Gun Control Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Gun Control - Research Paper Example Thus, gun control remains an emotive aspect, as on the one hand, there is need for overall citizen safety and welfare; this at the same time providing for the freedom to bear arms as enshrined in the 2nd Amendment (Trotter). As Susan Dudley rightly views, â€Å"The right of the people to keep and bear arms in defense of themselves and of the lawful authority of the state shall not be infringed, except that the manner of bearing arms may be regulated by law.?† (39) This not only being her perspective, but an ideal that is off uttermost importance to true patriots of America. This rights traces its roots to the nation’s founding, when European colonialists settling in the Newfoundland, brought guns for protection and as a means of food provision; protection against the native populations, while food came from hunted game. With the conquest and huge tracks of land in their belonging, the settlers soon discovered the value of having armed men as protection of their new colo nies; this against hostile native Indians among other enemies. Hence, the passing of the Massachusetts Bay laws; this requiring all able-bodied men to bear arm through their joining of state militia, with other settlements following suit. (Gold 33). The American defence against King George’s (3rd ) well armed and disciplined British soldiers, proved too tough even for the aforementioned militia; this necessitating Congress’ establishment of the Continental army. Being led by George Washington, the gun provisions at first proved inadequate, but with the invention of the Colt revolver, being cheaper and firing six times in rapid succession, was to change the above scenario and hence America’s history. By utility of state-of-the-art machinery, in addition to assembly/ industrial production, America soon led the global arena in firearm production. The colt’s greatness can only be best espoused through a popular Western gun lovers’ saying ‘God cre ated men; Colonel Colt made them equal. (Gold, 34) this said, it is hence vividly clear, as to the great place, guns (firearms) possess in America’s history (Moorhouse 103). Thus, the big question, should America have gun control? This is not an easy question as it pertains to a closely held issue pertinent to its citizen’s wellbeing. As is known, the right to arms is rooted in a need for personal protection (of both life and personal property), and in the armed forces; this as espousing their overall need for establishment, security and maintenance of America’s sovereignty. This is best espoused by Gold (26): â€Å"That the right of the citizens to bear arms, in defence of themselves and the state, shall not be questioned.† Thus, should gun control be enforced? Though as aforementioned, it is the right of American citizens to bear arms, it is also the duty of the Federal government to put in check the availability and possession of firearms. â€Å"That a well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural and safe defence of a free State; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power† (Haerens 27). The above portends to the existent danger

How Might Deprivation Lead to Crime Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

How Might Deprivation Lead to Crime - Essay Example In these models, deprivation leads to crime by placing low-income individuals who have low returns from market activity in proximity to high-income individuals who have things that are worth taking. A formal model of deprivation and property crime in which individuals choose between legitimate and criminal activity can be found in Chiu and Madden (1998, p123-141). Most empirical tests of the economic theory of crime have been concerned with the deterrent effects of the criminal justice system in particular by how increased police activity and imprisonment rates reduce crime, and whether this reduction is due to prevention or incapacitation (Tierney 1996). In the past several studies have considered the effect on crime of deprivation, albeit indirectly through the effect of low earnings on criminal activity (Roger 2002). In contrast to the economics of crime literature, which focuses on the deterrent effects of the formal criminal justice system, social disorganization theory considers factors that diminish the effectiveness of informal social controls. Shaw and McKay (1942) identified poverty, ethnic heterogeneity, and residential mobility as the three factors that weaken networks of social control and undermine the ability and willingness of communities to exercise informal control over their members. Sampson (1987) has added family stability to this list. For social disorganization theory, deprivation causes crime indirectly by being associated with poverty. Several of the classic theories of crime, including Marxist, strain, and utilitarian rely heavily on economic factors such as poverty and unemployment to account for variations in crime rates (Shihadeh & Ousey 1998). Researchers since the nineteenth century have suggested a positive association between poverty and crime in urban areas (Tierney 1996). This may be due to the fact that the relationship between poverty and crime is contingent upon the specific crime category under consideration (Patterson 1991). In Merton's (1938, p672-682) strain theory, individuals low in the social structure are perturbed by their failure to attain the material attributes of success, and this failure is more substantial when they are confronted by the success of those around them. Unsuccessful individuals become alienated from society and commit the crime in response. Individual alienation can arise from income deprivation or from belonging to a racial minority. The predictions of strain and social disorganization theories have been subject to extensive but questionable empirical testing in the sociological literature. The influential study of Blau and Blau (1982, p114-129) found a strong relationship between measured income deprivation and homicide rates in large metropolitan areas in 1970. Such theories rely on the troubling assumption that macro-level relationships reflect the sum of a series of individual-level social-psychological processes. Blau and Blau's (1982, p114-129) prominently stated that highly stratified environments generate feelings of resentment and frustration in individuals.  

Structural Components Of Suspension Bridge Engineering Essay

Structural Components Of Suspension Bridge Engineering Essay INTRODUCTION Suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the road way or the deck is suspended below the suspension cables. It is a simplest form of bridge which was made of rope and wood in olden days. The modern Suspension bridge developed was in 19th century. In those bridges the cables are carried by using vertical suspender. The two ends of the cables are suspended on towers. The weight of the bridge is transferred to the anchorage system by cables. The anchorage is fixed firmly on concrete blocks or solid rocks .In order to distribute the load evenly and also to protect the cables from breaking, the cables are spread over a large area inside the anchorage. Historical Background In early times human beings found it very difficult to cross the stream and a deep gorge to survive. A successful solution found out by early people was to drop a tree between the two banks of the deep flowing stream. This results in the idea of simple beam bridge in early times. Early bridges were made of post and lintel structures, stones or timber or the combination of the both. Later on the use of bamboo or simple rope gave rise to the development of rope suspension bridge. Central and South America and are the first to use rope suspension bridge. stock-photo-rope-bridge-suspension-bridge-35093119.jpg Figure:1 ROPE SUSPENSION BRIDGE Later on the chain cables were developed when the wrought iron bars became locally available. The first bridge constructed using chain cables were James Finleyà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s in Westmoreland country, Pennsylvania in 1801.In early British chain bridges the notable one was Menai bridge with 176m span. One of the longest parbolic arc chain was Clifton Suspension bridge. menai-bridge.jpg Figure :2 MENAI BRIDGE clifton-suspension-bridge-bristol-gben440.jpg Figure:3 CLIFTON SUSPENSION BRIDGE After the chain cable the wire-cable was developed. Foot à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬bridge at falls of Schuylkill was the first wire-cable suspension cable developed in 1861.The first major bridge constructed using modern methods was Joseph Chaley Grand Pont Suspendu across in Fribourg across the Sarine valley .Its construction was completed in 1834.The first major wire-cable in USA was the Wire à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬bridge at Fairmount in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania, span of 109m and the construction was completed during 1842. A notable bridge was Niagara bridge with250m span in 1855.Later on the American Engineers was constructing Suspension Bridge with higher span length. The notable one among them was are Ambassadar bridge in Detroit with 564m span in 1927, George Washington Bridge in New York with 1006m span in 1931 and Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco in 1937.Among the parallel wire cables the Otto Beit bridge outside USA was the first Suspension bridge constructed with modern techniqu es. golden_gate.jpg Figure :4 GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS OF SUSPENSION BRIDGE Figure 5 Structural Components of Suspension bridge The above figure shows the structural components of a three span Suspension bridge. The different parts of a suspension bridge are Main Cables which support the deck and transfer the loadings to the supporting tower and anchorages. Deck suspended from the main cables. Towers to support the main cables. Hangers which is used to connect main cables and deck Anchorages to which the ends of the main cables are connected to protect it against any movements. 1. CABLES The main function of cables is to support the deck which carries the traffic loadings and to transfer these traffic loadings to the towers and anchorages by direct tension forces. Cables are made of high strength steel wires. The tensile strength of the wire is 1550N/mm2. The cables of the Akashi Kaikyo bridge in Japan is made of wires having high strength with minimum tensile strength of 1800 N/mm2.The steel rods from which the wires are manufactured are having higher carbon content. The wire with high tensile strength is obtained by cold drawing the wire. After the final drawing the wire is galvanized for corrosion protection. 301678.jpg Figure 6 AKASHI KAIKYO BRIDGE Different types of cables a.Spiral Bridge Strands Spiral bridge strands are manufactured by winding several layer of round steel wires in a helical shape onto a straight centre core wire. When layers of wire are laid it should be made sure that an opposite helix to the preceding layer should be laid. Due to twisting of wires spiral strands gets self-compacted under axial loading. As a result of this when the strand is first loaded, non elastic stretch occurs. So in order that the strand should behave elastically, the twisting of wire should be avoided during manufacture. Examples of bridges that have used spiral bridge strand are Tancarville bridge (france) with span length 608m, Cable size is 56no, Diameter of strand is 72mm.Constuction was completed during 1959 Lillebaelt bridge (Denmark) with span length 600m, Cable size 55no, Diameter of strand is 68.7mm and 6no 41.4mm diameter strands. Construction was completed during 1969. Figure 7 Spiral bridge Strand b.Locked Coil Strand Locked coil strands is manufactured in the same way as the spiral strands is manufactured. The only difference between the two is that in locked coil strand the final layer of wires are made up of interlocking Z-shaped wires. As a result of this proportion of the cross sectional area of strand to wire area increases, also a smooth exterior surface is obtained .Examples of bridges that have used Locked coil strands are Tamar bridge (UK) with span length 335m cable size 31no, Diameter of strand is 60mm.Construction was completed during 1961. Rodenkirchan bridge (Germany) with span length 378m, Cable size 37no, Diameter of strand is 69mm.Construction was completed during 1954. Askay bridge (Norway) with span length 850m, Cables size 21no, Diameter of strand is 99mm.Construction is completed during 1993. There are two types of arrangements that can be provided for spiral strands and locked coil strands. One of them is close packed hexagonal formation which has the advantage that the cross-section can be circularized when aluminium or plastic spacer are added and then wrapped properly against corrosion. The other one is an open rectangular array which is rarely used and doesnot have any wrapping operation as in closed packed hexagonal formation. The cable bands are simple fabricated structure. The disadvantage of open rectangular array is that on increasing wind load on the cable it is difficult to conduct inspection and maintenance on the inner strands. c. Parallel wire cable In parallel wire cables, several individual wire over the whole cable length is laid straight and parallel. It is constructed in two ways, by aerial insitu spinning of the wires or by prefabricated parallel wire strands. Insitu span cables : The aerial spinning method was developed during the 19th century and it was mostly used in long span suspension bridge. In this method using the spinning wheel two or four loops of wire are pulled from one anchorage to the other. During each movement of the wheel, required sag is provided to the wire and the cables are assembled. Prefabricated parallel wire bands: In prefabricated parallel wire strands bundles of wires are bound together by keeping plastic tapes at intervals and are prefabricated into hexagonal shaped strands. At each end sockets are fitted. The Akashi kaikyo bridge was the first bridge to use the longest prefabricated parallel wire strands with 127 wire strands, with average strand length of 4073m. 2. DECK The main function of deck is to support the load. The deck is suspended on the main cables by using vertical hangers. The most important load that the deck has to carry is the traffic loadings. The self weight of deck should be low because the deck is carried by the cables. Stiffening girders should be provided in the deck to transfer the loads from the deck to hanger. 3.TOWERS The main function of tower is to support the main cable. The ends of the main cable is connected to the tower which at a sufficient height to provide cable sag. Tower also support the stiffening girder and side span. The initial loadings on the tower will be the vertical load acting at the top of the tower, applied by the main cables, together with the loads acting on cable and bridge deck due to wind load and load acting on stiffening girder. Flexible fixed base are provided for the tower and cable saddles are fixed on the top of the tower. Due to this type of arrangement any movement in the cable saddle due to varying load will result in the longitudinal bending of the tower legs 4.HANGERS The main function of hangers is to connect the bridge deck and stiffening girder to the main cables .Vertical hangers are used with equal intervals along the span. Based on using one or two parts of rope, there are two types of hangers. Two part hangers Two part hanger was used in long span suspension bridges. In this type of hanger the arrangement is in such way that over the main cables the hanger is drapped which is located in the groove of corresponding cable band. Using sockets the bottom ends of the two rope of the hanger are connected to the deck. Hangers are usually made of steel wire rope Single part hangers Single part hangers ends on the underneath of the cable and it is connected to the lower part of the corresponding cable band by a socket and pin connections. The lower end of the hanger is connected to the deck using simple bearing socket. This type of hanger is made up of spiral strand or parallel wires 5.ANCHORAGES The main function of anchorage is to support the ends of the main cable and to prevents any movements in the main cable by transferring the force from the main cable to the ground. Since the anchorage has to resist a large force the design of anchorages is very tough unless the ground on which the anchorage is to be positioned is good and also if sound rock is available in the ground. Avantages and Disadvantages of Suspension bridges Avantages 1.When compared to other bridges, higher spans can be provided for the main span in suspension bridge. 2. Construction cost can be reduced in Suspension bridge due to less material used when compared to other bridges 3. No access is required below during construction of suspension bridge when compared to other bridges. Only for the installation of initial temporary cables the access is required. 4.Suspension bridge can prevent earthquake movements than other bridges. 5. Suspension bridge can be constructed at heights above the waterways to allow the passage of tall ships. Disadvantage Bridge deck vibrating due to heavy wind is prevented using aerodynamic profiling. The deck stiffness of suspension bridge when compared to other bridges is very low. Due to this it makes the bridge very difficult to carry heavy rail traffic. The foundation work is costly and requires more area to combat the effect of heavy load on foundation towers ,when Suspension bridge is constructed on soft ground. NON LINEAR ANALYSIS OF SUSPENSION BRIDGE Suspension bridges was considered as the most efficient and remarkable in architectural appearance when compared to other structural systems. But suspension bridge has more tendency to get deformed due to the asymmetrical loadings. This kind of displacement is called as kinematical diaplacements. There are many ways to reduce the kinematical displacements in suspension bridges. One of the method is, if flexible cables are used in suspension bridges the local bending stiffness is taken into account while analyzing the stress-strain state. Other method to reduce kinematical displacement is to use rigid cables instead of flexible cables. Standard hot rolled or welded sections are used to make the structural elements. Also by using rigid cables it provides the required stiffness for the suspension bridge. The technique is not accurate but can be used or rough calculation. For analysing the suspension bridge made of flexible cables or rigid cables there are some numerical methods. The analysis of suspension bridge made of flexible cable is very difficult when the non-linear behavior is concerned. So it is analyzed based on the assumption that the main cables are made of flexible cables ,when only dead load is acting on the bridge its shape is parabola, all other structural elements are made of ideally elastic material, through out the span of the bridge the bending stiffness of the girder is assumed to be constant, the displacements in the hanger is neglected and the load acting on the cable is considered to be uniform. The loading is in such a way that dead load acts on the cable, the stiffening girder and cable supports the live load. By using these assumption the non-linear analysis is done using certain equations.But while analysisng suspension cables with rigid cables these assumptions are not applicable. In rigid cables there is always some bendi ng stiffness.Also the cables are made up of standard welded or steel sections for the suspension bridge to be initially a stabilized. Grigorjevaet al. (2006) proposed a technique for the analysis of suspension bridge with rigid cables. CASE STUDY Dynamic Response of the Suspension Span of the SAN FRANSICO-OAKLAND BAY BRIDGE The dynamic seismic analysis of the suspension span of San Fransico-Oakland bay bridge was modelled to make astudy on the effects on suspension bridge due to ground motions. Due to the combined effect of motions due to tectonic displacements and seismic waves ,ground motions are developed near-fault regions for along period. In olden days the seismic design codes for the structures were used based on the past experiences and the historical ground motion instrument and signal processing methods were not accurate.So it was very difficult to measure the ground motions. But the development of Modern broad-band, digital instruments helped in measuring the near-fault motions.The effect of long period motion is different for flexible and rigid structures. Rigid bodies will have a natural frequency higher than 0.2Hz and for longer wavelength seismic waves it behaves as a rigid body. But for flexible bodies the natural frequency will be low. Using a finite-element modeling software the structure is modeled.The deck model is a combination of truss,membrane and sway stiffness elements.The steel braced tower is represented by fibre bending elements and the bridge cable is represented by tension-only cable element.The advantage of modelling the structure in this way helps to reduce the degree of freedom which is an essential aspect in the repose of suspension bridge. After the gravity initialization is completed as described in detil by McCallen and Astaneh,2000 ,the explicit integration scheme for non-linear analysis of earthquake motion is done. The ground motions in the near by areas will be affected by various reasons like the superposition of seismic waves, site geological response etc. The effect of these parameters may vary for different ruptures happening in future and these rupture may cause changes displacement in ground, velocities and accelarations. In this study the effect of rupture and wave propagation were studied by providing a parallel and finite difference in computational simulation of the rupture,a three dimensional finite difference calculation, empirical Green function and at seven points in San Fransico-Oakland Bay Bridge the ground motion is computed. By doing the above said it was found out that the far field in the near source can result in fault with periods of 0.2 to 0.5s due to directivity effects and the near field arrivals can result in fault with periods of 0.2 to 0.1 s due to tectonic movements. There are chances for these long period arrivals to accur along with the future earthquakes along the Hayward or San Andreas faults which is nearby San Franciso-Oakland bay Bridge and it will affect the long span bridges in San Fransico bridge. Along the Hayward fault ,five locations along the suspension span of western San Fransico two rupture model were synthesized for a ground motion of Mw =7.25.These were consid ered as mean and other one as standard deviation models.They were represented as HAY06 and HAY31.The ground displacements at the bridge generated was greater for the mean fault than the standard deviation but the standard deviation produced more acceleration and long durations.Analysis of the model has shown that the mean model produced more stress than the standard deviation. The response of Bay bridge is computed against the ground motion from the rupture model HAY06.Due to this displacements occur which indicates that the flexible deck cannot respond as fast as the towers when large displacement occurs. The tower motion lags and then the deck starts to respond when the tower returns with the ground.

Mencius :: essays research papers

Mencius believes that it is our nature and mind that determine what we are. It is our fate that governs our fortunes and determines our lease on life. Fate was originally a patent to a fief-holder, given by the Son of Heaven as Heaven's deputy to a feudatory. In extended usage it became our lot in life - the fate ordained by heaven. While people guard their minds and determine their conduct, they cannot determine their fate, which is in Heaven's hands. So, Mencius believed that though all humans are innately good, the realization of that good comes with self-cultivation and self-knowledge. Hsun-tzu could not accept Mencius idealistic view of human nature, nor did he believe that Heaven was the sole arbiter of human behavior. He believed that the importance of humankind in the universe is equal to but different from the importance of Heaven and Earth: "Heaven has its seasons, Earth has its riches and man has his culture. This is what is meant by the Trinity." Humanity's fun ction is to utilize the resources of Heaven and Earth to create its own culture. This can be done through the strength acquired from social organization. However, because the social organization needs to be regulated, lest it break down, and because "desires are many, but things are few", Hsun-tzu taught that people need to be restricted and guided by rules and morality. In my view of these two philosophers, I feel that Mencius' views are much more common in most religious traditions today. Mencius beliefs are a lot like Christianity, which is the religion that I am most familiar with. He believes that Heaven is a moral force whose mandate is to be respected and followed by human beings. We follow Heaven's mandate by knowing and nourishing our human nature.

Intro to Transportation

Intro to TransportationMarch 20, 2013 Page 1 of 1 Assignment #5 New Brunswick Power turbine As it does not clarify in the readings exactly what the terms of shipment assigned were for the agreement between Siemens and NB Power, I have assumed that the agreement would have specified that Siemens specified that the contract was governed by Incoterms 2010 CFR- St John, New Brunswick, Canada. All responsibility for risk of loss or damage, as well as additional transportation costs now transfer to buyer essay writers for hire. Seller responsibility ceases once goods pass the ships rail at the port of shipment (not destination).NB Power contracted with Irving Equipment to deliver goods via barge to power plant. The bill of lading should read â€Å"FOB Destination†. Costs and responsibility: Rescue/Recovery of Goods from Water- Irving Equipment Responsibility: NB Power contracted services with Irving Equipment and BOL stated FOB Destination- damage or loss to the cargo up to the poin t of delivery to the buyer is responsibility of the shipper. Assessment and Cleaning of Recovered Turbines- Irving Equipment NB Power contracted services with Irving Equipment and BOL stated destination.Replacement/Repair of Turbines: Irving Equipment. Responsibility: NB Power contracted services with Irving Equipment and BOL stated FOB Destination. Damage or loss to the cargo up to the point of delivery to buyer is responsibility of the shipper. Freight (Load Planning)- Irving Equipment Agreement with manufacturer had clearly stated CFR. As per description above NB Power did enter into agreement with Irving Equipment to handle and deliver goods to destination. This shipment would have required load planning expertise to ensure smooth transition. Loss of Revenue for Power Plant: Irving Equipment.As stated above Schedule delays for power plant: Irving Equipment. As stated above NB Power would be able to pursue all identified points above where I believe that Irving Equipment could be held responsible. Unless otherwise specified in their agreement, the liability would probably be limited to a certain amount and NB Power would not recover the costs for the turbines and all extra’s listed above. If NB Power did purchase insurance for this shipment for the full value of goods, they could recover the cost of goods and all other costs depending on type of insurance purchased.

High School compared to middle school

When I got home I would eat something and relax for 1 hour and then I would start my homework around 6 pm. Most times, it would take my 15-20 minutes to finish my homework. If I had any projects or other work to do, it would extend my work time to about 1 hour. But that all changed once I got to high school. Once got to high school, would get home at 7 and as soon as I got home, I had tons of homework. Start my homework at 7:30 pm and if it is normal homework, then I am done at about 9 pm.If I have project or there work, have to work until 11 pm. And that is without AP human geography homework, which itself takes 1 hour per night. The second problem I have is band. Band in middle school is nothing compared to band in high school. When I was in middle school band, practiced for 30 minutes a day and that was enough for me to be good. After school practices were rare events and they lasted for about an hour when we had them. Once got to high school, even one hour of band practice a day isn't enough.And after school rehearsals are an almost everyday thing and each practice is a little more than one hour marching in the hot sun. And being at the Friday football games is mandatory. The games go from 7 pm to 1 0:30 pm and if it is an away game, then you don't get home until 12 midnight. And, in middle school concerts and contests were during the weekdays, but in high school you have to sacrifice your Saturdays to be at the competitions. And if you are not at the Ames or the contests in high school, then you get a detention.So, thinking that high school would be easy was a big mistake. Made this mistake and I am now paying the price. So, no matter what you do, don't make the mistake that made. Make sure you get prepare to have long days and lots of homework. And start preparing for having at most 7 hours of sleep on the wee stays. This is a medium compare-contrast because it is contrasting, but it is only contrasting it is not comparing anything as the same.

Rhetorical Analysis of To Kill a Mockingbird Essay Example

Rhetorical Analysis of To Kill a Mockingbird Essay Example Rhetorical Analysis of To Kill a Mockingbird Essay Rhetorical Analysis of To Kill a Mockingbird Essay Essay Topic: Rhetorical To Kill a Mockingbird It is difficult to understand how to analyze a book cover and truly understand what is being portrayed without understanding the value of ethos, logos, and pathos. A book designer team works very hard to design a book cover to draw a reader in and persuade them to read their novel. The designers that illustrated the cover of â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† involved a lot of contrasting colors to catch a potential reader’s eye and convince the reader to buy the novel. There are many different ways to analyze the book cover of â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† by examining the ethos, logos, pathos, and the contrast of colors and characters. The designers of the book cover for â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† strategically foreshadow the theme of racial tension of the novel by contrasting the large, pure white moon behind the dead, black arms of the tree. The tree in this particular cover is an appeal to pathos. The fact that the tree is dead gives a feeling of mournfulness to a potential reader. It delivers the sense of mournfulness by depicting the last few lonely leaves sinking to the earth. The tree is symbolizing the many African American lives that were lost during the lynching parties of this era. The leaves symbolize hope being lost for a unified community in the novel. As another foreshadowing item of the book, Harper Lee’s name on the spine is a pure white against the black tree. This reiteration clearly tells a reader that this is an important theme in the story. The designers of the book cover wanted to make sure readers had an idea of the storyline before opening the book for the first time. This depiction of Harper Lee’s name being pure white on the spine and black on the front cover shows that the main character did not see herself as different from anyone. Instead she saw herself and others as equals regardless of their skin color. This allows a reader to know that the viewpoint of the story is unbiased. The illustrators make an a

Supplements essays

Supplements essays The effects of Androstenedione vs. DHEA supplementation in men. Androstenedione is a popular and widely used supplement among body builders and athletes. Dehydroepiandrosterone or DHEA is a wellknown precursor to testosterone, as well as a special interest as an anti aging supplement. Both supplements have been criticized for their ineffectiveness or lack of proof. Androstenedione has become extremely popular since, once home run, king Mark Mc Gwire admitted to using it during his extremely popular home run race in 1998. The NFL, the International Olymipic Committee and NHL have banned the use of it. Androstenedione is a natural precursor to testosterone. The adrenal glands and gonads produce Androstenedione. In the liver Androstenedione can be converted to testosterone and back depending on the need (1). The anabolic effects that testosterone displays are what is desired by users. Androstenedione can also be converted to estrone, a predominantely female hormone (2). This conversion is responsible for many of the possible negative side effects. The recommended dosage of androstenedione is 25mg to 100mg daily. Most supplement companies have made claims that androstenedione can boost testosterone. There have been no studies done to date that androstenedione boosts testosterone enough to achieve any anabolic effects. There have been many independant studies that claim a 211% to 337% raise in serum testosterone levels but only for a limited amount of time. In a study called the acute effects of androstendione supplementation in healthy young they examined the effects of andr o supplementation on the hormone profile of 10 young males and its interaction males with resistance exercise. The test subjects were given 200mg of androstenedione for 2 days and then 2 weeks later they were given either androstenedione or a placebo. On the second day they performed resistance exercises. There was a 2-3 fold increase in an...

Beyond the Scenery

The summer sun beamed down, making the bright daisies sparkle and shimmer like tiny stars. My hand grazed the familiar sunset pink journal, gliding over the faded rough edges. My big muddy brown eyes gazed at the sky filled with white puffy clouds. Gusts of wind blew throughout the park, dandelion puffs flying throughout the sky. Crystal waters stained the ground as a family of geese softly swam atop. The water was a clear blue, matching the shade of my mother’s eyes. With every splash, the baby geese would come closer together. The mother goose led them to still water, making sure her children would be alright, reminding me of my own mother. My mom would pick me up, and smile at my face full of innocence. I would be wearing a beautiful gown, and end up getting it covered in birthday cake. I would dance around the room, my older sister and brother running about. Then my mother would say, â€Å"You can do whatever you want to do, my baby girl.† She handed me a notebook that day, and ever since, I’ve never stopped writing. Soon, The flashback blurred, my mind slowly returning to the park. My eyes drifted away from the pond, looking up at the oddly shaped clouds. A giraffe-shaped and an elephant-shaped cloud flew across the sky, bringing me back to when I was only 12 years old. â€Å"Let’s build a fort!† I shouted, sitting up off the grassy floor. My friends looked up at me, their eyes sparkling as if I had ignited some sort of firework. Right away, we all started getting to work. I rolled up my sleeves, my sturdy overalls warm for the cold journey ahead. My fingers became sappy as I collected fallen branches and leaves. Autumn had taken a toll on the trees leaving the sky an odd mix of purple and blue with streaks of silver. I pulled out my notebook, scribbling down our blueprints. One hour later, my plan had worked! Our fort stood tall, shining bright during the cold fall. All my friends giggled as we laid down in our fort gazing at the clouds through the cracks of our tiny roof. Suddenly, my mind drifted back to reality once more. My body lurched forward, standing up and stretching. I looked around for another cloud, but ended up staring off at the many trees around me. The sun began to set, the trees at a silent standstill. Small children climbed up the trunks, the leaves a bright shade of green, matching the grass below. I sat back down, noticing the sapling beside me. It had a short brown stem adorned with a green top, it still had a lot of growing to do, just like me. I want to learn more. I want to travel more, to places like Italy and France. I could write about all of the places I see and work it into my fiction and fantasy. I want to have my novels inspire others to life lives of adventure. I want to write poems about oddly shaped clouds. I want to host a party where everyone just plays silly board games. I want to write literature where people feel my own characters’ emotions. I want to grow. A smile found it’s way to my face, my hand reaching out for my pink notebook. This notebook has been with me for a long time, it’s filled to the brim with stories and ideas. The smell of ink wafted through my nose, a sense of reli ef washing over me as one last gust of wind blew throughout the humble scenery.

Understanding and Remembering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Understanding and Remembering - Essay Example Nonetheless, it is worth noting that there are some cultures that are considered humanistic that are usually characterized as the study of man. Therefore, music may not define man and his daily habits; thus, it may be difficult to study it as a culture that defines a people or society. Nonetheless, it is worth noting that music and musical study requires a double specialization that is including anthropology and musical studies, a combinational that is usually never found. Nearly 85 percent of the Americans know that music has four fundamental categories or the academic music that is usually discussed under misleading terms namely the classical that includes folk music that is manly associated with the white community, the popular music that is usually differentiated from the jazz music in aspects including hit tunes, and the Negro music. The other 15 percent do not know the distinction of music other than the hip-hop, jazz, classical, and blues, among other peripheral classifications. To my understanding from numerous research works on the music and its consideration in cultural classification, there are needs to conduct more research to determine what levels and entry point should music to be taught elaborately in schools among other learning institutions. To certain degree those who study music never get into the history of music and distribution of music has a culture but they are only concern with ways music can be perfected along the direction or genre they are interested (Merrian 1173). Therefore, there are needs to address music along anthropologic line. This will help in understanding music and its different application along different cultures and types. In other words, understanding music as a culture in America among other nations, people, and continents will only be achieved when a specific interest through study incorporated in the study curriculum. Additionally, there is the concept of the double

Education online system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Education online system - Essay Example Instead, this mode of study allows one to have the flexibility of time. The students can choose the time that they will be online within 24 hours without interfering with their daily activities. As Rovai, (2003) points out, there are a number of studies there are different measures taken by the instructors to ensure that there is earning similar to those students that are attending face to face classes. Students in this category have to spend much more time with the instructors having to employ some more commitment in setting evaluation questions administering them , marking and guiding the students on the areas of weakness. At the same time, students who are working in groups in different institutions are likely to learn much faster and better than those attending online classes are. Thus, the study establishes that the online studies are of much importance to already established students in various field of specialization. Which, therefore, calls for increased used of the mode of study in offering most of the postgraduate and les of the undergraduate courses. This is so because most graduate students, they can be able to contrite and at the se time comprehend concepts muc h faster because they have some knowledge in the areas of study. Unlike for the other students it will be much difficult to understand new concepts for the first time though an online forum. Hence, this might jeopardize the quality of education in case of poor commitment of instructors while attending to their online students more so the undergraduate students. However, there are number of different student with different preferences. Identifying the unique features of students is key to nearing that the system worked for all the students. For instance, to begin with, one has to identify the student’s ability to comprehend concepts in his or her own. Some students must need an instructor to provide face-to-face educational session to

Discussion 9 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Discussion 9 - Essay Example Aside from time, I think that the type of problem being addressed by the decision-making process is also determinative. When the problem addressed is broad and involves several units in the organizational structure, or when the problem involves profound policy formulation and implementation that will be applied in the long term, then decision-making is preferable. The resultant decision shall be implemented by a large part of the organization, therefore: (1) the feedback concerning possible repercussions in their respective areas must be considered; and (2) their cooperation must be engendered to make the long-term adjustments among and between the units successful. An example of this is the merging of a new acquisition into the existing structure of the surviving organization. On the other hand, if the decision is constrained by the circumstances such that negotiations among the units cannot be accommodated, or if the problem addressed is localized or requires moderate adjustments, then command decisions are best. An example is the order by the parent firm for a subsidiary to implement a global marketing strategy. Reference: Mezey, G (2004) Crisis management decision making. Atlantic Association for Research in the Mathematical Sciences (AARMS), 3(2): 267-288 2. Consider your work environment and responsibilities.   How do you avoid the problem of "bounded awareness" in the decisions you make at work? Bounded awareness is defined by Chugh and Bazerman (2004) as ‘an individual’s failure to â€Å"see† and use accessible and perceivable information while â€Å"seeing† and using other equally accessible and perceivable information’ (p. 2). Some people would call this ‘tunnel vision’ in the figurative sense, in so far as the person focuses on certain details or elements to the exclusion of other equally important, or even more important aspects. A person may be predisposed to looking only at select details for many r easons, such as a mental fixation or mindset, prejudicial presumptions, or lack of education or training in recognizing or appreciating what is important in a certain situation. In my own work environment, there is a tendency for medical representatives like myself to be fixated on our own particular product line-up, regular clientele, or the service area we are assigned to that we do not see how a specific decision or regulation could affect other product offerings, other clients, and other service areas. A new supervisor promoted from one of the subordinate units is often seen to exhibit a keen understanding of the circumstances of the unit he/she came from but a lack of understanding concerning other units now under his leadership. The best way one may avoid bounded awareness is of course forming a decision or advisory team to discuss and analyze the various facets of a problem and arrive at alternative recommendations before the final decision is made. There are many considerati ons that may not be apparent to an individual decision-maker because his attention is circumscribed by the aspects of management he/she is experienced in. In due time and with practice, bounded awareness may be addressed by developing a wider perspective of the

Purposes and strategies of Johnson's Great Society program Essay

Purposes and strategies of Johnson's Great Society program - Essay Example To serve aforementioned purpose it was important to form a strategy viable for people living in such a quagmire. During the years of Kennedy it was not explicit that the promised equality of 1863 could be served. Yet Johnsons’ era was indeed remarkable. Johnson being a proponent of equal rights enacted Civil Rights Act of 1964 right after 5 years of Kennedy’s assassination. This act was to ensure implementation of emancipation proclamation of 1863 in spirit. It is pertinent to mention that women rights and gender discrimination was an important agenda of the change. The act prohibited discrimination in institutions like hospitals, schools and public accommodations like hotels, theaters and restaurants. It helped in obliterating the discrimination in employment giving a big blow to economic injustice. It also banned gender discrimination which transformed the society in an entirely new way. The proposed strategy was governmental action to promote welfare. This ‘New Deal’ through Medicaid and Medicare and Equal employment Opportunity Commission, National Endowments and National Public Broadcast Network needed federal funds ultimately completed and extended the agenda. Contortions in status quo caused a well steered civil rights movements and awareness campaigns. Similarly women rights also instigated a social change which directly diffused into American Culture. The Vietnam Campaign caused serious blow to the political ideology that prolonged the war, in fact they surprised the military leader of the US.

Accounting graded unit 2 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Accounting graded unit 2 - Coursework Example The goals can be significantly categorised as planning, development and evaluation. The planning process is very crucial and should be devoted moderate amount of time. The expected time frame for the planning process is approximately two weeks. The development stage require gathering of various primary information as well as secondary information for careful assessment and budget planning. A time period of three weeks can be considered thereof. Evaluation process can be conducted within a span of 10 days. The key factors are quantity of the final product the wholesaler is willing to stock, direct and indirect material required for production, manpower for operational activities and hours required for determination of total cost. Additional requirement of resources such as manpower and method of costing require more research and attention. It was determined that the company has implemented traditional as well as activity based costing for budgeting for its products. Since the new product is going for production for the first time, appropriate cost method requires significant consideration. The company is planning to make some additional investment in CNC machine and should research whether the investment is worthy. There are two research methods that can be implemented in research process, namely, primary research and secondary research. Primary research indicates towards first hand obtained data while secondary research is pursued by evaluating various readily available data such as company database, journals, books and other sources. The case study is a prominent secondary source in this paper and the other secondary sources that will be used in this regard are books and journals. The report is a multifaceted project and requires evaluation of several minor and major aspects underlying the situation. Costing

Discussion 9 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Discussion 9 - Essay Example Aside from time, I think that the type of problem being addressed by the decision-making process is also determinative. When the problem addressed is broad and involves several units in the organizational structure, or when the problem involves profound policy formulation and implementation that will be applied in the long term, then decision-making is preferable. The resultant decision shall be implemented by a large part of the organization, therefore: (1) the feedback concerning possible repercussions in their respective areas must be considered; and (2) their cooperation must be engendered to make the long-term adjustments among and between the units successful. An example of this is the merging of a new acquisition into the existing structure of the surviving organization. On the other hand, if the decision is constrained by the circumstances such that negotiations among the units cannot be accommodated, or if the problem addressed is localized or requires moderate adjustments, then command decisions are best. An example is the order by the parent firm for a subsidiary to implement a global marketing strategy. Reference: Mezey, G (2004) Crisis management decision making. Atlantic Association for Research in the Mathematical Sciences (AARMS), 3(2): 267-288 2. Consider your work environment and responsibilities.   How do you avoid the problem of "bounded awareness" in the decisions you make at work? Bounded awareness is defined by Chugh and Bazerman (2004) as ‘an individual’s failure to â€Å"see† and use accessible and perceivable information while â€Å"seeing† and using other equally accessible and perceivable information’ (p. 2). Some people would call this ‘tunnel vision’ in the figurative sense, in so far as the person focuses on certain details or elements to the exclusion of other equally important, or even more important aspects. A person may be predisposed to looking only at select details for many r easons, such as a mental fixation or mindset, prejudicial presumptions, or lack of education or training in recognizing or appreciating what is important in a certain situation. In my own work environment, there is a tendency for medical representatives like myself to be fixated on our own particular product line-up, regular clientele, or the service area we are assigned to that we do not see how a specific decision or regulation could affect other product offerings, other clients, and other service areas. A new supervisor promoted from one of the subordinate units is often seen to exhibit a keen understanding of the circumstances of the unit he/she came from but a lack of understanding concerning other units now under his leadership. The best way one may avoid bounded awareness is of course forming a decision or advisory team to discuss and analyze the various facets of a problem and arrive at alternative recommendations before the final decision is made. There are many considerati ons that may not be apparent to an individual decision-maker because his attention is circumscribed by the aspects of management he/she is experienced in. In due time and with practice, bounded awareness may be addressed by developing a wider perspective of the

Accounting graded unit 2 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Accounting graded unit 2 - Coursework Example The goals can be significantly categorised as planning, development and evaluation. The planning process is very crucial and should be devoted moderate amount of time. The expected time frame for the planning process is approximately two weeks. The development stage require gathering of various primary information as well as secondary information for careful assessment and budget planning. A time period of three weeks can be considered thereof. Evaluation process can be conducted within a span of 10 days. The key factors are quantity of the final product the wholesaler is willing to stock, direct and indirect material required for production, manpower for operational activities and hours required for determination of total cost. Additional requirement of resources such as manpower and method of costing require more research and attention. It was determined that the company has implemented traditional as well as activity based costing for budgeting for its products. Since the new product is going for production for the first time, appropriate cost method requires significant consideration. The company is planning to make some additional investment in CNC machine and should research whether the investment is worthy. There are two research methods that can be implemented in research process, namely, primary research and secondary research. Primary research indicates towards first hand obtained data while secondary research is pursued by evaluating various readily available data such as company database, journals, books and other sources. The case study is a prominent secondary source in this paper and the other secondary sources that will be used in this regard are books and journals. The report is a multifaceted project and requires evaluation of several minor and major aspects underlying the situation. Costing

Historical Developments of Traditional and Modern Ethics Essay Example for Free

Historical Developments of Traditional and Modern Ethics Essay The discipline of ethics, also called moral philosophy, encompasses systematizing, defending, and recommending views of right and wrong behavior. Philosophers today typically segregate ethical theories into three universal subject matters: metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics. Metaethics explores where our ethical doctrines come from, and what they mean. Are they simply social innovations? Do they entail more than idioms of our individual emotions? Metaethical responses to these queries focus on the issues of universal realities, the will of God, the function of reason in ethical judgments, and the significance of ethical terms themselves. Normative ethics stands on a more practical task, which is to come up at moral standards that control right and wrong demeanor. This may require articulating the good habits that we should acquire, the duties that we should follow, or the consequences of our behavior on others. Finally, applied ethics involves probing precise controversial issues, such as abortion, infanticide, animal rights, environmental concerns, homosexuality, capital punishment, or nuclear war. By employing the theoretical tools of metaethics and normative ethics, deliberations in applied ethics try to resolve these controversial issues. The lines of distinction between metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics are often unclear. Each thoughtful person ought to be concerned about and fascinated in ethics. For the Christian, being moral is critical to a life that seeks to honor God. A lot of decisions made on a day-to-day basis entail questions of right and wrong. Ethics supply the basis on which one makes those decisions and the root of a moral choice is often as vital as the choice itself. Yet, few people have thought through the way they rationalize their conceptions of right and wrong. Ancient moral theory tries to offer a reflective account of an indispensable human activity so one can grasp what is of primary value in pursuing it. In historical order, the theories that influenced modern ethics today sprung from those of Socrates as offered in specific dialogues of Plato; Plato in the Republic; Aristotle; the Cynics; Cyrenaic hedonism; Epicurus; the Stoics; and Pyrrhonian skepticism. Ethics has been employed to economics, politics and political science, leading to quite a lot of distinct and unrelated fields of applied ethics, consisting of business ethics and Marxism. American corporate scandals such as Enron and Global Crossings are descriptive of the relationship between ethics and business. Ethics has been connected to family structure, sexuality, and how society examines the roles of individuals; leading to several distinct and unrelated fields of applied ethics, including feminism. Ethics has been applied to war, leading to the fields of pacifism and nonviolence. Often, such endeavors take legal or political shape before they are recognized as works of normative ethics. Of all the areas of philosophy, ethics is the one that seems most pertinent to us and it is no overstatement to say that everyone is engaged in ethical thought at most times in their lives, knowingly or otherwise (Newall, 2005).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If ethical consideration is widespread as suggested above then it should come as no surprise that there were many thinkers in the past that put forward their ideas and tried to improve on what came before them. Numerous notions of ethics in the ancient world were based on or prejudiced by the Greeks, particularly Plato and Aristotle. The former thought that people were disposed to be good and desired happiness; the dilemma was to know what would bring about that good in the first place. Some philosophers used God as their foundation, others reason and still others both, but the leaning throughout was that the aim was attainable.   The history of this time is too complex for our purposes here; suffice to say that this movement continued: thinkers explicitly or implicitly influenced by the three assumptions tried to create systems while those who were not disagreed with them, sometimes with other propositions. Reference: Anscombe, Elizabeth Modern Moral Philosophy (1958), Philosophy, 1958, Vol. 33, reprinted in her Ethics, Religion and Politics (Oxford: Blackwell, 1981). Newall, Paul .The Galilean LibraryEthics (2005)http://www.galilean-library.org/int11.html.

Swot Analysis Of The Home Depot

Swot Analysis Of The Home Depot Business model: Home Depots business model, the first of its kind in the home improvement industry has revolutionized the way customers shop for home improvement products. Their business model is focusing on selling home improvement products and services to DIY, BIY, and professional customers with wide variety of products and sales associates that are educated and knowledgeable about home improvement. Well known brand name: The Home Depot, as an established corporation, has much strength behind its name. One of the largest strengths would be that of its brand recognition The Home Depot name has become synonymous with home improvement. Brand recognition is of strong significance to the consumer that provides a sense of trust to its customers. Extensive product offerings: The Home Depot is one of the leading distributors in United States. It has wide variety of merchandise including different types of building materials, home improvement supplies, and lawn and garden products. Convenience: It is no secret that if you want anything having to do with home improvement the first place to go is Home Depot. Home Depot has distinguished itself as the home improvement warehouse that has what you are looking for when it comes to home improvement. Their extensive product lines have made The Home Depot the one stop shopping in home improvement. Training Employees in Safety: The Home Depot provides a strong focus during the training of their employees on safety. New hires complete a training curriculum that is designed for their specific job type. Television Network(HDTV): Money saving device that allowed HDs top executives to get instant feedback from local managers, and allowed training and communication programs to be viewed in the stores. Price: The Home Depot is committed to competitive pricing. It often prices its products substantially below major chains. Home Depot has low price advantage due to economies of Low price scale. Service: The company uses sophisticated selection criteria to select people with a customer-friendly orientation. They also value, but do not require, experience in the building trades. Weaknesses Counterbalancing the strengths of Home Depot, it also has a couple of key weaknesses that need to be addressed. Growth: Is both a blessing and a headache for Home Depot. As they have expanded aggressively into new markets, they have seen their operating expenses rise in direct proportion with their growth in revenue. While this is would be expected in most instances. This means that Home Depot is not capitalizing on economies of scale in logistics and distribution provided to them by their market saturation strategy. Decline in Customer Loyalty: One of Home Depots noticeable weaknesses would be the declining customer loyalty. The decrease is not solely based on their customer service or product offering but that there is a strong presence of strong competition in their industry. Lowes is Home Depots number one competitor in the industry. Over time Lowes has followed Home Depots way in product/service offerings and expansion. Consumers have more choices and Lowes is continuously building on their brand recognition, which spreads the consumers thin between the two rivalries. Focus of Consumers: Home Depot focuses on the male and professional segment of the market. They should consider catering to the women and families in the market segments. Environment: Competitor Lowes is generally regarded as having cleaner, smaller, brighter, more customer-friendly store. Financials: With a new CEO, making drastic changes at HD and having expanded sharp decline in stock price, the morale of managers is down. As HD enters its nature stage, share returns have declined and management has become less enthused. Lack of Local Market Focus: HD store managers were given great freedom in customizing their stores, from merchandising choices to employee relations. Organization structure: The Home Depot former CEOs militaristic leadership style and centralized organizational Leadership style structure are main weaknesses. These are affected the performance of employee resulting in excessive layoffs. Opportunities: Because of Home Depots size they have some interesting opportunities available to them. With a solid foothold in North America, Home Depot will set its sights on other world markets to further expand and spread its business risk across many diverse world markets. Expansion will be the primary focus for growth into the year 2000. Home Depot has an opportunity in the global sourcing of their products as their scope and reach becomes global. Sourcing from other countries may significantly grow their gross margin. Home Depots Service Performance Improvement (SPI) program is due to deliver huge paybacks in productivity of night team workers. Other IT projects pose great opportunities to increase efficiency, decrease costs and further increase margins. HD is staying within its core competencies by expanding their new landscaping division. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Through a strong marketing research program, HD should fully grasp what the consumer is wanting. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ HDs specialty in home improvement and strong name recognition, will allow them to capture a large portion of this market. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ HDs EXPO Design Centers are an opportunity to expand their market niche by providing potential customers with innovative remodeling suggestions. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ As the EXPO centers enter more markets, they will be taking sales directly from stores such as Pier One, Bed BathBeyond , Sears , Williams-Sonoma and SAKS 5th Avenue. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ By specializing in high and home improvement products such as small appliances and culinary ware, patio accessories, ceiling fans and Persian rugs, people should enjoy the trendy shopping experience. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ HD is taking the initiative to update the appearance of their older stores by investing $250 million in store remodeling in the upcoming year. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ They intend to transform their somewhat outdated stores into cleaner, more user friendly stores to enhance the overall shopping experience. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Tool rental services had a significant impact on HD` s Gross Profitability. As the number of centers increase, so will gross profit as a percentage of sales. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ HD recognized a strong market potential in smaller cities surrounding large cities. By initiating the new market penetration strategy of smaller cities, HD will benefit greatly. Serving primarily to do-it-yourselfers, which is a largely recession-proof market. So, even during a recession Home Depot can survive and even make money. Offering a broad line of products that can lead to an increase in the number of customers. Restructuring management and organization is opportunity for Home Depot to improve its market Globalization value: Globalization has always two sides like to sides of coin. The positive side of globalization is to get efficiency and economies of scale and expanding market by internationalization. Innovation has opportunities and threats both. Opportunities are it allows Home Depot to leverage the space it has and display a multitude of product in warehouse setting so customer can see the products available and buy it on same visit. Leveraging the power of brand leadership through inclusive marketing campaigns that target pros and active do-it-yourself customers among both men and women. At the same time, we market opportunities for store growth expect to shape our marketing plans to capitalize on our large scale and geographic advantages. Providing customer benefits from investments in new point-of-sale systems, self-checkout, and Threats: The biggest threats that I see for Home Depot are its competitors such as Lowes, which are trying to emulate or even take a step further every strategy used by Home Depot. Wholesale outlets can also affect Home Depot by offering lower prices to professional business customers. Serving to the DIY industry can also be a threat because it is a very competitive industry and the profit margin is very low. So, if the DIY industry is not managed properly, a company might end up selling it off, like Kmart with Builders Square. Intense competition fuels business to be efficient in almost every way. Intense competition is one of the biggest threats for Home Depot right now. Home Depot has more than 25 direct competitors including Lowes, Menards, True Value, Ace Hardware, Do It Best, Sears, Target and Wal-mart. Lowes and Menards has significant market share right now. High buyer power There are high buyer power and low switching cost due to many firms in market competing among each other. Innovation The major threat of innovation is that each store must have and extremely efficient and organized warehouse supply chain operation. Globalization The negative side of globalization is different economical, political and legal condition in different nations. Different culture, people attitude and local firm also threat for firm. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, fluctuations in and the Economical conditions overall condition of the U.S. economy, stability of costs and availability of sourcing Weather conditions and channels, conditions affecting new store development, the companys ability to attract, train Competiton. and retain highly-qualified associates, unanticipated weather conditions, and the impact of competition and regulatory and litigation matters. Because of the competitive nature of the retail industry, Home Depots success depends on price, store location, customer service, and wide product selections. In each market that Home Depot serves there is a plethora of specialty home improvement stores that have the potential to cutting into Home Depots market share (Datamonitor). Home Depots overlap with primary competitor, Lowes, poses a potential threat. In the minds of consumers, Home Depot may be seen as interchangeable with Lowes which would in turn decrease customer loyalty. Also when a Lowes enters a market that is only served by Home Depot, Home Depots sales have a tendency to decrease by up to 15% (Datamonitor). As Home Depot and Lowes continue to compete head to head in primary markets and both continue their strategy of market saturation, the awareness of US market saturation becomes a very real possibility. According to Datamonitor, The US home center potential is valued at approximately 3,500 stores. With Home Depot and Lowes opening a combined 300 stores a year, the industry could reach saturation in the next few years. Because of the competitive nature of the retail industry, Home Depots success depends on price, store location, customer service, and wide product selections. In each market that Home Depot serves there is a plethora of specialty home improvement stores that have the potential to cutting into Home Depots market share (Datamonitor). Home Depots overlap with primary competitor, Lowes, poses a potential threat. In the minds of consumers, Home Depot may be seen as interchangeable with Lowes which would in turn decrease customer loyalty. Also when a Lowes enters a market that is only served by Home Depot, Home Depots sales have a tendency to decrease by up to 15% (Datamonitor). As Home Depot and Lowes continue to compete head to head in primary markets and both continue their strategy of market saturation, the awareness of US market saturation becomes a very real possibility. According to Datamonitor, The US home center potential is valued at approximately 3,500 stores. With Home Depot and Lowes opening a combined 300 stores a year, the industry could reach saturation in the next few years Go to Page 1 View as single page à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ HD is competing head to head with Lowes. They have been stealing HDs market share with a positioning strategy of opening stores as close as possible to HD. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Looming poor economic conditions present challenges for this retailer. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Declines in GDP growth, employment, personal disposable income and customer sentiment are a threat to HDs sales revenues in the short term. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Decreases in the economic factors would signify a worsening economy. Consumer would start a larger portion of their disposable income Questions for Discussion 1. What is your assessment of Nardellis changes at Home Depot? Which had the greatest impact? In my opinion Nardelli, during the years he was The Home Depots CEO, did an overall great job. The changes he introduced to the business model were necessary to help The Home Depot to keep growing in the right direction. The Home Depot, at the time Nardelli was appointed CEO, was a company with an old style management and operations that could have compromised the future of the company. Nardelli focused on and achieved increasing sales and profitability, by 2006 sales had doubled from $45.7 in 2000 to $90.8, and profits had more than doubled from 2000 to 2005 to $5.8 billion. Among all the changes he made, the ones that had the biggest impact were: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Geographic expansion: Nardelli brought the company to Mexico were it went from zero to number one. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Diversification: he expanded the wholesale business with the creation of Home Depot Supply, which provided products and services to professional customers. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Cost cutting measures: he centralized Home Depots merchandising and purchasing which lead to an improvement of the buyer power with suppliers and better deals extending payment terms from 30 to 45 or 50 days. He also took the decision to switch full time store employees to part time employees and to reduce the number of employees in the stores. This had actually a negative impact as it certainly contributed to the erosion of the share price during the years and it actually cost Nardelli his job. Opening to different countries, having better communication system with stores and dealing with distributors in corporate level vs. locally deals. This had more potential on getting better deals. 2. How did Nardellis changes affect profitability, labor productivity, and customer service? What metrics would you use to assess these impacts? The main change that Nardelli introduced that affected profitability was the centralization of the merchandising and purchasing. It is true that before 2000 the store managers were able to be closer to customers and to decide what products stock in the stores, but at the same time that was highly inefficient from an operational point of view, leading to a mismanagement of stock levels. Thanks to Nardellis new centralized approach the company was able to eliminate almost 20,000 unprofitable items and to introduce other higher priced, higher-end products which contributed to increase sales and eventually profits. Nardelli improved labor productivity thanks to heavy investments in information technology as the company was lagging behind its competitors. He started the Front End Accuracy and Service Transformation (FAST) initiative, through which all stores were equipped with new point of sales terminals with touch screens. Other measures taken by Nardelli that contributed improved productivity were: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Introduction of self check out registers. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Standardizing of in-store logistic activities. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Introduction of cordless scan guns. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Six Sigma Approach. As mentioned above, Nardelli actually worsen the Customer service since he started his job, mainly switching the full time store employees to part time employees. The result was that customers were unhappy about the level of customer service since the part time employees were not enough prepared as the full time workers. This eventually led to the share price erosion during the years. Some of the metrics used by Nardelli to measure the productivity were pallets per hour for the monitoring of the freight flow process and inventory velocity to measure the length of time it took for products to flow through stores. He also used other sort of performance metrics such as financial, operational, customer and people skills metrics. He definitively should have monitored closer the customer satisfaction and people skills to avoid the problems he had at the end of his career with Home Depot. Profitability increased, productivity increased however there was a decline in customer service. 3. What caused the decline in customer service? Hiring more part time employees and having military backgrounder store managers. It is hard to carry a system when you have more part time employees than your full time employees. Each employee has to attend trainings and need to practice these with the customers. In this case it would be hard to monitor improvements in part-time employees and this also effects hiring and firing process. It would take more time to find out if an employee is valuable to the company. With this on mind, having more part time employees mean more job and safety training and spending more time in monitoring and hiring process. On the other hand military backgrounder store managers can be seen as a strength however, compared to the previous managers they wouldnt necessarily have knowledge on materials to help their customers. Imagine a customer comes and asks about an item or a DIY project, even store manager has no idea about that. The Home Depot`s main competitor Lowe`s has more customer oriented service and has a refreshing atmosphere with employees knowledgeable in their interested fields.

We Must Ban Therapeutic Human Cloning Essay -- Argumentative Persuasiv

  Ã‚   The Senate is considering a proposal to outlaw human cloning. Two alternative proposals would ban only "reproductive cloning," which would mean explicitly legalizing human cloning but not the implantation of a clone embryo into a womb. Pro-cloners are willing for the most part to outlaw reproductive cloning because it isn't safe, but they oppose a ban on cloning for research and experimentation--known as "therapeutic cloning"--arguing that such a cloning license is necessary to the development of future medical treatments for human ailments. This opposition to a ban on human therapeutic cloning is misinformed.    The case against cloning, including therapeutic cloning, has mainly been argued on grounds of morality. Opponents have warned that creating embryos through cloning for the purpose of research (with the full intention of destroying them later) is a breathtakingly radical enterprise. For the first time in history, human lives will be created for the explicit purpose of exploitation. Such considerations have led activist Jeremy Rifkin to opine that the cloning debate is to the 21st century what the slavery debate was to the 19th.    Unfortunately, we live in a time of widespread and extreme non-judgmentalism, an era when many Americans simply do not respond to moral arguments in public policy debates. For these folk, what counts is not right versus wrong, but whether it will or won't work--in a word, utility.    Does this mean that the public policy amoralists among us must end up by default on the pro-cloning side? Not at all. There is increasing evidence that therapies based on cloned embryo cells would be so difficult and expensive to develop and so utterly impractical to bring to the bedside,... ...ork on embryos? The Red Cross representative could not have been clearer: "We really need to focus our resources, our attention, on those areas where we could most likely provide, in the shortest period of time, some therapies for our patients."    To pour money into human cloning embryonic stem cell research is to risk drilling one dry hole after another. The moral policy thus also turns out to be the pragmatic one. The United States Senate should vote to ban all human cloning now.    WORKS CITED: Civin, Curt I. "stem Cell Selection." http://www.stemcellselection.com/transwithselection/overview.htm Prentice, David. "The Truth About Stem Cells. http://www.nationalreview.com/interrogatory/interrogatory022601a.shtml Odorico and Kaufman. Embryonic Stem Cell Research - a Reality Check. http://www.stemcellresearch.org/info/quotes3.htm

Mr. Collins’ and Mr. Darcy’s first proposals to Elizabeth. How do they :: Free Essay Writer

Mr. Collins’ and Mr. Darcy’s first proposals to Elizabeth. How do they style and the content of the proposals reflect on how these three characters are portrayed in the rest of the novel. In what ways are attitudes to marriage different from today? Pride and Prejudice =================== Compare and contrast of Mr. Collins’ and Mr. Darcy’s first proposals to Elizabeth. How do they style and the content of the proposals reflect on how these three characters are portrayed in the rest of the novel. In what ways are attitudes to marriage different from today? Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ reveals the importance of social status and how marriages affected women at that time. The book opens with the words, ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.’ This implies that the chief interest in the book will be marriage. The main character is Elizabeth Bennet who, unlike Charlotte Lucas, does not want to marry only for a comfortable and to avoid the stigma of not being married, but also for love. There is a big contrast between Mr Collins’ and Darcy’s proposal and give us insight into these three character. Mr. Collins is a figure of comedy in this novel. He is described as ‘not a sensible man, and the deficiency of nature had been but little assisted by education or society’. He speaks in a very formal way indeed. He is a picture of ‘pride and obsequiousness, self-importance and humility’ At Longbourn having been told that Jane was likely to marry Mr. Bingley, Mr. Collins decides to propose to Elizabeth Bennet, ‘having no feelings of diffidence’ with ‘all his solemn composure’ because he supposes this is only a ‘regular part of business’. First, he asks for a private conversation with Elizabeth. Before Elizabeth has met Mr. Collins, she was ‘chiefly struck with his extraordinary deference for Lady Catherine de Bourgh’, but after she sees him, her dislike towards Collins is even stronger. At the Netherfield ball, Mr. Collins requests the first two dances with Elizabeth that let her feel ‘herself completely taken in’. In the meantime, she also realizes that her mother is planning a marriage for her, but she has never expected this proposal. Therefore, this proposal gives Elizabeth ‘a blush of surprise’. She immediately tries to avoid for not having a private conversation with Mr. Collins and says ‘I am going away myself’ which shows she wants to escape from the embarrassment. However, her mother insists upon Elizabeth ‘staying and hearing Mr. Collins’’.

Relationship Between Men and Women in the Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Diego Ampuero Gac English 102 M, W, & F Dr. Williams March 17, 2010 The relationship between men and women in ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ In this research paper, I am going to analyze the relationship between men and women in the short story ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ by James Thurber. In this essay I am going to discuss how he shows the conflicts between the man that want to be adventurous, perverted, and that lives in several fantasies, but behind that man there is a woman that holds him back.Many source materials analyze and describe Thurber’s unique humoristic personality and explain how it might affect his work of literature throughout his many short stories. Thurber’s humoristic and satiric style of literature that he uses about the relationship between men and women in ‘The secret Life of Walter Mitty’ attracts the reader’s attention because of that spark of knowledge he gives to his humoristic and intell ectual literature. In Thurber’s book, ‘The Thurber Carnival’, he uses many of his short stories including ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ in order to focus on the relationship between men and women.The conflicts that Thurber writes about typically start out small but then with the time it expands into major conflicts which leads us readers into finding the main problem of the story, in which in this case is about a man that wants to be adventurous and the women who holds him back. In fact, in many of Thurber’s short stories the male characters are shown to be dependent of a strong woman, in which she is the dominant head of the relationship.In the relationships that Thurber’s men are in, they are constant lead into frustrated experiences with their wives, in which they have been bullied by wives who consider that they know everything. This is exactly what happens in the short story ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ with W alter being treated by his wife more like a mentally retarded child than a husband. This is shown throughout the first paragraphs of the story in which the couple is driving around running errands, but not together as a couple, instead, Walter has to stop in front of the hair salon where his wife is having her hair done, and e is told to â€Å"remember to get those overshoes while I’m having my hair done†, and in which Walter replies â€Å"I don’t need overshoes† but the wife replies back saying â€Å"you’re not a young man any longer† (47). These last quotes show how strong and harsh her character is and how dominant she can be in their relationship. These quotes also foreshadow the coming events of Walter’s several daydreaming throughout the story and in which they end up being the main conflict between the relationship between men (Mitty) and woman (wife).The wife in ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ is the perfect mod el for Thurber’s unique style of literature. In the book ‘The Art of James Thurber’, Richard Tobias states â€Å"The comedy exists in the tension created by the wife's world view. The wife is the threat against Mitty's free and desirable heroism†(85)†¦ â€Å"Then with a smile on his lips, he faces the firing squad, erect motionless, and proud. Walter Mitty the Undefeated, inscrutable to the last†(51). This precise analyzing quotes by Tobias, reflects how Thurber used Mrs.Mitty as the leader of his humoristic and ironic literature to show her superiority above Walter, in which in Thurber’s time, the head of the family was predestined to be the man and not the woman. Tobias also points out the ending of the story with Walter dreaming once again acting like a little kid dreaming about being a hero. Tobias probably points it out because the ending shows how Walter revealed his secrets of being the head of something, the â€Å"hero of the wa r† throughout his paranoiac daydreaming. Several sources have focused on the topic about the relationship between Walter’s prominent daydreams and his marital situation.One of those sources that analyzes this topic is â€Å"Coitus Interruptis: Sexual Symbolism in ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’†, a book in which a few criticizers analyze Walter’s fantasies and their effect on the relationship. One of the many criticizers, Ann Mann, argues that for a permanent daydreamer like Walter Mitty, his wife has to be the â€Å"ideal wife† for she has to go through all of his daydreaming fantasies and childlike personality, in which it brings the conclusion that she pretty much plays the role of a scapegoat in the relationship.Keeping the eyes on the importance of a women in a relationship as Ann Mann stated, in another aspect, Thomas Fensch appears with his book ‘Conversations with James Thurber’ in which Fensch has plenty of conve rsations with Thurber’s comedian self about different kind of topics that eventually ends up in a topic that shows Thurber’s point of view of the American Women. The man itself has a style of expressing his thoughts with humor and irony but the beauty of it is that at the same time the reader can interpret his sayings as serious thoughts that are in fact very true and intellectual.This magnificent style helps the typical American reader to understand his advice towards American Women by stating that â€Å"Too much attention is given to attracting the males and making other women envious†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , reflecting that Thurber’s point of view of women is that they should go ahead and live life to the fullest and while they can â€Å"†¦woman should be a real helpmate to her husband†(84).As I come to the end of this analysis about the great author James Thurber and the topic about the relationship between men and women in ‘The Secret Life of Walte r Mitty’, I can conclude that Thurber is one of the great American humorist ever of this century and that his genuine literature really helps the reader to understand the relationship between Walter and Mrs.Mitty, and in which they also reflect Thurber’s real life situations between men and women throughout his life. At last, I can affirm that many of his works are so similar to the present day relationship between men and women that it reflects why his literature works are continuing to be popular in today’s world.

Annotated Bibliography Essay

Juleen K. Buser, Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development 37.2 (April 2009): 94-104 This article is a great article that relates to African Americans seeking mental health treatment at lower rates than whites. The article states that this disparity can be attributed to attitudes toward services, alternate coping, and differences in care. This article also illuminates biases in counseling. Snowden, Lonnie R, Barriers to Effective Mental Health Services for African Americans, Vol. 3, Issue 4, 181-187 (Dec. 2001). Social Services and Welfare, Psychology This article states that many African Americans do not seek proper mental health care. It states that the ones that do generally drop out. The article attempts to define the causes and the effects that would help alleviate this problem. McField, Edward, Culture, acculturation, and social capital: Latinos and use of mental health services. Loma Linda University, 2010. 3405317 This article states that Latinos suffer from the sam e mental disorders as others, but when they do, they receive less than standard care. The article gives the results of studies that state that state that there is an association between acculturation, models of illness, stigma, need, and mental health service use. Organista, Kurt C. New Model for Latinos in Need of Social Work Services, Social Work, 54.4, (Oct 2009). 297-305 This article is wonderful in that it gives some of the best pragmatic models and concepts in the cultural competence literature. This article states ways in which to enhance cultural sensitivity, as well as increasing awareness of the Latino experience and understanding of problem patterns in their historical, social, and cultural contexts. Borup, J. (1999, May/June). Foundations of social work practice with lesbian and gay. Families in Society, 80.3, 308-309. Describes a foundation for helping gay and lesbians for the human services worker. When helping or working with a person who is gay or lesbian it is important to have knowledge of professional literature,  experiences from professional peers, history, and the actual case information. It is also important to remember the family history, for this characterizes and confronts any myths associated with this particular lifestyle. The lack of social support and homophobia can create consequences to those who are not accepting of this community. The author is educating students about the knowledge and facts on working with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community and the most important is the code of ethics for social workers. Cavet, J. (2000, Oct). Children and young people with a hidden disability: and examination of the social work role. British Journal of Social Work, 30.5, 619. The recent study described that children and young people with hidden and impairment received a social work service which was at a minimal level. It is recognized that the level of social services intervention available to these families may be a reflection of a low priority assigned to disabled children. A change in priorities is needed which recognizes the importance of knowledgeable support to disabled children as a means of improving their environment and reducing families stress levels and the likelihood of abuse or rejection. Copeland, C.A. (2011, January/February). School librarians of the 21st century using resources and assistive technologies to support students’ differences and abilities. Knowledge Quest, 39.3, 64-69. This article describes the many ways librarians can help differently abled children realize they are special. And by librarians having all the resources (informational and technical) they can further help these differently abled children understand how truly especially able they are. It opens their eyes to their own gifts and abilities and this helps the librarians these abilities to develop the information literacy skills and multi-literacies necessary for lifelong learning. The National Center for Education Statistics shows that approximately one in seven students have one or more characteristics society defines as a disability. Technologies can be selected and so they can best meet the needs of the students who are differently abled. Donahue, P. (2005, July-September). Current perspective and future directions  for social work practice and research. Families in Society, 86.3, 359-366. This article describes the aging gay and lesbian community. Past research of this community focused more on the gay White man, well-educated, active in the gay community and high socioeconomic backgrounds. This study examines current roles of social work regarding research with older gay men and lesbians and presents recommendations for both practice and research in the years ahead. Not only is this community of sexism, they are also victims of ageism. Future work must strive to be more representative of older lesbians, geographic diversity, and classes because these variables play an important role in shaping the gay aging experience. Bell-Tolliver, L., Burgess, R., & Brock, L. J. (2009). African American therapists working with African American families: An exploration of the strengths perspective in treatment. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 35(3), 293-307. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/220979644?accountid=35812 When working with African Americans and Native Americans human service workers must consider important factors. When doing a study researches found 5 strengths that African Americans showed. They have strong kinship bonds, strong work orientation, adaptability of family roles, strong achievement orientation, and strong religious orientation. African American family† is defined as †¦ an intimate association of persons of African descent who are related to one another by a variety of means, including blood, marriage, formal adoption, informal adoption, or by appropriation; sustained by a history of common residence in America; and deeply embedded in a network of social structures both internal to and external to itself (Bell, 2009). Waites, C. (2009). Building on strengths: Intergenerational practice with African American families. Social Work, 54(3), 278-87. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/215269004?accountid=35812 These families are diverse groups of people with their own ideas, opinions, and values. African American families have strengths, and that the use of those strengths within the therapeutic setting can lead to successful outcomes. We also believe that understanding the strengths of African American families can help mental health professionals develop successful treatment outcomes for families. It is critical that professionals gain an understanding of how these strengths impact the functioning of the African American family to empower families who are struggling. When helping this group we should focus  on their strengths and not their weaknesses (Waites, 2009). Michael, T. G., & Eugene, F. P. (2000). Red as an apple: Native American acculturation and counseling with or without reservation. Journal of Counseling and Development: JCD, 78(1), 3-13. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/219014436?accountid=35812 The United States Bureau of Indian Affairs (1988) legally defines Native American as a person who is an enrolled or registered member of a tribe or whose blood quantum is one fourth or more genealogically derived from Native American ancestry. When working with Native Americans one must remember that they are very religious and hold traditional values and beliefs. They practice only traditional tribal customs and methods of worship. However some Native Americans may be more willing in the practices of other cultures. That is why the counselor must not make assumptions without gathering further information (F.P, 2000). Kathleen, A. E. (2000). Counseling with Native American Indians and Alaska Natives. Families in Society, 81(5), 543-543. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/230163172?accountid=35812 Culturally based treatments may be needed. This group can be offended very easily and the counselor must be careful not to overbear (A.E, 2000). Latino-Kuglin, M. (2009). Latino outreach. Children & Libraries, 7(3), 42-46. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/212161869?accountid=35812 â€Å"It’s a way to celebrate Latino heritage, literacy, and families coming together at the library,† said Watts. She said Dà ­a celebrations at HCL have two goals. The first is to â€Å"celebrate the heritage of the community that we see already. We’ve got libraries that have large Spanish- speaking populations that actively use the library, so this is a way to celebrate and acknowledge the community that is already there. â€Å"‘No-show’: Therapist Racial/ethnic Disparities in Client Unilateral http://psycnet.apa.org. N.p. In the present study, the authors examined the source of racial/ethnic minority disparities in unilateral termination form of dropout that is associated with poor alliance and outcome. First, the authors must be tested whether some therapists were more likely to have clients who reported unilaterally terminating as compared with other therapists. Next, the authors examined 2 competing hypotheses regarding the therapists role in  termination disparities: (a) that racial/ethnic disparities in unilateral termination are similar across therapists and thus due to other components of the treatment process or (b) that racial/ethnic disparities in unilateral termination are specific to therapists, where some therapists are more likely, on average, to have higher rates of unilateral termination with REM clients as compared with white clients.

How to Write the University of Virginia Essays 2018-2019

The University of Virginia is a public research university founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, making the institution a prominent historical site. Being a UNESCO World Heritage Site, UVA is well known for its historical foundation and early roots. Located in Charlottesville, Virginia, UVA is situated in a lively metropolitan community. Ranked by U.S. News and World Report at #3 among public schools and #25 overall, UVA is one of the nation’s top universities. In the 2016-2017 application cycle, UVA only admitted 27.4% of applicants, making admission quite competitive. In addition to academic transcripts and letters of recommendation, all applicants are required to submit an additional supplemental essay, with additional essays needed depending on your selected major. With such competitive rates, it is often intimidating to complete these additional essays. However, is here to offer our guide on how to tackle UVA’s 2018-2019 application! Required: Choose one of the following (250 words): Note that this essay is required; however, UVA gives you the option to choose between 4 prompts, all of which have a 250-word limit. Choose the essay that you feel a stronger connection to, as this will make for a much stronger and more personal essay. With that being said, let’s take a look at each of the following prompts. For this essay, avoid choosing a word that’s generally self-explanatory or cliche. Example of this could be â€Å"happiness† or â€Å"love† because these words are often overused and the meaning can generally be inferred without an additional story. You want to choose something that is both personally meaningful to you and something that is attached to a greater story. For instance, if you are multilingual and your grandmother would always offer you a specific piece of advice in another language, you could use a word related to that advice in that language. Perhaps there is a story attached to the reason why she gave you that advice, or perhaps it is what you remember the most from her. Tell a story around this idea and your essay will be much more personal and impactful. You could also show off your nerdy side here or highlight your interests. Perhaps your favorite word is â€Å"emulsion† because it is relevant to your two favorite activities: chemistry and cooking. You could discuss your love for each of these subjects and, like the previous example, tell a brief story on how the word relates to your personal experiences. When choosing a word, you could also consider alternate meanings by considering meanings outside the traditional dictionary definition. In this case, you could contrast the traditional meaning with your own personal interpretation of the word in order to point out any differences and highlight your own personal connection to the word. Again, the key for this essay is to be personal. In terms of writing your essay, you want to make it clear what your word is without directly saying â€Å"my favorite word is _____.†; always start your essay with an interesting opener and a thoughtful conclusion. Since the essay is short at 250 words, you want to be fairly straightforward without being too stale or obvious. Chances are, you have a unique quality that makes up who you are. This essay is all about pinpointing that quality and describing it in terms of its importance to your identity. Perhaps you have an odd fascination with insects or you collect unconventional objects. This is a perfect essay to discuss these facets of your life. You must make sure to connect your quirk to your personality and individuality. Don’t simply describe the quirk; ask yourself why this quality is important to you and consider how your individuality would change had you not possessed this characteristic. You want to highlight your personality in this essay, whether it be through humorous writing or a creative story. For example, if your quirk is having to do a cartwheel every morning before school, you can write a story mapping out your day, with emphasis on your daily cartwheel. Perhaps this is the only way to get your blood pumping and prepare you for the day ahead. Perhaps doing cartwheels ensures that you always start your day with a positive attitude, allowing you to tackle any obstacles during the day. There are endless possibilities for quirks you could write about, as each person is different and has unique habits. Your quirk could be a unique mannerism such as a â€Å"weird† laugh or a unique daily routine you have. Perhaps your quirk was the object of ridicule in your earlier years, but now you’ve become confident in yourself and your unique qualities. Show UVA what makes you you and how proud you are to be yourself — weird quirks and all! For this essay, you want to consider your interests and how you want to share these interests with others. Your Flash Seminar should reflect something you’re passionate about, yet also be unique enough to not already exist. For example, you don’t want to create a seminar about something like â€Å"Cell Biology† or â€Å"Classical Literature.† For instance, if you love science and have always been intrigued by astrology, you could create a Flash Seminar called â€Å"Is there a Scientific Basis for Astrology?† If you love politics and are passionate about film, you could create a seminar called â€Å"Hidden Political Messages in Modern Film.† With any topic you choose, make sure to explain your choice. Why are you passionate about the topic and why do you think there should be a discussion about it? Perhaps you want to share your passions with others through a unique perspective or perhaps your proposed question has puzzled you in the past, making you eager to hear the thoughts of others. Discuss your reasons for creating the class and the goals you hope the class achieves. Like the previous question, you want to consider the topics you’re passionate about and want to share with others. You could interpret â€Å"message† as a form of artwork such as a painting, or you can interpret it more literally as a message or phrase. For instance, if you’re passionate about redesigning the roles of modern women, you could describe a painting that includes a dichotomy between traditional and more progressive roles of women. Perhaps half the painting includes black and white images of women performing household tasks and the other half uses vivid colors to portray women in positions of power and independence. Maybe you’ve been empowered by several strong women in your life and want to advocate for gender issues such as equal pay. Maybe there is a quote or phrase from a novel that you’ve read that stuck out to you and want to share with UVA’s student body. For instance, if a quote from Thi Bui’s The Best We Could Do resonates with you due to a similarity with your immigration story, you could paint this message on the Beta Bridge in order to create a sense of community with those who share similar backgrounds. No matter what you choose to paint, make sure you have a personal connection to the art. Ensure that you answer the â€Å"why† aspect of the question and discuss the reasons why the message is important to both you and others. This is the last of the 4 prompt options and we recommend choosing the prompt you have the strongest connection to. Remember, there is no â€Å"best† prompt; regardless of the prompt you choose, ensure that you reveal something about your personality and give the admissions committee a closer look at your background Submit your essay and we’ll get back to you with helpful edits. This essay is only required for those applying under architecture. Like the previous prompts, this essay also has a word limit of 250 words. If you’ve traveled to a place with intricate and unique architecture, or you visited a site that excluded aesthetic excellence, this is the place to discuss that. Perhaps you were intrigued by the ancient architecture and designs featured in ancient Greece. Or perhaps you were fascinated by a particular home you saw while driving through Hollywood Hills due to its unique modern characteristics. Be detailed when describing the instance or location, and allow the reader to visualize the design. Your goal for this essay is to highlight the location that inspired you and explain why this was inspiring for you. Maybe you loved the detailed engravings embedded into ancient European architecture or maybe you love the intersection of minimalism and functionality. Make sure to convey the passion you have towards architecture and show a genuine interest and love for unique designs. For those of you interested in kinesiology, or the study of how the body moves, you must complete this essay. There could be several reasons why you chose this field of study but make sure to choose something that is personal to you and had a large impact in terms of exciting your interest in the subject. For instance, if you volunteered in a hospital and often worked with patients recovering from physical injuries, you could discuss watching people slowly regain mobility. You could discuss how you were amazed by the body’s ability to recover and how a person could transition from immobility to mobility. Maybe you have a more personal connection and witnessed a friend or family member experience the same recovery. If so, you could definitely include this in discussing your motivation for pursuing kinesiology. You could also discuss the science and mechanics behind kinesiology if you did not necessarily have a defining moment that influenced you to choose the field. Perhaps you are interested biomechanics behind kinesiology and were always intrigued by how the body interacts with itself. If you have played sports before, you could draw a connection between the two here and discuss how your interest in sports influenced your interest in the body’s mechanics. You want to identify a problem that’s important to you and propose a solution to solve it. This doesn’t mean the problem has to be large, as the prompt also explicitly states â€Å"small engineering project.† For instance, if you live in a large household with many siblings, perhaps you want to design a robot that cleans the house, easing the daily burden on your parent. If your grandfather struggles with putting on his shoes due to a weak back, you could propose a machine that assists him with that every morning. A great way to address the prompt is to consider any medical disabilities that a friend or family member may have. However, make sure to propose something that doesn’t already exist. For instance, if a family member is hard of hearing, you wouldn’t want to design a hearing aid since this already exists. If, however, you have a proposed modification that makes an existing device better for your chosen individual, then this would be appropriate to discuss. Pay attention to the people surrounding you by identifying any daily challenges they may experience. Once you choose your project, you want to describe the design and explain how this would be beneficial to your chosen family member or friend. This prompt is essentially asking you why you want to study nursing. You want to trace your previous experiences and consider whether they impacted your decision to study health care. Perhaps an experiences volunteering at a hospital changed influenced your love for nursing, or perhaps you realized nursing comes naturally to you after caring for an ill friend or family member. If you worked or volunteered at a hospital, you could discuss a specific interaction you had with a patient. For example, maybe an elderly woman recently exited surgery and you were assigned to assist with her recovery. Perhaps the woman would often tell stories about her past experiences to you, reminding you of your own grandmother. Maybe it’s this deep interaction with patients that has attracted you to nursing. You want to be personal in your response; don’t simply state that you want to study nursing in order to help people. These answers are cliche and vague, as they don’t really highlight a particular experience that you had. With so many fields classified under arts and sciences, you have a variety of ways to approach this answer. If you’re studying biology, for example, perhaps a unique experiment in the lab opened your eyes to the intricacies of life. If you want to study math, maybe you struggled with learning a theorem and want to discuss how you overcame this challenge. Maybe Toni Morrison’s Beloved introduced you to the darker side of literature that made you both uncomfortable and intrigued. You want to discuss why and how the work challenged or changed you rather than simply describing the work itself. The key here is to draw a personal connection and explain how the work impacted you by describing your personal reactions to it. For example, if you found reading Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales challenging whether it be due to the language or content, you could describe the obstacles you encountered while analyzing the text. You could then conclude with discussing how working through these obstacles forced you to look at literature from a different perspective, thus allowing you to find unique symbols in the text that you otherwise would have skipped over. Remember, the purpose of these essays is to showcase your identity to the admissions officers. You want to highlight your personality and convey your passions in order to allow the reader to get a better sense of who you are. We hope this guide has allowed you to tackle UVA’s application with the utmost confidence. Happy writing! Want help on your University of Virginia application or essays? Learn about our College Apps Program . Want us to quickly edit your college essay? Submit it to our Rapid Review program , and we’ll get it back to you quickly with comments from our expert team.