Performance management and control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Performance management and control - Essay Example Every day, 8 hours are spent producing the soaps, and the producer can produce Yellow soaps at the rate of 40 per hour, and the Blue soaps at the rate of 80 per hour. Each of the Yellow soaps attracts a profit of $5 and $3 for the Blue soap. We are going to use linear programming technique to find out the number of Yellow and Blue soaps that should be produced in order to maximise the profits. 1. The selling price can be increased; however, care should be taken so this strategy does not lead reduction in sales volume. If the selling price is increased without affecting the sales volume significantly, then the contribution sales ratio is increased directly. 2. Reduction of variable costs per unit can lead to a better contribution sales ratio. This can be achieved by acquiring inputs at cheaper prices; for example by buying in large qualities in order to enjoy quantity

Harry Lavender Essay Essay Example for Free

Harry Lavender Essay Essay All characters have their own distinctive voices but the main voice is Cluadia Valentine and she makes all other characters involved in her search to find the real truth of the crime that has been committed to Mark Bannister. Claudia Valentine is drawn into Harry Lavenders web of corruption and the world of organised crime behind Sydneys established image. Marele Days choice to take the traditional hardboiled private investigator approach and not only challenge the stereotyping of characters but also the common setting, from somewhere such as Los Angeles to Sydney. She also brings about many new ideas in relation to characters and themes. The relationships between characters, themes and setting provide a strong message, which at first appearances are tricky and unusual. It is also apparent that the common issue of the good versus evil is explored through both the two sides of the city and the characters of Claudia Valentine and Harry Lavender. The characters may live and breath the city but the city too is living and breathing, every moment unfolding new beauty and new corruption. Marele Days choice of  Sydney as a plot setting is vital to the novel and provokes a reaction in the reader that is one of discovery, exploration and search for truth. In Harry Lavender text, lavender is a sweet smelling flower, which is unable to hide the stench of the criminal underworld in Sydney. There are three references to ‘lavender’ in the novel which emphasise a recurring theme: when Claudia receives the flowers, the secret message that was left for Claudia, the scent of lavender in bloom in Sydney, the clues in the coroner report that lead her to suspect that Harry Lavender might be behind this crime  committed over the reporter’s story. Claudia’s distinctive voice gives the impression throughout â€Å"The life and Crimes of Harry Lavender† that she does not give up easily, which is ultimately her character. Claudia is very analytical in any situation when meeting characters or being exposed to different environments, â€Å"The city looks like a huge building site†. In the â€Å"Drifter† the entire family does not agree with the idea of leaving just for the sake of leaving. The mother, for example the â€Å"her† of the first line has hopes of establishing some permanence here. She is willing to leave in order  to be supportive of the father, which is an aspect of their relationship that is clear in the poem’s first line, when a major decision for the family is made by him alone, without discussion, and told to her. What makes this two text connected are the distinctive roles, that is the role of reversal a female initiative and persistence in a traditional male dominated field; women can do everything men can do challenges the stereotypes of traditional crime fiction and the story of â€Å"Drifters†. Claudia is a domineering character as a detective unlike traditionally male ones while the mother in â€Å"Drifters† is an independent woman, who takes care of herself and her family. Just like Claudia the mother in a way tends to observe in order to understand people. This can be seen in the use of â€Å"Wildly excited for no reason† in reference to her kids. Marele Day uses a lot of the technique of modern day films especially the â€Å"black and white† scenes on Harry Lavender. He is very detached and aloof, (nobody knows where is and what he looks like). We as the audience get to see and hear what Claudia could not get her hands on to solve the problems, like where Mark Banister’s writings on  Lavander are hidden. In contrast to the Harry Lavender text, the use of â€Å"One day soon hell tell her its time to start packing† shows us the obstacles of life experiences that are influenced by the great depression, families such as the one seen in â€Å"Drifter’s†. Claudia’s life becomes depressed and troubled because she cannot solve problems of crimes as fast as she would like to. Claudia contacts the American publisher, Nancy Grosz, who had rejected Mark’s book and arranges for her to return the only remaining disc containing the manuscript. She also phones Steve and plans a holiday with him to  Queensland where she hopes he will be able to meet her children. Just as Claudia is hoping to get close to the victory in this case, Collier gives her message that Harry Lavender has lapsed into a coma and is expected to die overnight. For Claudia this may be the end of the road but her investigation in life will go on. Similarly, hope and willingness to go on at all cost is seen in â€Å"Drifter’s† when mother’s hopes and wisdom of constant movement will give the opportunity to new chances, new ways of sustain the life of the whole family, we see at the end of the text, in the verse â€Å"Make a wish, Tom, make a wish†, which  symbolises her will to cope and accept the problems that are part of everyday life which is very similar to Claudia’s mindset . Although of different genres, â€Å"Harry Lavender† a crime story and â€Å"Drifters†, a poem, dearly portraying the struggles of the great depression in 1920s set in the American rural area, these two texts are connected by two women and their singularity in the struggle of not giving up. When compared, both texts are opening our minds to how singular and distinctive voices the main characters have, sending the message that life is very precious and is worth fighting for.

Ecodisc :: essays research papers

Ecodisc Ecodisc is a program which allows the user to take on the role of a Nature Reserve Manager. It was designed by a man named Peter Bratt, and Englishman in South Devon. Ecodisc is designed so that the user can see what effects certain changes can make on the environment with out actually making the changes. Ecodisc is a good educational tool showing new users the effects of certain decisions. It can also be used a map, because it lets you see various parts of the nature reserve without actually going there. Ecodisc allows the user to take on the role of a nature reserve manger, which is the person who basically decides what changes will be made to the nature reserve. With aid of the Ecodisc, the results of decisions can be shown without actually doing anything, or doing any harm to the environment. Ecodisc allows users to explore various parts of the nature reserve and view it from different positions. You can see the area from any direction (north, south, east or west), and even from a helicopter position. Ecodisc lets you see the areas of the reserve from any part of the year. For example, you could view the reserve in the middle of winter and see what it looks like in summer. Ecodisc is one of the first interactive programmes, and there are hopes of some day there being interactive broadcast television. This is a breakthrough in visual entertainment, because while television lets you see a place, interactive video will let you explore it. Interactive video is where the viewer decides the plot and characters of a movie, or show. The viewer will basically be able to write their own scripts and produce the movie at the same time. Ecodisc would be very good for showing students (or anyone) interested in managing nature reserves, working for national parks or just as an interest

JIL Church Attendance Monitoring System

The main purpose of this study is to develop a better attendance monitoring system in JIL Church in Iligan City. This study intends to fill such weaknesses of the proponents found. JIL Church Attendance Monitoring System maintains a daily record of a person’s arrival and departure time from Church. Time and attendance system are the modern day equivalent of the paper time sheet or attendance that are done manually.Through this system the leaders of the church that whose assign for the attendance sheet are they done without struggling for maintaining daily record of a person and makes it easy and fast for monitoring the attendance of every attendee. An Attendance Monitoring System serves as a time log that is set up as a computerized database. Using of this computerized database it can monitor the attendance of every person attends in church activity. There is a difference in recording keeping if that person is a first-timer or attendee or regular attendee. An attendance monito ring system for a person would contain attendee history, references and performance information.The system contains also the person's name, address, day, time, month and number of person’s attended that determined the level of her/his life-growth and the inviters. The system keeps records in order and is frequently updated. When seeking person’s information, the pastors can request certain reports to be printed from the attendance monitoring system even for the whole attendance of every activity for the whole month or for the whole year are automatically calculate every datails on that activity with necessary reports and information.Statement of the problem Statement of the problem†¢ Existing system to monitor attendance does not exist. JIL Church still doesn’t have a computerized system in their management . This computerized system make easier to JIL group leaders to manage the attendance problem and more systematic. †¢ Save time and keep data more s ecuredThe point here is to reduced time and ensure that the data is kept systemically and free from damage. †¢ Create a systemic and effective attendance monitoring system The management for the attendance process is not systemic because when using the manual system, there are lot of disadvantages and problems. They should replace the manual system to a computerized system to manage all the process properly.Objectives†¢ To provide a computerized system with high efficiency, error free and high quality services to the users concerning the attendance record. †¢ To build a system that can reduce the number of damage data. †¢ To build one system that helps the JIL group leader to makes his/her work easy and fast in attendance and accurate head counts.The existing attendance monitoring of JIL Church in Iligan City are done manually. This process of monitoring requires tremendous manual work. Based on interviews and observation, the following problems have been establi shed. Inaccurate head count.Slow processing and prone to alternation. Time-consuming of preparation of reports.General Problem The existing attendance monitoring of JIL Church are done manually and there is a possibility that all information will lost and disorder files.Objectives of the problemThis study is to design and develop a computer-based system for a better attendance monitoring system for YJ and Sunday Service of the JIL Church in Iligan City. The following are the solution for a better attendance monitoring. Through this system all attendees are have accurate head count. The attendees are easy to monitor.All reports of the whole week of a month are on time and updated .Scope and limitation of the study There are many branches in Jesus Is Lord Church in the Philippines but this study focus only in JIL Church in Iligan City, Area 54 where located at Tibanga, Iligan City.

Change Management †the One Right Way Essay

However the offer is often illusory, for particular change approaches usually apply to particular situations, and simple solutions sometimes ignore the complexities of real life. (Stace and Dunphy, 2001, p 5) To utilise a single change approach is to assume that all organisations, all situations and all internal and external variables and influences remain constant. It applies the same logic to all changes without consideration of the many and varied influencing factors. I generally agree with the statement presented by Stace and Dunphy but am interested in the reasons underlying the requirement for simple, easy and fast change interventions. Are managers and change agents lazy and only looking for simple solutions? Does management consider change unimportant? Do management really believe that a single solution is going to work in every case? What is behind this trend? Bold (2011) suggests that change itself is becoming the only constant or ‘business as usual’ in the modern business environment. With technological advancements over the past 10 years, organisation now have the ability to access, collect and process enormous amounts of business data very quickly. This has provided management with the ability to understand the current health of their organisational processes and track against set goals and targets quickly and accurately. Previously, managers may have waited for end of month or end of quarter reporting from all business units to be collated and presented to gain an accurate understanding of the current business position and gauge the results from previous decisions made. Now, when a manager wants to make a change, they want it implemented as soon as possible so they can assess the impact of the change. Due to the high amount of change occurring in modern organisations and management’s requirement for immediate solutions, I believe that pressure is placed onto the change agents to provide solutions, often without the resources or time to perform adequate analysis to plan and implement the best change approach. As Bold (2011) suggested, change is becoming ‘business as usual’ and management may expect change managers to be able to develop a change process (i. e. the one right way), in the way that other parts of the organisation develops other repeatable ‘business as usual’ processes. Corporate competencies for change management constitute the critical capacity that is needed to create a learning organisation which is flexible, dynamic and adaptable in a rapidly changing and volatile environment. (Turner and Crawford 1998) As recent as the 1990’s, research was being undertaken by Romanelli & Tushman (1994) that proposed an alternate viewpoint. Their punctuated equilibrium paradigm argues that relatively long periods of stability (equilibrium) are punctuated by short periods of more radical, revolutionary change. I believe that most organisational change researchers would now agree that this is no longer the case and further progression into the information age has meant that very few industries operate within a long term, stable business operating environment. Although many different change models and approaches have been developed by academics, consultants and practitioners, none has yet to be accepted as a standard that can be used for all change interventions. Bold (2011) argues that there is no right or wrong theory for change management. It is not an exact science. However, through the ongoing research and studies by the industry’s leading experts, a clearer picture of what it takes to lead a change effort effectively will continue to emerge. Andriopoulos & Dawson (2009) agree that in the case of organisational change, there remains considerable debate over the speed, direction and effects of change and on the most appropriate methods and concepts for understanding and explaining change. Kanter, Stein & Jick (1992) found that it would be very difficult for a single solution or approach to meet all the types of changes required and to take into account all of the required aspects as organisations are fluid entities. In an attempt to provide a more broad solution, Stace & Dunphy (2001) proposed a situational approach or framework for change. They argued that there is no single path to successful change implementation that holds true in all situations. This framework however has been criticised by Andriopoulos & Dawson (2009) for neglecting the role of organisational politics and the internal power relationships within organisations as shapers of the organisational change process. Pettigrew (1985) presented a holistic, contextual analysis approach providing a multi-level approach to encapsulate the complexities of change management. Pettigrew argued that strategic change is a continuous process with no clear beginning or end point. However, Buchanan and Boddy (1992) argued that the richness and complexity of the multi-level analysis presented by Pettigrew, while comprehensive, it did little to simplify or clarify the processes of change and thereby rendered the research as largely impenetrable for the organisational practitioner. Change within an organisation is ongoing and involves many variables which are covered by different change models, processes and frameworks. Variables include the type of industry, the geographical location, the organisations size, the style of management leadership, the capability of the people involved, the organisational culture, the local and global economic environment, timing in regard to other events, the organisational structure and many more. This list is not meant to be exhaustive, but demonstrates the length and breadth of variables to be taken into account when assessing and managing change. Senior (2002) argues that the trigger for internal change is often in response to external influences which then links the internal and external drivers for change. Often, the change strategy or mechanism used by an organisation is chosen by the change manager and may not necessarily meet the needs of the organisation. This can lead to the change manager selecting an approach that may have worked before, that they feel comfortable with, or that suits their personality. This may not be however, what the organisation really requires. For example, a change manager may have had previous success utilising a consultative and collaborative approach which would take time to fully consult with all impacted parties while the organisation may actually require a fast, dictatorial type approach due to it losing market share which is putting the very existence of the organisation at risk. Kanter (1983) notes that managers sometimes make strategic choices based on their own area of competence and career payoff. A model of change strategies that seeks to develop our understanding of change processes is unfortunately restricted if it excludes considerations of anything other than management as some sort of ‘black box’ wherein environmental fit is sought. Stace and Dunphy argue that change managers need to develop a varied behaviour repertoire rather than remain fixed on a particular approach to change. They argue the compelling need for in our modern economies to create and build more dynamic and innovative corporations which can compete successfully in global terms. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – â€⠀œ – – – – – – – – – – – – – Remember that change involves people, is instigated by people and controlled by people. There are many internal and external influences and forces that affect change but the interests of the change agents themselves and their political interests must also be considered. You cannot expect a change manager to ignore their own self-interest when making rational decisions. (Dunford 1990) Stace and Dunphy argue that the critical requirement for longer term viability and success in the corporation of the future is the ongoing development of what is increasingly being referred to as organisational capabilities or corporate competencies. These are capabilities for the flexible initiation of new strategies and environmental responsiveness that reside in the corporation itself rather than only in the capabilities and skills of the individual members. This will allow organisations to respond quicker to changes and effectively make change management part of the organisational culture. Change would then be regarded as ‘business as usual’. Many of the change approach methods, tools and techniques proposed by researchers and practitioners have overlapping ideas and cover a lot of the same ground. Rather than working independently towards defining improvements to existing ideas or new ideas, it may be more beneficial to take a collaborative approach and create an international standard for change or a recognised body of shared knowledge that could be used as a guide for organisational change.

Senior Americans - Living Past 90 in the U.S.A.

Senior Americans - Living Past 90 in the U.S.A. Americas population of persons aged 90-and-older has almost tripled since 1980, reaching 1.9 million in 2010 and will continue to increase to more than 7.6 million over the next 40 years, according to a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau. If you think government benefit programs like Social Security and Medicare are financially strained now, just wait. In August 2011, the Centers for Disease Control reported that Americans are now living longer and dying less than ever before. As a result, people 90 and over now make up 4.7% of all people 65 and older, as compared with only 2.8% in 1980. By 2050, projects the Census Bureau, the 90 and over share will reach 10 percent. Traditionally, the cutoff age for what is considered the oldest old has been age 85, said Census Bureau demographer Wan He in a press release, but increasingly people are living longer and the older population itself is getting older. Given its rapid growth, the 90-and-older population merits a closer look. The Threat to Social Security A closer look to say the least. The great threat to the long-term survival of Social Security - the Baby Boomers drew their very first Social Security check on February 12, 2008. Over the next 20 years, more than 10,000 Americans a day will become eligible for Social Security benefits. Millions of these Boomers will retire, begin collecting monthly social security checks and go on Medicare. For decades before the Baby Boomers, about 2.5 million babies a year were born in the United States. Starting in 1946, that figure jumped to 3.4 million. New births peaked from 1957 to 1961 with 4.3 million births a year. It was that spurt that produced the 76 million Baby Boomers. In December 2011, the Census Bureau reported that the Baby Boomers had become the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population. The inconvenient and unavoidable truth is that the longer Americans live, the faster the Social Security system runs out of money. That sad day, unless Congress changes the way Social Security works, is now estimated to come in 2042. The minimum age to begin receiving Social Security retirement benefits is 62. Medicare coverage, which covers about 80 percent of basic healthcare, begins automatically at age 65. Persons who wait until age 67 to apply for Social Security currently receive about 30 percent higher benefits than those who retire at 62. It pays to wait. 90 Not Necessarily the New 60 According to findings in the Census American Community Survey report, 90 in the United States: 2006-2008, living well into ones 90s may not necessarily be a decade at the beach.A majority of people 90 and over live alone or in nursing homes and reported having at least one physical or mental disability. In keeping with long-standing trends, more women than men are living into their 90s, but tend to have higher rates of widowhood, poverty, and disability than women in their eighties. Older Americans chances of requiring nursing home care also increase rapidly with advancing age. While only about 1% of people in their upper 60s and 3% in their upper 70s live in nursing homes, the proportion jumps to about 20% for those in their lower 90s, more than 30% for people in their upper 90s, and nearly 40% for persons 100 and over. Sadly, old age and disability still go hand-in-hand. According to census data, 98.2% of all people in their 90s who lived in a nursing home had a disability and 80.8% of people in their 90s who did not live in a nursing home also had one or more disabilities. Overall, the proportion of people age 90 to 94 having disabilities is more than 13 percentage points higher than that of 85- to 89-year-olds. The most common types of disabilities reported to the Census Bureau included difficulty doing errands alone and performing general mobility-related activities like walking or climbing stairs. Money Over 90? During 2006-2008, the inflation-adjusted median income of people 90 and over was $14,760, almost half (47.9%) of which came from Social Security. Income from retirement pension plans accounted for another 18.3% of income for persons in their 90s. Overall, 92.3% of people 90 and older received Social Security benefit income. In 2206-2008, 14.5% of people 90 and older reported living in poverty, compared to only 9.6% of people 65-89 years old. Almost all (99.5%) of all people 90 and older had health insurance coverage, mainly Medicare. Far More Surviving Women Over 90 than Men According to 90 in the United States: 2006-2008, women surviving into their 90s outnumber men by a ratio of almost three to one. For every 100 women between ages 90 to 94, there were only 38 men. For every 100 women ages 95 to 99, the number of men dropped to 26, and for every 100 women 100 and older, only 24 men. In 2006-2008, half of men 90 and older lived in a household with family members and/or unrelated individuals, less than one-third lived alone, and about 15 percent were in an institutionalized living arrangement such as a nursing home. In contrast, less than one-third of women in this age group lived in a household with family members and/or unrelated individuals, four in 10 lived alone, and another 25% were in institutionalized living arrangements.

The Candid in Candidate

The Candid in Candidate The Candid in Candidate The Candid in Candidate By Mark Nichol Yes, candid and candidate are cognate. It’s ironic, of course, that a word referring to forthrightness and honesty is the basis of a noun referring to someone who stands for political office. Candid is from the Latin term candidum, which means not only â€Å"sincere† and â€Å"upright† but also â€Å"white† and â€Å"pure.† Candidatus, the Latin predecessor of candidate, means â€Å"white robed,† and alludes to the fact that those campaigning for public office in ancient Rome wore white. Candid also means â€Å"blunt† or â€Å"frank† but also came, by extension, to mean â€Å"spontaneous,† as in referring to someone photographed in a candid pose rather than a prepared one. Meanwhile, candidate now can also refer to an applicant for any position, whether in a political context or otherwise, or to someone vying for an award or one who meets, or is on track to meet, all the requirements for something. Synonyms for candidate include applicant, referring to someone who applies or asks for something, from the Latin verb applicare, meaning â€Å"fold to.† (The second syllable of apply is has the same as the word ply.) Another is aspirant, meaning â€Å"someone who tries to be or do something,† derived from the Latin verb aspirare, meaning â€Å"breathe on.† Campaigner, which refers to someone who embarks on a political campaign to seek office, derives ultimately from the Latin term campania, meaning â€Å"level ground† and referring to the type of terrain most easily traversed by an army on the march; campaign originally referred to a series of battles waged to produce a desired strategic outcome. Contender, meanwhile, refers to someone who tries to win something, especially someone with a strong possibility of victory; the root word, contend, stems from the Latin verb contendere, meaning â€Å"stretch with† in the sense of a competitor who physically strives to win. Nominee, from the Latin verb nominare, meaning â€Å"name,† pertains to someone who has been chosen to represent a political party for a specific office or someone who is being considered for a position. Prospect denotes someone likely to win or be chosen; the word, from the Latin verb prospicere, meaning â€Å"look forward,† also refers in general to anticipation or possibility, or to a lookout or a scene or a survey. 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 Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Possessive of Proper Names Ending in S3 Types of HeadingsHonorary vs. Honourary

Complete Study Guide SAT Physics Subject Test

Complete Study Guide SAT Physics Subject Test SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Did you know that if you squeezed all the matter that makes up all the people in the world together, it could fit into the size of a sugar cube? That's because atoms are mostly made up of empty space between very tiny, very dense nuclei. If you're intrigued by the mind-blowing facts and figures of physics, you might be considering the SAT Physics Subject Test. This comprehensive guide will go over exactly what's on the test (don't worry, nothing about sugar cubes). It will also tell you where you can find the best SAT Physics practice tests, and the study tips and strategies you need to know to master the SAT II. There's a lot that we cover in this guide, so here's a table of contents so you can easily find the specific information you're looking for. Format of Physics Subject Test Types of Questions on Physics Subject Test Concepts Tested on Physics Subject Test Where to Find Practice Tests How to Study for the Physics Subject Test Test-Taking Tips When to Take the Physics Subject Test How Is the Physics Subject Test Formatted? The SAT II in Physics is 60 minutes long and asks 75 multiple-choice questions. Every question has five answer choices. There are some independent questions, while others are grouped and ask about the same graph or picture. Perhaps surprisingly, you can't use a calculator on the Physics Subject Test. With less than a minute for each question, the test doesn't present overly complicated math. There are three main types of questions, which are important to understand so you can know which skills to apply. Types of Questions on the Physics Subject Test The three types of physics questions are recall, single concept, and multiple concept problems. Recall questions make up 20% to 33% of the test. They are somewhat straightforward and test your understanding of the concepts of physics. This is an example of a recall question: Answer: E Single concept problems make up 40% to 53% of the test. In addition to recalling a concept, you have to apply a physical relationship, formula, or equation to solve a problem. These questions test your understanding of simple algebraic, trigonometric, and graphical relationships, along with concepts of ratios and proportions. Answer: E Multiple concept problems account for 20% to 33% of the questions. They have the extra step of asking you to recall and bring together two or more different relationships, formulas, or equations in order to solve a problem. Answer: A Now that we understand the format of the test, let's break down the content on the test even further so you know what to study for the test. As you'll see below, it focuses primarily on mechanics and electricity/magnetism. What Is Tested on the Physics Subject Test? According to College Board, the SAT II in Physics covers mechanics, electricity and magnetism, waves and optics, heat and thermodynamics, modern physics, and other miscellaneous concepts. Mechanics and electricity/magnetism questions make up over half the test. Let's look at how the test breaks down. Mechanics: 36% - 42% Kinematics, such as velocity, acceleration, motion in one dimension, and motion of projectiles Dynamics, such as force, Newton's laws, statics, and friction Energy and momentum, such as potential and kinetic energy, work, power, impulse, and conservation laws Circular motion, such as uniform circular motion and centripetal force Simple harmonic motion, such as mass on a spring and the pendulum Gravity, such as the law of gravitation, orbits, and Kepler's laws Electricity and Magnetism: 18% - 24% Electric fields, forces, and potentials, such as Coulomb's law, induced charge, field and potential of groups of point charges, and charged particles in electric fields Capacitance, such as parallel-plate capacitors and time-varying behavior in charging / discharging Circuit elements and DC circuits, such as resistors, light bulbs, series and parallel networks, Ohm's Law, and Joule's Law Magnetism, such as permanent magnets, fields caused by currents, particles in magnetic fields, Faraday's Law, and Lenz's Law Waves and Optics: 15% - 19% General wave properties, such as wave speed, frequency, wavelength, superposition, standing wave diffraction, and Doppler effect Reflection and refraction, such as Snell's Law and changes in wavelength and speed Ray optics, such as image formation using pinholes, mirrors, and lenses Physical optics, such as single-slit diffraction, double-slit interference, polarization, and color Heat and Thermodynamics: 6% - % Thermal properties, such as temperature, heat transfer, specific and latent heats, and thermal expansion Laws of thermodynamics, such as first and second laws, internal energy, entropy, and heat engine efficiency Modern Physics: 6% - % Quantum phenomena, such as photons and photoelectric effect Atomic, such as the Rutherford and Bohr models, atomic energy levels, and atomic spectra Nuclear and particle physics, such as radioactivity, nuclear reactions, and fundamental particles Relativity, such as time dilation, length contraction, and mass-energy equivalence Miscellaneous: 4% - 9% General, such as history of physics and general questions that overlap several major topics Analytical skills, such as graphical analysis, measurement, and math skills Contemporary physics, such as astrophysics, superconductivity, and chaos theory In addition to these concepts, you have to memorize certain formulas that express physical relationships, like F = ma. You have to be able to manipulate equations, read a graph, understand the metric system, and apply lab skills to answer questions. Is there anything you don't need to know? While this test is very comprehensive, there are a few things you don't have to worry about. You don't have to know trigonometric identities, calculus, three-dimensional vectors and graphs, or physical constants. The Physics Subject Test covers a great deal of content, and requires your ability to apply those concepts to manipulate equations and solve problems. Besides learning and studying in your physics class, what materials can you use to prep for the Subject Test? Where to FindSAT Physics Practice Tests You can prepare for the Physics test with high-quality practice questions in books and/or online. First,our book recommendations: Books Using official practice questions is always the best way to prepare for the SAT or SAT Subject Test. College Board currently only provides Physics practice questions in its All Subject Tests Study Guide. While the questions are high quality, because they come from a previously administered test, there is actually only one practice test to try out. Obviously, this is very limited, so you'll want to supplement with another book. You might try studying first with other books and then taking the College Board practice questions a week or two before the Subject Test to make sure you're ready. Because it's a previously administered test, it will be a good benchmark to predict how you'll score, and it can reveal any concepts you need to study last minute before test day. For a comprehensive overview of the concepts you need to know and high-quality practice questions to apply them, I recommend Princeton Review's Cracking the SAT Physics Subject Test. You can use this book throughout the year in physics class to review the concepts and make sure you can apply them to SAT Subject Test questions. One downside of Princeton Review is that the explanations can sometimes be confusing and difficult to follow. Barron's is also a good option with high-quality practice questions. However, some concepts are lacking, so don't rely on it to be completely comprehensive. Barron's would be best to use two to three months in advance of your Subject Test, after you've been reviewing in class and with Princeton Review throughout the school year. Finally, two other options are Kaplan and McGraw Hill, but they would be my last recommendation. Kaplan questions are too easy, so they won't be sufficient preparation. McGraw Hill questions have the opposite problem - some are way too complicated to solve without a calculator, and thus not accurate preparation for the SAT Subject Test. Besides books, you can also find SAT Physics questions online from these sources. Online Practice Questions You should definitely give College Board's 36 online practice questions a try. Make sure to thoroughly read the explanations of any questions you're unsure about or don't know. Then review the concepts, from your class or other test prep materials, and take notes and do practice problems to shore up your understanding. Varsity Tutors has a bunch of helpful practice questions broken up into subsets of concepts. These are a good way to really identify what you know and what you need to review. This similar site also has helpful practice questions that you can automatically score, along with some glossaries and study guides. Finally, Sparknotes, though it doesn't have practice questions, has an informative overview and glossary of terms. How to Prep Effectively for the Physics Subject Test Now you have a bunch of good resources for the Physics Subject Test, but how can you use them effectively to maximize your scores? This section goes over three key study tips to follow. #1: Use Class Material The Physics Subject Test is a challenging test. It covers a lot of material, and this material takes a significant amount of time to learn. Thus staying focused and up to speed in class is vital, as well as reviewing the concepts and practice problems frequently to retain your cumulative knowledge. As you go through your physics class, you should review your classwork in conjunction with a test prep book like Princeton Review or Barron's. Then you can really do more intensive test prep in the two to three months before the Subject Test. Make sure to do a practice test a couple weeks before the test to get a good sense of your preparation and fill in any last minute gaps in knowledge. While you're taking these practice tests, you should make sure to time yourself. #2: Time Yourself Physicist John Wheeler Archibald explained, "Time is what prevents everything from happening at once." With the Physics Subject Test, you might feel like everything is happening all at once because you don't have much time at all. Timing yourself while you take practice tests will help you with pacing and time management. As you strengthen your ability to answer questions quickly and efficiently, you'll both score higher and breathe easier that you have enough time to get to all the questions and answer them well. When you take a full-length practice test, give yourself exactly 60 minutes and sit in a quiet room with few distractions. The more you practice under simulated testing conditions, the more prepared you'll be on test day. Once you take the test, you want to score your questions actively and critically. #3: Analyze Your Answers Correcting your practice tests should be a very active process. By this I mean don't simply let a wrong answer or lucky guess go. Wrong or skipped answers are an opportunity to really analyze the questions, diagnose your weaknesses and misunderstandings, and figure out where you need more prep. If you get a question wrong, mark it down in a notebook. Figure out why it was wrong- did you not know the concept, misunderstand the question, or make a careless error? If the first, you should definitely go back in your notes and review. Then find practice questions that test those concepts. So much of the Physics Subject Test is about application, not just recall. If you didn't understand the question or made a careless error, you probably need to focus on your time management and ability to focus and work efficiently. Practicing under timed conditions, as mentioned above, is the best way to train this skill. Practice tests will reveal where your strengths and weaknesses lie. Each question is an opportunity to pinpoint what you know and what you need to study further. Remember important formulas, like this one. Test-Taking Strategies for the Physics Subject Test Besides getting ready through test prep, there are some strategies you should keep in mind while taking the Physics Subject Test that should help you boost your scores. #1: Know Your Formulas You can't bring a formula sheet with you when you take the Physics Subject Test. The test will give you some constants, but you have to know the formulas that express physical relationships. Note that you also can't bring a calculator into the test. While it might seem like there are a lot of formulas to remember, they will probably start to seem intuitive the more you understand the laws and concepts of physics. If there are any that you have a hard time remembering, it might be a good idea to jot these formulas down in your test booklet at the beginning of the test. This way you can refer back to them as you go along. Make sure you know your formulas as you're studying, as well as how to apply them to single concept and multi-concept problems. #2: Use Process of Elimination On the Physics Subject test, you lose 1/4 of a point for every question you answer incorrectly. If you can't eliminate any answer choices, you should leave the question blank and avoid a point deduction, but if you can eliminate at least one wrong answer, then you're better off making your best guess. Go through the answer choices and see which ones you can cross off as definitely incorrect. This may also jog your thinking in how to approach the correct answer. #3: Don't Dwell With 75 questions in 60 minutes, you have less than a minute to spend on each question. If one of them leaves you stumped, it's best to mark it, skip it, and return to it at the end of the exam if you have time. Remember, it's always a good idea to guess if you can eliminate at least one of the answer choices. But don't spend a disproportionate amount of time on a problem, as all problems count equally toward your ultimate score. #4: Read Critically Sure, this is the Physics SAT, not a critical reading test, but the same skills of close and critical reading apply. Make sure you understand exactly what the question is asking before rushing to answer it, and be on the lookout for words like EXCEPT, BUT, ALWAYS, NEVER, or any other superlatives or words that mark a shift in emphasis. The more you practice, the more calmly you'll be able to approach the questions and deploy these strategies. When Should You Take the SAT Physics Subject Test? You can take the Physics Subject test on the May, June, August, October, November, or December test dates. College Board recommends that you have at least one year of college prep Physics before taking the Subject Test, as well as courses in algebra and trigonometry and experience in the lab. The end of junior year is a common time to take the Physics test, but some students might feel prepared at the end of sophomore year. Either way, it's best to take the test at the end of the academic year when the course content is fresh in your mind. You might also be studying for a final, which will further reinforce your understanding. Remember, you can't take an SAT Subject Test on the same day as the SAT, but you can take up to three Subject Tests in one day. It might be smart to take the SAT first, so that your math studying can inform your physics prep. With these considerations in mind, the June test date would be an ideal time to take the Physics Subject Test. You can read about other considerations for scheduling your SAT Subject Tests and the full list of dates here. With your study plan and test schedule all planned out, you will be well prepared to show off your physics skills on the SAT Subject Test and add this impressive exam to your college applications. What's Next? Looking for study resources on some of these physics topics? Check out our guides to calculating acceleration, the law of conservation of mass, and the specific heat of water. What's a good score for an SAT Subject Test? Actually, what makes a good score depends on the test. Read about the good scores broken down by each Subject Test here. Are you preparing to take the PSAT? This article goes over everything you need to know for the redesigned PSAT, along with 8 free practice tests for you to start preparing. Do you consider yourself a math person? This 800 scorer explains his best strategies for getting a perfect score on the SAT math. Need a little extra help prepping for your Subject Tests? We have the industry's leading SAT Subject Test prep programs (for all non-language Subject Tests). Built by Harvard grads and SAT Subject Test full or 99th %ile scorers, the program learns your strengths and weaknesses through advanced statistics, then customizes your prep program to you so that you get the most effective prep possible. Learn more about our Subject Test products below:

Midterm Exam Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Midterm Exam - Coursework Example However, according to many scholars, Sharia has been pointed out as not being a well-defined set of rules or codes, but rather, characterized as an interpretation and discussion of Muslim duties based on both extensive literature and the Muslim community opinions. Sharia is a diverse, long, and complicated divine law, rather than just a set of rules and codes of conduct for the Muslim community. Although only eighty verses in the Qur'an are regarded as the legal prescriptions, the Sharia law is established with regards to this. Muhammad’s example is emphasized as an importance source of Sharia in the Quran with which the Muslim community bases their arguments of the divine law. Sharia based on Sunnah is contained in reports of Muhammad's actions, his sayings, and his tacit approval of his demeanor and actions. Sunnah as Sharia takes pride of the many compilations of reports during both the sahih period and thereafter regarding Muhammad’s examples. However, Sharia extend s and interprets its applications beyond the issues addressed in the Quran and the example Muhammad and includes secondary sources such as consensus regarding religious scholar in the ijma and qivas analogy. More to the analogy of the Quran and Muhammad’s example, Shia jurists always seek to apply reasoning as Sharia basis. Sharia is believed by the Muslim community as God’s Law although the extent to which the law exactly entails is diverse. Sharia functionality based on traditionalist, modernists, and fundamentalists holds varying opinions among divergent views of scholars and schools of thought. More so, different cultures, countries, and societies have divergent views and interpretation of Sharia as a divine law. The functions of Sharia entails defining societal issues with regards to aspects such as crime, economics, politics and personal issues that range from hygiene, sexual intercourse, fasting, diet and prayers. Through these issues, Sharia seeks to streamline the lives of human beings as intended by their creator. Sharia functions through the Imam whose responsibility entails interpretation of the Sharia. Section B Question 3 Worship basically entails honoring the creator through adherence of individuals and communities to detailed codes of conduct according to ones religion. The livelihood of a people with regards to prayers and general day-to-day activities entails worship activities. Communities and individuals have particular ways of honoring their creator through their day-to-day activities such as their way of praying, waking up in the morning, and even eating. Through these specific activities in honor of God, a community and individual can be attributed to having worshiped their Creator. Worship shapes and expresses religious life in Judaism through their day-to-day activities of individuals and communities and more so their way of communication to their creator. Judaism worship is rather an informal way of communicating to God although it is largely guided by tradition. Judaism focuses on the tenets of rituals where community and individual’s religious life expresses values that are inclined towards helping others and Loving God. Ritual is basically inclined towards helping others and loving God. Judaism religious life is defined and shaped to greater extent by dietary law, which comes out as the most evident and significant form or worships. Judaism adherence to the dietary laws is a form of worship that expresses and shapes

Vision Change Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Vision Change Analysis - Research Paper Example The vision and mission of firms are intrinsic part of its strategic planning. Organizational vision is very important because it informs about the future perspectives of the organization and its future position in the industry. The organizational mission helps formulate the processes to achieve its vision. Application of vision concept to the strategic change initiatives is imperative because it helps to adopt proactive measure to meet the challenges of changing times. Application analysis The case study of Mentor Graphics Corporation clearly displays the need to adopt strategic change initiatives within the broader context of its vision. The company repeatedly changed its vision that it had developed for its future in 10 years’ time. Its initial vision that ‘it would build something that people would buy’ was quickly changed to ‘beat Daisy’ which had fast emerged as its rival in the industry. While the new vision was able to help the company in incre asing its revenue but unfortunately the company was deprived of its creative inputs and had stagnated growth. The company again adopted new vision under ‘six boxes’ that would help it to diversify and gain market leadership in six different areas of business.

Obese Chirdren Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Obese Chirdren - Essay Example The health care sector and the federal government of America has a challenge to fund initiatives and programs to prevent overweight and obesity. Researches to determine the best preventive measures for childhood obesity explore the environment, food, and behavioral practices in terms of engaging the body physically. However, the theoretical framework tends to limit overweight and obesity to foods alone. Fast foods are always palatable to the mouth and children enjoy partaking them without considerations on the fatty and cholesterol levels in the foods (Freemark, 2010). The theoretical model highlights other causative agents that lead to the prevalence of childhood obesity. The parents should feed their children cholesterol free foods to avoid the risks of contracting obesity. Obesity is a blend of genetic and environmental causes. Poskitt and Edmunds (2008) prove that 70 to 80 percent of obese children have one of his or her parents obese. In addition, a 20 to 40 percent of obese children have both parents obese. Since the parents live together with the children, it is clear that the environment induces obesity (Poskitt & Edmun, 2008). As a leading cause of death, validating the obesity theories through research and studies is critical and essential. Rowe, S. B., Borra, S., & Kelly, L. J. (2003). Obesity as a Public Health Crisis in America. Cereal Foods World, 48(3), 120-122. Retrieved from

Ethnic Views Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ethnic Views - Essay Example Settling in a different context would also result to cultural conflict where the dominant group isolates the minorities due to ethnic and other differences. In this text two incidences; the myth of the Latin women and the American dreamer will be explored to portray how cultural conflicts occur and lead to stereotyping. Fredrickson, M. George put forward four models of ethnic relations and how they are embraced as well as their effects on the affected parties. In this case one-way simulation, a model that tries to forcefully integrate the immigrants into the new ways of the native people in America will be analyzed in the two narratives above and the specific cases outlined to relate the cases occurrences with the model as postulated by Fredrickson. The American dreamer The American Dreamer is a narrative of an Indian woman; specifically from the Bengali speaking tribe who went to study in Canada in the 50s only to be met with harsh racial sentiments and highly contrasting cultural p erspectives that makes her to forget her real identity in a confused racial conflict situation. The hierarchical classification society that she was used to was replaced by a contradicting westernized lifestyle that encompasses virtually everything that her cultural background describes as social norms. The westernized ways of life such as 5 minutes wedding in a lawyer’s office was the climax of departure from a well structured cultural that the writer has abandoned and tries to fit in to a different cultural perspective that is not welcoming. This makes the writer and her family to move to the United States, where she becomes a committed immigrant from being detached onlookers that she had been reduced to. The writer later becomes an advocate of integration among cultures and critically discourages the idea of cultural retentions, a view that did not go well with many scholars and especially those of Indian origin who blames her for leaving her culture, and advocating agains t those cultural lines in America. The writer describes America as having a good bill of rights meaning, that there were chances of equal treatment among the cultures with increased advocacy. Analysis From the story above, Fredrickson model of one way assimilation is evident in both the Canadian and the US platforms though on a lesser extent on the latter. One way assimilation recognizes that humans are equal in treatment and rights, but on terms that strictly specify that the native or dominant culture; in this case the American culture is more superior, pure and has to remain unchanged by the immigrants or new cultures from outside the American culture (Frederickson, 635). This was observed when in 1994 when the Florida Lake country School board announces it policy that required that all middle class teachers to instruct their students that American culture, meaning the European-American culture was â€Å"inherently superior† to other foreign or historic cultures. The case of some of Indian born academics in the US campuses appointing themselves as the guardians of the purity of ethnic cultures also portrays a case of one way assimilation, and this explains their disgust with the writer’s efforts. The myth of the Latin woman This case is a case of stereotyping and culture a conflict between a student of the Hispanic origin and the English culture in Britain. The student is humiliated and undergoes psychological torture as the English speakers isolate her due to her Hispanic looks and view her

The Law of Restitution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Law of Restitution - Essay Example This implies that the focus of restitution is on the defendant rather than the claimant. There have been scholarly debates on the threshold for a case to be considered as falling under the law of restitution. This is because previously, cases of unjust enrichment have been treated as falling under the law of quasi contract. However, according Meyers (2009), there are four elements that place a case outside the law of tort and contract. The first aspect is that a benefit is received by a party B and the benefit may be in form of money or services. The benefit is received at the expense of party A. Then it should be ascertained that there is an unjust factor that requires that the benefit be reversed. Finally, if B cannot point to any relevant defence, the case is considered to warrant restitution. Restitutionary remedies fall into two categories. Personal restitutionary remedies restore to the claimant the value of the benefit that the defendant had received. This means that the defen dant is liable for the benefit itself. For instance if a defendant received one million pounds from the claimant, then under restitution, the defendant is liable to pay a sum of one million pounds back to the claimant. The restitution remedy creates a creditor –debtor relationship between the claimant and the defendant. The second category of restitutionary remedies is that of proprietary remedy. ... The claimants interest to the property ranks above the other creditors of the defendant and hence the claimant is likely to recover the property if the defendant becomes insolvent ( Garry, 2008). Restitution is considered to be mauti-causal. The first category of restitution is the restitution for unjust enrichment. This involves reversing of gains by a defendant obtained in an unjust way. The second category on restitution is known as restitution for wrong doing. For example, when a defendant commits a tort against the claimant, the remedial assessment is done in reference to the defendant’s gain and not necessarily in reference to the claimant’s loss. The claimant has the proprietary right to a property, whether it existed previously or made to exist by operation of law ( Howard and Cameron, 2008). This paper aims to outline the legal principles that relate to the laws of restitution. It also aims to analyze existing case laws on restitution and ascertain the scope an d implications of this law. The paper outlines the recent developments in application of the law of restitution and the future trends. It is necessary to appreciate the impact of laws on the citizens and the relationship between common law and related statutes is also considered in depth. Restitution is considered as a universal phenomenon and therefore it is necessary for analyzing the application and implementation of the laws of restitution across various jurisdictions. The paper also aims to show the essence of restitution law in the dispensation of justice. 2. Grounds of Restitution 2.1. Unjust Factors An action for restitution does not require any loss to be suffered by the claimant. The major focus in restitution cases is the benefit that the defendant received. Therefore, it is arguable in

Ethnic Views Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ethnic Views - Essay Example Settling in a different context would also result to cultural conflict where the dominant group isolates the minorities due to ethnic and other differences. In this text two incidences; the myth of the Latin women and the American dreamer will be explored to portray how cultural conflicts occur and lead to stereotyping. Fredrickson, M. George put forward four models of ethnic relations and how they are embraced as well as their effects on the affected parties. In this case one-way simulation, a model that tries to forcefully integrate the immigrants into the new ways of the native people in America will be analyzed in the two narratives above and the specific cases outlined to relate the cases occurrences with the model as postulated by Fredrickson. The American dreamer The American Dreamer is a narrative of an Indian woman; specifically from the Bengali speaking tribe who went to study in Canada in the 50s only to be met with harsh racial sentiments and highly contrasting cultural p erspectives that makes her to forget her real identity in a confused racial conflict situation. The hierarchical classification society that she was used to was replaced by a contradicting westernized lifestyle that encompasses virtually everything that her cultural background describes as social norms. The westernized ways of life such as 5 minutes wedding in a lawyer’s office was the climax of departure from a well structured cultural that the writer has abandoned and tries to fit in to a different cultural perspective that is not welcoming. This makes the writer and her family to move to the United States, where she becomes a committed immigrant from being detached onlookers that she had been reduced to. The writer later becomes an advocate of integration among cultures and critically discourages the idea of cultural retentions, a view that did not go well with many scholars and especially those of Indian origin who blames her for leaving her culture, and advocating agains t those cultural lines in America. The writer describes America as having a good bill of rights meaning, that there were chances of equal treatment among the cultures with increased advocacy. Analysis From the story above, Fredrickson model of one way assimilation is evident in both the Canadian and the US platforms though on a lesser extent on the latter. One way assimilation recognizes that humans are equal in treatment and rights, but on terms that strictly specify that the native or dominant culture; in this case the American culture is more superior, pure and has to remain unchanged by the immigrants or new cultures from outside the American culture (Frederickson, 635). This was observed when in 1994 when the Florida Lake country School board announces it policy that required that all middle class teachers to instruct their students that American culture, meaning the European-American culture was â€Å"inherently superior† to other foreign or historic cultures. The case of some of Indian born academics in the US campuses appointing themselves as the guardians of the purity of ethnic cultures also portrays a case of one way assimilation, and this explains their disgust with the writer’s efforts. The myth of the Latin woman This case is a case of stereotyping and culture a conflict between a student of the Hispanic origin and the English culture in Britain. The student is humiliated and undergoes psychological torture as the English speakers isolate her due to her Hispanic looks and view her

Communication theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Communication theory - Essay Example When powerless individuals feel a strong need of gaining approval from the society, they employ the convergence way of communication. The theory of narrative paradigm understands people as storytelling animals. This theory presents a narrative logic in place of the conventional logic of argument. This logic proposes that people evaluate the speakers’ credibility by assessing the coherence and fidelity of their stories. I shall take the information contained in the communication accommodation theory and the theory of narrative paradigm more than others. There are specific reasons for that, I find the former very interesting, while the latter appeals to me logically. I believe that there is a lot of difference between the communication styles of people in power and those who lack power. On the other hand, the theory of narrative paradigm allows the judgment of speakers to be democratic since no one can be trained for making perfect

Middle Range Theory Essay Example for Free

Middle Range Theory Essay Cohens article (2010) addresses the fact that the transition from adolescence to adulthood no longer occurs at age 21. Starting in the 1970s the U.S. economy changed from a manufacturing economy to a service-based economy. The results are evident today. This economically driven shift changed how people prepared for careers and life. The traditional timing of becoming an adult, marriage, career, children, and financial independence now occurs almost 10 years later than before. Erickson’s would research and create a new sequence of eight stages including of development from 10 years up until now. For each specific conflict at each stage, which allows an individual to develop successfully. Each conflict would have to be extended as a result of the change in the economy today. The effect of resolved conflicts are more appropriate as the result the change of adolescent to adulthood no longer occurring to prevent the transition to the next stage of development. Erickson The most profound life crisis occurs at the fifth stage of development, which can be characterized by rapid physical growth, sexual maturing, concern about the perception of us by others and search of professional calling. The final stage is also crucial, as people asses their life and their achievements. If a man looks back at his life with few regrets, and feels that it was worth living, it leads to a feeling of satisfaction. If, on the contrary, the person feels hopeless, reflects on his mistakes, it leads to a feeling of despair. According to Erickson, if a person achieves a sense of wholeness and self-identity, he will not be afraid of death, and this means that this person has reached the highest form of achievements. References: Cohen, P. (2010). Long road to adulthood is growing even longer. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/us/13generations.html?scp=1sq=Long%20road%20to%20adulthoodst=cse_r=0 on September 13, 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/us/13generations.html?scp=1sq=Long%20road%20to%20adulthoodst=cse

Role Of Social Networking In Education Systems Information Technology Essay

Role Of Social Networking In Education Systems Information Technology Essay In current days the usage of social media like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and so on is very common. These social networking sites are used by millions of people throughout the world. The emergence of social networking creates a revolution among people for easy communication and knowledge sharing. In this essay we are going to discuss about the usage of social media in modernization of education system and the advantage of implementing social networking in modernization of education system in India. Modernization of education system: In India, education system currently present is mostly based on books and paper. I have a business idea regarding modernization of education system in India. Nowadays the lecturers in colleges teach using board and books for taking classes. According to my idea the concept of book based teaching is modified to e-resource usage in teaching and testing students. This process of conversion of books into e-resource will help the student to learn easily and quickly. This a powerful tool to disseminate the theories and formulas in books to students with proper examples. Current system: In India, all the colleges must be affiliated to some university. In that manner a single university controls over many colleges with same syllabus. All colleges under same university will follow the same syllabus for same subject. So all the students from different colleges have the same syllabus. But the way of teaching is different from college to college for the same subject. There is no common method of teaching for all colleges under same university. There is no communication among the students of different colleges. So socialization among the students gets affected. Assessment system: The syllabus for all colleges being same the exams are also conducted at same day in colleges with same questions to all students taking that subject. But the way of teaching and learning differs. They follow different materials for preparation for exams. As the core material would be text book prescribed by university, but the reference material will be entirely different. So the way of presenting answers different from student of one college to other college. Likewise the assignment also varies from college to college for same subject. There is no particular assessment for assignment. To neutralize this problem, our proposed system will be much better option. In our system the assessment will have common criteria and assignment must be framed by university which should be assessed properly as like exam. Proposed system: To establish a communication medium between students and enhance their opportunity of knowledge sharing we are planning a system. In our system, we need to convert all the teaching hints into PowerPoint presentations. We are going to prepare a general presentation for each subject which will be based on prescribed text book recommended by the university. All the students will be given handouts of teaching materials which will enhance their observation capacity and improve the understandability of concepts. For preparing that presentation we are going to hire professors from many universities. Each topic must have presentation which will be prepared by group of professors and approved by some experts in that area. All the student in all colleges must given access to all materials related to their subject (similar to Moodle in our university).The main thing is many colleges affiliated to same university must be connected under a network which will be maintained by our system. Because o f this connectivity all the students are able to communicate with one another to share their knowledge. Usage of software in the proposed system: The proposed system for universities in India will requires a good software system to run this system. The basic idea for this software is implementing social networking among the colleges which are come under same university. This also unique for all the colleges under same university. The basic reason behind this is just to connect student among different colleges who all are studying the same subject can share their ideas and knowledge learned in the subject. To get some practical ideas related to subject, students will use our system as medium of communication with external system which means students from other colleges. The reason which forces me to think in bringing social networking among students is increase in usage of social media websites by university students. As per the result of survey conducted by university students in social media usage shows that in overall 93% of college students are using social networking sites. Among the social networking sites, Facebook users are majority which occupies 96% of students, You Tube holds second among them which comprises of 84% of students. Blogs (14%), Twitter (14%), MySpace (12%), and LinkedIn (10%) respectively. In initial dayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s students who used the social networking sites just for entertainment purpose. But in current situation the awareness of social media to the students is bit higher, so the usage of social networking sites by the students for education purpose gets increased. So in future the rate will get increased further so that knowledge sharing will get expanded in student level. General use of implementing social networking in business: The main advantage of using social networking in any business are listed Establish communication among the employees at all levels which makes the degree of transparency between management and employees to become high Easy and cost effective tool for marketing a product Possibility to attract people of a particular group Effective and efficient way to improve the contacts around the world Faster way to reach people in cheapest way Easy to know about consumer realistic reviews by joining in consumer community Helps to analyze about competitors currently available in the market Advantages of social networking sites: Most of the students in the educational institution have been using the internet quite often. Social networking has become a revelation among the young generations by which it is easier for them to communicate between each other. Will social networking sites will be helpful if it is implemented along with educational forum like Moodle? There has been a big debate over this topic in the past. Many educational experts express their interest in changing current education system in India. Many researches are going on in the current system of education in universities. The advantages of implementing social media in modernization of education system are as follows Role of social networking sites in education: Social networking sites are related to web-based services that offer us an opportunity to socialize with others peers in the network It will be helpful in making new friends and importantly to meet new people through their general interest The new development in social networking sites are the developed and sustainable relationship between teachers and students in learning and sharing content Most of the students studying in colleges communicate to their peers regarding education through text messages or phone calls, nowadays mobile phones are prohibited in many colleges by the management. So they are in need for some other mode of communication. With the introduction of the social networking sites the students can have live interactions and chats to their peers which will largely benefit the students How the students will be benefitted out of this Social networking sites are web-based services that offer us an opportunity to socialize with others Increased exposure to varied views Utilizing all the study resources properly Increased skill in technology Development of communication skills Increased talent to work on group projects Many students already use these forms of technology, so they may be more engaged in learning if they utilize it They will get chance to share the ideas which they have learned in their subject How it is benefitted for the teachers Increased access to resources Can form partnerships with lecturers in other states or countries Exchange lesson plans and information with students Cheap and effective way to convey details to students Easy to give lecturers in class by having proper resource Organized structure of classes will help them to plan accordingly to cover syllabus in particular period of time Easy to clear doubts of students by creating a forum to their subject Role of social networking in staff recruitment: As per our idea, for the preparation of common materials we need to recruit experts for each subject. For selecting experts from all areas social networking plays a major role. LinkedIn is a major social networking site contains profiles of millions of experts which allow the recruiter to choose the effective and suitable person for each subject. LinkedIn proves to be first social networking sites with lot of profiles with experience in all areas. It paves way for searching experts for all the subjects. Overall benefits of social networking to our system: In overall, the benefits of implementing social networking in our system are as follows Cheap and effective ways of communication from different level of users like students, lecturers, and so on Improve the socialization among students as well as other users of the system Tend to increase the knowledge of students by improve the knowledge sharing Fast method to convey message to all students Improvise the standard of student in whole country Creates opportunity to know about latest technology and current events To get quick access to study resources any time and any where Lot of time consumed by preparing common material Lecturers will maintain records of all the students easily It will reduce the cost of communication to colleges It improves the result of students by having proper material which suits for students at all level Examples with Facebooks, blogs and forums: At Penn State University the library service has been using Facebook as one method of allowing students to contact the librarians with enquiries A survey conducted in 2006 found that more students were using Facebook to contact the librarians than any other method Forums are also a part of Social Software that can be a useful tool in education Forums are also related to Blogs, though a blog is centered around an individual, whereas a forum is centered more around an area of interest The major usage of the forum and blogs are the students can post their blogs and works so that others can comment and advise on it There may be a positive impact on climate within the classroom when students see staff as approachable

Elements that make up Winning Teams Essay -- essays research papers

Every person within any team wants to feel they are part of a winning team, and that they are contributing to its success and the success of the company. For teams to able to do this, personnel must be able to work together, be committed to the team's goal, to encourage formal and informal interactions and instill that winning attitude. For teams to be able to achieve this, certain attributes must be instilled within any team. As defined in the Oxford Dictionary loyalty is, ?steadfast in ones allegiance to a person.? This can come in many forms, whether it?s loyalty to your partner, your favourite sporting team or as in this case the Company. Managers must be able to trust their employees. Giving responsibilities and passing on relevant information pertinent to any goal can instil trust and confidence and commitment from your employees. Without the fundamental tools, they will possibly feel that they are not contributing to the success of the team or company. If this happens then they may feel the Manager is not dependable and therefore loyalty will be eroded. The manager should never feel challenged about his authority, but should openly answer relevant questions regarding the Teams goal. Discussion should be encouraged, as by working through or discussing the situation in hand as it leads to the development of the person and an increase in their loyalty, as opposed to a person who keeps quiet an d does not question anything. Being honest and upfront to your workforce will help build up any trust. Being forthright with any news pertinent to the workforce can only bolster your loyalty from them. They would rather have the bad news from you, than hear it from an unknown senior manager who just sees them as a number... ...ed, the two Complete Finisher are on hand to ensure deadlines are met. The weakness of this team is:  · Lack of a team worker.  · Insufficient specialists (Minimum of two required)  · Insufficient Implementers  · If the Resource Investigator or Plant are away who will bring in ideas and make contacts from outside the team. The strength of this team is:  · Strong personalities  · Discipline  · Respect  · Commitment  · Loyalty to fellow team members In conclusion every person within the team has an additional role as indicated within the table. With these additional roles and the combination of experience developed with long careers, combined with a wealth of knowledge and completion of successful management courses, this team has a successful and winning formula, which can only lead to a better performance thus giving better customer satisfaction.

Are monopolies necessarily less efficient than perfect competition Essay

This essay will look at efficiency between both a monopoly and a perfect competition, and whether a monopoly is necessarily less efficient than perfect competition. Using diagrams and equations reflecting the optimal choice of output, marginal revenue and marginal cost for monopolies, I will explain how efficiency is affected by low levels of production. At the same time monopolies can increase efficiency due to their ability in price discrimination, they price people differently and therefore people pay what they truly believe the good is worth. There needs to be a clear description of the differences between monopoly and perfect competition as well as efficiency; an analysis of deadweight loss and natural monopoly is also important with regards to the monopolies efficiency. Therefore even though a competitive economy is efficient and a monopoly suffers from certain inefficient levels of production it is not necessarily less efficient than perfect competition. A monopoly is a single supplier within a market that chooses to produce at any point on the market demand curve; they appear when other firms find it unprofitable or impossible to enter a market. The market becomes affected by high barriers to entry, which are split into technical and legal barriers. Technical barriers are created when the production of a good produces decreasing marginal and average costs over a wide range of output levels; in this situation, large scale firms are low cost producers. Another technical barrier to monopolies is their ability to discover a low cost production technique and having ownership over productive resources therefore preventing the formation of other firms. Legal barriers occur when a monopoly is created by the government as a matter of law, there is the creation of a patent that allows the one firm to use the basic technology for a product. Varian describes how monopolies arise within his writings, he states that monopolies develop when the minimum efficient scale is large relative to the size of the market, then the industry becomes a candidate for regulation or other forms of government intervention. A second way a monopoly may arise is when a number of different firms in an industry collude and restrict output in order to raise prices and therefore increase their profits. This form of industry is referred to as a cartel (Varian, 1996, p. 418-419). From this we can see that if demand is large relative to the MES (minimum efficient scale) a competitive market will arise, if it is small, a monopoly structure is possible. This is influences by both the technological level and economic policy influencing the size of the market. Before we analyse the efficiency of monopolies in comparison to perfect competition, it is necessary to set the basis of measurement for both the monopolies and perfectly competitive firms. This is set out in the First Theorem of Welfare Economics; which explains the relationship between perfect competition and the efficient allocation of resources. Attaining a Pareto efficient allocation of resources requires that the rate of trade off between any two goods should be the same for all economic agents. In a perfectly competitive economy, the ratio of the price of one good to another provides the common rate of trade off to which all agents will adjust. Because all agents face the same prices, all trade off rates will be equalised and an efficient allocation will be achieved (Snyder and Nicholson, 2005, p. 471). Varian however states that the First Theorem of Welfare Economics says nothing about the distribution of economic benefits; market equilibrium might not be a â€Å"just† allocation (Varian, 1996, p. 510-511). Therefore in essence the Theorem states that a competitive economy is efficient, if a monopolist behaves non-competitively then he is behaving inefficiently. It is seen that monopolies create a Pareto inefficient level of production, relative to perfect competition; monopoly involves a loss of consumer surplus for demanders. Some of this is transferred into monopoly profits, whereas some of the loss in consumer surplus represents a deadweight loss of overall economic welfare. Snyder and Nicholson describe Pareto efficient allocation as an allocation of resources, where it is not possible through further reallocations to make one person better off without making someone else worse off (Snyder and Nicholson, 2005, p. 467). Varian further explains that a competitive industry operates where price equals marginal cost, while a monopolised industry operates where price is greater than marginal cost; therefore a higher price creates a lower output (Varian, 1996, p.411-412). [pic] From the diagram above we can see that if we get the firm to behave as a competitor and take the market price as being set exogenously. Then we would have (Pc, Yc) for competitive price and output. If the firm recognised its influence on the market price and chose its level of output so as to maximise profits, we would see monopoly price and output (Pm, Ym). Since P(y) is greater than MC(y) for all the output levels between Ym and Yc, there is a whole range of output where people are willing to pay more for a unit of output than it costs to produce it. Clearly there is potential for Pareto improvement (Varian, 1996, p. 412-413). A measure of efficiency can be produced by analysing the total surplus for a given market; this is seen by subtracting the total cost from gross consumption benefits. The higher the level of total surplus the more efficient production becomes. If perfect competition leads to an efficient output level and a monopoly leads to less output then perfect competition, it must therefore be less efficient since the monopolist produces less than the total surplus maximising level of output. Areas B and C represent the deadweight loss of a monopoly. As we move from the monopoly level of output to the competitive level of output we â€Å"sum up† the distances between the demand curve and the marginal cost curve to generate the value of the lost output due to the monopoly behaviour (Varian, 1996, p. 414-415). The loss arises because consumer gain from increasing output is larger then marginal cost but monopolies are not able to produce more. The output produced by a monopoly may not be the only thing brought up into question; quality is also an important factor regarding the efficiency of a monopoly. Whether a monopoly produces a higher or lower quality good than would be produced under competition depends on demand and the firm’s costs. The difference between the quality choice of a competitive industry and the monopolist is that the monopolist looks at the marginal valuation of one more unit of quality assuming that output is at its profit maximising level. The competitive industry looks at the marginal value of quality averaged across all output levels. Even if they were to both opt for the same output level, their quality preferences may be different. John Jewkes gives an explanation of the grounds upon which a single producer monopoly would defend its cause. The case was raised by the British Oxygen Company Ltd, which produced four points for its protection. The monopoly itself was achieved purely as a result of efficiency; the monopoly supply within the industry is more efficient than any other arrangement. With capital equipment being extremely costly and transport charges high, there would either be a duplication of equipment keeping costs up or there would be many local monopolies catering for local markets. The company had kept its prices and profits without exploiting its monopoly position, as well as keeping a strong record in research and technical progress. In this case the commission discovered that the monopoly was using its position to charge higher prices, however they accepted that there might be technical advantages in the creation of monopolies (Jewkes, 1958, p. 16-17). It seems as though there will need to be a form of regulation so as to create monopolies which keep to the efficient level of production. Technically all the regulator has to do is set price equal to marginal cost, and profit maximisation will do the rest. However, this analysis leaves out the fact that it may be that the monopolist would make negative profits at such a price. [pic] Here the minimum point of the average cost curve is to the right of the demand curve, and the intersection of demand and marginal cost lies underneath the average cost curve. Even though the level of output Ymc is efficient, it is not profitable. The natural monopolist will be unable to cover its costs and therefore run out of business. If the government was to regulate it then a point such as (Pac, Yac) would be a natural operating position. Here the firm is selling its product at the average cost of production, so it covers its costs, but it is producing too little output relative to the efficient level of output. The government may interfere and operate the natural monopoly, they let it operate where price equals marginal cost and provide a subsidy to keep the firm in operation; however it may be viewed that subsidies represent inefficiency (Varian, 1996, p. 416-418). Governments often choose to regulate natural monopolies which can affect the behaviour of regulated firms and may not necessarily lead to an efficient outcome. The idea that competitive pressures produce maximum technical efficiency may not necessarily be true; competition does not guarantee that inefficiency will not arise. The assumptions that surround perfect competition and their production of maximum technical efficiency include; firms maximising profits, they have complete knowledge of available techniques and associated costs and that there is free entry. The first two assumptions apply to monopolies and perfect competition, the final assumption states that free entry guarantees maximum technical efficiency. However at best free entry guarantees a higher level of efficiency; this is because it eliminates inefficient firms. It is not a suitable explanation for superior efficiency, since there may be other sources of efficiency, including scale economies which favour monopolies (Schwartzman, 1973, p. 759-762). There can be greater efficiency from a monopoly if we were to take price discrimination into account. Price discrimination is the practise whereby different buyers are charged different prices for the same good. It is a practise which cannot prevail in a competitive market because of arbitrage: those offered lower prices would resell to those offered higher prices and so a seller would not gain from discrimination. Its existence therefore suggests imperfections of competition (Gravelle and Rees, 1992, p. 274). A monopoly engages in price discrimination if it is able to sell otherwise identical units of output at different prices. If the firm is able to identify and separate each buyer, they may be able to charge each buyer the maximum price they would be willing to pay for each good; this is referred to as perfect or first degree price discrimination which extracts all consumer surpluses and creates no deadweight loss. In first degree price discrimination the monopolist can extract all the consumer surplus of each buyer. Total output of the good is at the level at which each buyer pays a price equal to marginal cost; thus we have the â€Å"competitive outcome†. Monopoly does not distort the allocation of resources, and so we have a Pareto efficient outcome, with the monopolist receiving all the gains from trade. Any objection to monopoly would therefore have to be on the grounds of equity, fairness of the income distribution rather than efficiency (Gravelle and Rees, 1992, p. 276). It is evident that price discrimination produces a more efficient outcome since buyers are paying the amount which they believe the good is worth. If one buyer wants the good more then another then he should be willing to pay more for it. It is extremely difficult for a monopoly to separate each individual buyer; a less stringent requirement would be to assume that the monopoly can separate its buyers into a few identifiable markets. This third degree price discrimination requires the monopoly to know the price elasticity’s of demand for each market, and set price according to the inverse elasticity rule. MC= (a) (b) We let ei and ej be the price elasticity’s of demand in the respective sub markets, equation (b) therefore comes out of a re-arrangement of equation (a). If ei=ej, then clearly there will be no discrimination, but there will be as long as the elasticity’s are unequal at the profit maximising point. We can see that in maximising profit the monopolist will always set a higher price in the market with the lower elasticity of demand (Gravelle and Rees, 1992, p. 274-275). All the monopolist needs to know is the price elasticity of demand for each market and set price according to the inverse elasticity rule. In conclusion it is evident that monopolies create inefficiency due to the low output levels which they produce at. A monopoly produces at a level where price is greater then marginal cost and therefore its output is reduced, in comparison to perfect competition where price is equal to marginal cost. Taking regulation into account still means that a monopoly is inefficient since it is being supported by subsidies from the government. However perfect competition is not necessarily more efficient then a monopoly firm, when looking at the basic assumptions of perfect competition in terms of efficiency, we can see that a difference arises due to free entry within the market. It is easy to assume that just because there is free entry it means that firms are forced to reach their highest point of efficiency, there is an increase however the maximum is not guaranteed. At the same time if a monopoly price discriminates it can achieve strong levels of efficiency. Therefore a monopolist is not necessarily less efficient than firms within perfect competition. C B Pm Pc Ym Yc MR Demand MC Output Price AC MC Demand Output Price Pac Pmc Yac Ymc Losses to the firm from marginal cost pricing [pic] [pic].

Different Marriage or Wedding Practices in Countries Essay

I. Africa: 1. In some African tribes, the bride and groom have their wrists tied together with cloth or braided grass to represent their marriage. 2. To honor their ancestors, some Africans pour Holy water, or alcohol, onto the ground as prayers are recited to the ancestral spirits. 3. The bride wears a veil made of plaited hair which represents reserve. 4. The people present wear traditional regional costumes. 5. The couple jumps above a brush covered with flowers, which symbolizes the starting of domestic life. 6. The Kola nut is most often used for medicinal purposes in Africa. It is also essential in most African weddings. The Kola nut symbolizes the couple’s willingness to always help heal each other. In Nigeria, the ceremony is not complete until a kola nut is shared between the couple and their parents. II. Arabia: 1. Traditionally, marriage was between paternal first cousins or other patrilineally related kin. 2. It was customary for potential spouses not to meet before the wedding night, and marriages had to be arranged by fathers, mothers, and other relatives. These practices are changing slowly and unevenly, but the tendency is toward fewer close-cousin marriages and for the couple to communicate with each other before the wedding. 3. The bride wears an elaborate veil and gets her hands and feet decorated with a drawing made with alhea (henna). 4. During the reception, men and women stay separated. 5. Men are allowed to have four wives at a time as long as they can treat them equally, but polygyny is uncommon in most of the population. Marriage is considered a necessary part of life, and almost all adults marry III. Caribe and Burmuda: 1. The bride and groom show off their finest clothes for the entire village. 2. There’s no need for a best man at an Island wedding. 3. A typical wedding feast features curried goat and spicy chicken jerky 4. The traditional wedding cake is a â€Å"Black Cake† with the recipe handed down from mother to daughter for many generations. The cake is traditionally served with a Hard Rum Sauce and all of the dried fruits are soaked in rum in a crock pot for anywhere from two weeks to one year. 5. Calypso music is played. 6. In the Bermudas people plant a tree for prosperity. IV. China: 1. Auspicious days are subject to interpretation by fortune tellers that perform the analysis based on one’s birth date (day and hour) after consultation with the Chinese almanac. It is said to be the oldest continuous publication known. 2. In the Chinese community it is considered bad form if an individual consults the almanac and performs a self analysis. That is why a fortune teller or Fung Suey [Feng Shui] expert is consulted. 3. The 15 day period from the middle to the end of the seventh lunar month is considered inauspicious because that is time of the Hungry Ghost Festival when the gates of Hell are opened and the lost spirits are allowed to wander the earth. They should not be invited to the wedding! 4. Decorations and gift wrappings are red as this color (and gold too) symbolizes happiness and wealth. 5. There are always rockets acting as protection against bad spirits. 6. The bride changes her dress three times during the wedding ceremony. V. England: 1. The familiar tradition of a flower girl throwing rose petals as she passes down the aisle before the bride is a reminder of days gone by when the bride walked to the church with her maids in waiting. Leading the procession was always a young girl throwing flower petals along the lane, so the bride’s path through life would be happy and laden with flowers. 2. The couple walks toward the church with their wedding procession over a path of orange blossoms. 3. Something Old – Something New – Something Borrowed – Something Blue†¦And a Silver Sixpence in Her Shoe! This good-luck saying that originated many years ago in the Victorian era. 4. Most of the brides wear a horseshoe on one of their arms decorated with lace as an amulet. 5. The fruit cake is covered with marzipan. The upper section (baptism tart) is kept until the first child is born. VI. France: 1. A traditional French custom for the groom to call on his future bride at her home on the morning of their wedding. 2. In a church filled with incense and flowers, the couple stands beneath a silk canopy. A predecessor of the veil, a square of silk fabric, â€Å"carre'† is held over the head of the bride and groom as the couple received the priest’s final blessing. They were designed to protect the couple from descending malice. The same veil is used for the baptism of their new born child. 3. The bridal portion is put in the â€Å"nuptial wardrobe,† hand engraved with symbols of health and prosperity. 4. The couple drinks from the traditional wedding cup. 5. All decorations are white, and laurel leaves are spread out of the church when the nuptial couple departs. 6. On the wedding night, pots and pans are drummed to disturb the couple. The groom invites jokers in and some refreshments are offered. VII. Germany: 1. During the engagement period both the bride and groom wear a ring on their left hand. After the wedding they wear the wedding ring on their right hand. Usually the rings are gold with no diamonds. 2. Germany brides wear either very short trains or usually none at all attached to their wedding dress. If veils are worn they are of fingertip length and typically never worn over the face 3. The groom usually wears a black suit or a smoking jacket (dinner jacket) 4. Some weeks before the wedding the groom and his male friends go to a Kneipe (pub) to drink and have fun for his last time as a single man. 5. Before a church wedding the bride and groom will have been married in the Standesamt (Registry Office) by a registrar which is most often in the Rathaus (town hall). A witness is needed for the bride and also for the groom. 6. At a party on the evening before the wedding plates and dishes are smashed to scare off evil spirits. Only china can be used. Anything else would bring bad luck. The bride and groom have to clean up everything. This is to indicate that they can work together. 7. Together, the bride and groom will enter the church and walk down the aisle. Because it is not legal to have only a church ceremony, the couple will have already been legally married by a Standesbeamte. 8. As the couple walks to the wedding car, fir boughs are laid along the path to pave their first newlywed steps with fresh greenery to symbolize hope, luck and fertility. 9. On the day of the wedding, the guests go to couple’s house. VIII. Greece: 1. Before the wedding, tradition in Greece is to have your â€Å"Bed† made before groom actually sleep in it with the new spouse. During this ceremony, the bed is â€Å"made† with hand-knit linens and then adorned with Koufetta – almond candies, rose petals and, of course, money from friends and family for good luck. 2. When attending a Greek wedding, guests might wear a small â€Å"Eye† to ward off evil and keep the Bride and Groom protected from bad luck. 3. Greek Brides often put a lump of sugar in their glove for a â€Å"sweet† marriage. 4. Nowadays, after the wedding ceremony, guests are offered bombonieres. These delightful gifts of sugar-coated almonds are wrapped in net and attached to a small memento of your wedding. 5. Another hallmark of modern weddings is the wild and deafening loud concerto of automobile horns before and after a wedding ceremony. 6. In the reception a dance with handkerchiefs (Kaslamantiano) is enjoyed by all while stuf fed grape leaves, lamb skewers, and wine are served. 7. During the ceremony the groom is asked to honor the bride and she slightly touches him to put emphasis. IX. Italy: 1. A traditional Italian proposal begins with a romantic serenade. 2. Brides to be and their families gathered a â€Å"dote† or dowry of household goods and clothing in hope or marriage chests. This was often augmented with money or property. 3. In southern Italy, wild bachelor parties are uncommon as are raucous gatherings for the ladies. 4. Italian bride wears a white gown and veil. The white dress symbolizes purity while the veil, sometimes torn for luck, prevents the groom from clearly seeing the face of his intended before the ceremony, and thereby bringing bad luck upon the couple. 5. Almonds covered with caramel symbolize the joys and sadness of marriage. Sometimes the couple is pelted with sugared almonds. 6. In the reception, everyone enjoys the traditional dance called the â€Å"Tarantella.† X. Japan: 1. Sake Ceremony – known as one of the oldest traditional Japanese wedding customs, san-san-kudo, or sharing of sake is still performed today. 2. In Japan, brides may wear a colorful silk kimono or a shiromuku, a formal gown passed down over the ages and still used today as traditional bridal dresses. Some Japanese brides choose to wear a modern wedding gown. 3. The bride wears an elaborate white silk dress, various adornments, and a special wig. 4. In the reception there’s a dedication and some speeches, and the honored guests tell stories about the couple. 5. Kiogashi (colored sweets with flower shape), indicate that this is also a party. 6. Red is the funny and lucky color. XI. Korea: 1. In Korea, the marriage between a man and woman represents the joining of two families, rather than the joining of two individuals. 2. Before a Korean bride may be married, she must take part in the traditional Introduction ceremony, where she is accepted into the groom’s family. In a private ceremony, the groom’s family welcomes the bride. 3. The groom’s father may throw red dates at his daughter-in-law to bring her luck in fertility. 4. On the eve of the wedding (hum), the groom, bride, and her friends gather at the bride’s house. The groom’s friends arrive later, shouting and carrying lanterns to light the way and the bride’s things/dowry. Before entering they demand to be paid. When the payment of food and song is agreed upon, they enter and join with the others to celebrate. 5. Traditionally, a chest of gifts for the bride’s family was brought by the groom’s family. 6. The bride wears a multicolored silk dress with white sleeves and a black silk crown and she is made up with red points on her cheeks to scare away bad spirits. XII. Scotland: 1. Usually about a week before the ceremony the mother of the bride will hold a â€Å"show of presents† for her daughter. This corresponds to the bridal shower in other cultures. A slightly more raunchy tradition is the groom’s stag party. 2. The modern Scottish bride will wear a traditional or contemporary white wedding gown, while the groom dresses in traditional Highland kilt, kilt jacket and sporran. 3. The couple is either bag piped down the isle or traditional Gaelic hymns are played as they walk to the altar. The Highland Wedding is played at virtually all Scottish weddings. 4. Once at the altar the couple may choose to recite their vows in ancient Gaelic or to recite them in modern English. Following the vows the groom often pins a strip of his clan’s tartan colors to the bride’s wedding dress to signify that she is now a member of his clan. 5. Following the ceremony the bride and groom and all their honored guests head to a private home or to a restaurant for a lavish reception feast. At the typical Scottish reception you can count on the bride and groom being â€Å"piped† to the table of honor, where the bride will cut the first slice of wedding cake using a dirk (a long-bladed knife) that is provided to her by the piper. As the bride slices the first piece of wedding cake, custom dictates that her hand is guided by the hand of her new husband. 6. The wedding reception is filled with music, signing, much drinking and toasting to the health and happiness of the new couple. The celebrations can go on into the wee hours of the morning. 7. One custom that hasn’t changed for more than 700 years is the custom of the groom carrying his new bride over the threshold of their new home together. XIII. The Netherlands: 1. Dutch people are free to choose their spouses. The common basis for marriage is most often love. This does not mean that people marry independently of the constraints of class, ethnicity, and religion. 2. The choice of a partner is often class-based. Monogamy is the only marriage form allowed. 3. Many Dutch couples live in a consensual arrangement. Same-sex couples can marry and have the same rights as heterosexual couples. 4. A civil wedding ceremony, usually conducted in the town hall, is required in Holland to give marriage legality; so many couples have both a religious and civil ceremony on the same day. 5. The wedding ceremony is usually followed by a series of celebrations consisting of a reception, a formal dinner and a party, and it is common practice for family and friends to be invited to either all or just part of the celebrations, depending on their closeness to the couple. XIV. Russia: 1. The betrothal is a ceremony performed with the rites of the Eastern Church, and takes place eight days before the marriage. 2. During the interval between betrothal and marriage the bride’s girl friends endeavor to amuse her and keep up her spirits (for she is supposed to be in a state of lamentation and grief) by singing to her, and their songs tell of the happiness of married life. 3. On the day before the wedding they conduct her to the bath, where much time is spent in dressing her hair, while she listens to their songs. 4. Both bride and bridegroom receive a solemn blessing from their parents before leaving their houses, and even the wedding garments are blessed by the priest. 5. After the dedication, cups are thrown to the floor. Their breaking means happiness. 6. The bride and groom usually tie a doll to the wedding car or carriage if they wish their first child to be a girl, and a teddy bear if they want a boy. XV. Hawaiian: 1. The bride wears a long, white formal version of the muumuu called a ‘holoku. 2. Instead of a veil, a woven garland of island flowers, ‘haku lei’ is worn around her head. 3. The bride’s bouquet may consist of white orchid sprays. 4. The groom wears a long sleeve white shirt and white pants. A long red or colored sash is worn wrapped about his waist. A lei of maile and ilima flowers adorn his neck. 5. Hawaiian wedding bands bearing the couple’s name in Hawaiian are often exchanged. The name ‘kuuipo’ meaning sweetheart, is favorite choice for the bride. XVI. Philippines: 1. During the reception couples practice the Filipino wedding custom of releasing a pair of doves to symbolize a loving and harmonious marriage. 2. During the reception the wedding cake is sliced. 3. Throwing rice confetti at the newlyweds will bring them prosperity all their life. 4. The groom must arrive before the bride at the church to avoid bad luck. 5. Dropping the wedding ring, the veil or the arrhae during the ceremony spells unhappiness for the couple. 6. Bride should not try on her wedding dress before the wedding, maybe it will push through. XVII. Native American: 1. From Apache to Cheyenne and Hopi to Sioux, Native American wedding customs are beautiful and vary according to tribe. One custom in particular requires the bride and groom to wash their hands to cleanse away evil and previous lovers. 2. Ceremonies can be held in chapels, historical landmarks, Indian monuments, or reservations. Pow Wow drums provide lively music for the wedding reception festivities. 3. The Blanket Ceremony – This ritual entails using two blue blankets to represent the couple’s past lives. The couple are wrapped in blue blankets and led to a sacred circle of fire. The officiating person or spiritual leader blesses the union and the couple shed the blue blankets and enveloped by relatives in a single white blanket which represents their new life. Under the white blanket, it’s customary that the couples embrace and kiss. The white blanket is usually kept and displayed in the couple’s home. 4. The Native American bride may wear a white dress or a beautiful long leather dress with beading and traditional colors woven into the fabric. The traditional colors of Native Americans include White for east, Blue for south, Yellow for west, and Black for north. 5. The wedding feast consists of ceremonial foods such as white and yellow corn prepared in a delicious corn mush. The white represents the groom and the yellow represents the bride. The two types of corn are mixed to represent the new union.