African Kingdoms and Empires

African Kingdoms and Empires During 400 AD, West Africa witnessed the rise and fall of the indigenous medieval empires of ancient Ghana, medieval Mali, and Songhai. Many other states and kingdoms arose during this time but Ghana, Mali and Songhai achieved the status of fully-fledged, functioning and long-living conquest states and expansionist empires. These empires regulated the Trans-Saharan trade by offering protection for trade caravans as well as taxing slaves, gold, firearms, textiles and salt.Ghana reached its height by 1200 AD and was ruled by the Serahule people which eventually broke apart by in the 13th century. The Mali Empire was a Mandinka territory but also took on Ghana’s territory and extended into the 13th century. At the peak of the empire, Mali covered an area over 24,000 sq. km. Songhai succeeded Mali in the 14th century and grew to be the largest land empire in tropical Africa. Throughout the presentation I will cover each Empire in grave detail.Ghana may have existed as early as the 5th century, however, by the 8th century it was known as â€Å"The Land of Gold. † In 1068 Ghana was the largest, wealthiest, and most powerful state in West Africa. The empire was situated in the vast Savannah area between the Senegal and Niger Rivers with its authority extending from the frontiers of Futa Toro to the Western banks of the Niger, and from the Mandinka area in the south to beyond the fringes of the desert in the north. Ghanaweb) The Serahule were the founding people of â€Å"The Land of Gold,† who established their capital at Kumbi Saleh, which at that time was the leading trading centre of the Western Sudan and the focus of all trade with a systematic form of taxation. The Serahule formed themselves into a strong trading state which spread its power over many neighboring people and in the process became an empire. With the introduction of the camel during the Trans-Saharan trade, Ghana derived power and wealth from gold an d increased the quality of goods transported.As stated earlier, the Soninke people also sold slaves, salt and copper in exchange for textiles, beads and finished goods. (Ghanaweb) According to Ghanaweb, â€Å"The wealth of ancient Ghana is mythically explained in the tale of bids, the black snake. This snake demanded an annual sacrifice in return for guaranteeing prosperity in the Kingdom, therefore each year a virgin was offered up for sacrifice, until one year, the fiance’ (Mamadou Sarolle) of the intended victim rescued her. Feeling cheated of his sacrifice, Bida took his revenge on the region, a terrible drought took a hold of Ghana and gold mining began to decline.There is evidence found by archaeologists that confirms elements of the story, showing that until the 12th century, sheep cows and even goats were abundant in the region. † Traders took the route from Maghreb to Ghana starting in Tahert, North Africa through Sjilmasa, Southern Morocco. The trail led sout h running parallel with the coast, then south-east through Awsaghust and ending in Kumbi Saleh. Through their travels the traders brought the Islamic community to Kumbi Saleh but the Islam’s managed to remain a separate community a distance away from the King’s palace. Ghanaweb) McKay wrote, â€Å"The city of Ghana consists of two towns lying on a plain, one of which is inhabited by Muslims and is large, possessing twelve mosques- one of which is congregational mosque for Friday prayer; each has its imam, its muezzin and paid reciters of the Quran. The town possesses a large number of jurisconsults and learned me,† (McKay, pg 279) Ghana was originally known as Wagadou (Ouagadou, Aoukar) by its rulers, but was changed into the general use, â€Å"Ghana† because one of the king’s titles â€Å"Ghana† meant war chief. Each succeeding king kept the title Ghana but went by their own name.The kings were in charge of organizing the trade and keeping good relations with the Saharan traders, as well as acting as senior religious leader and representative on earth of the founding ancestors of the Serahule people. To increase the wealth of Ghana, the kings were able to make lesser kings or chiefs obey their laws and pay them taxes. This in turn gave the kings of Ghana more power and could command the services of many descent lines. They were able to raise big armies and employ larger numbers of messengers and other servants. (Ghanaweb)The International trade was causing the empire continuous growth so the Serahule were inventing new methods of governing themselves by raising money to pay for a government and producing wealth. They decided the central authority would need to be a king that would rule over many lesser authorities or governments. Since Serahule had already occupied the lands to the north of the upper waters of Niger, their towns and trading settlements became the middlemen between the Berber and Arab traders of the no rth and the gold and ivory producers of the south. This position made Ghana strong and prosperous and gave its rulers glory and power. Accessgambia) The empire included many arrears of people who were not Serahule and therefore had different religious loyalties to their Gods other than the king. In order to ensure the continued allegiance of the conquered states, the kings of Ghana insisted on the son of each vassal king being sent to their court. Both provincial governors of Serahule areas and tributary rulers of the conquered peoples had the duties of loyalty to the king, provisions of annual tribute, and the contribution of bands of warriors to the imperial army when they were required for active service.In return for their loyalty, the king provided protection against external enemies. However, by 1240 Ghana was no more. There are many reasons for Ghana’s decline and fall, starting with the royal treasury placing a monopoly on the export of gold. The gold industry was the fame of what Ghana rested on because it was the king’s largest source of income. Secondly, the way the empire was organized. At its peak, Ghana was made up of many states and people and lacked political and cultural unity which the kings failed to achieve.The different ethnic groups such as the Soninke, Susu, Serer, Berber and Tuclor each had its own language and cultures owed allegiance to the king. Conquered states such as Futa Toro, Silla and Diara were only expected to pay annual tribute contingents to the kings in times of war but were left to operate under their own traditional rules. Lastly, during the second half of the Eleventh century, the military became weakened and broke up into component parts. Later, there was an invasion by the Berber Almoravid dynasty that conquered Ghana and forced its rulers and people to convert to Islam.McKay stated that â€Å"while Almoravid and Islamic pressures certainly disrupted the empire, weakening it enough for its incorporation into the rising Mali empire, there was no Almoravid military invasion and subsequent forced conversion to Islam. † (McKay, pg 280) The kingdom of Ghana split into several small kingdoms that feuded among themselves. The Mandinka, from the kingdom of Kangaba had been part of the Ghanaian empire and soon dominated the feuding kingdoms.Building on the Ghanaian foundations, Kangaba formed the core of the new empire of Mali and developed into a better organized state than Ghana. There were two rulers for the Mali Empire, Sundiata and Mansa Musa which combined, had military success and creative personalities. Mali had a large agricultural and commercial base that provided for a large population and enormous wealth. (McKay, pg 280) McKay also noted that dating to the early eleventh century, the Mandinka were extremely successful at agriculture.Consistently large harvests throughout the twelfth and thirteenth centuries provided a supply of food, which helped steady the population gro wth. The Mandinka also acted as middlemen in the gold and salt traffic that flowed north and south during the Ghanaian hegemony. In the thirteenth century, Mandinka traders formed companies and gradually became a major force in the entire West African trade. Sundiata, the founder of Mali, set up his capital at Niani and transformed the city into an important financial and trading center.McKay stated, â€Å"through a series of military victories, Sundiata and his successors absorbed into Mali’s other territories of the former kingdom of Ghana and established hegemony over the trading cities of Gao, Jenne, and Walata. Into the fourteenth century, these expansionist policies were continued by Sundiata’s descendant Mansa Musa. † (McKay pg 280) In the language of the Mandinke, Mansa means â€Å"emperor. † Musa consolidated the foundations laid down by Sundiata and ruled the empire at its greatest height.Musa’s influence extended northward to several Ber ber cities in the Sahara, eastward to the trading cities of Timbuktu and Gao and westward as far as the Atlantic Ocean. He maintained a strict empire and it grew twice the size of the Ghanaian kingdom and contained roughly eight million people which brought Musa Fabulous wealth. (McKay, pg 281) It was the Musa’s pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 that put the empire on the map. He travelled with thousands of porters and servants that carried six-pound staffs of gold and one hundred elephants each bearing one hundred pounds of gold. On his ay to Mecca, Musa stayed in Egypt and spent and gave away so much gold that there was a devaluation of the local currency and it sparked an inflationary crisis in Egypt as well as depressing world prices of the commodity. Twelve years later, al-Omari, one of the sultan’s officials, recounted. â€Å"This man Mansa Musa spread upon Cairo the flood of his generosity: there was no person, officer of the court, or holder of any office of the Sul tanate who did not receive a sum of gold from him. The people of Cairo earned incalculable sums from him, whether by buying and selling or by gifts.So much gold was current in Cairo that it ruined the value of money. † (McKay, pg 281) As a result of Musa’s display of wealth, his fame spread as far as Europ,e where the Catalan map by Abraham Cresques of about 1375 shows Musa seated on a gold throne wearing a gold crown while holding a gold nugget, describing him as â€Å"the riches and most noble king in all the land. † Mansa Musa extended his borders of Mali and set up an effective system of government that had a justice administration that was relatively impartial. The field of diplomacy was able to establish friendly relationships with other African states such as Morocco and Egypt.To help the king in his work, he had judges, scribes, and civil servants that helped to strengthen the administrative machinery of the empire. There were fourteen provinces in Mali t hat were ruled by governors who were typically famous generals. The others such as the Berber province were governed by their own Sheikhs. All of the provinces administrators were responsible to the Mansa and they were all said to be well paid. Under Musa, Timbuktu began as a campsite for desert nomads and grew into a thriving trading post or entrepot, attracting merchants and traders from North Africa and all parts of the Mediterranean world.In the fourteenth century, Timbuktu developed into a center for scholarships and learning for Architects, Astronomers, Poets, Lawyers, Mathematicians, and Theologians. The tradition and reputation for African scholarships lasted until the eighteenth century. (McKay, pg 282) The rise of the Mali Empires was swift but its decline was gradual. In the fifteenth century, Mali lost its ability to dominate the affairs of the Western Sudan because it became a tiny principality of kangaba. It wasn’t until the seventeenth century that Mali complet ely lost its political identity as it had broken up into a number of small independent chiefdoms.Between 1337 to 1341 Musa’s son, Maghan I, ruled the Empire. During this period, the Mossi of present day Burkina Faso raided across Manding and devastated Timbuktu. Then the Tuareg of the Sahara conquered the Northern part of the Mali Empire. During the periods of 1360 to 1400 there were as many as six kings and a series of civil wars. During the fifteenth century, the Songhai, under their leader Sunni Ali, conquered Jenne and Timbuktu and replaced Songhai as the most important power in the Western Sudan. Songhai succeeded Mali and became the third great West African empire. (Accessgambia)The Songhai Empire originated in the nineth century as a medieval civilization that was a small principality in West Africa on the banks of the Niger River called Al-kaw kaw. The kingdom had a very fertile area suitable for livestock rearing, agriculture, and fishing. As early as 800 AD, the kin gdom made full use of their resources and divided into two specialized professional groups; the Gabibi who were agriculturists and the Sorko who were fishermen. The Songhai borders extended from the central area of present Nigeria to the Atlantic coast and included parts of what is now Gambia, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Guinea and Mauritania.The areasof the land being rich and fertile allowed the people of Songhai to attract traders to their kingdom and become very astute traders and merchants themselves. As early at the tenth century the leaders of Al-kaw kaw moved their capital from Kukia to Gao. Gao became the last stop for three major trade routes. The routes included the trans-Saharan route from Egypt into Fezzan, Ghat and Agedez, the Tripoli and Tunis from Ghat and the route from Algeria and Morocco.During this time is when the Arab traders brought the Islamic influences which contributed to shaping the direction of the empire. In the thirteenth century Gao was part o f the Mali Empire and in 1275 Gao managed to break away from Mali. It wasn’t until 1464 when the small kingdom of Gao was transformed into the Songhai Empire and signaled the start of a new royal dynasty. Sources McKay, pgs 280-280 http://www. accessgambia. com/information/african-empires. html http://www. ghanaweb. com/GhanaHomePage/history/

Liquid Assets in Firm Essay

What will your outlook towards maintenance of liquid assets to ensure that the firm has adequate cash in hand to meet its obligations at all times? Almost every action of company has financial implications, manager responsible for or with oversight of cash flow get directly involved in many functional areas of the business. Cash flow manager although in large company the financial management function may be broken down into various segments and the cash flow management segment may concern itself primarily with short term management issues, or the daily cash flow management task.Examples of these would be the maintenance of only minimum balance in non-interest bearing bank accounts, the movement of excess cash into short-term investment , and the maintenance of adequate cash balance to cover the normal operating expenses of the company that must be paid from day to day. In any event, those responsible for short term cash flow must consider the long term financial management objective of the company. Objectives of the Financial Management 1. To ensure that the company always has enough cash to meet its legal obligations and avoid illiquidity – i.e. to maintain adequate short term financial flexibility. 2. To arrange to obtain whatever funds are required from external sources at the right time , in the right form and the best possible terms. 3.To ensure that the companies assets and liabilities ; current and long term, financial and operating are utilized as effectively as possible. 4.To forecast and plan for the financial requirement of future operations. 5.To make all decisions & recommendations on the basis of one primary criterion, maximizing the long term value of the organization . this objective is attained in a publicly owned corporation through maximization of the wealth of the owner [stakeholders] by maximizing stock price. ‘Liquid Asset’ An asset that can be converted into cash quickly and with minimal impact to the price received. Liquid assets are generally regarded in the same light as cash because their prices are relatively stable when they are sold on the open market. Liquid assets are cash on hand or any tangible or intangible item that can be converted quickly and easily into cash, typically within 20 days, without losing much of their value. These assets are among the most  basic types of financial resources used by consumers, businesses, and investors. Cash and checking accounts are the two most obvious forms of liquid assets. Currency Legal tender for purchases and to settle outstanding debts, currency remains the most common type of liquid asset used consistently by retail consumers. Money that is deposited into a current account is considered to be a liquid asset because it is possible to immediately access the funds in order to settle debts. The debit card offers consumers even greater access to immediate liquid assets. Investments Some interest-bearing investments can be liquidated quickly, qualifying them as liquid assets. Money market fund shares, bonds, mutual funds, and the cash value of a life insurance policy are examples of investments that can provide quick cash when necessary. Certificates of deposit and stocks might also qualify under this definition. While the actual market liquidity of each asset may vary, the key is that there are always people looking to buy these items, so they can be sold relatively easily. In the case of some jointly owned assets, only a percentage of an asset could be considered liquid. Other Assets The final settlement awarded by a court for damages in a lawsuit could also be considered to be a liquid asset, depending on the terms of payment specified by the court. Tax refunds and the balances of trust funds are often included in the working definition of liquid assets. Less Liquid and Illiquid Assets Mortgages are sometimes considered a liquid asset, but they are much less liquid than many other types. Real estate is also more likely to sold at less than its value if it must be liquidated quickly; if the market is unstable, it may be difficult to determine the true value of real estate as well. Since a key part of liquidity is that the asset be sold at or very near its actual value, this means that real estate is often considered â€Å"illiquid† or not easy to sell. Any item for which there is no established  value is not considered to be a liquid asset, even if that item might be sold for a high price. When the market for the item is small or uncertain, a sale could significantly affect its value. Even stock, usually considered a liquid asset, could be illiquid if a large block is put up for sale, which could lower its market value. Business Assets For businesses, liquid assets can include cash, marketable securities, and receivables. Cash equivalents, which can be quickly converted to cash as needed, are also considered to be liquid. A business needs to be liquid enough to meet expenses, but not have so much cash on hand that short-term investment opportunities are not pursued. Companies often divide their assets into net liquid, quick, and current assets. Net liquid assets are what would be left if all of the businesses debts were paid off. Quick assets are those that can be converted into cash immediately, while current assets are those that can be converted within a year. For an asset to be liquid it needs an established market with enough participants to absorb the selling without materially impacting the price of the asset. There also needs to be a relative ease in the transfer of ownership and the movement of the asset. Liquid assets include most stocks, money market instruments and government bonds. The foreign exchange market is deemed to be the most liquid market in the world because trillions of dollars exchange hands each day, making it impossible for any one individual to influence the exchange rate. Liquid assets include items such as accounts receivable, demand and time deposits, gilt edged securities. In some countries, precious metals (usually gold and silver) are also considered liquid assets. Generally speaking, you must limit expenses and ensure that some of your assets are in the form of short term assets. The higher your short term assets and the less your short term debt, the better your ability to pay the debt (short term liquidity ratio / liquidity ratio help you determine this).The ratio analysis will be the guide stick for the liquidity ratio. Maintenance OF LIQUID ASSETS TO ENSURE ADEQATE CASH IN HAND A common problem for small business owners is the struggle to maintain adequate cash flow levels. Without cash, a business must eventually close its doors. Understanding and managing the company’s cash flow will help to measure the amount of cash on hand and prepare for cash flow shortfalls in the future. a. Do the Math :  Cash flow is the movement of money in and out of a business. Cash inflow is the movement of money into your business, and most likely comes from the sale of goods or services to your customers. Cash outflow is the movement of money out of your business, and is generally the result of paying expenses. By projecting the inflow and outflow of your businesses cash, you can determine the amount of cash that will be available during a designated period of time. b. Prepare Your Profit and Loss Statement Your business plan should contain several financial statements. If you’re a start-up businessman, base your estimates of cash inflow and outflow on the rev enues and expenses listed in your profit and loss statements. Complete your profit and loss statement before completing your cash flow statement. Over time, you will be able to base cash inflows and outflows on actual historical data. c. Develop a Cash Flow Statement: A cash flow statement measures cash flow over time. During your first year in business, you should include a month-by-month cash flow statement in your business plan. If you’re seeking a loan, an important feature of your cash flow statement is that it will show the lender exactly how you’re going to afford loan payments. In order for a business to stay afloat, it must maintain an adequate level of cash. These are some which we can apply to improve the cash flow in our organization. Adequate cash means that you can meet your obligations. It is to remember that cash is king and life blood of the organization. The following points help make it easier to maintain the adequate cash level and an improvement in cash position can be seen sooner rather than later: 1. Check Customers’ Credit Histories: Decide the type of customer to whom you want to extend credit. Do you want to have a particular cut-off credit score? If you extend credit to customers with questionable credit histories or low credit scores, you may experience late payments or no payments, which will slow down your cash flow and increase your collection costs. 2. Keep Track of Your Customers’ Payments: Have up-to-date payment records. Keep accurate payments records by using a specialized accounting software program that will keep track of your invoices and when payments are made. If customers are late with their payments, it could cause a cash flow bottleneck for you. Accurate record keeping will help solve this problem. 3. Set Appropriate Credit Terms and Offer a Cash Discount : Make sure your customers understand how long they have to pay their bill. In order to speed  up the cash they pay, you might want to offer a cash discount to any customer that pays in a short period of time, designated by you, or to a customer who pays cash. 4. Extend Your Timetable for Making Cash Payments :: Pay your bills on time and take advantage of any cash discounts your suppliers offer you. However, hold onto your cash as long as possible. Don’t pay bills weeks earlier than they are due. Your company can use that cash balance, rather than letting your supplier use your company’s cash. 5. Cut Back on Spending Wherever Possible : Do you really need to take money out of your business for a Hawaiian vacation right now? Cut back on spending until it is less than your revenue on a month-by-month basis. If an emergency happens, then you will be prepared from a cash standpoint. 6. Increase Your Sales : Make sure you aren’t holding on to obsolete inventory. If you are, mark it down and sell it. Storing it is costing you money and selling it at a lower price is better than not selling it at all. The longer you hold on to obsolete inventory, the less likely it is to sell. 7. Think before investing : The price and value of investments and their income fluctuates: you may get back less than the amount you invested. Remember that how an investment performed in the past is not a guide to how it will perform in the future. We need to project the cash flow statement, and employee the companies fund in short term investment. Along with that we have to check expenses. And maintain the liquid assets. Projected cash flow statement is the guided stick. Our sales, realizations, and fixed and variable expenses need to be kept in mind while judging the balanced need of liquid assets. We may consider the short term investments with reference to interest rate and surplus funds. Generally it is indispensable that we must limit expenses and ensure that some of the assets are in the form of short term assets. The higher short term assets and the less your short Term debt, the better your ability to pay the debt (short Term liquidity ratio / liquidity ratio help you dete rmine this). The ratio analysis will be the guide stick for the Liquidity ratio. The short term creditors of a company like supplies of good of credit and Commercial banks providing short-term loans, are primarily interested in knowing the companies ability to meet its current or short term obligations of a firm can be met only when there are sufficient liquid assets. Therefore, a firm must ensure that it does not suffer from lack of liquidity or the capacity to pay its current obligations due to lack of good  liquidity position, its goodwill in the market is likely to be effected beyond repair. Liquidity refers to the ability of a concern to meet its current obligations as and when there become due. The short-term obligations are met by realizing amounts from current, floating or circulating assets. The current assets should either be liquid or near liquidity. These should be convertible into cash for paying obligations of short-term nature. The sufficiently or insufficiency of current assets should be assessed by comparing them with short term liabilities. If current assets can pay off current liabilities, then liquidity position will be satisfactory. The standard current ratio is 1: 1.33 means any firm / company is having adequate funds to meet its obligation in time. The firm has to maintain core current assets which is easily realizable at all times. The laid down bench mark ratio to maintain the ratio of core current assets to current liabilities is 1:1

Short responses Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Short responses - Assignment Example I use Microsoft Excel for budgeting as it includes simple formulas for the calculations, which is why accountants also use spreadsheets for advanced budget calculations (Coy, Nelson, Buchanan and Fisher, 1998). Researchers also use spreadsheets to organize large data and this helps them to analyze data to draw meaningful conclusions from the raw data (â€Å"Using Spreadsheet†, 2013). Grocery shopping lists always involve numerous goods and items which become perplexing if not handled well. To avoid confusion and losing money on unnecessary items, I use Google Drive to create a list of items I need to buy. Google Docs provides grocery list templates which make grocery shopping easier and simpler (â€Å"Using Google Docs†, 2013). Listing my grocery items on a spreadsheet prevents me from missing on an item and helps me plan my weekly budget on food. Spreadsheets allow the organization of data to help in the analysis of these data which is particularly useful for researchers. This helps them import the data to spreadsheet software which carries out calculations on the data for statistical analysis (Meyers & Gamst et al.,

Nestl Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Nestl - Essay Example As a result business organizations across nations are breaching political and geographical boundaries in an attempt to grab a share of the market. The emergence of developing nations has created numerous opportunities for business organizations so as to expand into different markets. This has triggered a wave of competition among the business organizations to garb each other’s market share. International expansion also poses numerous challenges for multinational firms which have operations in different regions as markets in different nations have distinct consumer tastes and preferences apart from large scale variations in macro economical and political environments. The present study would deal with the aspect of international expansion and its effects on the product and marketing and product mix of the organization. The organization selected for the study is Nestle. The choice of the organization assumes significance considering the fact that the firm has its markets in nume rous regions and has a large range of product mix and categories that cater to many segments of the consumers across the world. About the Company Nestle is the global leader in the food and beverage industry segment and has a significant presence across numerous consumer markets across the globe. The origins of the company date back to the year 1866 when Henri Nestle founded the organization in Vevey Switzerland. The company has since then grown up a long way to emerge as an organization which boasts of its business presence in almost all the major markets of the world with a profit margin of CHF 108 billion providing employment opportunities to about 280,000 individuals. The company’s mission is to provide best quality and highly nutritious food to individuals across the globe (Nestle, 2011). Opportunities and Challenges of International Marketing International expansion has given rise to a new term called ‘Multinational Corporation’. The word multinational in b usiness parlance implies an organization in which the marketing related tasks are formulated in numerous nations and are coordinated across all the markets where the firm operates (Onkvisit & Shaw, 2008, p.5). International expansion throws numerous opportunities and challenges before an organization. On one hand it opens up numerous opportunities in the form of new markets with good potential. Saturation of a particular product line can also be handled by a firm if it introduces the product in newer markets. It also reflects numerous challenges for an organization as large scale market fluctuation and adaption with the local culture and sentiments play a major role in the success of firms in the international markets (Czinkota & Ronkainen, 2007, p.10). Figure 1: The Process of International Marketing (Source: Philips, Doole & Lowe, 1994, p.28) The figure above shows the process of international marketing in multinational organizations. The figure shows numerous challenges such as a ttitude based barriers, unsolicited orders, lack of willingness as well as time frame based commitment to the

You can decide the topic whatever you want by those requirements I Essay - 1

You can decide the topic whatever you want by those requirements I pasted - Essay Example In order to create his plot and setting, Marquez uses an uncommon literary technique. For instance, he does not have a true main character. Garcia Marquez explored how capitalism can be used to rob contemporary societies using deeper human values. The main characters in the story show how capitalism can use human nature to exploit contemporary societies. Pelayo was among the first people to notice the old man. Though he was kind to the old man, he was not charitable or compassionate. His neighbors suggested that they should club the old man to death. This shows that people in this community are uncompassionate. Instead, he decided to keep the old man in his chicken house and charge admission fees to onlookers and the curious crowd. The main concerns for Pelayo are his sick child and family (Marquez 1). He was content to leave the theological and theoretical speculations to Father Gonzaga. Elisenda is Pelayo’s wife and she was concerned with practical matters. She suggested to her husband that they should charge an admission fee to anybody who wanted to see the old man. Though the old man brought numerous material advantages to the family, Elisenda portrayed an attitude of exasperation and annoyance. Elisenda is an exam ple of how capitalism exploits contemporary societies using human nature. Garcia Marquez used the conflicting actions of characters to unfold the story as a comical tragedy. After the old man’s usefulness dwindled, Elisenda began to see him as a nuisance. The old man became troublesome to Elisenda that she referred her new home as â€Å"hell full of angels† (Marquez 3). The new house was brought from the proceeds the family received from exhibiting the old man. The author’s statement that, â€Å"the angel was the only one who took no part in his own act. His only supernatural virtue seemed to be patience† shows how capitalism exploits contemporary societies (Marquez 2). This statement explains the situation in which the old

Parenting Style Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Parenting Style - Assignment Example They encourage their child to be independent and individualistic. They also engage in discussion and explanations over matters of discipline and family decision making, thus parents listen patiently to a childs point of view as well as provide sensitive guidance. Authoritative parenting is effective in shaping a childs cognition. It is associated with task persistence, academic achievement, social maturity, high self-esteem and confidence, self-controlled in their ability to resist engaging in disruptive behavior, and less gendered type. Children are competent, responsible, and independent. Authoritative parenting also encourages intrinsic motivation (Alarcon). Authoritarian parents set high standards, place a high value on conformity, and expect obedience without any questions or comments. They are demanding and unresponsive to a childs needs. Authoritarian parenting approach affects a childs cognition negatively. Children who are consistently treated in an authoritarian way tend to be withdrawn, rebellious, and unhappy, have a low self-esteem, anxious, lack intellectual curiosity, and react to others with hostility when frustrated. Permissive parents are warm and accepting, but make no demands or set limits on their children. Since they are non-controlling, these parents allow their children to regulate their own behavior. They allow their children to make their own decisions at any age. This parenting approach affects a childs cognition negatively. Children of permissive parents tend to be immature, impulsive, underachievers, rebellious, low self-esteem, dependent on adults, and showed less persistence on school tasks (Alarcon). Through various research and studies, it has been discovered that children subject to authoritative parenting style are securely attached to their parents. On the other hand, children subject to authoritarian or permissive

Parents, Children and Family Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Parents, Children and Family - Essay Example In the story, Jin-mei interpreted her mother’s wishes as the following, â€Å"My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America. America was where all my mother’s hopes lay. She had come to San Francisco in 1949 after losing everything in China: her mother and father, her family home, her first husband, and two daughters, twin baby girls.† (Tan 1208). Jing-mei only wanted to be herself. The mother and daughter’s conflict revolved around each of their perceptions of one another. Even though Suyuan Woo loves Jing-mei, sometimes that isn’t enough to make a happy family. Even though Suyuan Woo has high expectations for her child, there is no malice in her actions. â€Å"At the core of a happy family are parents and children, connected to one another in a way that is mutually satisfying, pleasing and enduring.† (Lezin, Rollen, Bean and Taylor). Though this family has endured, both parties, Suyuan Woo and Jing-mei, are not pleased or satisfied with each other. Sometimes being a family, does not always mean being a happy family. I Stand Here Ironing relates a tale of a daughter, Emily, and her mother. Emily’s mother is standing at an ironing board ironing, while speaking to the audience. As she irons, the mother muses about her failures as mother, even though she was a single parent. She felt Emily did not receive enough attention because of her work, trying to support Emily and her four siblings. The book relates that Emily’s father left before she was a year old with only explanation â€Å"he could no longer endure.† (Olsen). Emily’s mother had no choice but to raise her daughter to the best of her abilities, even though she felt that Emily needed more. The relationship between Emily and her mother is more common today than it was when this story was set. â€Å"More than half of all children will spend some of their lives in a single-parent family. Currently, 90% of these families are headed by women.† (Hare and

Darwins theory of evolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Darwins theory of evolution - Essay Example versity in life comes from natural selection, essentially meaning that those organisms of a species that are best suited to their environment are more likely to succeed in reproduction. Due to this, the traits of those individuals that ensure that they are best suited to their environment become more frequent in the population and can eventually become the norm for that species. Darwin came up with this theory with no knowledge of genetics. It is interesting to see this theory be put to work, as although genetics and genome theory have altered and adapted Darwins theory, the basic principles are the same. In the recent National Geographic article, for example, an article about the domestication of the silver Siberian fox. Nine generations ago, the relatives of the silver foxes at this farm were wild, but now they crave human attention like a Labrador. The researchers here have been selectively breeding the foxes with the traits most desirable in a pet – friendliness, loyalty and companionship. The speed at which they have become similar to standard domestic dogs has shocked the researchers. This is exactly what Darwin found and expressed in his book The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, showing that Darwin recognized this capability when developing his theory of

Gentlemans Agreement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Gentlemans Agreement - Essay Example For example, if an employee at a company says they will get you a job and you have nothing to worry about, this is an example of a gentleman's agreement. However if they are unable to get you the job then you have no legal recourse" (Free Dictionary, 2008, pg. 1). The Law Encyclopedia (2008, pg. 1) says that "Although agreements between individuals often create legally binding commitments, instances may arise in which mutual promises yield no legally enforceable agreement. Sometimes called "gentlemen's agreements," parties may honor them because moral obligations compel observance or because future relations will be more difficult if the present arrangement is broken. International organizations likewise may depend on such informal arrangements so as to maintain comity among members" and that "Occasionally the enabling treaties that create an international organization will leave some procedural or voting matter unresolved. Rather than amend the formal document, which is usually a difficult task, an informal working agreement will develop to resolve a particular problem.

Rizals Juventud Essay Example for Free

Rizals Juventud Essay This may seem like a blatant patronization of Rizal, but I like to say: I love this particular work of his. One can bask in the colorful language that he uses in this one. Also, this particular work presents a lot of allegories from which one can try to decipher and understand. And from these ideas we can see what Rizal is trying to say in the poem and in extention what is on his mind. In the first stanza, the writer writes of the Philippine youth as a flower about to bloom yet still a bud. The writer exhorts the flower to look up and shine. As one who has waited for long, the writer has determined that the flower is ready to bloom on this day as stated in the poem. Also the writer refers to the youth as the fair hope of this land. While old people are more experienced, they may have manifested most of their potential and thus about to become a relic of the past. The writer exhorts the youth to fully realize their potential, Manifesting the grace and gallantry of your [youth] line. It is interesting that in the next stanza, the writer asks the Spirit of grandeur to fill them [the youth] with noble meditation. I was half expecting Rizal to write knowledge instead of meditation. Upon some thought, I saw the wisdom in these words. While we continue to shove knowledge into our brains, if we lack discernment what to do with this knowledge, it would be useless and may even be our undoing. The writer exhorts the reader to higher aspirations tempered with cautious meditation lest what we learn may be our own undoing. This in my opinion is very timely. I am about to leave the university. As I go out into the world I shall utilize my knowledge to earn a living and live life itself. However, a meditative attitude should always be present to assess our actions and what is the wisest thing to do as of the moment. The next three stanzas reminds me of Platos cave and the chains that bind. In the cave, man is chained and made to watch the wall and the shadows on the wall. This is what constitutes his world. However, someone comes along and tries to make man see the beauty of the life outside. However, man accustomed to his world is confused with what he sees. This makes him want to return to the cave. In the poem, youth is chained to the wall. His intelligence and genius is shackled away to prevent it from flying. The writer exhorts the reader to smash these chains and see the light. Additionaly, Rizal sees mother Spain as one who tries to make the youth see the light. Instead of returning to the darkness However,unlike Platos cave, the writer sees one who has been fully freed from their chains in their mind. What perplexes me is that the writer writes of one who rises on his fantasy in search of poetry. I am tempted to interpret this as a general search for knowledge since we can say that whatever can be known can be expressed in the poetry of something (e. g biology as poetry of nature, mathematics as poetry of numbers). However, I am not entirely sure of this. But in the spirit of Rizals other writings I can say that this may be true. In the end, the writer exhorts the youthful and skillful musician, sculptor, and the painter to make haste and strive for glory. Because as said in the final stanza, the gains of these people will reflect on the nation itself and in the end will be a blessing to us all. However, in the present situation, I doubt that Rizal would be proud of the youth. Though growing in strength, a majority are still living in their own worlds, oblivious to the world outside. They need to know more about the world and see things for what they actually are. This of course is a challenge for education.

Eyewitness Testimony Essay

Eyewitness Testimony Essay The use of eyewitness testimony is infamously a primary source of evidence used within the judicial system around the world; however its use has raised various questions as to its reliability and validity especially within court cases. This essay explored first of all, the biological factors of memory and recollection of memories within the human brain. Memories are believed to be stored and processed within the hippocampus part of the brain where it goes through the multi-store model (Atkinson and Shiffrin, 1968). This is where danger of the reliability of memory occurs. It was argued that eyewitness testimony is a reliable form of evidence especially with its validity in terms of the events leading up to the use of EWT; what is deemed important information is believed to be remembered more clearly. Sigmund Freud (1920) suggested that memories can only be retrieved by encouraging remembering past episodes and re-instating these past memories into their consciousness. Psychologists N ibett and Ross (1980) quoted that the reason why eyewitness testimony is persuasive is that it influences the jury on a deeper level. However, eyewitness testimony posed more disadvantages than advantages with the various factors that affect it such as weapons focus in incidents involving weapons which cause distractions and loss of memories. The primary psychologist that tested the use of memory was Elizabeth Loftus who conducted various experiment to test this, such as the Automobile Destruction experiment in the 1970s. After having collated all the arguments together, it was suggested that improvements must be made in order to improve the quality of eyewitness testimony; these included the legal system and police forces involvement in collating information as quickly as possible. The most imperative form of evidence when investigating a crime is the honesty of witnesses on trial, the application of eyewitness testimony. Though the use of eyewitness testimony by juries is considered most valuable, the question of fallibility of witness statements poses various problems and issues. Eyewitness testimony has been a thriving aspect of the Criminal Justice System, an incredible amount of research into this element of cognitive psychology questions the reliability of peoples memory especially using it as evidence to determine the outcome of the trial and convictions. Research into the reliability of evidence, often referred to as witness psychology is renowned as being the longest established area of law and psychology, dating back to the beginning of the 20th century.  [1]   The area of eyewitness testimony has always posed a problem with reliability and the effectiveness of human memory. Human memory is described by cognitive psychologists Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)  [2]  as a three stage theory in which memory is modelled in, this memory stage model is called the Multi-Store Model. The Multi-store model theory consists of the memory being divided into three stages, the first stage being the sensory store, the second stage is the short term memory (working memory) and the third being long term memory. The transfer of information from one store to another is controlled by the process of attention and rehearsal of memories. One of the most critical assumptions made by cognitive psychologists is that the human mind has a limited capacity for processing information. Therefore, any external information that the environment consists of is often very difficult for the human mind to assimilate and process; so people are selective about what information is to be retrieved and this is otherwise known as attention, where some information is assimilated while other pieces are ignored. The first stage of the multi-store model, the sensory store, is where the information from the senses (iconic, echoic, tactile, olfactory and gustatory), is transferred into but this is only for a very short period of time. The initial information retrieved by the senses is then transferred into the short term memory store; this is transferred through attention given to the information transferred from the senses involved. When the information has been transferred into the short-term memory store, this is the store concerned with forgetting information and this information is ultimately lost entirely. Therefore, for information to be remained in the memory, from the short term store into the long term store, the information must be rehearsed. Rehearsal is the cycling of information through the memory, this rehearsal of memory can be carried out in two different methods. Therefore this essay will investigate whether the application of eyewitness testimony statements is a reliable form of evidence to be used by the judicial system. Furthermore, this essay will argue whether eyewitness testimony is ideal to use as one of the most important pieces of evidence to use or whether the application of eyewitness testimony is fallible. After comparing for and against the reliability of eyewitness accounts, an evaluation will be drawn over how eyewitness testimony can be improved to an extent where it can be further accurate. This essay will explore the elements of eyewitness testimony and how these factors can determine whether an eyewitness account is accurate. These elements include the effect of weapon focus on witness memory, how leading questions can manipulate witness statements and recollection of memory, reconstructive errors of memory and the application of psychological experiments when exploring the function of these elements on the human memory. Th e application of the eyewitness testimony includes multiple formal questioning sessions with witnesses on trial, taking statements of the events witnessed and witnesses appearing in court with the jury. The issue of integrity when applying eyewitness testimony accounts is delegated to the jury, who are assigned the role of determining the judgement of whether the eyewitness statements are fallible or reliable  [3]  . The use of eyewitness testimony has a profound and compelling effect on the outcome of a trial and conviction, and this is why an accurate eyewitness testimony is needed in order to gain justice. The Aspects of Eyewitness Testimony As a consequence of the limitations of information processing in the human mind, witness statements need to be reviewed for accuracy and if any external factors of either the environment or the function of memory may have affected the outcome of the witness account  [4]  . Quite often, when the memory cannot recall the entire incident or situation, it may result in the unknown areas being replaced by events that may never have took place in reality but the mind may perceive as a potential occurrence and therefore causes fallibility in the eyewitness testimony. In essence, the memory may fill in gaps where it fails to recall what may have happened  [5]  . Many factors affect eyewitness memories which are illustrated below: Interference of Memory Processing: The period of time that has lapsed between the witnessing of the incident and the questioning of the eyewitness can determine the amount of information that the witness can recall. On the other hand, interference which is the loss of old stimuli as a result of new information can also subsequently reduce the accuracy of eyewitness accounts.  [6]   Leading Questions in Witness Interviews: A leading question in its form or content, suggests to the witness being interviewed what answer is desired or leads them to the desired answer. Some questions can often be made more suggestive than others and these questions the legal concept of a leading question. The main pioneer for investigating the consequences of particular leading questions was Elizabeth F. Loftus in 1974.  [7]   Schemas: The human mind has evolved its memory capacity and the ability to remember certain aspects by organising information into categories, otherwise known as schemas  [8]  . Schemas help organise memories that can consist of familiar people, objects and situations and allow people to understand and act appropriately to whatever is encountered. Arousal, Anxiety and Violence Distraction: Quite often, cognitive psychologists have questioned the poor recall of eyewitness accounts is primarily a result of where their attention is focused upon. A possible reason for arousal, anxiety and violence distraction could be that a violent incident, with the use of weapons, draws the focus of the witnesss attention away from who is causing this anxiety, which results in little or no processing of other information.  [9]   Weapon Focus: When a witness views a crime in which a weapon is used as a method of violence and distraction, the weapon achieves its purpose in distracting the attention of those witnessing the crime. The distraction affects the witnesss attention due to the potential threat of violence9. External Influences: Quite often, external influences can affect the accuracy of eyewitness accounts, especially if the media has been influencing the events that have taken place. The witness may re-interpret their witness statements to match what the media has claimed may have existed or happened. Apart from the media, other external influences may include other witness accounts of what happened and/or the type of environment that the situation may have occurred in, e.g. in darkness, low-lit room etc. Conformity: Through the questioning process that witnesses must endure, group questioning in particular, gives into reason the reliability of witness recollections as they may conform in order to fit each others interpretation of what happened. Reliability of Eyewitness Testimony The use of eyewitness testimony has provided crucial evidence that can often lead to the identification and arrest of a criminal suspect or a hazardous event can be avoided. Eyewitness testimony impacts strongly upon the trial process and the verdicts that are given by the jury are quite often influenced heavily by eyewitness accounts. Stern and Dunning, 1994  [10]  quoted that eyewitness testimony is perhaps the most compelling types of evidence presented to police investigations and criminal trials. Although the human memory and its information processing ability, has substantial amounts of limitations that can lead to invalidity and inaccuracy, it does however, demonstrate a unique ability to process information where the acquired stimulus information is stored. The human mind can potentially hold millions of pieces of information, though not all at once, which when acquired by the brain can be reinstated and remembered. The memories that the mind deems as important for growth and use consistently is life are episonic which represents the episode of the memory where as certain skill or piece of information; semantic which identifies what that piece of information consists of and what it is and finally procedural which processes who that information is to be used or handled. For example, teaching a child how to read a book at a particular age is episonic, knowing what a book is, is semantic and how to read the words in a book would be procedural.  [11]   The process of information being transferred from the short term memory into the long term memory was an experiment conducted by psychologists Welch and Burnett in 1924. The experiment was to test the theory of the serial position curve where it consisted of the subjects being presented with a list of 16 words in which they had to recall in order. The results of this experiment, illustrated the serial position curve in which the recollection of words and the results of the experiment were graphed and this illustrated a curve effect were the last recalled words were remembered best whereas the words in the middle of the recall were remembered poorly. Cognitive psychologist, Sigmund Freud believed that memories were allocated in the brain  [12]  . Freud referred to these memories as true memories and described that they lay deep in the unconscious element of the brain, where they lay undisturbed as a factor of surface mental activity. Freud insisted that these memories were never lost or forgotten as they are only inaccessible and latent, having become a part of the unconscious  [13]  . For these memories to be accessed, Freud promoted the technique free association. By encouraging witnesses to reminisce about past episodes that have occurred within their lives, Freud insinuated that they could reinstate long-forgotten yet important memories from their past into their consciousness. However, it can be argued that the true memories that Freud insisted exist in the human sub-conscious are in fact potential complex blendings of both fact and fiction. Memory is an extremely fragile aspect of the human mind that can potentially be supplemented, altered and reconstructed by external stimuli that can question an event that may never have occurred. However, it is argued that the human mind is capable of remembering significant pieces of information that is considered vital and important. This is considered one of the key factors in which juries do consider eyewitness testimony accounts as a vital piece of evidence. Psychologists Nibett and Ross, 1980 quoted that the reason why eyewitness testimony is persuasive is that vivid testimonies have a strong impact on observers so this conclusively means that they are easier to remember especially upon the jury  [14]  . Though the potential invalidity of eyewitness accounts is extensive, error made in witness accounts are extraneous when the observers are able to distinguish between accurate and inaccurate witnesses  [15]  . However, there may be a possibility that the eyewitness account is accurate but leading questions by the criminal investigation team may provoke the memory to be changed to fit the question or the most relevant and fitting answer  [16]  . The Unreliability of Eyewitness Testimony The malleability of eyewitness accounts demonstrates the excessive inaccuracy of it being used as a vital evidential piece in the courts and criminal justice system. Many hypotheses have been established that suggest reasons for the valued use of eyewitness testimony. Saunders et al believe that jurors tend to place too much faith in eyewitness testimonies; however the problem lies with whether eyewitness testimony is a reliable source of evidence to use  [17]  . The inaccuracy of witness accounts is demonstrated by the various aspects that intercept with each other and substantiate hesitation for its use as evidence. The use of leading questions can quite often alter information/intelligence or can quite often misinterpreted accounts to match the information that the witness has been presented with. An experiment conducted by Elizabeth Loftus and John Parmer illustrates the interaction between language and memory in 1974  [18]  . The reconstruction of an automobile destruction consisted of two experiments in which subjects were shown films of automobile accidents. After the observation, the subjects were then asked questions about the events that occurred in the films; How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other? The use of the word smash demonstrated higher estimations in the speed of the car as opposed to other verbs used in place of smash such as collided, bumped, contacted and hit. When the experiment was repeated a week later, the subjects who received the word smashed were more likely to agree to the question asked Did you see any broken glass? even though there was n o recollection of broken glass within the video. These results highlight the theory that the questions asked in relation to an event can result in a reconstruction of a witnesss memory of that event. Though witness memory is quite often inaccurate in that they fail to distinguish the events that had occurred, quite often, the human memory can remember erroneous events and details that may be introduced by third party interference. In the 1970s, Elizabeth Loftus conducted an experiment to demonstrate how third party interference can invalidate witness accounts by introducing false facts. Subjects were shown a slideshow of a car at an intersection with either a yield sign or a stop sign. The experimenter then asked the participants questions which falsely used the word stop sign instead of yield sign which is what was actually shown in the slideshow. The results indicated that subjects remembered seeing the false image; the introduction of false cues altered the memory of the participants in the experiment. Bartlett conducted an experiment in which he read a story The war of the ghosts out loud to a group of participants where he concluded that participants attempted to fit the story into their western schemas and as a result, distorted it during recall  [19]  . This showed that they were not recalling the information exactly as it had been presented to them, but were making assumptions at the story, based on their own understanding. This correlates with what a witness may assume a criminal or crime scene may look like and therefore use this to describe the suspected. Schemas are an effective method of processing and encoding information  [20]  . The idea of schemas were originally established by Frederick Bartlett in the 1930s which involved a large number studies in which he showed ways in which participants made sense of whatever they were shown affects the way they recall it later  [21]  . For example, in one of his studies, Bartlett showed participants unfamiliar line d rawings and instructed them to memorise it. Bartlett then asked his participants to talk aloud at the same time as memorising the picture. He found that different participants made sense of the figures in different ways. Later in the experiment, the participants were asked to draw the figures as they remembered them and Bartlett discovered that the schemas which they established during their initial encoding influenced their recall. Therefore, schemas may influence what witnesses may define what a criminal looks like or behaves like and this may influence their account of events. Through the questioning process that witnesses must endure, witnesses can either be questioned on a one-to-one basis where the interviewer questions the witness independently or witnesses can be questioned as a group if the incident has been witnesses by multiple people. In particular, group questioning which gives into reason the reliability of witness recollections as they may conform in order to fit each others interpretation of what happened. This conformity can purposely invalidate information as the witness does not want to be isolated from the events that the other witnesss describe as having happened. This subjective information again affects the testimony because false information is being interpreted is invalid due to conformity of information. The weapons focus effect  [22]  perceives to be a result of the witnesss attention being predominantly directed towards the weapon, resulting in diversion of attention away from the situational aspects and the criminal suspect. When a witness views a crime in which a weapon is used as a method of violence and distraction, the weapon achieves its purpose in distracting the attention of those witnessing the crime. The distraction affects the witnesss attention due to the potential threat of violence. Although an incident has occurred, the attention of the witness is primarily upon the weapon so they are not observing the rest of the incident or the person who is posing the threat and this causes the witness to have lack of information about the incident. This area of eyewitness psychology is known as weapon focus; unfortunately this distraction results in a very poor eyewitness testimony as the witness is unable to recall events and descriptions. Unfortunately, most crimes involve the use of a weapon as a vulnerability tool, which in essence causes the stress and anxiety levels of the witness to rise and therefore will fail to encode and remember vital information. Eyewitness inaccuracy may also be a result of errors that occur within the memory process; the memory is divided into three distinct stages of processing: encoding, storage and retrieval. The occurrence of errors is very likely at any particular stage within the memory processing stages. Acquiring information or otherwise known as encoding is illustrated within the Yerkes-Dodson principle which according to its theorists, an increase in arousal improves performance up to a certain point. Once arousal has passed the critical point which is otherwise known as the optimum, performance tends to decline and these results in poorer memory performance. So, in essence when a person is moderately aroused, the information is encoded best as opposed to extreme arousal or stress where the information is lost or encoded insufficiently. The Yerkes-Dodson theory  [23]  demonstrates that if a witness observes a crime that is substantially violent and/or makes the witness experience high levels o f fear and anxiety, they are less likely to remember any significant levels of information because of the extreme stress which results in encoding of information inaccurate. This conclusively makes their eyewitness account unreliable because they fail to remember any substantial amounts of information and detail of what happened and of the perpetrator. The question of witness account accuracy raises questions about whether the time after the incident occurred, if the account is still valid as evidence because quite often, large amounts of time and substantial interference can deteriorate the information from memory. This deterioration refers to the loss of stimulus information as a result of passed time. The amount of time that has lapsed between the occurrence of the event and the questioning and testimony of the witness can quite often determines the amount of information the witness can recall  [24]  . This interference is due to the loss of old stimulus information caused by new stimulus information; this can also reduce the accuracy of eyewitness accounts. People are more likely to overestimate the duration of brief events but on the other hand underestimate the duration of prolonged events (Penrod, Loftus and Winkler, 1982). Other psychological research has demonstrated that the presence of a weapon also reduces the accur acy of eyewitness accounts. Evaluation of Eyewitness Testimony Taking into consideration the flaws in which eyewitness accounts may consist of, which effectively invalidates the testimony, these flaws can be avoided by both the eyewitness and the criminal justice system that use the accounts as a form of evidence. Most importantly, the way in which witness accounts are handled is vital in establishing a valid eyewitness testimony with as much truth as possible. The interviewing process which is conducted by the criminal justice system i.e. police, courtroom judges, need to be done in a careful and delicate way so that there is no decay or deterioration of information. Though the memory of the witnesses may differ, depending on age and memory capacity, quite often the initial first few hours after the occurrence of an incident is vital in collecting as much valid information as possible. So, the interviewing of witnesses should be conducted right after the incident when possible to avoid any decay of information and/or third party interference. In terms of the actual interviewing process, the use of leading questions should entirely be avoided unless the witness has mentioned specific events or descriptions which would not invalidate information as it has been confirmed by the witness. Leading questions  [25]  can quite often add new information that the witness may not have known about and will therefore mention false information in order to fit their account with what is evidently known by the police. Specific questions that can be used in the interviewing process may help the witness to run through their track of events which in some circumstances reveal any recollection of events without any external influence. Quite often through the criminal investigation, the witness needs to be interviewed many times to establish the course of events and important descriptions, whether this is through the crown prosecution trial or by the police. If later eyewitnesses need to be interviewed, they should be able to recall as much information that they reported initially, avoiding any extra information that they may have picked up from third party interference. So in essence, there is no uncertain information but information that the mind has remembered and rehearsed within their memory and indicates a positive recollection of events. Though no control can be given to what eyewitnesses will focus on and concentrate entirely on, measures on how information is collected can partially help to distinguish between valid and false information within accounts. Conclusion It can be concluded that the use of eyewitness testimony will also be used as a vital source of evidence by the criminal justice system for years to come. Eyewitness testimony can hold vital pieces of information that cannot be retrieved from any other source, without eyewitness testimony, the police would find it incredibly difficult to discover any potential clues and evidence of what happened or description of what the perpetrator physically looks like. Criminal cases in which there is not eyewitnesses to give evidence are usually those cases which find it incredibly hard to convict the guilty so have to rely upon other physical evidence such as CCTV, DNA, fingerprints etc. However, the use of eyewitness accounts seems to create a lot of doubt in whether it is a reliable source of evidence to be used because its accuracy is questioned based on interpretation. The use of leading questions and third party interference can decay any initial recollection of events that the eyewitness may have believed to have happened. But the human memory has flaws within itself regardless of extra information that can falsify or invalidate the recollection of what occurred and why. The initial pioneer of evaluating eyewitness evidence, Elizabeth F. Loftus  [26]  highlights the flaws of eyewitness accounts and of the human memory. The conclusions in which Loftus has discovered were advantageously used to improve quality of interviews and valid eyewitness accounts but unfortunately cannot eliminate all invalid information. So, in essence, the question as to whether eyewitness testimony is a reliable source of evidence still remains unclear on the basis that it is vital evidence which is needed to collate important information. However, its reliability is questioned in terms of validity and how much the witness is able to accurately recall all pieces of information especially having experienced high amounts of anxiety and stress. Eyewitness testimony will always remain a vital source of evidence but its use should be delicately considered to avoid any false information or invalid convictions.

The Death of the Moth by Virginia Woolf Essay -- Papers

The Death of the Moth by Virginia Woolf "The Death of the Moth," written by Virginia Woolf, explains the brief life of a moth corresponding with the true nature of life and death. In this essay, Woolf puts the moth in a role that represents life. Woolf makes comparisons of the life outside to the life of the moth. The theme is the mystery of death and the correspondence of the life of the moth with the true nature of life. The images created by Woolf are presented that appeal to the eye. For instance, the moth's body during the death is appealing to the eye. The image makes the reader more interested. The essence of true life is energy. As Woolf describes, "I could fancy that a thread of vital light became visible. He was little or nothing but life" (Woolf 427). The thread of vital light represents the energy. Woolf employs several stylistic devices that make the essay more interesting to the reader. The changing in tone, lengthy sentence structure, and personification are three devices that are significant in the essay. Throughout the essay the tone changes by Wool...

Individualism and Conformity in Stephen Cranes Red Badge of Courage :: Red Badge Courage Essays

Individualism and Conformity in Stephen Crane's Red Badge of Courage    Stephen Crane's pieces are written with the intent to establish individualism as an unfavorable quality. He establishes that group goals are more important than that of the individual and creates groups to which each character should conform. Crane supplies models for the individual to comply to and elucidates that adherence to the group would bring reward but deviation from said groups would be detrimental. Henry, in Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage, is created as a child in search of self worth and assurance. Crane establishes Henry as an individual by giving him the ability to think for himself but creates situations that stifle his individualism in order for him to stay within the group. Henry does the one thing that men ought not. He thinks. In his thoughts he sees past the glory and valor that comes with enlisting and comes to question what could happen to him on the battlefield. He acknowledges the presence of something that the other men dare not: death. The realization that lives are at stake, especially his own, cause Henry to question whether he will have to courage to stay and fight or whether he will run. Crane creates Henry as an individual in a mass society. He injects him into the army with aspirations of attaining a sense of identity. Crane establishes Henry as "the youth" to make it apparent that he was not like the other men of the 304th regiment. Henry stands out among the men and "muse[s] seriously upon the radical differences between himself and those men who were dodging implike around the tree"(P.184). Not only Henry's eye catches his obvious detachment from the group. Upon seeing Henry, Wilson responds "What you doing here?"(P.184), extending Henry's exclusivity and insinuating that he is out of place. Henry "continually tries to measure himself by his comrades"(P.181). Consequently, he attempts to quill his lack of confidence by seeking out others from whom he can find confidence. This search leads him to Jim Conklin. Jim states that his actions would be dictated by the surroundings "but if everyone was a-standing and a-fighting, why, I'd stand and fight"(P.180). Jim's claim gave Henry confidence.

coaching tips :: essays research papers

The Coaching Tip WHO doesn't want to accomplish more in life? Don't most of us want more time? More money? More love? More satisfaction? Yet, isn't our tendency to go for it rather than simply having it all come to us? A strong personal foundation includes 10 distinct stepping stones which, when linked together, provide a solid yet personalized base on which to build one's life. And, in a world which sometimes appears to be built on quicksand, we all need a personal foundation on which to depend. These 10 stepping stones of a Personal Foundation are: A past which you have fully completed. A life which is based fully on integrity. Needs which have been identified and fully met. Boundaries which are ample and automatic. Standards which bring out your best. An absence of tolerations. Choosing to come from a positive place. A family which nurtures you. A community which develops you. A life fully oriented around your true values. Anyone who is living a meaningful life must have a strong personal foundation so they can afford to look up at the stars instead of down at their feet. Having a strong personal foundation allows a person to fully use their skills and resources, because instead of constantly worrying about the fundamentals of their life, they are free to focus on the task at hand. The process of building a personal foundation also teaches a person how to eliminate and prevent many common problems that are usually thought of as an expected part of life." Where can you go for help in this area? A Master Coach is uniquely trained to help clients strengthen their own foundation, and is a model of how well the process works.

Deception Point Page 94

Crouched beside the powerboat untying the moorings, Corky glanced up just as the machine guns beneath the chopper erupted in a blaze of thunder. Corky lurched as if hit. Wildly, he scrambled over the gunwale and dove into the boat, sprawled himself on the floor for cover. The guns stopped. Tolland could see Corky crawling deeper into the powerboat. The lower part of his right leg was covered with blood. Crouched below the dash, Corky reached up and fumbled across the controls until his fingers found the key. The boat's 250 hp Mercury engine roared to life. An instant later, a red laser beam appeared, emanating from the nose of the hovering chopper, targeting the powerboat with a missile. Tolland reacted on instinct, aiming the only weapon he had. The flare gun in his hand hissed when he pulled the trigger, and a blinding streak tore away on a horizontal trajectory beneath the ship, heading directly toward the chopper. Even so, Tolland sensed he had acted too late. As the streaking flare bore down on the helicopter's windshield, the rocket launcher beneath the chopper emitted its own flash of light. At the same exact instant that the missile launched, the aircraft veered sharply and pulled up out of sight to avoid the incoming flare. â€Å"Look out!† Tolland yelled, yanking Rachel down onto the catwalk. The missile sailed off course, just missing Corky, coming the length of the Goya and slamming into the base of the strut thirty feet beneath Rachel and Tolland. The sound was apocalyptic. Water and flames erupted beneath them. Bits of twisted metal flew in the air and scattered the catwalk beneath them. Metal on metal ground together as the ship shifted, finding a new balance, slightly askew. As the smoke cleared, Tolland could see that one of the Goya's four main struts had been severely damaged. Powerful currents tore past the pontoon, threatening to break it off. The spiral stairway descending to the lower deck looked to be hanging by a thread. â€Å"Come on!† Tolland yelled, urging Rachel toward it. We've got to get down! But they were too late. With a surrendering crack, the stairs peeled away from the damaged strut and crashed into the sea. Over the ship, Delta-One grappled with the controls of the Kiowa helicopter and got it back under control. Momentarily blinded by the incoming flare, he had reflexively pulled up, causing the Hellfire missile to miss its mark. Cursing, he hovered now over the bow of the ship and prepared to drop back down and finish the job. Eliminate all passengers. The controller's demands had been clear. â€Å"Shit! Look!† Delta-Two yelled from the rear seat, pointing out the window. â€Å"Speedboat!† Delta-One spun and saw a bullet-riddled Crestliner speedboat skimming away from the Goya into the darkness. He had a decision to make. 114 Corky's bloody hands gripped the wheel of the Crestliner Phantom 2100 as it pounded out across the sea. He rammed the throttle all the way forward, trying to eke out maximum speed. It was not until this moment that he felt the searing pain. He looked down and saw his right leg spurting blood. He instantly felt dizzy. Propping himself against the wheel, he turned and looked back at the Goya, willing the helicopter to follow him. With Tolland and Rachel trapped up on the catwalk, Corky had not been able to reach them. He'd been forced to make a snap decision. Divide and conquer. Corky knew if he could lure the chopper far enough away from the Goya, maybe Tolland and Rachel could radio for help. Unfortunately, as he looked over his shoulder at the illuminated ship, Corky could see the chopper still hovering there, as if undecided. Come on, you bastards! Follow me! But the helicopter did not follow. Instead it banked over the stern of the Goya, aligned itself, and dropped down, landing on the deck. No! Corky watched in horror, now realizing he'd left Tolland and Rachel behind to be killed. Knowing it was now up to him to radio for help, Corky groped the dashboard and found the radio. He flicked the power switch. Nothing happened. No lights. No static. He turned the volume knob all the way up. Nothing. Come on! Letting go of the wheel, he knelt down for a look. His leg screamed in pain as he bent down. His eyes focused on the radio. He could not believe what he was looking at. The dashboard had been strafed by bullets, and the radio dial was shattered. Loose wires hung out the front. He stared, incredulous. Of all the goddamned luck†¦ Weak-kneed, Corky stood back up, wondering how things could get any worse. As he looked back at the Goya, he got his answer. Two armed soldiers jumped out of the chopper onto the deck. Then the chopper lifted off again, turning in Corky's direction and coming after him at full speed. Corky slumped. Divide and conquer. Apparently he was not the only one with that bright idea tonight. As Delta-Three made his way across the deck and approached the grated ramp leading belowdecks, he heard a woman shouting somewhere beneath him. He turned and motioned to Delta-Two that he was going belowdecks to check it out. His partner nodded, remaining behind to cover the upper level. The two men could stay in contact via CrypTalk; the Kiowa's jamming system ingeniously left an obscure bandwidth open for their own communications. Clutching his snub-nose machine gun, Delta-Three moved quietly toward the ramp that led belowdecks. With the vigilance of a trained killer, he began inching downward, gun leveled. The incline provided limited visibility, and Delta-Three crouched low for a better view. He could hear the shouting more clearly now. He kept descending. Halfway down the stairs he could now make out the twisted maze of walkways attached to the underside of the Goya. The shouting grew louder. Then he saw her. Midway across the traversing catwalk, Rachel Sexton was peering over a railing and calling desperately toward the water for Michael Tolland. Did Tolland fall in? Perhaps in the blast? If so, Delta-Three's job would be even easier than expected. He only needed to descend another couple of feet to have an open shot. Shooting fish in a barrel. His only vague concern was Rachel standing near an open equipment locker, which meant she might have a weapon-a speargun or a shark rifle-although neither would be any match for his machine gun. Confident he was in control of the situation, Delta-Three leveled his weapon and took another step down. Rachel Sexton was almost in perfect view now. He raised the gun. One more step. The flurry of movement came from beneath him, under the stairs. Delta-Three was more confused than frightened as he looked down and saw Michael Tolland thrusting an aluminum pole out toward his feet. Although Delta-Three had been tricked, he almost laughed at this lame attempt to trip him up. Then he felt the tip of the stick connect with his heel. A blast of white-hot pain shot through his body as his right foot exploded out from under him from a blistering impact. His balance gone, Delta-Three flailed, tumbling down the stairs. His machine gun clattered down the ramp and went overboard as he collapsed on the catwalk. In anguish, he curled up to grip his right foot, but it was no longer there. Tolland was standing over his attacker immediately with his hands still clenching the smoking bang-stick-a five-foot Powerhead Shark-Control Device. The aluminum pole had been tipped with a pressure-sensitive, twelve-gauge shotgun shell and was intended for self-defense in the event of shark attack. Tolland had reloaded the bang-stick with another shell, and now held the jagged, smoldering point to his attacker's Adam's apple. The man lay on his back as if paralyzed, staring up at Tolland with an expression of astonished rage and agony. Rachel came running up the catwalk. The plan was for her to take the man's machine gun, but unfortunately the weapon had gone over the edge of the catwalk into the ocean.

My Best Friend Essay

She always tells you the truth. She does not lie to you and sugar coat an answer for you. She is always direct. If you do not like the answer she gives you then you are out of luck. Our time really grew together through the years, however, our bond got closer once we got to high school. When you are in the same school with people your entire life, you seem to hate them and get tired of seeing the same people every day. We found it funny that we are complete opposites of each other. She is always late for any event or even just getting to school Giglio 2 on time. However, I am always early. She likes to get all her work done early, yet I like to procrastinate and does everything last minute. When we got to high school and both were in ROTC that’s when our bound grew. We were always placed in the same ROTC class and our other subjects as well. In ROTC, you have to choose to get along with someone even if they are your worst enemy. I remember this one time this girl, Nicole, and I were arguing, probably about something ridiculous, and I called Megan in to help. She told us straight up front to grow up and solve this problem on our own. When she was dealing with her relationship problems or just needed, someone to talk to I would be there for her and vice versa. Being in the same classes in high school defiantly grew us closer. Even though we sometimes found it annoying that every year we were placed in the same class, it was fun having the teachers call Megan and us asking which one they were talking to. We would have our fights but come on. Seriously, what friends do not fights? We would fight over the stupidest things. Usually I would be the one admitting I was wrong and be breaking down in tears and letting all my emotions out. She was always able to cheer me up when I was down. To this day when I’m upset and crying she can say the words pudding, spinach and all these ridiculous sayings and she is the only one that can do that. Now that we are out of high school, she is my only friend that I still talk to and if I have a problem, she is always a phone call away or text away. I am still in touch with her and she always responds when I need her. She always knows I will be here for her as well no matter what. She has shown me what a true friend is. Someone who will be by your side always and will always hold a special place in your heart.

Marble Chip Investigation Essay

Fair Test To make it a fair test and make my results more accurate I will try and keep all variables constant except the concentration of the acid. This will include weighing the marble chips every time and trying to use lumps of roughly the same size to keep the surface area fairly constant as a change in surface area will affect the rate of reaction. I will try and avoid a change in temperature and I will use the same equipment throughout the tests. Each concentration will be repeated at least once to improve accuracy as an average can be taken. Research The rate of reaction depends upon two factors, the number of collisions within a time between the reactants, and the fraction of these collisions that are successful. Therefore, the higher the concentration of the reactants, the higher the rate of reaction because there will be an increased number of collisions, this is called collision theory. However, for the reaction between the two reactants to be successful, they must collide with enough energy to react, the energy needed to react is known as  activation energy. This can be shown on a graph like the one below, I believe this graph is similar to what the energy diagram would be for my investigation. This shows that my chemical reaction will be exothermic, therefore it will release more energy than it uses to react. Therefore, at a higher concentration, there will be more reactions releasing energy in the form of heat that will enable more particles to reach their activation energy level and react. This shows that the rate of reaction will increase with the concentration of acid. Prediction After having done some research I feel that I can make an education prediction concerning what will happen during my investigation. I predict that the higher the concentration of acid I use, the faster the rate of reaction will be. I think this because the higher the concentration is, the more acid particles there will be to collide with the marble chip with enough energy to cause a reaction as explained in collision theory. I also believe that the rate of reaction will increase with concentration of acid because the chemical reaction I am doing is an exothermic reaction. Therefore, it will release energy as the reactions take place, this will give more energy to other particles around it and will cause the reaction to speed up as more particles reach their activation energy and collide with enough energy to react. Preliminary test results I started with 10g of marble chip and 100cm3 of 2M acid, the reaction was too fast and could not be accurately measured. I then tried 3g of marble chip with the same amount of 2M acid (100cm3), this worked fine, however, when the 0.4M concentration was tested the reaction was too slow and could not be accurately measured due to our scale. I then tried 6g of marble chip and it gave 135 cm3 of CO2 with the 2M concentration and 5 cm3 of CO2 with the 0.4M concentration. I felt that this would give us a good range of results so I  stuck with those measurements based on my preliminary tests. Observations When we had done our experiment we realised that we could benefit from some tests with other concentrations of acid to increase accuracy. Therefore we decided to do tests with 1.8M, 1.4M, 1M, 0.6M and 0.2M acid. However, when we did these tests they produced a much higher volume of carbon  dioxide than we would expect from our previous results. I came to the conclusion that this would have to be down to a change in one of the variables. Looking at the variables it was possible that it could have been temperature or surface area of the marble chips that caused the change, but as there had not been any large change in these variables it was unlikely that they would have such a clear affect on the results. After doing a few tests I found that it was the acid that I was using that had affected the results, I had started on a new batch of acid as the previous bottle had run out. Even though both batches of acid were labelled as being 2M, it was clear that one was stronger than the other and therefore increased the rate of reaction as the chance of acid particles colliding with the marble chip had been increased as there were more acid particles. Due to this, I plotted there results as a separate line, however, the results still show the same pattern and are therefore still useful in concluding the relation between gas given off and the concentration of acid, as explained by collision theory. Conclusion As you can see on the graph, both lines go up in a smooth curve. This shows that there is a correlation between concentration of acid and the volume of gas given off. As the concentration of acid increases so does the volume of gas, therefore they are proportional. The gradient of the line gets steeper as the concentration increases, this means that there was a larger increase of gas produced between 1.6M and 2M, than there was between 0.4M and 0.8M, even though the increase in concentration of acid was 0.4M in both. The graph shows that at higher concentrations of acid, more carbon dioxide was produced but in the same amount of time. This shows that at higher concentrations, the rate of reaction must have been faster to produce more products in the same time period. This can be explained by collision theory and the ideas on activation energy that I explained in my research and prediction. In my prediction I said that more gas would be given off with a higher  concentration, these results show that I was correct. This is because due to collision theory, in a low concentration of acid the acid particles are spread far apart. This means that there is very little chance of acid particles colliding with the marble chip with enough energy to react. In a high concentration, the acid particles are closer together as there is more of them within the same volume. This means that there is a much higher chance of collision with the marble chip, and there is more energy due to the energy being produced by the reaction, which is exothermic, this causes the reaction to be faster. This can be seen in my results, the 2M acid gave an average of 134.75cm3 of carbon dioxide, where the 0.4M concentration only gave an average of 4cm3 of carbon dioxide. The rate of reaction is reduced by a decrease of particles within the same space. Evaluation Accuracy of results I feel that my experiment was accurate because the results made a smooth curve on my graph. I did have a problem with the 1.8M, 1.4M, 1M, 0.6M and 0.2M acid results, as the acid appeared to be stronger than it was labelled. However, I resolved this problem by plotting the results as a separate line on my graph and they still showed a very similar curve to the other one showing the same relation between concentration of acid and the volume of gas given off. This shows that it was probably just the concentration of the acid that caused the problem and not my execution of the experiment that caused the results to be slightly different than what was expected. I think that my results could have been better as there was some variation between my four results for each of 2M, 1.6M, 1.2M, 0.8M, and 0.4M. However I do not feel this problem is major as the variations were relatively small as is shown by the error margins drawn on my graph, but there is still room for improvement. Possible Improvements If I was to do this investigation again I would try and keep some of the variables constant that I had less control over. The investigation was carried out over a few days so the classroom temperature may have varied. This could have had a slight effect on the rate of reaction making my results less accurate. Although the marble chips were roughly the same size they weren’t all exactly the same shape. If I could find a way to make the marble chips all the same shape and size then the investigation would be fairer as the surface area of the marble chips would be constant. If I was to do this investigation again I would try and use only one batch of acid for the whole experiment because as I found out, the acid supplied isn’t always exactly the strength that it says it is. I would also try to use a more accurate piece of equipment to measure the volume of gas produced, using a measuring cylinder did not provide the best accuracy that was open to me. I could have achieved a higher level of accuracy with a buret.

A Chip off The Old Block-Bluster Essay

Background to the problem Mr Something runs a small business called A Chip off The Old Block-Bluster. Mr Something is the makes of Blockbusters son. He has only left him a little bit of inheritance and wanted him to produce a business that was just as good as his. He currently has a shop in slough High Street. He only gets a few customers a day. He keeps track of people’s record manually and would like to use his father’s money to set up an electronic system that only requires a few manual entries. The Current System Mr Something currently uses cards to manage his business. He has 2 types of cards. 1 card is his business card to hand out to people to show where his shop is, his name, telephone, his email and his fax. The other type of card is a customer card. The customer card has the shop logo on it and the customers name on it. It is a card made out of card and is laminated to protect it from damage. If the customer does not have a card, he issues one to them for a price of 20p if they wish to rent DVD’s again. He collects their name, address, DOB and home number. The card can have data printed on it with a permanent ink. It shows when the DVD must be returned by. The ink can be erased using a special spray and a cloth. This is costly and takes some time. It can sometimes irritate the customer depending on how long it takes. He creates the card by designing it on Microsoft publisher and printing it off using a dot matrix printer and laminates it. He also keeps a paper record. It has a table with the same details as on the card and the name of the DVD rented and the date it must be returned by. He writes it by hand using a pen while the customer is renting the DVD. If the DVD is not returned by the date set for return, then he uses mail merge to send a letter to the customer saying that the DVD must be returned by 4 days after the letter has been sent and if not, there will be a higher charge. If it continues then the police will be involved. Mr Something calls it the record sheet. The record sheets are stored in a briefcase that is locked and is stored in a cupboard that is overhead that is also locked. This reduces the chances of burglars getting their hands on the customer’s details. Problems with the system The current problems with the system are: * It takes time for Mr Something to enter in the customers details onto the record sheet. * The laminated cards that he gives to his customers are easily damaged by peeling away the laminated layer * The cleaning liquid is expensive to buy and therefore makes little profit * The manual methods take very long which hold up the customer. The end user’s requests The end user would like: * a computerised system * a homepage that can navigate through the whole system easily * searches that can be easily used * a window that can search through records * something that can add files to the records file * something that can show the charges of overdue DVDs Possible Solutions A non-ICT solution could be to use cards. There could be three files, one for members, one for DVDs and one for loans. But this could lead to problems as cards can get damaged as easily as log books, and they aren’t very practical. Cards can also get lost, and this solution is quite time consuming. Cards could also be quite expensive. Word processing and presentation programmes are unsuitable for this solution. Word processors couldn’t store the information properly, although a table could be made to store the files. Reports and queries cannot be made on a word processing document. The information could not be structured properly. Presentation software couldn’t be used as they are made really for displaying information to an audience. Both of these solutions could not be used to store structured data. A spreadsheet programme could be used. Rows and tables could be made to store the data. However, this could be quite repetitive. Three different tables would have to be made. Each DVD would have to be repeated every time it was lent. This would be quite frustrating and time consuming. Using a relational database seems like the best solution for the DVD rental. It can be used to store lots of data and reduce the amount of repetition of it. Queries can be used to extract data quickly and easily. This could be used to find overdue DVDs, solving the problem of undetected overdue fines. Separate tables can be made easily, which can be linked in a relationship. Wizards can be used to make queries and reports quickly without mistakes. Databases also contain validation tools which stop input errors. Length check can be used on the fields to stop mistakes. Primary keys can be made to number DVDs and members. Objectives The system should have the following: * it should be neat and tidy for easy reading * There should be a report to show the overdue DVDs and their price. * Charges should be calculated automatically. * The navigation should be easy with clearly labelled command buttons. * The system should be able to save data on customers and DVDs without confusion.