Wednesday, December 25, 2019

The Argument About College Admission Essay Samples Ideas

The Argument About College Admission Essay Samples Ideas The Battle Over College Admission Essay Samples Ideas and How to Win It The introductory paragraph is also intended to specify all the facets of the book which students plan to manage. Essays should be constructed based on the traditional structure, comprising a fascinating introduction, cohesive arguments connected with one another, and motivating conclusion. The opportunity to finish the GMAT test is virtually 4 hours. Students should never forget to lay out quotes in a proper manner. Why Almost Everything You've Learned About College Admission Essay Samples Ideas Is Wrong You may also become many discounts on our site which will help you to save some more money for future orders or anything you want to spend them on. If you're writing a cover letter for a certain position and organization, ensure you take a good look at their job posting, and demonstrate how you meet their specific requirements and have the ability t o perform the listed responsibilities. My request is you modify the conditions of my loan so that I'll have the ability to make the payments punctually. The remainder of your application is composed of plenty of computer generated averages. College Admission Essay Samples Ideas for Dummies The law school would like to know that you truly wish to get inside, which you really need to be an attorney. It is essential that students put time and effort in their college applications. Accordingly, students attempt to distinguish themselves through their extracurricular pursuits. Many students don't know how to write a college essay. A superior personal statement can allow you to get an edge over other candidates, thus maximizing your likelihood of getting admitted in the college. Even though most students focus mainly on GPA and MCAT scores, the personal statement is a rather important part of your application and ought to be cautiously written. You don't want your business to become a burden. Vital Pieces of College Admission Essay Samples Ideas As stated previously, a great essay would stick to the normal personal essay format. Below are a significant few recommendations that can help you with your college application essay. Writing an impressive resume isn't a very simple job. Just take a peek at our totally free college essay tips! Therefore you must learn to write such a letter. You should attempt to follow evocative writing while completing this kind of essay. Take note of these instructions to force you to get ready for your college admission essay! In addition, there are sample college application essays that is able to help you do that. What Everybody Dislikes About College Admission Essay Samples Ideas and Why By focusing on the fantastic things and giving the correct justifications, you greatly enhance your odds of admission. Unique things to various folks, since the situation demanded. Select your topic carefully so that you can share your experience in your words, with your personal feelings. The essential issue is to demonstrate that even when you don't excel in academics, you do excel in different things. Choosing College Admission Essay Samples Ideas Is Simple Application essays about challenges reveal how you respond to difficulty to individuals who are rather interested in how you are go ing to deal with the subsequent four years all on your own. If you would like to compose a marketing resume and searching for the tips then here we're likely to speak about tips to write marketing resume. Marketing is a creative area and thus you want to compose your resume in a creative method. You are able to refer above given tips to compose an impressive and beneficial marketing resume. College Admission Essay Samples Ideas and College Admission Essay Samples Ideas - The Perfect Combination Working with cheap essay writers may cause lower quality of your order That is the reason why, it's extremely important to locate a good writer you're able to speak to in the approach. Don't confuse yourself be plenty of words and ideas you cannot organize and is way out of your primary topic and essay title. Your stories aren't debatable. Sharing a personal story that's related to the prompt is a superb approach to produce your essay stick out from the crowd. Attack a question forthright and provide the answers it is possible to explain. The essay ought to be prepared in first individual, since it actually is you that is doing the conversing. Although you must be creative when writing your essay, resist the temptation to acquire creative with the facts. You should be extremely cautious if your college essay topic is linked to your personal experiences. Your essay is a special reflection of who you are as an individual. Such essays help gauge the writer's capability to write on a particular topic in an engaging way. A strong essay can provide you the ideal opportunity to get in the school that you dream about. Though your odds of getting in are lower in contrast to A-list students, the door isn't completely shut. In the 21st century, college interviews are lost on the best way to the VCR, in other words, they are normally utilized. The huge pothole on Elm Street that my mother was able to hit each day on the best way to school would be filled-in. Following your initial draft is finished, allow it to sit for no less than a day.

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Greek Architecture - 1563 Words

The Greek culture has had a huge impact on the history of the world. There is something Greek in almost everything, especially in the worlds architecture. Greece no longer had one king, so they focused on building temples for their gods. Architecture began small and plain but evolved into impressive pieces of art. As time passed from the Archaic period to the Hellenistic period, the people of Greece developed a type of formula for their buildings and their pieces of art. In Ancient Greece, religion dominated their life, so it is understandable that their architecture would be dominated by their religion. Before Greece became many different city-states, they had kings, and they would build a room called a megaron to show they Kings†¦show more content†¦They didnt want a column in the middle because than you would have to walk around the column to get into the temple. The most common temples would be called hexastyle because it would have six columns in the front. If th ere was four columns across then it would be called tetrastyle or eight across would be called octastyle. Another way to classify a temple is how the columns are distributed. When a temple only has a row of columns on the front and has end walls, it is called in antis. If the temple has a row of columns on the front with no end walls, it is called prostyle. If a temple has a front and back portico with columns, it is called amphiprostyle. The most famous Greek temples would be considered to be peripteral, meaning that it has columns all the way around the building. The Greeks had a certain formula on how many columns would go on each side of a peripertal temple. They would take the number of columns in the front portico and multiply it by two and add one. If your temple was hexastyle and peripertal, than there would be thirteen columns on each side ( 6+6+1= 13). The Greeks had developed a type of formula when it came to the construction of a temple. There is not a major difference in architecture between the Archaic period and the Classical period. During the Archaic period they began to use stone instead of wood. Some of the most preserved remainsShow MoreRelatedThe Architecture Of Modern Greek Architecture Essay2233 Words   |  9 Pagescomprehend the history and mechanics of Classic Greek engineering with a specific end goal to completely value its frame, capacity, and excellence. â€Å"Ancient Greek architects strove for the precision and excellence of workmanship that are the hallmarks of Greek art in general. The formulas they invented as early as the sixth century B.C. have influenced the architecture of the past two millennia† (metmuseum.org). This paper will cover the essential types of Greek design and the reasoning behind the importantRead MoreClassical Greek Architecture On Modern Architecture959 Words   |  4 PagesC lassical Greek Architecture in Carlisle The influence of Classical Greek Architecture on modern architecture is evident all over Pennsylvania. Carlisle, in particular, is full of old buildings that utilize the styles of the Greek Classical Period. The Old Cumberland County Courthouse is a perfect example of how the architectural styles of the Classical Period have been carried out through time. This building is a historical landmark, located in downtown Carlisle, which was built in 1846 and currentlyRead MoreEssay on Greek Architecture1558 Words   |  7 PagesGreek Architecture The Greek culture has had a huge impact on the history of the world. There is something Greek in almost everything, especially in the world’s architecture. Greece no longer had one king, so they focused on building temples for their gods. Architecture began small and plain but evolved into impressive pieces of art. As time passed from the Archaic period to the Hellenistic period, the people of Greece developed a type of formula for their buildings and their pieces of artRead MoreThe Influence of the Greeks and Romans on Architecture894 Words   |  4 PagesIntroduction â€Å"Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness.† (Gehry, 2012). What Frank Gehry was trying to say in simple terms was our culture cannot do without proper appreciation of its classical roots and it goes without saying that the Romans and Greeks have influenced art and architecture with its classical style in a number of different ways. Allow me to give a definition for the word classical. â€Å"Classical† refers to any art or architecture modelled after ancientRead MoreImportance Of Greek Art And Architecture1868 Words   |  8 Pages Importance of Greek Art and Architecture Student’s Name University Affiliation Date The Greek culture fascinates the young and the old, the scholar and the tourist, the Greek and the foreigner. The Geek artifacts have demonstrated unique and ageless artisanship. From the buildings to the paintings, the pieces of ancient artifacts indicate symbolic meanings of the ancient Greek society. The citizens nurtured this practice over particular periods in since the history of its existenceRead More Classical Greek Architecture Essay1279 Words   |  6 PagesClassical Greek Architecture The reuse of older art works in contemporary times is not an uncommon occurrence, and many examples can be seen throughout the day as one goes from place to place. Even when one is browsing through the World Wide Web can many uses of older art and architecture be seen, as with the example shown. This image was found on the internet at the American Express homepage (http://www.americanexpress.com/student/), which functions as a resource for college students to findRead MoreAncient Roman And Greek Architecture1275 Words   |  6 PagesModern Architecture around the globe had been influenced by ancient Roman and Greek architectural. Although both ancient Romans and Greeks are recognized for their innovations in architecture having both constructed a variety of buildings and structures that can still be appreciated today, they appear to have concentrated mostly on the creation of temples which at first sight seem similar but in reality they each diverged and had their own identity and s erved for different purposes. Ancient Greek andRead MoreEssay about Greek and Gothic Architecture948 Words   |  4 PagesGothic Architecture Have you ever noticed the style in the buildings of your city? Well the style comes from an antique type of architecture called gothic architecture. The buildings now days have many developed characteristics from this style. Gothic architecture brought to the world many new features; the most important was the ogival arch, it helped the structure of the buildings and their inside designs. Gothic architecture started when the roman empire declined and the middle ages arose.Read MoreEssay about Greek and Japanese Architecture865 Words   |  4 PagesGreek and Japanese Architecture For a great many years, architecture has been a breaking point for different artisticeras in history. Some of the most famous â€Å"works of art† have been chapels, temples, and tombs. Among the most dominant and influential eras of great architecture are the sophisticated, stoic Greeco-Roman periods and the more mystical, elemental Japanese eras. These two very distinct and very different eras have more in common than you may realize. When work began on theRead MoreGothic Architecture As An Insult By Supporters Of Classic Greek Architecture1776 Words   |  8 PagesIt is not very well known that the Gothic in Gothic architecture was meant as an insult by supporters of classic Greek architecture because they thought the style was barbarous and rude. But most French and European architects thought differently. That is why you can still see the presence of the Gothic style in Churches today like the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France and Florence Cathedral, located in Florence, Italy. Used during the late medieval period, and easily identified by the

Monday, December 9, 2019

Landscape Architecture Essay Example For Students

Landscape Architecture Essay A landscape architect is an individual who arranges and modifies the effects of natural scenery over a tract of land so as to produce the best aesthetic effect for the land^ÃÆ'’s use. Landscape architecture is the design profession which applies artistic, cultural, and scientific knowledge to the design, planning, and development of the land. Landscape architects accept certain responsibilities related to the health and welfare of the public and are concerned with resource conservation of the land. The practice of landscape architecture requires an appreciation and understanding of natural and social processes, a creative imagination, and a commitment to preserve or improve the environment for human use and enjoyment. Landscape architects plan the most harmonious relationships between the land and the objects on it by proper combination of open space and planting, and by wise use of land formation Concise 151. They may work on parks, gardens, housing projects, school campuses, golf courses, or airports. They begin a project by reviewing the needs and desires of the client. They study the site, mapping such features as the slope of the land, existing structures and the type of soil. They check local building codes and availability of utilities, make drawings which outline the work in detail, and draw up lists of materials to be used. They then invite bids from construction companies and landscape nursery companies. With the awarding of the contracts, their work may be finished, or they may stay on to supervise the work as their client^ÃÆ'’s representative 151. A major branch of landscape architecture, golf course architecture, integrates the skills of a landscape architect on a larger scale. The aim a golf course architect is to create a truly great golf course by utilizing to the fullest extent possible the potential of a promising piece of land Golfplan 1. This potential is expressed in the site^ÃÆ'’s location, slope, vegetation, water features, soil types, climate and orientation. The role a golf course architect is the realization of this potential under the constraints of design criteria that separate the truly great golf course from the ordinary 1. Landscape architecture, the science and art of modifying land areas by organizing natural, cultivated, or constructed elements according to an aesthetic plan Encarta 1. The elements include topographical features such as hills, valleys, rivers, and ponds; and growing things such as trees, shrubbery, grass, and flowers; and constructions such as buildings, terraces, roads, bridges, fountains, and statuary. No unalterable rules exist in landscape architecture because each plot of ground offers unique problems caused by variation in contour, climate, and surrounding areas 1. As early as the third millennium BC, the Egyptians planted gardens within the walled enclosures surrounding their homes Encarta 2. In Mesopotamia, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were one of the Seven Wonders of the World. In ancient Greece, sacred groves were preserved as the habitats of divinities. Greek houses included a walled court or garden usually surrounded by a colonnade. In 5th-Century BC, Athens public gardens and colonnaded walks attached to the Academy ^ÃÆ'â€Å"school^ÃÆ'† and the Lyceum ^ÃÆ'â€Å"gymnasium^ÃÆ'† were much frequented by philosophers and their disciples 2. Domestic architecture in the first half of the 20th Century attempted to achieve a closer integration of the house with it^ÃÆ'’s surroundings, as seen in the works of Sven Markelius in Sweden, Alvar Aalto in Finland, and Frank Lloyd Wright in the United States Encarta 5. The worldwide economic depression between the two world wars forced a shift from domestic settings to large-scale public works, in which landscape architects and planners worked together on entire communities, regional areas, and vast state and national projects. The proliferation of shopping malls, new suburbs, cultural centers, revitalized urban cores, and new educational facilities, has given landscape architects in the later decades of this century unparalleled opportunities to refine their art and to create new forms. Del monte VPN architecture suggestion for assignment EssayThe outlook for the landscape architectural field is for rapid growth in this field through the year 2000, although any periods of downturn in the construction industry could cause temporary slow periods VGM 241. There are about 19,000 practicing professional landscape architects. City and regional planning programs, interest in environmental protection, and the growth of transportation systems and recreational areas will contribute to the demand for qualified landscape architects, as will the general growth in population. Landscape architects usually advance by moving to a larger firm, by becoming associates in their firm, or by opening their own business The landscape architectural field is expected to grow by 17% through the year 2005 in response to new construction and a growing commitment to environmental planning and historical preservation Discover 5. To become a landscape architect, a person must be completely qualified in the field. The career of a landscape architect demands extensive schooling. Schools with architectural or landscape architectural are located all over the country. Forty-seven colleges offer bachelor^ÃÆ'’s degree programs in landscape architecture that are approved by the American Society of Landscape Architecture ASLA-Colleges. Some colleges of interest are the University of Arizona, the University of Michigan, the University of Minnesota, and Purdue University. Landscape architects usually require a bachelor^ÃÆ'’s or master^ÃÆ'’s degree in landscape architecture for entry into the profession Discover 3. The bachelor^ÃÆ'’s degree usually takes four to five years to complete and the master^ÃÆ'’s usually takes another two years. Courses that are taken in college for the preparation of landscape architecture are anything related to advanced mathematics, botany, and horticulture ASLA. Special expenses of the education would be things such as books and special tools. College entrance requirements for landscape architects are the same as any other major since the starting courses are basic. Practically all states require landscape architects to be licensed Discover 3. Licensing is based on the Landscape Architecture Registration Examination, sponsored by the Council of Landscape Architecture Registration Boards. Admission to the examination usually requires a degree from an accredited school, plus one to four years of work experience. Applicants are tested on all aspects of landscape architecture 3. Landscape architecture is a very diverse and rewarding profession. Although extensive schooling is required, the advantages of this career outweigh the disadvantages. Landscape architects are individuals who design and produce a better environment that appeals to the public.

Sunday, December 1, 2019

Italy Essays - Italy, Republics, Sardinia, Petroleum, Wool

Italy By. Sean Burnham & Andy Price Location, Size, and Surrounding Waters Italy is a country that looks like a boot. It has a population of about 57.8 million people. It is 116,305 square miles in area. Some of the surrounding waters are the Tyrrhenian Sea, which is west of Italy. The Adriatic Sea, which is east of Italy, and Ionian Sea, that is southeast of Italy. The capital city of Italy is Rome. Rivers and Mountains Some of the rivers in Italy include the Po River, which is the biggest, and the Tiber River, which isn't quite as big as the Po. Some of the well-known mountain ranges are the Alps and the Dolomites. Climate The climate in Italy is much like the climate of York, Nebraska. It ranges from 32 degrees in January and 84 degrees in July. Italy gets approximately 4.9 inches of rainfall through the months of June, July, August, September, October, and November. Plants and Animals Some animals include Toads, Chamois, Geckos, Chameleons, Sardinians, marginated Tortoises, snakes, dormouse, Brassica Bugs, many birds, and wolves. Some plants include slow growing shrubs, purple cushion, arum pictum, white wool, and many flowers. Agricultural Products Many agriculture products are abundant here. Some are barley, corn, eggs, meat, milk, oats, potatoes, rice, soybeans, sugar, tobacco, and wheat. Natural Resources There us a great abundance for many minerals or natural resources in Italy. Mercury, potash, marble, sulfur, natural gas, petroleum, fish, coal, rock salt, feldspar, asbestos, barite, zinc, magnesium, and lead are some examples of the natural resources in Italy. Industry The leading industries are beer, butter, cement, cheese, cigarettes, merchant vessels, newsprint, paper and paperboard, passenger cars and radios. Foreign Trade Major Imports includes machinery, vehicles, chemicals, foodstuffs, livestock, metals, petroleum products, and wool. Major Exports includes machinery, textiles, vehicles, chemicals, clothing, shoes, metal products, petroleum products, and foodstuffs. Government Type- Republic Head of Government- President Oscar Luigi Scalfro, and Prime Minister Giuliano Amato. The government has a strong communist party, has president and Prime Minister with six different political parties. Transportation and Communication For inexpensive transportation people ride the buses and trains. Most households in Italy have at least one car. Boats and airplanes air used to transport goods. People communicate by way of newspaper, magazines, going to malls, TV, and radios. Cultural Expressions Life in northern Italy differs greatly from the life of people in southern Italy. The North is more urbanized than the south and is richer. Italians have contributed to some of the world's most admired sculpture, architecture, painting, literature, and music, particularly opera. Italians do not consider themselves to be a "new" people, but as the descendents of ancient Romans.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Analysis of logistical changes of Morrisons supply chain and assessment of their environmental footprint The WritePass Journal

Analysis of logistical changes of Morrisons supply chain and assessment of their environmental footprint Introduction Analysis of logistical changes of Morrisons supply chain and assessment of their environmental footprint (Morrisons, 2012). It has been tumultuous for Morrisons since its acquisition of Safeway and its drop in sales late in 2012 compared to a similar period in 2011 is evidence of the challenges that the company is facing. Its CEO attributes the fall in sales to the companys lack of presence in the online market and lack of convenience stores, segments in which Morrisons trails behind its rivals (Rudick, 2013). These depressed sales figures underscore the need for crucial decisions on strategies that can shore up the companys performance, enabling its growth in market share and sustenance. In addressing the causes for the drop in market share, Morrisons would have to make logistical changes which could include either the establishment of convenience stores, lowering of prices, or the development of an online market place. Herein, we consider the logistical implications of the establishment of convenience stores, which is the most suitable, acceptable and feasible strategic choice and a significant cause of its loss of market share. As of September 2009, Morrisons owned 455 superstores in the UK which have their core focus on home ware and groceries, with other items such as furnishings, clothing and electronics being fewer than what its rivals hold. However, its limited focus on the affluent London is a notable setback as it commands a paltry 6 percent, lower than its 12 percent stake in the whole of the UK (Ruddick, 2013).The company has, since 2005, acquired a number of distribution centres including: West London, to enhance its distribution capacity to stores in London and the South East; Swindon, a packing facility for fresh produce; Bridgewater; and its Rathbones bakeries operations through which it makes bread. Morrisons projects to open 70 stores in 2013 and towards this, it is engaged in continued acquisitions of stores (Morrisons, 2012). With the decline in core stores, evident in 3-5 percent declines in sales within the industry (with regard to Tesco and Sainsbury), venture into the smaller convenience stores segment is essential to shore up declining growth. Convenience stores are beneficial in supplementing the larger stores. UK convenience stores generated a 4.6% increase in sales from 2011 to 2012, generating total sales of  £33.9 billion in the year (Morrisons, 2012). The segment now represents 20.8% of UKs food and beverage retail market. This growth continues to be fuelled by structural changes in the retail industry which include smaller households, longer working hours and little time reducing loyalties, and the alteration of shopper habits with increasing preference on the little and often approach to grocery shopping which therefore drives convenience sales (Ruddick, 2013; Morrisons, 2012). Morrisons, however, lags behind its rivals in the convenient store segment operating 12 convenient stores under the M Local brand (Ruddick, 2013; Morrisons, 2012). These stores are similar to those of its competitors though they have a wider range of ready-to-eat hot foods, fresh meat and fish, as well as items stocked from proximal superstores. Morrisons is however intent on correcting its lag in this segment and has initiated an expansion of the number of its convenience stores with a projection of 70 additional stores across the UK in 2013 (Morrisons, 2012). Necessary logistical changes Morrisons’ enhancement of its venture into the convenience segment requires that the company revamps its supply chain to meet the rising complexity of operations. A supply chain encompasses a network of relationships between organizations and/or business units that are involved in providing products and services to customers at the end of the chain. To enhance efficiency, which is essential for the survival and competitiveness of firms in the market, there is need to manage this network and constituent processes to ensure a smooth flow of goods and information back and forth from the raw materials through several intermediate entities to end-users (Ketchen and Giunipero, 2004). The retailer operates a vertically-integrated business model with its supply chain consisting of the company’s farms, diverse suppliers, its distribution centres, large stores, and the rising number of convenience stores. To get fresh products, Morrisons has reached back through the chain to the farm cutting off middlemen and warehouses and has thereby significantly enhanced its efficiency, reduced its environmental impact. This focus has made fresh food its distinctive advantage With the   company beating all its competitors in the preparation of food in-store. It owns slaughterhouses, bakeries, and food preparation sites (Morrisons, 2012). The addition of convenience stores would benefit Morrison in its response to the structural changes challenging the retail sector, enhancing its adaptation to consumer trends and lifestyles at a local level, and thereby enhancing the company’s growth in market share. However, such ventures present challenges to distribution systems due to the increase in points to service and supply. A significant challenge in the management of the supply chain, especially for a retailer such as Morrisons focused on groceries, is the balancing of supply and demand, which in essence necessitates the holding and keen management of inventories. The venture into the segment is also challenged by the costs attendant to additional logistical operations and the difficulty in achieving economies of scale given the size and capacity of stores (Tempelmeier, 2006). This necessitates an increase in price of stocked items to cover the increase in costs. Given the small holding capacities for inventories and the low shelf-life of fresh farm produce, the additional convenience stores would require small, frequent shipments of replenishment stocks unlike the superstores which can take up more stock. There might, therefore, be need for smaller depots to enhance focus and to cater for the smaller and low capacity convenience stores, or, the convenience stores can be set up as satellites of the larger stores, receiving their supplies from them enabling enhanced efficiencies in inventory management. With concerns over the level of waste in the agri-food business, enhanced collaboration among the entities in the entire value chain is required to enhance efficiency and enable the conduct and sharing of information from market intelligence on consumer preferences and trends (Handï ¬ eld and Nichols, 2002). Hugely beneficial to Morrison is its vertically integrated business model in which farms, manufacturing and retail sales are integrated, and increasingly reliant on each other. This enables it to maintain a predictable and cost-efficient supply, taking costs off the system and giving consumers what they want (Frohlich and Westbrook, 2001; Hill, 2006). Beer Game and Bullwhip effect The Beer Game is a significantly useful concept for the analysis of the supply chain. It enables the appreciation of key principles and fundamental concepts of systems dynamics and thinking which therefore facilitate better management of the supply chain. The challenge identified in the simulation is that coordination in supply chain management is a significant challenge with various constituent entities having their own, incomplete understanding of the real demand (Frohlich and Westbrook, 2001). Each group/entity has control over a single part of the chain even though their decisions and actions influence or affect the entire chain. This lack of coordination coupled with the ability to influence and be influenced by others is what is referred to as the Bullwhip effect, with various decisions affecting supply and causing shortages or overstocks. The Bullwhip effect is a phenomenon observed in distribution channels which are driven by forecasts in which there are trends of increasing swings in inventory further back the supply chain in response to changes in demand of a particular product. Demand is never stable or constant and therefore business must always endeavour to make accurate forecasts so as to achieve the right balance between resources deployed and inventory positions (Handï ¬ eld and Nichols, 2002). With the inaccuracies, companies carry buffer inventory which with the rise and fall in demand, results in variations being amplified upward in the chain. This challenge in coordination, however, does not only result from breakdowns in communication as delays in manufacturing and procurement can also wreak havoc. With increased orders from customers, a backlog builds up and can be easily confused with increased demand, thereby spurring overproduction (Cannella and Ciancimino, 2010). These difficulties are further exacerbated by the tendency of entities within the chain (such as those constituting Morrisons vertically integrated model) towards their own best interest, far more than that of the entire organization and even the end user. This is often due to significant focus on balancing demand and supply at the individual level (Ketchen and Giunipero, 2004). There is therefore a tendency of the entities inherent in the chain, in the pursuit of stability in the chain, to focus on stock balances and on the next link in the chain which inevitably leads to the ignorance of customer satisfaction at the end of the chain. However, this is unsustainable as no profit can be realized without the customer who should be the primary focus in the management of the entire supply chain (Frohlich and Westbrook, 2001). Regardless of how an individual component/entity may function individually, unless there is an integration of all elements resulting in a harmonious and cohesive ef fort, the results obtained will not be optimal. These concepts are essential for better management of the supply chain and coordination of activities. It is significant for Morrisons as it ventures into the convenience stores segment given the requirement to balance the frequent deliveries of small volumes of inventory to numerous points of sale. For success in this venture, the company should endeavour to minimize potential backlogs in its supply chain while also alleviating related costs. It can achieve this through the adjustment of orders of products to keenly follow customer demand, an extremely important and complex task which entails predicting and forecasting demand. This is especially relevant for Morrisons in this case as demand from the additional convenience stores, given customer characteristics, will most certainly differ from that of its larger stores which it probably has been able, through its years in the industry, to map out and determine. To reduce the Bullwhip effect, focus on the customer at the end of the chain should be consistently maintained throughout the process which should also seek the enhancement of service to internal customers, the various components in the supply chain. Efficiency in the supply chain can be enhanced through the improvement of the flow of information along the chain, reduction in delays, reduction of order sizes (economic order quantities), and the maintenance of consistency in price.   Also essential is the day-to-day observation of trends and prediction of outcomes towards the development of a forecasting system in concert with market fluctuations (Cannella and Ciancimino, 2010). Environmental footprint Initiatives such as the enhancement of delivery frequencies and reduction in order sizes would most certainly result in an increase in the company’s environmental footprint. Climate change is among the greatest challenges to the global community and is a major threat to food security (McKinnon, 2010). Tackling emissions reduction is therefore essential for sustainability and can be achieved through effective resource management and reduction of wastes. These measures are also fundamental to the management of the companies cost base, supporting the maintenance of competitiveness and price and ultimately benefiting customers (Hill, 2006; McKinnon, 2010; Aronsson   and Huge, 2006). As at 2011, retail and logistics took the largest share of Morrisons’ environmental footprint in terms of emissions of carbon dioxide per year at 80% and 13% respectively. For this, electricity was the single biggest source at 57%, followed by refrigeration at 19% (Morrisons, 2012). The venture into the convenience store segment for Morrison will certainly significantly increase the company’s environmental footprint given that the small compact stores would increase overall usage of electricity and refrigeration, with the small frequent deliveries also increasing emissions attendant to logistics. The small, frequent purchases by customers which is characteristic for convenience stores also increases usage of carrier bags which is an essential component of customer service. This is an area of significant environmental concern generating immense public interest. The company in 2010 announced an ambitious target to reduce carbon emissions resulting from its operations by 30% by 2020 aligning with aims of government (Morrisons, 2012). However, with the pursuit of the convenience store segment to shore up the company’s competitiveness and strategic positioning, such an ambitious target would be difficult to attain. Conclusion Tumult in business and declines in sales have necessitated the development of strategies to shore up Morrisons performance and to enhance its market presence. The most suitable, acceptable and feasible avenue is the convenience store segment, which is however challenged by attendant costs due to increased logistics operations, small scale and capacity, as well as the increase in the companys overall environmental footprint. This choice necessitates enhanced management of the supply chain, ensuring a balance in supply and demand given that the convenience stores can take up small quantities of stock at a time, and Morrisons focus on short shelf-life fresh farm produce. The management of its supply chain should therefore endeavour to reduce the bullwhip effect related to the management of the supply chain. References Aronsson, H., and B., Huge, 2006. â€Å"The environmental impact of changing logistics structures.† In: The International Journal of Logistics Management, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 394–415 Cannella S., and E., Ciancimino, 2010. â€Å"On the bullwhip avoidance phase: supply chain collaboration and order smoothing.† In: International Journal of Production Research, 48 (22), 6739-6776 Frohlich, M., and R., Westbrook, 2001. â€Å"Arcs of integration: an international study of supply chain strategies.† In: Journal of Operations Management, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 185-200. Handï ¬ eld, R., and E., Nichols, 2002. Supply Chain Redesign: Transforming Supply Chains into Integrated Value Systems. Financial Times. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Hill, C., 2006. International Business: Competing in the Global Economy, (7th ed.) Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Ketchen, D., and L., Giunipero, 2004. â€Å"The intersection of strategic management and supply chain management.† In: Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 33 No. 1, pp. 51-7. McKinnon, A., (ed.), 2010. Green logistics. Improving the environmental sustainability of logistics. London: Kogan Page Morrisons, 2012. Food with thought: Corporate responsibility review 2011/12. Wm Morrisons Supermarkets PLC. Ruddick, G., 2013. ‘Morrisons online dilemma becomes clear after Christmas turkey,’ January 7, The Telegraph [Online]. Viewed from: telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/9786486/Morrisons-online-dilemma-becomes-clear-after-Christmas-turkey.html Tempelmeier, H., 2006. Inventory Management in Supply Networks- Problems, Models, Solutions, Norderstedt: Books on Demand.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Any

Any Any Any By Maeve Maddox A reader asks, If a countable noun comes after any, then should it [the noun] be singular or plural? Like the indefinite article a/an, the word any derives from a form of the Old English word for one. Primarily an adjective, it is also used as a pronoun. As an adjective, any is most commonly followed by plural or uncountable nouns: In questions: Do you have any tomatoes for sale? (plural noun) Baa, baa Black Sheep, have you any wool? (uncountable noun) In negative statements: I don’t have any books by that author. (plural noun) The lion didn’t have any courage. (uncountable noun) In conditional statements: If your final draft contains any errors, it will be rejected. (plural noun) If you need any help with the proofing, let me know. (uncountable noun) Sometimes any is used to modify a singular countable noun: Any fourth-grader should be able to read that book. Any grammar book will have a section on relative pronouns. In these sentences, any is used in the sense of every: Every fourth-grader should be able to read that book. Every grammar book will have a section on relative pronouns. Sometimes a singular countable noun follows any in a question: Is there any rule that says I can’t dye my hair green? Is there any reason you slam the screen door every time you go through it? In the above contexts, the speaker does not anticipate more than one rule or reason, if any. On the other hand, a speaker who anticipates that there could be several rules or reasons would follow any with a plural noun: Are there any rules against further construction in this neighborhood? Are there any reasons we shouldn’t require job applicants to submit samples of their writing? As a pronoun, any stands for a noun that has already been expressed, or when it is followed by the preposition of: Of all the books I have read, this one is more memorable than any. If there are any of the pecans left after the sale, you may have them. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:8 Proofreading Tips And TechniquesPhrasal Verbs and Phrasal Nouns

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Collapse of the Housing Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Collapse of the Housing Market - Essay Example The cracks appeared in the banking system three years later. Housing prices started falling in the year 2005. Initial symptom appeared in the market for sub prime residential mortgage-supported securities as investment demand shrank in 2006. Cracks in financial market became wide open in June 2007 with the failure to meet the lenders’ call on Collateralised Debt Obligations (CDOs) by hedge funds for subprime loans. In a way, it was the overconfidence of the mortgage brokers who went on selling loans to home buyers in the sub prime sector of the housing market due to market hype (Financial World 26-28). The recessionary trends appeared with the sub prime lending to home borrowers. The crisis started from Cleveland where loans in huge amount were cleared without verifying income and documents by the mortgage brokers. Refinancing was allowed on the condition that new sub prime mortgage would start after two years at double the prevailing interest rates. The crisis deepened when t he whole of America came under its influence as property prices touched a new height; as a result, demand for owning property increased because of mortgage brokers and refinancing. When the interest reset period ended after two years, interest rates went higher because Fed interest rates also increased on which sub prime mortgage interests were based (BBC News 9-13).

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Student Accomodations in Lesson Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Student Accomodations in Lesson Planning - Essay Example This emphasis on creating hopes in students' heads so that they can work to make them into a reality is a contrast to putting all our energy into developing and creating an effective subject-centered lesson plan. Cooperative learning is effective in IEP education because hey help students to communicate and socialize. In contrast to other lesson formats, cooperative learning is based on discussions and group work. The main similarities between these formats are that they set clear objectives and require instructions; they check understanding and have a practical application step. The main difference is that discovery lesson and cooperative learning models require additional equipment and assessment, while a critical thinking model uses evaluation step. It means being totally involved, completely engaged in doing one's schoolwork. It means total attentiveness and participation in the learning activity (Bateman, 2006). 2. The essential elements of IEP are general intelligence, emotional intelligence, academics: health issues and effective communication. Also, each EIP should have clear ejectives and aims, measurable and observable behavior and stipulated assessment criteria. In a standardized lesson format, a critical thinking model can be used as a frame work of the lesson plan. ... del implies sessions in which teachers encourage students to imagine what it would be like to be successful (including how it might be scary in some ways); how they would feel to know the subject well, to get a good grade, to get approval from their parents and teachers. Students as well as athletes need hopes; not just problems, not just the current reality (Irvine et al 2000). Cooperative model can be a part of the lesson required discussions and personal opinion. Students can begin to focus on improving those areas that are particularly retarding their school success, whether it be some character trait, a health issue, self-management skills, self-defeating ways they think, writing skills, and so forth. To do that, a student is going to have to learn to ask for and accept help from the school. And the school and community, from their side, must be prepared to give the help students need. For example, if a student sees that he has a problem with alcohol that is getting in the way, somewhere in his world there has to be people and programs waiting to respond. The general accommodations for students should involve the use of yellow chalk to reduce glare, the teacher should repeat words written on the blackboard, it is better to use only black print handouts, alternative assignments should be proposed to students who cannot follow the lesson plan. A special attention should be paid to starting, lighting, timing (extended time for tests and more breaks), repeat presentations and immediate response, special test preparation. Sorting students by ability, past achievement, or skill, or whatever, narrows the range of diversity in a classroom and enables teachers to gear materials, assignments, and content to the students' capabilities, interests, and styles. Moreover,

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Compariosn of pre 1914 and Wilfred Owens poems Essay Example for Free

Compariosn of pre 1914 and Wilfred Owens poems Essay By comparing and contrasting a selection of war poems, consider the ways in which attitudes to war have been explored and expressed. When considering poetry written post 1900 concentrate on a selection of poems written by Wilfred Owen. War has been an influential topic for poetry for many centuries and through its catastrophic cruelty and sense of patriotism has created some of the most brilliant poets and most controversial poems ever written. With each different war comes different poets who want to write their views on it and just as motives of war differ, so do the opinions of the poets; some see war as barbaric and destructive, whereas others portray it as a way of ennobling oneself. Before the technology and media coverage we have nowadays, stories of battle were passed down by word of mouth and were often written in poetic form so they could be memorized easily. Just as the artillery used in the wars has changed, the way war is portrayed has as well. Before World War 1 began in 1914, it was seen as a glorious opportunity for men to serve and defend their country. In many poems war is compared to a game, for example in Vitai Lampada written by Henry Newbolt, the refrain Play up! Play up! And play the game! is repeated at the end of each stanza to try and rally the soldiers and ready them for battle. Newbolt uses the leitmotif of comparing fighting to playing a cricket match to ease the pressure off the soldiers by making it seem fun and competitive. He uses the simile: Beat through life like a torch in flame to portray how the schoolboys have responsibilities and also to show how these must be passed down through the generations to protect their country, just like the Olympic torch. War is also compared to a game in Henry Vs speech in Shakespeares play, Henry V. He declares: The games afoot, once again understating the enormity of the battle. In addition Shakespeare uses the battle cry God for Harry, England and Saint George! to show that the English are on the righteous side and have a duty to serve their country. Before 1914, there was no compulsory military service and therefore Britain did not have a huge army like other European countries. However World War 1 was so large, conscription needed to be introduced, meaning all men of the appropriate age were obliged to go to war. Along with conscription came the propaganda to encourage men to join up and a popular form was poetry. Poets like Jessie Pope and Rupert Brooke wrote poems convincing men that war would be an exciting opportunity with their friends and that it is their duty to honour and serve for England. However, one of the most famous war poets, Wilfred Owen, had a different view of the war. At first he wrote in a similar way to the likes of Pope and Brooke, but after experiencing first-hand action in the front line his work became less idealistic. One of Owens most famous poems is Dulce et Decorum est. The Latin title means it is sweet and fitting to die for your country and it is used ironically to anticipate an idealistic poem, but it is quite the opposite. Owen wrote this poem in reply to the jingoistic recruiting poems written by Jessie Pope; they glorify war and make it seem like a great opportunity for men to have an adventure with their friends. In the first two lines of Dulce et Decorum est, Owen uses the vivid imagery of old beggars and coughing like hags and the reader thinks that he is describing someone elderly or of low status. However, in the lines that follow, we realize that Owen is actually talking about soldiers who are walking away from the front line: Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Owen uses the word haunting to portray that the battle they have endured will stay in their minds forever. To convey the exhaustion of the men Owen uses hyperbole: men marched asleepdrunk with fatigue. This shows how fighting was physically draining for the soldiers and contradicts the glamorous image that Popes poems conjure up. In the second stanza Owen illustrates the terrifying scene of a gas attack. He repeats the word GAS for a second time in capital letters to convey a sense of urgency and also to imply how fatigued the men were as they needed it to be repeated louder a second time for them to realise the situation. Owen uses polysyllabic words like ecstasy and fumbling and clumsy to convey a sense of panic and alarm. He describes how one man did not get his gas mask on in time and is floundring like a man in fire or lime. This portrays that the gas he is inhaling is burning and the image as under a green sea, I saw him drowning is very powerful because it shows that the gas overwhelms his lungs just as water does when you drown. The line In all my dreams, before my helpless sight shows how Owen will remember that scene forever, and the word helpless suggests that he cannot do anything about the flashbacks and horrible memories he will have to endure but it also implies that he could not do anything to help the soldier who was dying. Owen uses the adjectives guttering, choking, drowning to illustrate the soldiers horrific death; the word guttering is especially effective as you use it to describe a candle about to go out, just as the mans life is about to be extinguished. Owen bitterly attacks Jessie Pope in the last stanza. He sarcastically addresses her as my friend and uses gruesome comparisons like Obscene as cancer and bitter as the cud of vile to portray the horror of war. The line incurable sores on innocent tongues implies that the some soldiers who were very young will have terrifying memories with them for the rest of their lives. He appeals to the senses by using hideous and graphic imagery: If you could hear, at every jolt, blood- Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs. The adjective froth-corrupted illustrates how the mans lungs had been plagued by the gas and what a horrific death he had to endure. He uses the simile: like a devils sick of sin to describe the soldiers face, suggesting a sense of repulsion and disgust. Owen depicts the soldiers as children ardent for some desperate glory portraying that Popes recruiting poems wrongly persuaded boys that were not of age to vulnerably serve their country. In the last two lines Owen frames the poem by repeating the title, but he uses it ironically as he says it is The old Lie, contradicting other pre World War 1 poems that give the impression men will be considered heroic if they serve their duty. Owen once again opposes the notion that women will treat soldiers, who return home from war injured, like heroes in his poem Disabled, Owen opposes the idea that women will treat the soldiers, who return from the war injured, like heroes. In the poem Fall In by Harold Begbie, he persuades men to join the army by using the sexual attractiveness of women. The lines: When the girls line up in the street, Shouting their love to the lads come back, implies the men will be seen as courageous and gallant for fighting. However, Owen explains this is not the case in the lines: Now he will never feel again how slim, Girls waists are, or how warm their subtle hands, All of them touch him like some queer disease. The metaphor like some queer disease expresses how the women are afraid he may be contagious and how they find him repulsive. Just as in Dulce et Decorum est, at the beginning of the poem we think Owen is describing an elderly man because he uses the phrase ghastly suit of grey which infers old age. But then we discover how he threw away his knees; he chose to enlist for the army and that is portrayed a grave mistake, a waste of his life. The line: Poured it down shell-holes till the veins ran dry also infers that the man opted to fight as the verb poured suggests that he did it himself. In addition, Owen portrays how the boy was not motivated by principles to sign up: Someone had said hed look a god in kilts. He had been induced by vanity and also to please his Meg; once again the notion of impressing the women is used. Even though his face was younger than his youth the line Smiling they wrote his lie: aged nineteen years, shows that the authorities were unscrupulous as they knew he was just a boy but still let him sign up. Disabled is a very contrasting poem and Owen repeats the word now to emphasize the contrast between what he was, and what he has now become: Now he is old. Owen uses the motif of football throughout, but not in the positive way Newbolt does in Vitai Lampada. He uses it ironically to show the difference between his life before the war when he was fit and agile, and now when he is condemned to a passive lifestyle in a wheelchair. When he was playing football he liked a blood smear down his leg, implying that he thought it looked manly and would impress the girls. Now however, he can only watch boys playing football: voices of play and pleasure after day and the women do not see him as heroic as their eyes Passed from him to the strong men that were whole. The word whole creates a strong image of him being limbless and is powerful as it is not very compassionate, just like the women. In the last two lines, Owen repeats the rhetorical question: Why dont they come? The first question is directly addressing the nursing staff, portraying that they do not care for the wounded solider or are disgusted by his wounds and the second question portrays a sense of abandonment; he is confused because he fought in the war and people should honour what he has done instead of pitying and disposing of him. Owens Mental Cases has a similar theme to Disabled except it focuses on the mental aspect of fighting and not the physical aspect. The purpose of this poem is to describe to the reader that the conditions were so terrible in the First World War that it drove people insane. The tone of the poem is an angry one; Owen portrays his opposition to the war through line such as: Multitudinous murders they once witnessed. The word multitudinous means the common people and shows how Owen thought that the ordinary people of Britain were being slaughtered and that young, fit men were the subject of untimely deaths. It also emphasises the vast scaled of the murders and the intensity of the war. Owen uses very powerful and vivid imagery in the first stanza with phrases such as drooping tongues and purgatorial shadows to describe the men. The word purgatorial suggests that they are trying to cleanse their soul of the sins they have committed, but are trapped by their own violent actions in the war. Owen uses the word shadows to portray them as ghosts, men that go unnoticed because they are insane and not normal. This is ironic because they were probably once very fit and able and are now spending their lives in an institute. The first stanza poses the question of what made the men mad and Owen uses rhetorical questions to engage the reader: but what slow panic gouged these chasms round fretted sockets? This phrase conjours up a strong image of the men being wide eyed with a constant look of terror upon their face. Owen utilizes the phrase slow panic to infer that the men have been subject to a form of torture and that they have painfully been made to suffer. The phrase deeply gouged suggests wrinkles implying that the men are quite old; however we learn that the men have not lost their minds due to age, but due to war. The lines: Always they must see these things and hear them, Batter of guns and the shatter of flying muscles, use realistic and gruesome imagery to describe the battles. Onomatopoeia is used through the words shatter and batter making the reader almost hear the tremendous bangs of the guns and making them understand the intensity of the situation. The phrase human squander portrays Owens thoughts that many multitudinous murders took place and that their lives were lost for no reason; it was a mistake. In the final stanza Owen describes to the reader how the mental cases wish they were dead so they did not have to remember the atrocious carnage that they have seen: Dawn breaks open like a war that bleeds afresh. This simile is effective because usually dawn brings new beginnings and fresh opportunities, but to these men it just means they have to endure memories of what the war did to them. This poem is a very personal one as in the last four lines; Owen uses words like us and brother. This shows that the men blame us for allowing what happened to occur, and how they wish that they did not have to be reminded of it any longer. Wilfred Owens wrote Anthem for Doomed Youth not to portray the mental and physical effects of war like Disabled and Mental Cases, but to explain how a whole generation of men were subject to gruesome injuries or brutal deaths during the First World War. The title is deliberately ironic because the word Anthem usually suggests celebration; however the tone of this poem is bitter and mournful. It also infers that Owen is mocking poets like Rupert Brooke who say it is honourable to die in the war. The first line is a rhetorical question and it uses plosives, portraying an angry tone. The metaphor for these who die as cattle is effective because it infers that the soldiers are being slaughtered. The soldiers are referred to as Doomed Youth as there were no prayers nor bells for them as they died on the battlefield, just the monstrous anger of the guns, suggesting that the amount of deaths were so widespread there was no separate emotion for each man, their deaths were unimportant like that of cattle. This personification also infers that the weapons were taking control of the soldiers and that their actions are that of monsters. Owen portrays how there is no time for sentiment of the battlefield in the line: The shrill demented choirs of wailing shells; this personification is effective because when a person dies they are believed to be at peace, but when you die on the battlefield the destruction and devastation carries on around you regardless. Owen portrays how the men came from ordinary backgrounds in the phrase: sad shires and he describes how the family of the soldiers did have funerals for them back at home in the line: what candles may be held to speed them all? The devastation of their deaths is shown through the line: the pallor of girls brows shall be their pall; suggesting that their girlfriends are sorrowful and also by using the plural it shows how a whole generation of women may not be able to find husbands because so many young men were killed in action. In the last line, a drawing-down of blinds is a fitting way to end the poem, but it could also be associated with traditional drawing down of blinds in a room where a dead person lies and furthermore it infers that so many soldiers lives were now over. I enjoyed reading Wilfred Owens poetry more than the pre 1900 poetry as it gave me a realistic view of what the effects of war were on the soldiers and their families. World War One was the most devastating and barbaric war to date and therefore I believe that Owens poetry is more fitting as it gives a personal aspect to the poems, portraying the soldiers as humans, not just as statistics, but also showed them like animals to make the vast scale of the murders evident.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Persian Gulf Crisis :: essays research papers

Persian Gulf Crisis Persian Gulf Crisis, 1990-1991: How Saddam Hussein's Greed and Totalitarian Quest for Power Led to the Invasion of Kuwait, World Conflicts and the Degredation of Iraq Joseph Stalin. Fidel Castro. Adolf Hitler. Saddam Hussein. These names are all those of leaders who have used a totalitarian approach to leading a nation. Stalin and Hitler ruled in the early to mid-nineteen hundreds. Like Fidel Castro, Saddam Hussein is now. Saddam Hussein belongs to the Baath Party of Iraq. This party adopts many techniques similar to those used by Stalin and Hitler. Saddam Hussein conceived a plan to invade Kuwait. It was, perhaps, one of the worst mistakes he could have made for his own reputation and for his country. The invasion of Kuwait as well as the world's response to it, the environmental disaster it caused, and the degradation of Iraq were completely the fault one man and his government: Saddam Hussein and his Baath Government. One of Hussein's weaknesses is negotiating. Negotiating in his terms is to fight it out with as much carnage as possible until his side comes out "victoriously". Repeatedly, Saddam and his government break international convention laws. During his war fought with Iran, the Iraqi army used chemical weapons on the Iranian troops and even on their own Iraqi population. This was seemingly overlooked by the rest of the world because most nations didn't want to see the Ayatollah's Islamic revolution rise. Iraq often obtained foreign arms support from other nations because of this. It wasn't until the invasion of Kuwait that the rest of the world seemed to realize the danger that Iraq posed to its own people and to the Arab states surrounding it. Through poor planning, Saddam Hussein made three major mistakes that enabled an easy defeat of the Iraqis. The first mistake was that he captured all of Kuwait at the same time, instead of leaving it as a border dispute. This might have kept it from becoming an international affair. The second error was that Hussein positioned his troops too close to the Saudi Arabian border. Because of this, other nations feared that Saddam's aggression was endless. The third mistake was that Hussein miscalculated the world's response. He overestimated the Arab "brotherhood" and by doing so, didn't realize that the rest of the world would try to stop him. He also overestimated his own country's military power, and believed that he could annihilate military superpowers like the United States, Britain and France. Saddam Hussein's ultimate dream was to possess a nuclear bomb. Most of the world believed that Iraq didn't have the resources and materials to

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Internship Experience for an ESL Teacher Essay

As a foreign student with a degree in Informatics and Library and currently pursuing a master’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania in Adult and Community Education Program, I have a vision of teaching English as a second language in Saudi Arabia. To this effect, I have been on an internship project at the Communications Media department at the same university between January and March this year. The main purpose for the internship was to give me an exposure to the kind of environment I will find myself working in as an ESL teacher. ESL is a course that is offered to people who wish to learn English as a second language. Thesis Statement For my internship, I was attached at the Communication Department at the University of Pennsylvania where my duties included but were but not limited to coordinating activities between students taking English as a Second Language (ESL) and conversation partners at the American Language Institute. Also in the line of my duty was the task of overseeing how the two groups have been progressing together. The internship was time well spent and it played a very important role in familiarising me with the classroom set up at an ESL teaching centre. I also had the opportunity to learn much about the job and what it entails as well as the kind of challenges that I may encounter in the course of my career. Taking my internship course at University of Pennsylvania was the most convenient choice that I made. The communications Media Department where I was attached is right on the campus and I was therefore able to operate from my residence without any hustles of commuting from one place to another. It was also convenient in that I was able to coordinate between my classes at the Adult Community Program centre and the training on the internship. The convenience made life a little more comfortable for me because of reduced costs of transport. The internship kept me in good relations with the law because being in one place helped me avoid any instances of breaking immigration rules set for foreign students. The convenience of having all my activities centralised on Campus has played well in helping me to develop my social skills. This is because it has been easy to have extra interaction with some of the students when the opportunity allowed and as a teacher, this was very helpful in that I could closely get to know more about the challenges that ESL students face in their social life as foreign students. Since we were all from different social backgrounds, the interaction helped to improve my social relations with others considering the diversity of culture represented in the ESL class. A close bond between teacher and student is very important as it helps students to learn better and also helps the teacher to improve their skills. Knowing students a little bit more beyond the classroom set up is very important for teacher-student relations. Interaction with the volunteers from the American Language Institute helped me learn more about American society. With these two groups, I was able to share my challenges as a foreign student in America and also listen to theirs and suggest possible solutions. This helped learning easier and more interesting for the students. The sole purpose of learning an extra language is to aid the learner in communicating easily through the desired language. Despite the fact that I speak the English language, the experience I got from the internship greatly helped to improve my skills in conversing with others. The interaction I had with the students as well as the volunteers in the ESL learning programme exposed me to those who were learning and others who were there to assist in learning. It was a learning experience for me as I was able to improve on my fluency and using correct grammar when conversing in the English language. By identifying the students’ challenges in learning to converse in English, I was able to polish my own language especially in using of proper tenses, right statements and remarks. The ESL program brings together people from different cultural backgrounds. Students come here with the aim of learning English that will help them to adapt to their new environment and they are helped through this process by communication partners. Through interaction with this group at the ESL program, I got exposed to a diversity of cultures and it was interesting to get to learn about different cultures and practises of the world. It is interesting to note how the world can meet in such a small set up as a classroom. This knowledge is very important for me in my pursuit of a career in ESL teaching as it will help me adopt to any new culture that I may be exposed to. Objectives were set to enable me achieve the goals of the internship. They were supposed to guide me in carrying out activities that internship period. This would enable me acquire knowledge and skills that are required for one to become an effective ESL student’s teacher. The experience would give me an opportunity to give my suggestions and ideas in order to improve students teaching techniques and materials. In this essay, there will be a reflection on the meaning of the internship experience for my intellectual development and career planning. The internship experience was necessary in equipping me with new learning. It would offer me knowledge and skills required in future teaching work with the language students. Suggestions and ideas that can improve teaching techniques and materials for the students would contribute in achieving my new learning objective. Engaging volunteers achieved this in sessions on curriculum and teaching methods, recommending improvements in class handling discussing organizational concerns with volunteers, drafting lesson plans and evaluating them and discussing educational techniques with volunteers. My objective to teach volunteers on how to interact with English was achieved by carrying out the following activities; directing English lessons in the classroom, engaging the volunteers on curriculum and teaching methods, evaluating their performances and recommending necessary changes in class. The assignments that were offered to the students is a sure evidence that this objective was attained. Creating organizational system to allow educators to organize volunteer schedules and paper work effectively was enhanced by meeting and discussing organizational concerns with the volunteers, organizing schedules to avoid confusion, handling volunteer and class paper work and documentation as well as getting program feedback from the student Creating lesson plans for the volunteer teachers was achieved by; drafting lesson plans for teaching, adapting the teachers according to the class needs, discussing the quality of lesson plans and suggesting their changes, incorporating volunteer opinions in final lesson plans and finally implementing the lesson plan. I managed to work with the students and volunteers of presentation materials, decided upon educational techniques and ensured students follow guidelines in presentation. This assisted me in acquiring skills in creating presentation materials. As a teacher, I accommodated a certain number of students when my time allowed, graded and encouraged students and understanding the students’ need. The current challenges and problems in the classroom were discussed with fellow teachers. This in turn, ensured the students were taught as require by the instruction formal program. Additionally, experience at the ESL classes helped me to learn about other methods used in communicating apart from mouth language. These other methods are important in that as a teacher, knowledge of different methods of communication helps one to assess whether you are communicating fully or as desired by the students. Such methods include but are not limited to using parts of the body to express ourselves or gesturing and also the use of facial expressions. It was interesting to learn that a lot of communication can take place through non-verbal methods. At the end of the internship, I had developed a lot of confidence in conversing with students, being able to interact freely and easily with them as well as understanding diverse cultures and the styles they used to converse non-verbally in the different cultures. My internship was even more helpful as a master’s student in the Adult Education and Community programme. There was much more to learn from the experience at the ESL classes than I had earlier imagined. Interacting with students and volunteers from different cultures of the world helped me to grow as a person as well as to acquire intellectual improvement. I got exposed to diversity of cultures at very close range, something I had not encountered before and after such an experience, it becomes easy to be able to teach English anywhere in the world. This is because of the ability that I have gained to assess student issues anywhere. The ESL students mostly constitute of foreigners who wish to learn English so that they can be able to adapt to their new environments. Such students obviously encounter several challenges in the process of their resettlement and my experience with them enlightened me on ways in which I can be able to evaluate and understand their problems and the approach I can take in helping them to settle such problems. The ESL classes also constitute of people of different ages and as a future adult teacher, the internship has offered me great help in best ways of handling adults at different age categories. It is now easy to identify with their emotions and to know how well to help them cope with learning. Through this experience, I have realised that my own problems as a foreign student were not unique and that I have a lot to share in common with other foreigners that I shall encounter in the course of my career. I now have a burden to offer as much help as I can to make learning comfortable for foreigners. It made me feel even luckier that I could speak the language myself and made me realise that it was easier for me to adapt to my environment than those that cannot speak the language. Internship enriched me with methods of teaching that can be highly effective such as creating the right atmosphere for free teacher and student interaction and getting the students to give feedback on the way that they are fairing in their learning process. I learnt the essentiality of making the environment conducive for the students as it makes learning easier for them. Students can only learn successfully if several of these factors are pooled together. The internship was a good ground to put into practice what I had learnt from my course work.. Getting the chance to utilise my knowledge created a feeling of confidence in me as well as helped me to rectify and improve on areas that appeared weak. It is now possible for me to be able to come up with new ideas that can be applied in the ESL teaching program. This internship has surely given me the right exposure for my future career. Teaching at an ESL class is no longer a new encounter for me and I can affirm the fact that it is only through practice that one is able to assess whether you are ripe for a career. The challenges encountered in an ESL program set up are no longer strange to me. The internship has given me good experience in handling adults in a classroom set up and has helped to build confidence in me as an adult teacher. I believe this experience will assist me a great deal in planning and writing my thesis for the course that I am undertaking. Knowledge is only useful if it is put into practice. The internship offered me an opportunity to put into practice a lot of knowledge both academic and otherwise and gave me good direction on best ways of detecting, identifying and getting solutions to any challenges that may cross my path in the course of my career as an ESL teacher. By offering my own suggestions and contributing ideas on how teaching at ESL classes can be improved, my own personal growth in the career is advancing. I now have the confidence to handle adults in a learning environment and to be able to identify with their emotions, weaknesses, likes and dislikes and to handle such factors without interfering with the learning process. The students were taken out to become conversant with various aspects of the country. Supplementation of students’ knowledge on English by informally speaking with them aided their learning on the English language. On the other hand, not all objectives were achieved fully. There were several problems and challenges that made the achievement of these objectives difficult. The problems that were experienced included; volunteer delayed easy interaction with the students, and volunteers could not identify and understand concerns of all students fully. Though it took some time before they interacted easily with the students, they later managed to do it. There were few communication and organization problems that arose but were sorted out with time. It was also a bit difficult to develop lesson plans containing all relevant information for the course at one particular time. This experience assisted me to improve my conversation skills. This was due to the interaction with both the volunteers and the students. During this interaction conversations between me and then assisted me to gain fluency and correct grammar when conversing. The use of correct tenses, remarks and statements in order to pass the necessary language enabled me to identify their needs in their classes. Conclusion Internship has proved to be a very helpful undertaking and I would recommend it to anyone that wishes to develop and pursue a successful career. It offers a good opportunity to learn so much about the pros and cons of a job. From the experience that I have had at the internship, I believe that I have fewer challenges to face in my future career as an ESL teacher in Saudi Arabia. This is because the internship has prepared me on almost every aspect of human interaction is it personal, social or cultural that I need in my career. The exposure to people from different social backgrounds and different cultures will serve to help me adapt to new cultural backgrounds as it gives the right psychological preparation for such an encounter. The ESL class encounter will help me to adapt in a situation where I may find myself learning a new language. The whole experience was worth the time and effort. References Dolores, La Guardia. , Guth P. H. , (2000). American Voices. Culture and Community. Toronto, Mayfield Publishers.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Economic globalization makes rich get richer, poor get poorer Essay

Economic globalization is the unifying of all the economic systems and markets worldwide. The world obviously is nowhere near true globalization, but countries are making huge strides towards it. There is a premise that globalization makes rich countries richer and poor countries poorer. However, I do not agree with this. Firstly, it is true that the rich may very well get richer by globalization. It opens up new investment opportunities and new growth and if they are wise they can benefit financially. Take the recent boom in emerging markets. It is mainly the rich who have access to invest in these markets, and thus, the rich get richer. I would argue, however, that globalization has a very strong force to actually make the rich poorer. For examle, there has been much talk about outsourcing and that it is bad for America because American jobs get moved abroad. Now those Americans who have had their jobs outsourced are certainly poorer, and in this scenario the Americans are the rich so once again the rich got poorer. The idea that the poor get poorer is in most ways unfounded. Sweat-shops are an example of a terrible characteristic of globalization. Nevertheless, the use of sweat-shops is declining thanks to consumer pressure. Additionally, sweat-shops are a function of the governments of the countries in which they exist. It is not globalization’s fault that people are treated poorly in a country, but rather it is the fault of that government for not looking out for the welfare of its people. Beyond that, though, I believe globalization is helping the poor get richer. To start, take the example in the previous paragraph and reverse it. While Americans losing their jobs get poorer, workers in other countries get richer. Multinational corporations are finding these developing countries provide very appealing investment opportunities and so they are putting their money into these countries, by so doing, helping them to grow and enriching their citizens. Globalization typically leads to the industrialization of countries that have not been industrialized and makes the world a better place for everyone.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

A Brief History of Adidas

A Brief History of Adidas Although urban legend has it that the word Adidas is an anagram of the phrase all day I dream about sports, the athletic wear company gets its name from its founder, Adolph Adi Dassler. He and his brother founded the company that would become a worldwide brand, but their history as members of the Nazi Party isnt as well known. Beginnings of Adidas Shoes In 1920, at the age of 20, avid soccer player  Adolph  (Adi)  Dassler, son of a cobbler,  invented spiked shoes for track and field. Four years later Adi and his brother Rudolph (Rudi) founded the German sports shoe company  Gebrà ¼der Dassler OHG- later known as  Adidas. T By 1925 the Dasslers were making leather  shoes  with nailed studs and track shoes with hand-forged spikes. Beginning with the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, Adis uniquely designed shoes began to gain a worldwide reputation.  Jesse Owens  was wearing a pair of Dasslers track shoes when he won four gold medals for the US  at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. At the time of his death in 1959, Dassler held over 700 patents related to sports shoes and other athletic equipment. In 1978, he was inducted into the American Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame as one of the founders of the modern sporting goods industry. The Dassler Brothers and World War II During the war, both Dassler brothers were members of the NSDAP (The National Socialist German Workers Party)  and eventually even produced a weapon called Panzerschreck an anti-tank bazooka, made with the help of forced labor. The Dasslers both joined the Nazi Party prior to the war, and Adi supplied shoes to the Hitler Youth movement, and to German athletes at the 1936 Olympics. Its also believed that Adi Dassler used Russian prisoners of war to help at his factory during the war since there was a labor shortage due to the war effort. The Dasslers had a falling out during the war; Rudolf believed Adi had identified him as a traitor to American forces. In 1948, Rudi founded what would later become Puma, a rival shoe company to Adidas. Adidas in the Modern Era In the 1970s, Adidas was the top athletic shoe brand sold in the US. Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier were both wearing Adidas boxing shoes in their Fight of the Century in 1971. Adidas was named the official supplier for the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. Although still a strong, well-known brand today, Adidas share of the world sports shoe market dropped over the years, and what began as a German family business is now a corporation (Adidas-Salomon AG) combined with the French global concern Salomon. In 2004 Adidas bought Valley Apparel Company, a U.S. company that held licenses for outfitting more than 140 U.S. college athletic teams. In 2005 Adidas announced that it was purchasing the American shoemaker Reebok, which allowed it to compete more directly with Nike in the U.S. But the Adidas world headquarters are still located in Adi Dasslers hometown of Herzogenaurach. They also have an ownership stake in German soccer club 1. FC Bayern Mà ¼nchen.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

How to Make Homemade Liquid Nitrogen

How to Make Homemade Liquid Nitrogen You can make your own homemade liquid nitrogen using readily available materials. Its not really liquid nitrogen, however, but cryogenic-temperature alcohol. Chilled alcohol can be used for many liquid nitrogen projects, such as freezing flowers or other materials. It is not suitable for ice cream or anything edible. Also, although this poor mans liquid nitrogen is very cold, it doesnt vaporize off your skin like true liquid nitrogen, meaning it can give you frostbite very easily. Avoid skin contact and use all the safety precautions you would use with nitrogen. Homemade Liquid Nitrogen Materials dry ice99% rubbing alcohol or methanol (lower percentage will work but youll get a gelatinous cryo-fluid)plastic container (dont use glass because extreme temperature changes may cause it to shatter) Prepare the Homemade Liquid Nitrogen Youve got two ways to do this. Pour the alcohol into a plastic container and nest this container inside a bucket of dry ice.Alternatively, you can pour the alcohol directly over the dry ice. This is easier, but you wont have control over the temperature of the dry ice, so its possible your alcohol will freeze. Use the homemade liquid nitrogen simulant to super-cool science projects or chill materials. If you dont use all of the liquid at one time, you can store it in the freezer or an insulated cooler to help it last longer. If the alcohol warms up, you can re-chill it using more dry ice. After the project is completed, the rubbing alcohol will remain useful for its normal purpose and may be returned to its container.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Efficiency of Cloud Computing Data Centers Thesis

Efficiency of Cloud Computing Data Centers - Thesis Example the respective organization, whereas, cloud computing is referred to as the ‘public cloud’ since it is available for use by any individual who might need instantaneous computing capability. This innovative concept has even leaped the performance level of data centers to a new level and has reduced costs for independent developers and organizations. 2. Background Information Warr (2009) stated that cloud computing is also referred to as ‘Platform as a Service’ (PaaS) since developers use it as a platform to run their applications or even develop them from scratch without investing in the acquisition of the required operating system or server hardware. Another name that is used for this concept is ‘Infrastructure as a Service’ (IaaS); it includes the dynamic usage of CPUs, virtual servers, network, storage, systems software etc. Software as a service (SaaS) is another type of cloud computing that provides access to software to users on their need basis while the software runs on the vendor’s side of the data centers. The conventional mode of using the software requires the installation of the software on the user’s computer but this latest technology requires no such installation. Since many decades, internet users have been availing the service of uploading their documents and pictures on the internet by different services like Flickr, Snapfish etc; this concept has enabled the people to save their data ‘on the cloud’. The latest concept of cloud computing is far more usable, scalable and efficient for individual developers and organizations. 2.1 Criteria of Effective Performance Rajan (2011) provided some relevant characteristics that can be helpful to... This paper stresses that the conventional enterprise data centers have been found to possess several limitations and constraints that make their adoption difficult. Enterprise data centers constitute a limited storage capacity and much capital is needed to increase the scale of the data centers. Cloud computing data centers offer the level of scalability that facilitates almost unlimited expansion of the IT infrastructure. The cost of the cloud computing service is dependent on the usage of the requested resources therefore proves to cut costs by significant numbers. The adoption of this technology provides freedom in terms of maintenance and regular updates of the data center software and platforms. This report makes a conclusion that cloud computing data centers promote mobility since they can be accessed from anywhere on the web. Therefore, it can be concluded that cloud computing data centers prove to be effective in typical and atypical business conditions but fall short in the security area. The innovative techniques to improve the physical conditions of the data centers have benefitted the organizations, as well as the society since lesser energy is being consumed from the resources of the planet. Containerized servers, innovative data center designs, evaporative cooling, free-cooling are some of the techniques that have played their role in the reduction of PUE. The uauthor talks that the security standards of cloud computing shall be analyzed in detail for their effectiveness and the rate at which they are being adapted by the respective providers. Data encryption mechanisms shall also be studied that have been adapted by different organizations to improve the cloud comp uting services.

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Opportunities for the Multinational Enterprise Term Paper

Opportunities for the Multinational Enterprise - Term Paper Example The meaning of Globalisation can easily be interpreted from the word itself. It is nothing but going international. When people realized that they cannot survive from the resources that they had available in their vicinity, they began exchanging goods with their neighbors, which got expanded to exchange with other countries, organizations, etc. This exchange of goods for goods, or the Barter system, gradually turned into import and export of goods mainly based on availability, or technically the lack thereof, which brought about this whole cycle. When focused from an overall perspective, the term globalization is something, as part of which common people, organizations, etc interact among themselves in different spheres of their lives, including cultural sphere, financial sphere, etc, etc.. â€Å"Globalization may be thought of as the widening, deepening and speeding up of worldwide interconnectedness in all aspects of contemporary social life, from the cultural to the criminal, the financial to the spiritually.† (Wiley, Nandi and Shahidullah 1998, p.21). Although from the above definition, one can infer that globalization can be referred to any form of global integration or interaction, the fact, it is mainly used with an economic perspective and multinational business, and the resultant interaction between organizations particularly Multinational Companies (MNC). The term ‘globalisation’ involves increasing volume and variety of cross-border transactions in goods and services, free international capital flows and more rapid and widespread diffusion of technology. To make things simpler, we can say that Globalisation is a process of rapid integration of countries particularly MNCs, and how those companies utilizing opportunities in a particular market or another country, enter it to do business or another process there. On the other hand, critics of Globalisation emphasize the ensuing debate regarding the roles and relationships of corporat ions and the country’s citizens in maximizing economic development and social welfare. There appears quite a number of challenges for the MNCs while doing business in new markets as part of the globalization. So, this paper first discussing the main forces driving the globalization process, will explain the opportunities and then the challenges that globalization presents to multinational businesses. Forces driving the globalization process As the various trade and other barriers between the countries got broken, MNCs, using the globalization plank, have entered and are entering into different business sectors. This entry of MNCs into various territories to do business was not a new phenomenon, but an age-old phenomenon, which happened under the guise of imperialism. From time immemorial, various geographical territories, as well as nations, have been indulging in business with one another, to fulfill their product or service wants and shortages, as well as to garner good fin ances through product sale and thereby strengthening their economies. Even the British entered Indian subcontinent to do business under the tag of British East India Company. This form of trade has been going on for many centuries, however, certain countries in different points of their history have put certain restrictions on trade with other countries or enterprises due to political, financial as well as other social reasons. That is, this trade based entry started transforming into imperialism, as the European and other Western powers, tapping the weakness of the Asian and African ruling powers, eventually captured the nations’ territories and started to rule them. This set a bad precedent, and after independence many countries started actualizing a protectionist regime, preventing or restricting entry of foreign organizations. These countries or territories did not allow the entry of foreign companies as well as its products and even went to the extent of preventing its o wn companies to do any business with the foreign companies.

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Learned Helplessness Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Learned Helplessness - Term Paper Example The study also revealed that four components of ORS are very much related to LH namely: role ambiguity, role expectation conflict, role isolation and self-role distance. These components are caused by unclear structures, lack of job description, specification and analysis, improper placement, inadequate communication, overlapping role expectations and lack of team effort. The results also showed that the higher the LH, the higher the ORS and vice versa. From the findings of the study, it was determined that the role of the human resource management is crucial in adopting changes to reduce the stress and LH of employees in NGOs. Some of these steps include an improvement of the communication system to clearly define the vision and mission of the organization, introduction of a framework for remuneration and a restructuring of the organization to clearly identify roles of each employee (Sha & Pethe, 2004). According to the study, if management is able to implement the suggested changes , they can reduce the stress and LH of the employees and eventually increase their morale and motivation. Learned Helplessness in Sport by Harry Prapavessis & Albert V.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Two Middle Range Theory Evaluation Paper

Two Middle Range Theory Evaluation Paper The purpose of this paper is to evaluate two middle range theories abilities to test the concept of comfort for the practice question Do neonatal nurses who care for dying infants who attend an end of life care educational training program compared to neonatal nurses who do not attend the program experience a difference in comfort levels (Comfort Level for Caring for Dying Infants (CLCDI)) when caring for a dying infant? A summary of two middle range theories the Comfort Theory (Kolcaba, 1994) and the Theory of Self-Efficacy (Resnick, xxxx) will be summarized and then critiqued using Smith and Liehrs (xxxx) Framework for Evaluating Middle Range Theory. The discussion will conclude with a summary of strengths and weakness of the theories and a research hypothesis to reflect that reflects the most appropriate theories conceptual definitions and propositions. Introduction Background Despite nurses as frontline caregivers for dying patients and their families many nurses have identified that they struggle with the responding adequately to the emotional devastation to parents and siblings when caring for a neonate with an unresolved terminal condition (Frommet, 1991). With the advances in neonatal care and life sustaining treatments, sick and very preterm infants do not often die in utero, at birth, or shortly after birth, but instead they often live much longer in a healthcare paradigm of comfort care and dignified death. This relatively new emersion of the end of life model integrates a more holistic approach which considers a more comprehensive view of the patients needs (emotional, spiritual, and medical) (Mallory, 2002; Mallory, 2003; WHO, 2002). With this paradigm shift, health care professionals are obligated to assess the adequacy of their own knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about death and dying. Multiple studies regarding nurses preparation for dealing with death and dying have consistently found that nurses that nurses do not feel educationally prepared to care for dying patients and insist that healthcare professionals should receive additional education on end of life care to bridge the deficit gap (Frommet, 1991; Robinson, 2004; White, Coyne, Patel, 2001; Beckstrand, Callister, Kirchhoff, 2006). These findings have led to a further observation that nurses caring for these complex patients regularly experience moral distress from competing principles of their personal, collegial, organizational, and religious/spiritual ethics (Frommet, 1991). Practice Problem To help ease this moral distress an evidence based end-of -life educational training program for NICU nurses has been successfully implemented in several neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) to increase the nurses comfort level of caring for neonates and their families at the end of life (Bagbi, Rogers, Gomez, McMahon, 2008). To determine if an evidence based end of life educational program impacts nurses comfort levels in caring for dying infants and their families a question was developed using the population (P) intervention (I) compared to (C) outcome (O) format (Newhouse, Dearhold, 1997). The following discussion will focus on this PICO question Do neonatal nurses who care for dying infants who attend an end of life care educational training program compared to neonatal nurses who do not attend the program experience a difference in comfort levels (Comfort Level for Caring for Dying Infants (CLCDI)) when caring for a dying infant? During the intervention a monthly 1 hour, neo natal end of life education program will be conducted over a 6 month period of time based on research about what nurses would like to know about caring for a dying infant (Robinson, 2004). For the purpose of this problem, comfort is defined as the ability of the NICU nurse(s) to show adequate knowledge and skills in providing neonatal end of life care for dying babies and their families. For this problem comfort will be measured as a score on the ordinal scale of Comfort Level Caring for Dying Infants (CLCDI). The instrument consisting of 15 items, measured on a 5 point Likert type scale equates scores of 1=never; 2=rarely; 3=sometimes; 4=often, 5=always measures the level of comfort a NICU nurse has caring for dying infants as opposed to their perception toward pediatric or neonatal end of life care (Bagbi, Rogers, Gomez, and McMahon, 2008). In evaluating the score, the higher the reported score the greater level of comfort NICU nurses have in caring for dying babies. Testing the Concept of Comfort A portion of Kolbacas (1991) Theory of Comfort and Resnicks (2008) Theory of Self-Efficacy, two middle range theories, will be used to test the concept of comfort for providing an organizing structure. Based on previous studies about nurses comfort when caring for patients, propositions five and six of Kolbacas Theory of Comfort seem to be a promising fit for this problem (Kolbaca, 1991, Kolbaca, XXX). These propositions collectively propose that patients, nurses, and other members of the healthcare team agree upon desirable and realistic health seeking behaviors (HSBs) and if enhanced comfort is achieved, patients, family members, and/or nurses are strengthened to engage in HSBs, comfort is further enhanced (Kolbaca, 1991). However, comfort as defined conceptually in this case as knowledge and skill can alternatively be equated with a sense of competence or self-efficacy of the NICU nurse to care for a dying infant and their family. There are many examples in the nursing literature linking self-efficacy to knowledge and skill (xxxx, xxxxx).) Self-efficacy, knowledge, and skills are also central to Banduras theory, which is the basis for Resnicks (xxxx) Self-Efficacy theory. Self-efficacy as described in Resnicks (xxxx) Theory of Self-Efficacy for this context is described as the judgment about the nurses ability to organize and execute a course of action required to attain designated types of performances. The theory states that perceived self-efficacy, defined as the individuals judgment of his or her capabilities to organize and execute courses of action, is a determinant of performance (Resnick, xxxx). Self-efficacy beliefs provide the foundation for human motivation, well-being, and personal accomplishment (Resnick, xxxx). According to Resnick (XXXX) theory individuals with higher levels of self-efficacy for a specific behavior (caring for a dying infant) are more likely to attempt that behavior. There are many examples in the literature using the Theory o f Self-Efficacy to support nursing education interventions (xxxxx, xxxxx). For these reasons, Resnicks Theory of Self-Efficacy (xxx) will be used to test the concept of nurses comfort or knowledge and skill (self-efficacy) in caring for dying infants and their families. The purpose of the following discussion is to summarize, describe, analyze, and evaluate these theories using the Framework for the Evaluation of Middle Range Theories (Smith, 2008) and conclude with a synthesis and research hypothesis to reflect conceptual definitions and propositions of the theory with the best fit. Theory Summaries: Comfort and Self-Efficacy Kolcabas Comfort Theory The Comfort Theory is a humanistic, holistic, patient need based nursing derived middle range theory (Kolbaca, xxxx). The concept of comfort has had a historic and consistent presence in nursing. In the early 1900s , comfort was considered to be a goal for both nursing and medicine, as it was believed that comfort led to recovery (McIlveen Morse, 1995). Over time comfort has become an increasingly minor focus, at times reserved only for those patients for whom no further medical treatment options are available (McIlveen Morse, 1995). The term comfort is used as a noun (comforter), adjective (comforting), verb (to comfort), or adverb (comfort the patient) (xxx). It is also used as a negative (absence of discomfort), neutral (ease), or positive (hope inspiring). Webster (1990) defines comfort as relief from distress; to soothe in sorrow or distress; a person or thing that comforts; a state of ease and quiet enjoyment free from worry; anything that makes life easy; and the lessening of misery or grief by calming or inspiring with hope. The origin of comfort is confortrare which means to strengthen greatly(Kolcaba, 1992). Based on the diversity of these terms comfort is a complex term. Kolcabas (1991) concept analysis of comfort helped to clarify the role of comfort as a holistic concept for nursing. This review confirmed that comfort is a positive concept and is associated with activities that nurture and strengthen patients (David, 2002). Over a period of years and revisions Kolcaba (1994) developed the comfort the ory which continues to evolve and change with changes as recent as 2007 (Figure 2). Kolcaba (1994, 2001, 2003) has defined comfort as the immediate state of being strengthened through having the human needs for relief, ease, and transcendence addressed in four contexts of experience (physical, psychospiritual, sociocultural, and environmental). The terms relief, ease, and transcendence are types of comfort that occur physically and mentally (Figure 2). The terms are defined based on definitions from medicine, theology, ergonomics, psychology, and nursing (Kolcaba Kolcaba, 1991). Relief is the state of having a discomfort mitigated or alleviated. Ease is the absence of specific discomforts. Transcendence is the ability to rise above discomforts when they cannot be eradicated or avoided (e.g., the child feels confident about ambulation although (s)he knows it will exacerbate pain). Transcendence, as a type of comfort, accounts for its strengthening property and reminds nurses to never give up helping their children and family members feel comforted. Interventions for increasing transcendence can be targeted to improving the environment, increasing social support, or providing reassurance. The three types of comfort occur in four contexts of experience: physical, psychospiritual, sociocultural, and environmental. These contexts were derived from an extensive review of the nursing literature on holism (Kolcaba, 1992). When the three types of comfort are juxtaposed with the four contexts of experience, a 12-cell grid is created, which is called a taxonomic structure (TS) (Figure 1) . Taken together, these cells represent all relevant aspects (defining attributes) of comfort for nursing and demonstrate the holistic nature of comfort as an important goal of care. All comfort needs can be placed somewhere on the taxonomic structure, and the cells are not mutually exclusive. A sample pediatric case study using the TS as a guide for a holistic comfort assessment is demonstrated below (see Figure 1). The concepts for the middle range for Comfort Theory include comfort needs, comfort interventions, intervening variables, enhanced comfort, health-seeking behaviors, and institutional integrity (Kolcaba, 1994). All of these concepts are relative to patients, families, and nurses (Kolcaba, 2003; Kolcaba, Tilton, Drouin, 2006). There are eight propositions which link the above concepts together. All or parts of the Comfort Theory can be tested for research (Peterson Bredow, 2010). In the comfort theory, Kolcaba asserts that when healthcare needs of a patient are appropriately assessed and proper nursing interventions carried out to address those needs, taking into account variables intervening in the situation, the outcome is enhanced patient comfort over time (Kolcaba, 2007). Once comfort is enhanced, the patient is likely to increase health-seeking behaviors. These behaviors may be internal to the patient (eg, wound healing or improved oxygenation), external to the patient (eg, active participation in rehabilitation exercises), or a peaceful death. Furthermore, Kolcaba asserted that when a patient experiences health-seeking behaviors, the integrity of the institution is subsequently increased because the increase in health-seeking behaviors will result in improved outcomes. Increased institutional integrity lends itself to the development and implementation of best practices and best policies secondary to the positive outcomes experienced by patients (Kolcab a, 2007). To translate the concepts to practice the effectiveness of a holistic intervention can be targeted to the taxonomic structure for enhancing comfort in a specific patient, family, or nurse population over time. Holistic comfort is defined as the immediate experience of being strengthened through having the needs for relief, ease, and transcendence met in four contexts of experience (physical, psychospiritual, social, and environmental).The comfort theory has been operationalized in many research settings with a variety of patient and target populations ranging from end of life care to the comfort of nurses (xxxx). Resnick Theory of Self-Efficacy Self efficacy is described as a way to organize an individuals judgment of his or her capability to execute a course of action. The Theory of Self-efficacy states that self-efficacy expectations and outcome expectations are not only influenced by behavior, but also verbal encouragement, reflective thinking, physiological sensations and role or self-modeling (Bandura, 1995).. Through self evaluation an individual judges their capability to perform and established self expectations which is visually depicted in the conceptual model (Appendix 2) (Resnick, 2008). Resnicks Theory of Self Efficacy is based on Banduras social cognitive theory and conceptualizes person-behavior-environment as triadic reciprocity the foundation for reciprocal determinism (Bandura, 1977, 1986). Most of the research into self-efficacy beliefs among older adults has been quantitative and has consistently supported the influence of those beliefs on behavior. However, it has not been established how efficacy beliefs actually influence motivation in older adults, or what sources of efficacy-enhancing information help strengthen those beliefs. Kolcabas Comfort Theory: Description, Analysis, and Evaluation Theory Description Historical context. The Comfort Theory is a humanistic, holistic, patient need based nursing derived middle range theory (Kolbaca, xxxx). The concept of comfort has had a historic and consistent presence in nursing. In the early 1900s , comfort was considered to be a goal for both nursing and medicine, as it was believed that comfort led to recovery (McIlveen Morse, 1995). Over time comfort has become an increasingly minor focus, at times reserved only for those patients for whom no further medical treatment options are available (McIlveen Morse, 1995). The term comfort is used as a noun (comforter), adjective (comforting), verb (to comfort), or adverb (comfort the patient) (xxx). It is also used as a negative (absence of discomfort), neutral (ease), or positive (hope inspiring). Webster (1990) defines comfort as relief from distress; to soothe in sorrow or distress; a person or thing that comforts; a state of ease and quiet enjoyment free from worry; anything that makes life easy; and the lessening of misery or grief by calming or inspiring with hope. The origin of comfort is confortrare which means to strengthen greatly(Kolcaba, 1992). Based on the diversity of these terms comfort is a complex term. Kolcabas (1991) concept analysis of comfort helped to clarify the role of comfort as a holistic concept for nursing. This review confirmed that comfort is a positive concept and is associated with activities that nurture and strengthen patients (David, 2002). Over a period of years and revisions Kolcaba (1994) developed the comfort the ory which continues to evolve and change with changes as recent as 2007 (Figure 2). Structural Components. Assumptions. Kolcabas Theory of Comfort (1994) makes four basic assumptions about reality. She assumes that humans beings have holistic responses to complex stimuli; comfort is a desirable holistic state that is germane to the discipline of nursing; human beings actively strive to meet, or to have met, their basic comfort needs, and that comfort is more than the absence of pain, anxiety, and other physical discomforts (Kolcaba , 2009). Concepts. Kolcaba defines six concepts of comfort which are relative to patients, families, and nurses (Table 1) . The term family, as defined by Kolcaba (2003) encompasses significant others as determined by the patient (Kolcaba, 2003; Kolcaba, Tilton Drouin, 2006). The first concept is of comfort needs which is the relief/ease/transcendence in physical, psychospiritual, sociocultural and environmental contexts of human experience. Comfort interventions in the model are defined as interventions of the health care team specifically targeting comfort of the patient, family and nurses. Intervening variables are positive or negative factors over which the health care team has little control, including physical limitations of the hospital or patients home, cultural influences, socioeconomic factors, prognosis, concurrent medical or psychological conditions. Health-seeking behaviors are those behaviors of patient, family or nurses (conscious or unconscious) which promote well-being; may b e internal, external or towards promoting a peaceful death. The final concept, institutional integrity, added in most recently, are values, financial stability and wholeness of health care facilities at the local state or national levels. Propositions. To help test the concept of nurses comfort caring for dying infants, propositions five and six of Kolcabas comfort theory are examined. These propositions state that patients, nurses, and other members of the healthcare team agree upon desirable and realistic health seeking behaviors (HSBs) (five) and if enhanced comfort is achieved, patients, family members, and/or nurses are strengthened to engage in HSBs, which further enhances comfort (six). These propositions provide rationale for why nurses and other health care professionals should focus on the patient, family, or in this case the nurses comfort beyond altruistic reasons. Because health seeking behaviors include internal and external behaviors almost any health-related outcome important in a healthcare setting can be classified as a health seeking behavior (Peterson Bredow, 2010). The desirable and realistic health seeking behavior (HSB) for this study is nurses comfort (knowledge and skills) to relieve moral di stress in caring for a dying infant and their family. Several studies support that moral and other types of distress are frequently observed in nurses who care for dying infants (Frommet, 1991) and most importantly indicate that nurses are seeking education regarding patient end of life issues (XXXXX). It is believed that reducing this distress and frustration can be affected through an effective end of life educational programs and is likely to improve the knowledge and skills nurses need to help increase their comfort level in caring for dying infants (xxxxx). Functional Components. Visualizing the concepts in the conceptual model, the Theory Analysis and Evaluation To analyze and evaluate Kolcabas Comfort Theory (1994) the substantive foundation, structural integrity, and functional adequacy of the theory using Smith and Liehrs (2008) Framework for the Evaluation of Middle Range Theories is discussed below (Appendix 1). Substantive foundations. Assessing the substantive foundation of a middle range theory is based on four criteria (Smith, 2003). The first criterion evaluates whether the theory is within the focus of the discipline of nursing. Kolcabas comfort theory successfully addresses four concepts comprising the metaparadigm of nursing, defining the concepts as they correspond to the theory (Dowd, 2002; Kolbaca, 2007) as well as presents a diagram of how the Comfort Theory relates theoretically to other nursing concepts (Figure 2) (Kolcaba, 1994) . Nursing is described as the process of assessing the patients comfort needs, developing and implementing appropriate nursing interventions, and evaluating patient comfort following nursing interventions. Person is described as the recipient of nursing care; the patient may be an individual, family, institution, or community. Environment is considered to be the external surroundings of the patient and can be manipulated to increase patient comfort. Fi nally, health is viewed as the optimum functioning of the patient as they define it. The ability of the framework to suggest interventions that help guide nursing interventions to increase comfort supports the discipline of nursing, and in doing so meeting the first criteria. The second criterion evaluates whether the assumptions are specified and congruent with the focus. The four assumptions in the Comfort Theory are explicitly stated and so meet the second criteria. Comfort theory (xxxx) assumes that humans beings have holistic responses to complex stimuli; comfort is a desirable holistic state that is germane to the discipline of nursing; human beings actively strive to meet, or to have met, their basic comfort needs, and that comfort is more than the absence of pain, anxiety, and other physical discomforts (Kolcaba , 2009). Because the Comfort Theory (XXXX) substantially describes the concept of comfort at the middle range level of discourse, the third criterion of the substantive foundation is met. Kolcabas (1991) concept analysis of comfort helped to clarify the role of comfort as a holistic concept for nursing. This review confirmed that comfort is a positive concept and is associated with activities that nurture and strengthen patients (David, 2002). The Comfort Theory provides an excellent description, explanation, and interpretation of the comfort concept in multiple domains and practice settings. Comfort theory is at the middle range level in that is defined in a measurable way and can be operationalized in both research and practice settings. The final criterion for this category evaluates if the origins are rooted in practice and research experience. The Comfort Theory has been used in numerous practice and research settings to provide a framework where patients have comfort needs and enhancing their comfort is valued. It has also been used to enhance working environments, especially for nurses, and most recently as a framework for working toward national institutional recognitions. More specifically parts are all of the theory have been used to test the effectiveness of holistic interventions for increasing comfort (xxxxxxx), to demonstrate the correlation between comfort and subsequent HSBs (xxxxx) and to relate HSBs to desirable institutional outcomes. It has also been used as a framework for helping families make difficult decisions about end of life (xxxxx). International and national healthcare institutions have also used Comfort Theory to enhance the work environment for nurses (xxxx). In these cases, nurses comfo rt is of interest and is theoretically related to the integrity of the institution. Summarize specific studies and tools used here. Structural integrity. There are four criterion for evaluating structural integrity. The first criterion is that the concepts are well defined. The concepts (defined above) of comfort needs, comfort interventions, intervening variables, enhanced comfort, health-seeking behaviors, and institutional integrity are clearly defined and easy to understand. There are numerous examples of applying the concepts in the literature for further clarification (xxxxx). The second criterion of structural integrity is that concepts within the theory are at the middle range level of abstraction. The concepts of the Comfort Theory-comfort needs, comfort interventions, intervening variables, enhanced comfort, health seeking behaviors, and institutional integrity are near the same level on the ladder of abstraction at the middle range level. They are more concrete because they can and have been operationalized and measured (xxxxx). The third criterion of structural integrity is that there are no more concepts than needed to explain the phenomena. Overall, the concepts adequately explain the phenomena of comfort. The theory is synthesized and organized in a simple manner. Lastly, the fourth criterion evaluates whether the concepts and relationships among the concepts are logically presented with a model. In the Comfort Theory (1994) model the ideas are integrated to create an understanding of the whole phenomenon of comfort in a model. The Comfort Theory (1994) model is a great example of presenting the concepts and statements in a linear logical order so the appreciation of the theory can be recognized (Smith, 2003). Functional adequacy. Because the criterion for functional adequacy overlap somewhat the five criterion will be discussed collectively. The five criterion include: theory can be applied to a variety of practice environments and clients; empirical indicators have been identified; published examples exist of research and theory in practice; and that the theory has evolved through scholarly inquiry. The Comfort Theory easily meets all of these criterions. For example, the Comfort Theory has been used widely in a variety of research in practice settings and patient and family populations. Even though the Comfort Theory has been used most widely with patients and families at the end of life and surrounding holistic palliative care nursing interventions, there has been a broad application of the theory in other populations as well including mothers in labor (xxxx), Alzheimer patients (xxxx), pediatric intensive care unit patients and families (xxxx), patients on bedrest (xxxx), those underg oing radiation therapy (xxxx) and for infants comfort and pain (xxxx). Most recently research of using the theory in practice has expanded to support institutional nursing recognition and comfort in the nursing working environment. In each of the populations mentioned above a psychometric comfort instrument has been developed as empirical indicators of concepts in the theory. However, the empirical indicators extend beyond empiricism and some include perceptions, self reports, observable behaviors and biological indicators (Ford-Gibloe, Campbell, Berman, 1995; Reed, 1995). The Comfort Theory (1994) has also been revised with the latest revision in 2007. The empirical adequacy of the Comfort Theory is evidence of the maturity of this theory (Smith, 2003). Summary The Comfort Theory (1994) is a well defined and well tested theory. Its strength lies in the versatility, adaptability, and testability of the concepts. The comfort theory clearly defines the concepts in the theory and the relationship between them. Because the comfort theory meets most of the substantitive foundations, structural integrity, and functional adequacy criteria the Comfort Theory (1994) is a strong middle range theory. An area that could increase the generalizability especially for nursing institutions is a change in the term in the model of nursing interventions to comfort interventions (xxxxx). Resnicks Self-Efficacy Theory: Description, Analysis, and Evaluation Theory Description Historical context. Resnicks Theory of Self Efficacy is based on Banduras social cognitive theory and conceptualizes person-behavior-environment as triadic reciprocity the foundation for reciprocal determinism (Bandura, 1977, 1986). The cognitive appraisal of these factors results in a perception of a level of confidence in the individuals ability to perform a certain behavior. The positive performance of this behavior reinforces self-efficacy expectations (Bandura, 1995). Structural Components. Although it is not explicitly stated, the core of this theory assumes that people can consciously change and develop or control their behavior. This is important to the proposition that self-efficacy also can be changed or enhanced through reflective thought, general knowledge, skills to perform a specific behavior, and self influence. This perspective is rooted in the model of triadic reciprocality (foundation for reciprocal determinism) in which personal determinants (self-efficacy), environmental conditions (treatment conditions) and action (practice) are mutually interactive influences. Therefore, improving performance depends on changing some of these influences (Bandura, 1977). In order to determine self-efficacy an individual must have the opportunity for self evaluation to evaluate how likely it is he or she can achieve a given level of performance. Concepts. The two major components of self efficacy include self-efficacy expectations and outcome expectations (Table 2). Self-efficacy expectations are judgments about the personal ability to accomplish a given task. Outcome expectations are judgments about what will happen if a given task is accomplished. These two components are differentiated because individuals can believe a certain behavior will result in a specific outcome, however, they may not believe they are capable of performing the behavior required for the outcome to occur (Bandura 1977, 1986). For example, a NICU nurse may believe attending an end of life education series will increase his/her knowledge and skill and ease moral distress, but may not believe that they could provide sensitive care for some ethical, religious, or moral reason. It is generally anticipated, but not always realistic that self-efficacy will have a positive impact on behavior. There are times when self-efficacy will have no or a negative impa ct on performance (Vancouver, Thomspon, Williams, 2001). Bandura (1977, 1986, 1997) suggests that outcome expectations are based largely on the individuals self-efficacy expectations, which generally depend on their judgment about how well they can perform the behavior; can be disassociated with self-efficacy expectations; and are partially separable from self-efficacy judgments when extrinsic outcomes are fixed. Because the outcomes an individual expects are the results of the judgments about what he or she can accomplish, they are unlikely to contribute to predictions of behavior (Bandura, 1977). Judgments about ones self-efficacy is based on four informational sources including enactive attainment, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion and physiological state. The first source, enactive attainment, or the actual performance of a behavior has been described as the most influential source of self-efficacy information (Bandura, 1986,; Bandura Adams, 1977). There has been repeated empirical evidence that actually performing an activity strengthens self-efficacy beliefs due to informational sources (Bandura, 1995). The second source, vicarious experience or visualizing other similar people perform a behavior, also influence self-efficacy (Bandura, Adams, Hardy, Howells, 1980). Conditions that impact vicarious experience include amount of exposure or experience to the behavior (least experience causes greater impact) and amount of instruction given (influence of others is greater with unclear guidelines) (Resnick Galik, 2006). Another source verbal persuasion or exhortation i nvolves telling an individual he or she has the capabilities to master the given behavior. Verbal encouragement from a trusted, credible source in counseling or education form has been used alone to strengthen efficacy expectations (Castro, King, Brassington, 2001; Hitunen et al. 2005; Moore et al., 2006; Resnick, Simpson, et al., 2006). The final information source physiological feedback or state during a behavior can be important in relation to coping with stressors, health functioning, and physical accomplishments. Interventions can be used to alter the interpretation of physiological feedback and help individuals cope with physical sensations, enhancing self efficacy and resulting in improved performance (Bandura Adams, 1977). Propositions. To help test the concept of nurses comfort caring for dying infa