achievement Results this year, where the mean percentage score increased from 59. 94 percent in 2007 to 64. 81 this year, the government’s Education project is a success. Whether this indicates that the country can inch its way toward achieving the 75 percent target MPS by 2010, or if the Education for All plan and the Millennium Development Goal can be met by 2015 is still to be seen. One thing is certain though, efforts at boosting education will only be futile if the poverty situation is not significantly, immediately improved.– GMANews. TV http://www. gmanetwork. com/news/story/111257/news/specialreports/poverty-hunger-prevent-filipino-kids-from-getting-basic-education Literacy is the ability to read and write. [1] The inability to do so is called illiteracy or analphabetism. Visual literacy includes in addition the ability to understand visual forms of communication such as body language,[2] pictures, maps, and video. Evolving definitions of literacy often include all the symbol systems relevant to a particular community.Literacy encompasses a complex set of abilities to understand and use the dominant symbol systems of a culture for personal and community developme nt. In a technological society, the concept of literacy is expanding to include the media and electronic text, in addition to alphabetic and number systems. These abilities vary in different social and cultural contexts according to need, demand and education. The primary sense of literacy still represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from a critical interpretation of the written or printed text.Key to all literacy is reading development, a progression of skills that begins with the ability to understand spoken words and decode written words, and culminates in the deep understanding of text. Reading development involves a range of complex language underpinnings including awareness of speech sounds (phonology), spelling patterns (orthography), word meaning (semantics), grammar (syntax) and patterns of word formation (morphology), all of which provide a necessary platform for reading fluency and comprehension.Once these skills are acquired the reader can attai n full language literacy, which includes the abilities to approach printed material with critical analysis, inference and synthesis; to write with accuracy and coherence; and to use information and insights from text as the basis for informed decisions and creative thought. [3] The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines literacy as the â€Å"ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts.Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society. â€Å"[4] http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Literacy In the Philippines, it is assumed that before the Spanish colonization, the natives of the Philippine islands were universally literate that all can read and write in their own respective languages. During the Spanish colonization of the islands, reading materials were destroyed to a far much less extent compared to the Spanish colonization of the Americas.The Spaniards tried to rub literacy in the islands to prevent the islanders to unite. Education and literacy was introduced only to the Peninsulares and remained a privilege until the Americans came. The Americans introduced the public schools system to the country which drove literacy rates up. English became the lingua franca in the Philippines. It was only during a brief period in the Japanese occupation of the Philippines that the Japanese were able to teach their language in the Philippines and teach the children their written language. After World War II, the Philippines had the highest literacy rates in Asia.It nearly achieved universal literacy once again in 80s and 90s. Ever since then, the literacy rate has plummeted only to start regaining a few percentage years back. The DepEd, CHED, and other academic institutions encourage childr en to improve literacy skills and knowledge. The government has a program of literacy teaching starting in kindergarten. New reforms are being brought in shifting to a K-12 system which will teach children their regional languages before English, as opposed to the 10-years basic education program which teaches English and Filipino, the country's two official languages, from Grade 1.Literacy in the 21st century Main article: New literacies Young school girls in Paktia Province of Afghanistan Economic impact Many policy analysts consider literacy rates as a crucial measure of the value of a region's human capital. For example literate people can be more easily trained than illiterate people – and generally have a higher socio-economic status;[42] thus they enjoy better health and employment prospects. Literacy increases job opportunities and access to higher education.Korotayev and coauthors have revealed a rather significant correlation between the level of literacy in the ear ly 19th century and successful modernization and economic breakthroughs in the late 20th century, as ‘literate people could be characterized by a greater innovative-activity level, which provides opportunities for modernization, development, and economic growth' [43] In Kerala, India, for example, female and child mortality rates declined dramatically in the 1960s, when girls schooled according to the education reforms after 1948 began to raise families.In addition to the potential for literacy to increase wealth, wealth may promote literacy, through cultural norms and easier access to schools and tutoring services. [citation needed] In 2009, the National Adult Literacy agency (NALA) in Ireland commissioned a cost benefit analysis of adult literacy training. This concluded that there were economic gains for the individuals, the companies they worked for, and the Exchequer, as well as the economy and the country as a whole – for example, increased GDP.The annual income g ain per person per level increase on the Irish ten level National Qualifications Framework was â‚ ¬3,810 and the annual gain to the Exchequer, in terms of reduced social welfare transfers and increased tax payments, was â‚ ¬1,531. [44] Broader and complementary definitions Traditionally, literacy is ability to use written language actively and passively; one definition of literacy is the ability to â€Å"read, write, spell, listen, and speak. † Since the 1980s, some have argued that literacy is ideological, which means that literacy always exists in a context, in tandem with the values associated with that context.Prior work viewed literacy as existing autonomously. Some have argued that the definition of literacy should be expanded. For example, in the United States, the National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association have added â€Å"visually representing†[clarification needed] to the traditional list of competencies. Similarly , in Scotland, literacy has been defined as: â€Å"The ability to read, write and use numeracy, to handle information, to express ideas and opinions, to make decisions and solve problems, as family members, workers, citizens and lifelong learners.â€Å"[52] A basic literacy standard in many places is the ability to read the newspaper. Increasingly, communication in commerce and in general requires the ability to use computers and other digital technologies. Since the 1990s, when the Internet came into wide use in the United States, some have asserted that the definition of literacy should include the ability to use tools such as web browsers, word processing programs, and text messages. Similar expanded skill sets have been called multimedia literacy, computer literacy, information literacy, and technological literacy.[53][54] Some scholars propose the idea multiliteracies which includes Functional Literacy, Critical Literacy, and Rhetorical Literacy. [55] â€Å"Arts literacyâ₠¬  programs exist in some places in the United States. [56] Other genres under study by academia include critical literacy, media literacy, ecological literacy and health literacy[57] With the increasing emphasis on evidence-based decision making, and the use of statistical graphics and information, statistical literacy is becoming a very important aspect of literacy in general.The International Statistical Literacy Project is dedicated to the promotion of statistical literacy among all members of society. It is argued that literacy includes the cultural, political, and historical contexts of the community in which communication takes place. [58] Given that a large part of the benefits of literacy can be obtained by having access to a literate person in the household, some recent literature in economics, starting with the work of Kaushik Basu and James Foster, distinguishes between a ‘proximate illiterate' and an ‘isolated illiterate'.The former refers to an illiterate person who lives in a household with literates and the latter to an illiterate who lives in a household of all illiterates. What is of concern is that many people in poor nations are not just illiterates but isolated illiterates. Greek and Roman were written languages long ago. Ancient Chinese tested candidates for government positions. German and English both became written languages in about 800 AD. Teaching literacy Main article: Learning to read Teaching English literacy in the United States is dominated by a focus on a set of discrete decoding skills.From this perspective, literacy — or, rather, reading — comprises a number of subskills that can be taught to students. These skill sets include phonological awareness, phonics (decoding), fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary. Mastering each of these subskills is necessary for students to become proficient readers. [59] From this same perspective, readers of alphabetic languages must understand the alphabetic princi ple to master basic reading skills. For this purpose a writing system is â€Å"alphabetic† if it uses symbols to represent individual language sounds,[60] though the degree of correspondence between letters andsounds varies between alphabetic languages. Syllabic writing systems (such as Japanese kana) use a symbol to represent a single syllable, and logographic writing systems (such as Chinese) use a symbol to represent a morpheme. [61] There are any number of approaches to teaching literacy; each is shaped by its informing assumptions about what literacy is[citation needed] and how it is best learned by students. Phonics instruction, for example, focuses on reading at the level of the word. [60] It teaches readers to observe and interpret the letters or groups of letters that make up words.A common method of teaching phonics is synthetic phonics, in which a novice reader pronounces each individual sound and â€Å"blends† them to pronounce the whole word. [60] Another approach is embedded phonics instruction, used more often in whole language reading instruction, in which novice readers learn about the individual letters in words on a just-in-time, just-in-place basis that is tailored to meet each student's reading and writing learning needs. [60] That is, teachers provide phonics instruction opportunistically, within the context of stories or student writing that feature many instances of a particular letter or group of letters.Embedded instruction combines letter-sound knowledge with the use of meaningful context to read new and difficult words. [62] Techniques such as directed listening and thinking activities can be used to aid children in learning how to read and reading comprehension. In a 2012 proposal, it has been claimed that reading can be acquired naturally if print is constantly available at an early age in the same manner as spoken language. [63] If an appropriate form of written text is made available before formal schooling begins, reading should be learned inductively, emerge naturally, and with no significant negative consequences.This proposal advances knowledge and understanding because it challenges the commonly held belief that written language requires formal instruction and schooling. Its success would change current views of literacy and schooling. Using developments in behavioral science and technology, an interactive system (Technology Assisted Reading Acquisition, TARA) would enable young pre-literate children to accurately perceive and learn properties of written language by simple exposure to the written form. The broader impacts of this possibility are far reaching.The inability to read is prevalent around the world and even in American society. The cost of illiteracy as well as the huge cost of formal literacy instruction is one of the major financial burdens on societies. [citation needed] In addition, many students who are considered literate still have difficulty in comprehension which may be related to making reading instruction contingent on spoken language. By embedding the child in written language, their learning to read becomes embodied in the same manner as learning spoken language.This innovative intervention would also help redirect financial resources where they will have the most impact. Although 90% of private and public education spending is on children between the ages of 6 and 19, 90% of brain growth occurs before age 6. [citation needed] Spending for nurturing children for literacy before age 6 will be a large market and will have the most impact in improving the quality of life, especially for children without internet access. Public library efforts to promote literacy The public library has long been a force promoting literacy in many countries.[64] In the United States, the release of the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) report in 2005 revealed that approximately 14% of adults function at the lowest level of literacy; 29% of adults funct ion at the basic functional literacy level and cannot help their children with homework beyond the first few grades. [65] The lack of reading skills hinders adults from reaching their full potential. They might have difficulty getting and maintaining a job, providing for their families, or even reading a story to their children. For adults, the library might be the only source of a literacy program.[66] United States Programs have been instituted in public libraries across the United States in an attempt to improve literacy rates. Some examples are listed below. READ/Orange County, initiated in 1992 by the Orange County Public Library in California, is an example of a flourishing community literacy program. The organization builds on what people have already learned through experience as well as education, rather than trying to make up for what has not been learned. The organization then provides the student with the skills to continue learning in the future.[66] The program operate s on the basis that an adult who learns to read creates a ripple effect in the community. An adult who learns to read impacts not just himself but the whole community: he becomes an example to his children and grandchildren, and can better serve his community. [66] The mission of READ/Orange County is to â€Å"create a more literate community by providing diversified services of the highest quality to all who seek them. † Potential tutors train during an extensive 23-hour tutor training workshop in which they learn the philosophy, techniques and tools they will need to work with adult learns.[66] After the training, the tutors invest at least 50 hours a year to tutoring their student. Another successful literacy effort is the BoulderReads! program in Boulder, Colorado. The program recognized the difficulty that students had in obtaining child care while attending tutoring sessions, and joined with the University of Colorado to provide reading buddies to the children of studen ts. Reading Buddies matches children of adult literacy students with college students who meet with them once a week throughout the semester for an hour and a half.The college students receive course credit, ensuring the quality and reliability of their time. [67] Each Reading Buddies session focuses primarily on the college student reading aloud with the child. This helps the child gain interest in books and feel comfortable reading aloud. Time is also spent on word games, writing letters, or searching for books in the library. Throughout the semester the pair work on writing and illustrating a book together. The college student’s grade is partly dependent on the completion of the book.Although Reading Buddies began primarily as an answer to the lack of child care for literacy students, it has evolved into another aspect of the program. [67] While the children are not participants in the tutoring program, they do show marked improvement in their reading and writing skills th roughout the semester, due in part to the admiration and respect they gain for their college reading buddy. The Hillsborough Literacy Council (HLC), operating under the Florida Literacy Coalition, a statewide organization, strives to improve the literacy ability of adults in Hillsborough County, Florida.Working since 1986, the HLC is â€Å"committed to improving literacy by empowering adults through education. â€Å"[68] The HLC also provides tutoring for English for speakers of other languages (ESOL). Approximately 120,000 adults in Hillsborough County are considered illiterate or read below the fourth grade level. Through one-on-one tutoring, the organization works to help adult students reach at least the fifth grade level. 95,000 adults living in Hillsborough County do not speak English; volunteers in the organization typically work with small groups of non-English speaking students to help practice their English conversation skills at any time.http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/L iteracy#Philippines http://www. cea-ace. ca/education-canada/article/educated-parents-educated-children-toward-multiple-life-cycles-education-po http://rer. sagepub. com/content/78/4/880. abstract http://literacyencyclopedia. ca/index. php? fa=items. show&topicId=251 http://www. educationspace360. com/index. php/reading-writing-education-and-the-parents-influence-20458/ http://www. hfrp. org/publications-resources/browse-our-publications/parent-involvement-and-early-literacy http://thekristafaith. blogspot. com/2012/09/social-issue-illiteracy-in-philippines.html http://education. blurtit. com/118279/what-are-the-causes-of-illiteracy http://countrystudies. us/philippines/53. htm http://www. indexmundi. com/philippines/literacy. html http://k-12. pisd. edu/currinst/pfl/home. htm http://www2. ed. gov/pubs/OR/ResearchRpts/parlit. html http://filipinofreethinkers. org/2012/05/04/underestimating-parental-involvement/ Parental Involvement in School In this complex world, it takes more than a good school to educate children. And it takes more than a good home. It takes these two major educational institutions working together.http://www. ncpie. org/WhatsHappening/researchJanuary2006. cfm All the above studies (plus many more) are summarized in A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School, Family and Community Connections on Student Achievement, by Anne T. Henderson and Karen L. Mapp (Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 2002). http://www. edpsycinteractive. org/files/parinvol. html related literature Studies have indicated that children whose parents and/or other significant adults share in their formal education tend to do better in school.Some benefits that have been identified that measure parental involvement in education include: Higher grades and test scores Long term academic achievement Positive attitudes and behavior More successful programs More effective schools All parents want their children to become successful, caring adults. Simila rly, many parents want to be involved with the formal education of their children. Sometimes, however, they don't know where to start, when to find the time, or how to go about making positive connections with the school.At the most basic level, parents can begin encouraging the education of their children by showing that they truly value education themselves. Discussion Question â€Å"Can you think of some ways that parents and grandparents might show their children that they value education? † Answers might include: Enrolling in classes themselves Showing an interest in reading Taking part in study groups Talking about educational issues Paying attention to school matters Showing concern for child's progress Giving time to the school-classroom, PTA/PTO, or library.Parent involvement is linked to children's school readiness. Research shows that greater parent involvement in children's learning positively affects the child's school performance, including higher academic achie vement (McNeal, 1999; Scribner, Young, & Pedroza, 1999; Sui-Chu & Willms, 1996; Trusty, 1998; Yan & Lin, 2002) and greater social and emotional development (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997; Fantuzzo & McWayne, 2002). Simple interactions, such as reading to young children, may lead to greater reading knowledge and skills (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998). And, children with richer home

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Free Essays on Breast Implants

Outline Specific Purpose: To inform my audience of the pro’s and con’s of breast implants. Central Idea: Over 1.5 million American women currently have breast implants. The choice to have breast implants needs to be well thought out and researched as there are many pros and cons. Main Points: Pros and cons of breast implants Pros: 1. Can improve a women’s self-esteem who, for personal reasons, believes her breast size is unsatisfactory. 2. Can correct a decrease in breast volume after a women has been pregnant, breastfeeding, or lost a significant amount of weight. 3. Can help balance a difference in breast size 4. Can be used as a reconstructive technique following mastectomy. Cons: 1. Capsular Contracture 2. Deflation, rupture, or leakage 3. Varying amounts of pain 4. Infection 5. Inability to breastfeed Conclusion: Breast implants have both positive and negative results. Breast Implants Did you know that 34% of American women were dissatisfied with their breasts? What can I say, I’m one of them. What about you? How many of you have thought about getting breast implants? I have. What about you men? How many of you have ever fantasized about your girlfriend having bigger breasts? Today, nearly 1.5 million American women have breast implants. More than three-fourths of the women who had breast implants did it because they were unhappy with their figure. The remaining reasons were due mostly in part to medical surgeries, such as a mastectomy. Today I would like to inform you of the pros and cons of breast implants. There are many pros to breast implants, besides just the obvious ones. Breast implants can do for a woman what nature could not. Breast implants can also raise a woman’s self-esteem and give her more confidence in her body. Breast implants can also be used to increase the volume of a woman’s breast after pregnancy or breastfeeding. If one b... Free Essays on Breast Implants Free Essays on Breast Implants Outline Specific Purpose: To inform my audience of the pro’s and con’s of breast implants. Central Idea: Over 1.5 million American women currently have breast implants. The choice to have breast implants needs to be well thought out and researched as there are many pros and cons. Main Points: Pros and cons of breast implants Pros: 1. Can improve a women’s self-esteem who, for personal reasons, believes her breast size is unsatisfactory. 2. Can correct a decrease in breast volume after a women has been pregnant, breastfeeding, or lost a significant amount of weight. 3. Can help balance a difference in breast size 4. Can be used as a reconstructive technique following mastectomy. Cons: 1. Capsular Contracture 2. Deflation, rupture, or leakage 3. Varying amounts of pain 4. Infection 5. Inability to breastfeed Conclusion: Breast implants have both positive and negative results. Breast Implants Did you know that 34% of American women were dissatisfied with their breasts? What can I say, I’m one of them. What about you? How many of you have thought about getting breast implants? I have. What about you men? How many of you have ever fantasized about your girlfriend having bigger breasts? Today, nearly 1.5 million American women have breast implants. More than three-fourths of the women who had breast implants did it because they were unhappy with their figure. The remaining reasons were due mostly in part to medical surgeries, such as a mastectomy. Today I would like to inform you of the pros and cons of breast implants. There are many pros to breast implants, besides just the obvious ones. Breast implants can do for a woman what nature could not. Breast implants can also raise a woman’s self-esteem and give her more confidence in her body. Breast implants can also be used to increase the volume of a woman’s breast after pregnancy or breastfeeding. If one b...

Monday, November 4, 2019

Business Strategy Able Corporation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business Strategy Able Corporation - Essay Example Able Corporation provides user friendly 'portable electric power tools' for individuals and professionals for their plumbing, electricity and other furniture fitting requirements. We strive to make life easier for carpenters, electricians, wood-workers and plumbers by providing them with user-friendly tools. Company's value proposition must include its long association with customers in the field of power tools, its ability to take lead and come out with innovative ideas, its ability to retain a good market share despite increasing cost of production owing to some internal problems and of course its urge to grab more market space in near future. Walden International believes in short-term quarterly financial considerations, which will help Able Corp in taking short-term reviews of its operations and corrective actions can be taken accordingly. Planning forms an integral part of management. Fleischner (2007) states that, marketing plan is a way of developing a marketing program and achieving something within the available resources and time limits. Such a plan basically involves, setting objectives and selecting strategies accordingly. Able Corporation has the potential of being an industry leader, provided the company identifies some of

Saturday, November 2, 2019

The UK economic crisis on businesses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

The UK economic crisis on businesses - Essay Example The situation in the capital market was bad. The situation was further worsened by the fact that the housing loans were packaged as financial debt instruments and were sold in the capital markets. Companies around the world purchased the instruments and with the default of the loans, the instruments also became bad. Therefore, the economy overall was affected badly. (Walayat, 22nd August, 2007). The economy of the UK officially entered the recession with the decreased level of growth in two successive quarters. The Government and the banks helped the economy to face the tough situation with pumping in money and effecting rate cuts. This resulted in the Government borrowing money and thus was in a bad situation in the repayment of the loans. The companies were in a bad situation and they were looking to cut costs. There was huge job cutting among the companies and the unemployment reached massive levels. (Oxlade, 12th March, 2010; Bank warns of recession into 2009, 12th November, 2009 ). The recession was hard on the employees and the workers in different industries. The organizations restricted most of the benefits to the workers for cutting costs. A survey found that in the UK among a sample size of 704 organizations, 55% of the sample was planning to decrease the bonus and the pay or to freeze the process altogether. Among the sample size, 61% had no plans for recruiting new workers and 34% were contemplating on not recruiting the graduates. The labor market was in total disarray and the companies increased the off shoring process. The companies in order to cut costs were operating in flexible hours to allow the workers to work more. Bonus and incentives were not paid by most of the respondents. (Broughton, 10th August, 2009) . The situation was the same all over the world. Almost all the countries were more or less perturbed by the recession. Some of the major economies of the world were the most affected. In this paper, the countries of Japan and