Academic and employability skills report Essay

1. 0Abstract Academic skills are important to acquire in- order to obtain relevant skills required in a working environment. The purpose of this report is to detect and distinguish the relevance and importance of academic standards and skills that are mandatory to succeed within a University and how this links with employment skills. 2. 0Introduction This report will be based on academic skills and how this is associated to employability skills and reflect upon my own skills. The report will be sectioned by numbers and a sub heading these titles will consist of; effective literature research, academic sources, reflect upon personal academic research skills, effective presentation skills, reflect upon personal presentation skills, identification of core academic skills, critique of personal skills audit, academic skills associated to employability skills, association to a specific career path and an conclusion. 3. 0Effective literature research. There are many vast ways of finding relevant literature; however, it is important when collecting information that you understand the physiognomies of the content and how this can be implemented (Walliman, p. 63, 2011). Blaxter, L. , Hughes, C and Tight, M (2001, cited in Bell, 2005), states that the internet and the library are effective ways of literature researching, for instance; the internet has many PDF and E-journals as-well as relevant web sites however, facts that need to be considered are how reliable your source is and weather the authors are credited. The library has many books that can be effective when researching literature. 3. 1Academic sources Academic sources vary for instance; there are many different types of academic sources such as journals, books, PDF and the scholarly website online. To distinguish if a source is academic can be done by ensuring that the source is reliable and the author is creditable and the information implemented is accurate, likewise the date must be considered the more up to date a sources is the more reliable this is likely to be for instance if an another publish a book in 2005 there might be another book or edition published with more up to date information on a later date. On the other hand, journals are more collective and modern with a creditable author however; their work has not been endorsed or reviewed by other authors. Books are a good academic source as the have been reviewed and credited nevertheless, it is important to check year of publication as there may be more up to date information. The internet is not usually advisable nevertheless this can be used if the source is creditable such as government sites (direct.gov). 3. 2Reflect on personal academic research skills To begin with I found finding academic sources hard as I want not familiar with journals and the Solent Library website on the portal. However, I have now gained the sills of using the library the portal and have found that keywords are important in finding more relevant information and how to employ my time more effectively. I have also established what is reliable and what is not and I am only to use books and journals however, if I do need to use the internet I will only use a government website as I know it is creditable, I also understand that on the portal there are other ways to find academic information such as succeed at Solent that can help me get academic information that I require. 4. 0Effective presentation skills. To have an effective presentation it is important to know your observers, for instance if you are presenting for a particular organisation is it important to know the companies background and what the hope to aim to achieve this will enable the presenter to understand what the organisation is looking for which will help deliver an effective presentation, (Hatcher, McCarthy, 2002). Correspondingly the structure is important for a successful presentation for instance; most structures contain a clear introduction, main body and conclusion. A clear introduction should signpost the contents of their presentation on the first slide stating the topic on which the presentation is based on and highlighting the main arguments. The main body consists of the main arguments or key point of the topic; this should be clear and easy to understand. The conclusion is a clear evaluation of the contents of the presentation, (Reimold, 2003). Similarly the delivery is the main key for success if the delivery is precise for instance; when presenting it is important to use visual aid or hand-outs and have practised their speech beforehand so that the presenter feels confident and the presentation timing can be accurate, it is not advised to have your full speech on the day but have reminders of key points, also speech needs to be considered for an effective delivery for example, it is important to speak loud and clear so that the listeners are not confused on what is being said. Body language is another thing that should be considered effective body language sets off a good atmosphere, which can be done a simple smile and regular eye contact with the audience (Mandel, 1999). 4. 1Reflect on personal presentation skills When I am presenting I feel nervous and need to work on my confidence as this affects my delivery, however, I feel if I practise more I would feel more confident as I would know my speech as well as my topic that I am presenting. I do feel that I’m good at my introductory slides and that i use relevant information from academic sources to argue my points in the main body, nevertheless, I could also improve my skill by getting to know my audience better as this could help me when presenting as this could also improve my contents of my presentation and my delivery. Likewise I feel more practise is needed especially if I am working with a group as it helps with confidence, delivery, organisation and timings. 5. 0Identification of core academic skills. Core academic skills are important for students to understand dissimilar methods in producing academic work to enable an individual to become an independent learner to succeed at university for instance; researching is an important core academic skill as this finds relevant academic sources that contain important information (Shapiro, 2010). Academic writing which is writing in the third person with the usage of academic sources and Harvard references is important for students to improve their writing abilities. Presentations which aid oral communications this supports many students to develop and improve their communication skills. Problem solving is another core academic skill for instance; students deliver oral presentations, essays, and reports all of the elements of work require evaluation and analysis which suggests that students have problem solved, core academic skills also teach organisation and time management skills, (Baldwin Wallace University, 2012). 5. 1Critique of personal skills audit I have acquired a vast amount of skills during my education for example; I have learned organisational skills and have realised how important organisation is for my assignments and in a profession. I also have developed crucial analytical and evaluation skills I feel I need to improve my skills on oral communication and academic writing however; I do feel I have gained good time management and efficient researching and reflection skills that will hopefully enable to succeed on my university course and future employment. The are many diverse ways that I could improve and develop my skills such as action planning, essay plans and starting assignments early with a clear plan of action. 6. 0Academic skills associated to employability skills Most academic skills such as academic writing, organisation, time management, meeting deadlines, researching, oral communication, critical analysis/ evaluation and problem solving skills are all relevant to employability skills. Depending on the job title many of the above skills will be required for instance; academic writing is used in most jobs such as writing references or reports, most jobs also require people to attend work on time be organised and able to meet specific deadlines. Oral communication is important for staff to be able to communicate effectively and problem solving is important to being successful in an organisation (Thomas, C, J, 2003). 6. 1Association to a specific career path Academic skills are implemented in the events industry for example; Meeting deadlines is essential for an event companies success this takes a lot of time management and the usage of load in and load out plans, organisation, effective oral communication, writing reports and schedules. It is also important to problem solve in the events industry so implementing contingency plans are an effective way of problem solving. 7. 0Conclusions In conclusion effective literature research is important to be able to find relevant information that is reliable for instance; using the library and the internet is an effective way of finding the relevant sources required however, it is important to consider dates and authors that are credited, this skill is important for higher education. Similarly there are many different types of academic sources such as; books, PDF and journals conversely, how creditable a source is depends on the date of publication because different arguments and findings could have been released on a later date. Journals are more frequently published however, they have not be credited if a person implements a journal in their work they should check that the information is correct and reliable. On the other hand website are not valued as a reliable source nevertheless, using the right website can be used as an academic source such as government websites. I personally found it hard to find academic sources, however, being able to use technology and the internet I have found it easier to access academic sources to find the relevant information I require, I also understand the importance of using sources with recent dates as this makes my sources more creditable, furthermore I have also learned that the only time I must use a website is if it was a government website. Presentation skills are important for higher education however, they can also be important in particular jobs, for an effective presentation it is important to consider the listeners background; the structure needs a clear introduction main body and conclusion, the use of visual aid help with an effective delivery. However, it is also is important to practise the presentation previously as this helps strengthen the confidence and the delivery, this also helps with the timings when speaking this should be down calm slow, loud and clear and always with a smile it is also equally important to have regular eye contact. However, I feel I have acquired some of these skills such as a clear structure including a clear introduction, main body and conclusion and that my information is relevant and comes from academic sources, my delivery I feel that I do have a smile and I do look at my audience nevertheless, I do need to improve my skills on confidence I think this can be done by more practise beforehand. I think presentation skills are important if I want to succeed at university and be successful in the events industry. Similarly Core academic skills helps students gain a knowledge of different skills to succeed in university and employment for instance; important skills such as organisation, communication, time management, academic writing, references and problem solving are key skills for university but also to be successful in a particular career. I feel I have developed and improved certain aspects of my skills that I have acquired for instance I feel I have good time management researching and organisation skills. However, I need to improve certain areas such as; confidence when presenting which can be done by practising my delivery, I also need to improve my oral communication this can also be done through the usage of presentations, my academic writing could also be improved this can be done by action planning and writing reports and essays. Academic skills relate to employability skills for instance many skills that are developed in higher education are implanted at work such as; organisation, researching, oral communication, problem solving and time management skills. These skills are important to develop in-order for a person to become successful at work these skills help people to work at a higher standard. Academic skills are also used in the events industry certain skills acquired form higher education will be used when at work such as organisation, meeting deadlines, time management, oral communication, problem solving and writing skills. These skills are important to develop and improve as this will help people succeed in the future. References Baldwin Wallace University,. 2012. Core Academic Skills Definitions. [online]. Available: < http://www. bw. edu/resources/registration/info/core-day/skills/> [Access date 19/01/13]. Bell, J. , 2005. Doing your Research Project. 4th ed. Berkshire: Open University Press. Hatcher, C. , McCarthy, P. 2002. Presentation Skills: The Essential Guide For Students. Australia :Allen & Unwin. Mandel, S,. 1999. Effective presentation skills: A practical guide for better speaking. Los Altos, CA : Crisp Publications. Reimold,C,Reimold, P. 2003. The short road to great presentations. Wiley: New York. Shapiro, S, E. 2010. Academic skills problems. 4th ed. Gilford press: New York. Thomas, C, J,. 2003. Comprehensive handbook of psychological assessment. 4th ed. New Jersey :John wiley and sons inc. Walliman, N. , 201. Effective literature searching for research. 2nd ed. New York: Taylor & Francis e-library. Appendix It is also important to remember that gaining experience in presentations helps develop powerful communication skills that can be used throughout a persons life. Reimold,C,Reimold, P. 2003. The short road to great presentations. Wiley: New York.

Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings Chapter 27~28

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN The Found World The whale ship opened its mouth, and Nate and the crew spilled out onto the shore like sentient drool, which was some coincidence, since that's exactly what lay beneath the hard shell of the landing. They were met by a group of whaley boys, one of whom handed Nate a pair of Nikes, then went off to trade clicks and squeals and greeting rubs with the returning crew. It was so bright after nearly ten days in the whale ship that Nate couldn't immediately tell what was happening. The rest of the human crew were wearing sunglasses as they sat down on the ground to put on their shoes, only a few feet from the ship's mouth. From the rigid feel of the ground, Nate thought they might be on a dock of some kind, but then Cal Burdick took off his own sunglasses and handed them to Nate. â€Å"Go ahead. I've been looking at all of this for a lot of years, but I think you'll find it interesting.† With the dark glasses, Nate was able to see. His eyes were fine, but his mind was having a hard time processing what they were telling him. It was as light as daylight (on an overcast day, at least), but they were not outdoors. They were inside a grotto so immense that Nate could not even make out the edges of it. A dozen stadiums could have fit inside the space and still left room for a state fair, a casino, and the Vatican if you snipped off a basilica or two. The entire ceiling was a source of light, cold light, it appeared – some sections yellow, some blue – great blotches of light in irregular shapes, as if Jackson Pollock had painted a solar storm across the ceiling. Half of the grotto was water, flat and reflective as a mirror, the smoothness broken by small whaley boys porpoising here and there in groups of five and six, their blowholes sending up synchronized blasts of steam every few yards. Whaley kids, he thought. Fifty or so whale ships of different spec ies pulled up to the shore, their crews coming and going. Huge segmented pipes that looked like giant earthworms were attached to each of the ships, one on each side of the head, and ran off to connections on shore. The ground – the ground was red, and as hard as linoleum, polished, yet not quite shiny. It ran out for hundreds of yards, perhaps over a mile, and appeared to continue halfway up the walls of the immense grotto. Nate could see openings in the walls, oval passages or doorways or tunnels or something. From the size of the people and whaley boys passing in and out, he could tell that some of the openings were perhaps thirty feet around, while others seemed only the size of normal doors. There were windows next to some of the smaller ones – or what he guessed were windows – their shapes all curves and slopes. There wasn't a right angle in the grotto. Hundreds of people moved about amid as many whaley boys, maintaining the ships, moving supplies an d equipment on what seemed very normal hand trucks and carts. â€Å"Where in the hell are we?† Nate said, nearly wrenching his neck trying to look at all of it at once. â€Å"I mean, what in the hell is this?† â€Å"Pretty amazing,† Cal said. â€Å"I like to watch people when they see Gooville for the first time.† Nate ran his hand over the ground, or floor, or whatever this surface was they were sitting on. â€Å"What is this stuff?† It appeared smooth, but it had texture, pores, a hidden roughness, like stoneware or – â€Å"It's living carapace. Like a lobster shell. This whole place is living, Nate. Everything – the ceiling, the floor, the walls, the passageway in from the sea, our homes – it's all one huge organism. We call it the Goo.† â€Å"The Goo. Then this is Gooville?† â€Å"Yes,† Cal said, with a big smile that revealed perfect teeth. â€Å"And that would make you?† â€Å"That's right. The Goos. There's a wonderful Seussian logic to it, don't you think?† â€Å"I can't think, Cal. You know how all your life you hear people talk about things that are mind-boggling? It's just a meaningless clich – a hyperbole – like saying that you're wasted or that something is bloodcurdling?† â€Å"Yep.† â€Å"Well, I'm boggled. I'm totally boggled.† â€Å"You thought the ships were impressive, huh?† â€Å"Yeah, but this? One living organism shaped itself into this complex†¦ what? System? I'm boggled.† â€Å"Imagine how the bacteria who live in your intestinal tract feel about you.† â€Å"Well, right now I think they're pissed off at me.† A group of whaley boys was gathering about ten yards away from them, pointing at Nate and snickering. â€Å"They're coming down to check out the newcomer. Don't be surprised if you get rubbed up against in the streets. They're just saying hi.† â€Å"Streets?† â€Å"We call them streets. They're sort of streets.† Now, out of the dim yellow light of the whale ships, Nate realized that there was a wide variety in the whaley boys' coloring. Some were actually mottled blue, like the skin of a blue whale, while others were black like a pilot whale, or light gray like a minke whale. Some even had the black-on-white coloring of killers and Pacific white-sided dolphins, while a few here and there were stark white like a beluga. The body shapes of all were very similar, differing only in size, with the killer whaley boys, who were taller by a foot and heavier by perhaps a hundred pounds, having jaws twice the width of the others'. He also noticed in the brighter light that he was the only human who had a tan. The people, even Cal and the crew, looked healthy; it just appeared that none of them had ever seen the sun. Like the British. Nuà ±ez came over and helped Cal, and then Nate, to his feet. â€Å"How're the shoes?† she asked Nate. â€Å"They're strange after not wearing any for so long.† â€Å"You'll be wobbly for a few hours, too. You'll feel the motion when you stand still for a day or so. No different from having been at sea in normal ship. I'll take you to your new quarters, show you around a little, get you settled in. The Colonel will probably send for you before too long. People will help you out, humans and whaley boys. They'll all know you're new.† â€Å"How many, Cielle?† â€Å"Humans? Almost five thousand live here. Whaley boys, maybe half that many.† â€Å"Where is here? Where are we?† â€Å"I told him about Gooville,† said Cal. Nuà ±ez looked up at Nate and then pulled her sunglasses down on her nose so he could see her eyes. â€Å"Don't freak out on me, huh?† Nate shook his head. What did she think, that whatever she was going to tell him was going to be weirder, grander, or scarier than what he'd seen already? â€Å"The roof above this ceiling – which is thick rock, although we're not exactly sure how thick – anyway, it's around six hundred feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. We're about two hundred miles off the coast of Chile, under the continental shelf. In fact, we came in through a cliff in the continental rise, a cliff face. â€Å"We're six hundred feet underwater right now. The pressure?† â€Å"We came in through a very long tunnel, a series of pressure locks that pass the ships along until we're at surface pressure. I would have shown you as we came through, but I didn't want to wake you.† â€Å"Yeah, thanks for that.† â€Å"Let's get you to your new house. We've got a long walk ahead of us.† She headed away from the water, motioning for him to follow. Nate nearly stumbled trying to look back at the whale ships lining the harbor. Tim caught him by the arm. â€Å"It's a lot to take in. People really have freaked out. You just have to accept that the Goo won't let anything bad happen to you. The rest is simply a series of surprises. Like life.† Nate looked into the younger man's dark eyes to see if there was any irony showing there, but he was as open and sincere as a bowl of milk. â€Å"The Goo will take care of me?† â€Å"That's right,† said Tim, helping him along toward the grotto wall, toward the actual village of Gooville, with its organically shaped doorways and windows, its knobs and nodules, its lobster-shell pathways, its whaley-boy pods working together or playing in the water, where was housed an entire village of what Nate assumed were all happy human wackjobs. After two days of looking for meaning in hash marks on waveforms and ones and ohs on legal pads that were hastily typed into the machine, Kona found a surfer/hacker on the North Shore named Lolo who agreed to write it all into a Linux routine in exchange for Kona's old long board and a half ounce of the dankest nugs[1]. â€Å"Won't he just take cash?† asked Clay. â€Å"He's an artist,† explained Kona. â€Å"Everyone has cash.† â€Å"I don't know what I'm going to put that under for the accountant.† â€Å"Nugs, dank?† Clay looked forlornly at the legal-pad pages piling up on the desk next to where Margaret Painborne was typing. He handed a roll of bills over to Kona. â€Å"Go. Buy nugs. Bring him back. Bring back my change.† â€Å"I'm throwing in my board for the cause,† said Kona. â€Å"I could use some time in the mystic myself.† â€Å"Do you want me to tell Auntie Clair that you tried to extort me?† Clay had taken to using Clair as a sort of sword of Damocles/assistant principal/evil dominatrix threat over Kona, and it seemed to work swimmingly. â€Å"Must blaze, brah. Cool runnings.† Suddenly something sparked in Clay's head, a dj vu trigger snapping electric with connections. â€Å"Wait, Kona.† The surfer paused in the doorway, turned. â€Å"The first day you came here, the day that Nate sent you to the lab to get the film – did you actually do it?† Kona shook his head, â€Å"Nah, boss, the Snowy Biscuit see me going. She say keep the money and she go to the lab. When I come back with my ganja, she give me the pictures to give to Nate.† â€Å"I was sort of afraid of that,† Clay said. â€Å"Go, blaze, be gone. Get what we need.† So three days later they all stood watching as Lolo hit the return key and the subsonic waveform from a blue-whale call began scrolling across the bottom of the screen, while above it letters were transcribed from the data. Lolo was a year older than Kona, a Japanese-American burned nut brown by the sun with ducky-yellow minidreads and a tapestry of Maori tattoos across his back and shoulders. Lolo spun in the chair to face them. â€Å"I mixed down a fifty-minute trance track with sixty percussion loops that was way harder than this.† Lolo's prior forays into sound processing had been as a computer DJ at a dance club in Honolulu. â€Å"It's not saying anything,† said Libby Quinn. â€Å"It's just random, Clay.† â€Å"Well, that's the way it's gone so far, right?† â€Å"But there's been nothing since that first day.† â€Å"We knew that might happen, that there couldn't be messages on all of them. We just have to find the right ones.† Libby's eyes were pleading. â€Å"Clay, it's a short season. We have to get out in the field. Now that you have this program, you don't need the manpower. Margaret and I will bring back more tapes – we have them coming in from people we trust – but we can't afford to blow off the season.† â€Å"And we need to go public with the torpedo range,† Margaret added, less sympathetic than Libby had been. Clay nodded and looked at his bare feet against the hardwood floor. He took a deep breath, and when he looked up, he smiled. â€Å"You're right. But don't just blow a whistle and hope someone will notice. Cliff Hyland told me that the diving data was the only thing they were worried about. You're going to need proof that humpbacks dive close to the bottom of the channel, or the navy will claim that you're just being whale buggers and there's no danger to the animals. Even with the range.† â€Å"You're okay if we go public, then?† asked Libby. â€Å"People are going to know about the torpedo range soon enough. I don't think that's dangerous for you. Just don't say anything about the rest of this, okay?† The two women looked at each other, then nodded. â€Å"We have to go,† Libby said. â€Å"We'll call you, Clay. We're not running out on you.† â€Å"I know,† Clay said. After they left, Clay turned to the two surfers. Thirty years working with the best scientists and divers in the world, and this was what it came down to: two stoner kids. â€Å"If you guys need to go do things, I understand.† â€Å"Outta here,† said Lolo, on his feet and bounding toward the door. Clay looked at the screen where Lolo had been sitting. Scrolling across it: WILL ARRIVE GV APPRX 1300 MONDAY__HAVE__SIZE 11 SNEAKERS WAITING FOR QUINN__END MSS__AAAA__BAXYXABUDAB. â€Å"Get him back,† Clay said to Kona. â€Å"We need to know which tape this was.† â€Å"Libby gave them all to him.† â€Å"I know that. I need to know where she got it. Where and when it was recorded. Call Libby's cell phone. See if you can get hold of her.† Clay was trying to make the screen print before the message scrolled away. â€Å"How the hell does this thing work?† â€Å"How you know I'm not leaving?† â€Å"You woke up this morning, Kona. Did you have a reason to get out of bed other than waves or pot?† â€Å"Yah, mon, need to find Nate.† â€Å"How'd that feel?† â€Å"I'm calling Libby, boss.† â€Å"Loyalty is important, son. I'll go catch Lolo. Confirm which tape it was.† â€Å"Shut up, boss. I'm trying to dial.† Behind them the cryptic message scrolled out of the printer. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT Single-Celled Animal Stockholm syndrome or not, Nate was starting to get tired of the whole hippie-commune, everything-is-wonderful-and-the-Goo-will-provide attitude. Nuà ±ez had come by for three days running to take him out on the town, and every person he met was just a little too damn satisfied with the whole idea that they were living inside a giant organism six hundred feet under the ocean. Like this was a normal thing. Like he just wasn't getting with the program because he continued to ask questions. At least the whaley boys would blow wet raspberries at him and snicker as he walked by. At least they had some sense of the absurdity of all this, despite the fact that they shouldn't even have existed in the first place, which did seem to be a large point of denial on their part. They'd installed him in what he guessed was a premier apartment, or what you'd call an apartment, on the second floor, looking out over the grotto. The windows were oval, and the glass in them, although perfectly clear, was flexible. It was like looking out on the world through a condom, and that was just the beginning of the things that creeped him out about this place. He had a kitchen sink, a bathroom sink, and a shower – all of which had big honking sphincters in the bottom of them – and the seal on the door around his refrigerator, if that's what you called it, appeared to be made out of slugs, or at least something that left an iridescent slime on you if you brushed up against it. There was also a toothed garbage disposal in the kitchen, which he wouldn't even go near. The worst of it was that the apartment didn't make any attempt to conceal that it was alive. His first day there, when the human crew from the whale ship had come by for a drink – a ho usewarming – there had been a scaly knob on the wall by the front door that when pushed would cause the door to open. After the crew left and Nate returned from his shower, the doorknob had healed over. There was a scar there in the shell, but that was all. Nate was locked in. There was a tom-tom thrumming of stones hitting his front picture window. Nate went to the window, looked out on the vast grotto and harbor, then down on the source of his torment. A pod of whaley-boy kids was winging stones at his window. Thump, thump-a, thump. The stones bounced off, leaving no mark. When Nate appeared at the window, the thumping became more furious, as the whaley kids picked up the pace and aimed right at him, as if a well-placed shot might drop him in a dunking tank. â€Å"There's a reason cetaceans don't have hands in the real world!† Nate screamed at them. â€Å"You are that reason! You little freaks!† Thump, thump-a, thump, thump, clack. Occasionally a missed throw hit the shell-like frame of the window, sounding like a marble hitting tile. I sound like Old Man Spangler yelling at my brother and me for raiding his apple trees, Nate thought. When did I turn into that guy? I don't want to be that guy. There was a soft knock on the shell of his front door. As he turned, the door flipped open like shutters, two pieces of shell retracting on muscles hidden in the wall. Nate felt like a surprised box turtle. Cielle Nuà ±ez stood in the doorway with canvas shopping bags folded under her arm. She was a pleasant woman, attractive, competent, and non-threatening; Nate was sure that's why she'd been chosen to be his guide. â€Å"You ready to do some shopping, Nate? I called to tell you I was coming, but you didn't answer.† The apartment had a speaking apparatus, a sort of ornate tube thing that whistled and buzzed green metallic beetle wings when there was a call. Nate was afraid of it. â€Å"Cielle, can we drop any pretense that we are just buddies out for the day? You lock me in here when you leave.† â€Å"For your own safety.† â€Å"Somehow that always seems to be the argument the jailer uses.† â€Å"You want to go get some food and clothes or not?† Nate shrugged and followed her out the door. They walked along the perimeter of the grotto, which seemed a cross between an old English village and an Art Nouveau hobbit housing project: irregularly shaped doors and windows looking into shops that displayed baked goods and other prepared foods. Evidently the Goo wasn't big on having fire around for home cooking. All the cooked foods were prepared somewhere else in the complex. There was a warming cabinet in Nate's apartment that looked like a breadbox made out of a giant armadillo shell. It worked great. You rolled the top open, put the food in, then promptly lost your appetite. â€Å"Let's get you something to wear today,† Cielle said. â€Å"Those khakis are on loan. Only the whale-ship crews are supposed to wear them.† As they walked, a half dozen whaley kids followed them, chirping and giggling all the way. â€Å"So I'd get in trouble if I started kicking whaley kids down the street?† â€Å"Of course,† Cielle laughed. â€Å"We have laws here, just like anywhere else.† â€Å"Evidently not ones that forbid kidnapping and unjustified imprisonment.† Nuà ±ez stopped and grabbed his arm. â€Å"Look, what are you complaining about? This is a good place to be. You're not being mistreated. Everyone's been kind to you. What's the problem?† â€Å"What's the problem? The problem is that all you people were yanked out of your lives, taken away from your families and friends, taken from everything that you knew, and you all act like it doesn't bother you in the least. Well, it bothers me, Cielle. It fucking bothers me a lot. And I don't understand this whole colony, or city, or whatever this thing is. How does it even exist without anyone knowing about it? In all these years, why has no one gotten out and spoiled the secret of this place?† â€Å"I told you, we were all going to drown –  » â€Å"Bullshit. I don't buy that for a second. That gratitude toward your rescuer only lasts for a short while. I've seen it. It doesn't take over your life. Everyone I've met is blissed out. You people worship the Goo, don't you?† â€Å"Nate, you don't want to be locked in, you won't be locked in. You can have the run of Gooville – go anywhere you want. There's hundreds of miles of passages. Some of them even I haven't seen. Go. Leave the grotto and go down any one of those passages. But you know what? You'll be back looking for your apartment tonight. You are not a prisoner, you're just living in a different place and a different way.† â€Å"You didn't answer my question.† â€Å"The Goo is the source, Nate. You'll see. The Colonel – ; â€Å"Fuck the Colonel. The Colonel is a fucking myth.† â€Å"Should we get some coffee? You seem grumpy.† â€Å"Damn it, Cielle, my caffeine headache is not relevant.† Actually it was, sort of. He hadn't had any coffee today. â€Å"Besides, how do I know it's coffee we're drinking? It's probably some mutant sea otter/coffee bean hybrid beverage.† â€Å"Is that what you want?† â€Å"No, that's not what I want. What I want is a doorknob. And not an organic nodule thing – I want a dead doorknob. One that always has been dead, too. Not something that you used to be friends with.† Cielle Nuà ±ez had backed away from him several feet, and the whaley kids who'd been following them had quieted down and gone into a defensive pod formation, the big kids on the outside. People who were out walking, and who normally made a point of nodding and smiling as they passed, took a wide detour around Nate. There was an inordinate amount of whistling among the milling whaley boys. â€Å"That going to do it for you?† Nu;ez asked. â€Å"A doorknob. I get you a doorknob, you're a happy man?† Why should he be embarrassed? Because he'd scared the kids? Because he'd made his captors uncomfortable? Nevertheless, he was embarrassed. â€Å"I could use some earplugs, too, if you have them. For sleeping.† For ten hours out of twenty-four, the grotto went dark. Cielle explained that this was for the comfort of the humans, to help them keep some semblance of their normal circadian rhythms. People needed day and night – without the change many people couldn't sleep. The problem was, the whaley boys didn't sleep. They rested, but they didn't sleep. So when the grotto went dark, they went on about their business. In the dark, however, they were all constantly emitting sonar clicks. At night the grotto sounded like it was being marched upon by an army of tap dancers. Consequently, so did Nate's apartment. Nu;ez nodded. â€Å"We can probably do that. You want to go get a steaming hot cup of sea otter now?† â€Å"What?† â€Å"I'm just kidding. Lighten up, Nate.† â€Å"I want to go home.† He'd said it before he even realized it. â€Å"That's not going to happen. But I'll send word. I think it's time you met with the Colonel.† They spent the day going to shops. Nate found some cotton slacks that fitted him, some socks and underwear, and a pile of T-shirts from one tiny shop. There was no currency exchanged. Nuà ±ez would just nod to the shopkeeper, and Nate would take what he needed. There was little variety in any of the shops, and most of what they carried was goods from the real world: clothes, fabric, books, razor blades, shoes, and small electronics. But a few shops carried items that appeared to have been grown or made right there in Gooville: toothbrushes, soaps, lotions. All the packaging seemed to come out of the seventeenth century – the shopkeepers wrapped parcels in a ubiquitous oilcloth that Nate thought smelled vaguely of seaweed and indeed had the same olive color as giant kelp. Patrons brought their own jars to carry oils, pickles, and other soft goods. Nate had seen everything from a modern mayonnaise jar to hand-thrown crockery that had to have been made a hundred years ago. â€Å"How long, Cielle?† he asked as he watched a shopkeeper count sugared dates into a hand-blown glass jar and seal it with wax. â€Å"How long have people been down here?† She followed his gaze to the jar. â€Å"We get a lot of the surface goods from shipwrecks, so don't be impressed if you see antiques; the sea is a good preserver. We may have salvaged it only a week ago. A friend of mine keeps potatoes in a Grecian wine amphora that's two thousand years old.† â€Å"Yeah, and I'm using the Holy Grail to catch my spare change. How long?† â€Å"You are so hostile today. I don't know how long, Nate. A long time.† He had dozens, hundreds more questions, like where the hell did they get potatoes when they didn't have sunlight to grow anything? They weren't bringing potatoes up from a shipwreck. But Cielle was letting him get only so far before claiming ignorance. They had lunch at a four-stool lunch counter where the proprietor was a striking Irishwoman with stunning green eyes and a massive spill of red hair and who, like everyone, it seemed, knew Cielle and knew who Nate was. â€Å"Got you a Walkman then, Dr. Quinn? Whaley boys will drive you to drink with that sonar at night.† â€Å"We're going to get him some earplugs today, Brennan,† Cielle said. â€Å"Music, that's the way to wash the whaley-boy whistles,† the woman said. Then she was off to her kitchen. The walls of the cafe were decorated with a collection of antique beer trays, glued in place, as Nate had learned, with an adhesive that was similar to what barnacles secreted to fasten themselves to ships. Nailing things up was frowned upon, as the walls would bleed for a while if injured. Nate took a bite of his sandwich, meatballs and mozzarella on good crusty French bread. â€Å"How?† he asked Cielle, blowing crumbs on the counter. â€Å"How does any of this stuff get made if there's no flame?† Cielle shrugged. â€Å"No idea. A bakery, I'd guess. They make all the prepared food outside the grotto. I've never been there.† â€Å"You don't know how? How can that be?† Cielle Nuà ±ez put down her own sandwich and leaned on one elbow, smiling at Nate. She had remarkably kind eyes, and Nate had to remind himself that she had been ordered to be his friend. Interesting, he thought, that they'd choose a woman. Was she bait? â€Å"You ever read A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Nate?† â€Å"Of course, everybody does.† â€Å"And that guy goes back to Camelot from the late nineteenth century and dazzles everyone with his scientific knowledge, mainly because he can make gunpowder, right?† â€Å"Yes, so?† â€Å"You're a scientist, so you might do better than most, but take your average citizen, a guy who works at a discount store, say. Drop him in the twelfth century, you know what he'll achieve?† â€Å"Make your point?† â€Å"Death by bacterial infection, more than likely. And the last words on his lips will probably be, ‘There's such a thing as an antibiotic, really. My point is, I don't know how this stuff is made because I haven't needed to know. Nobody knows how to make the things they use. I suppose I could find out and get back to you, but I promise you I'm not holding out on you just to be mysterious. We do a lot of salvage on the whale ships, and we have a trade network into the real world that gets us a lot of our goods. When a freighter leaves pallets of goods for the people on remote islands in the Pacific, all they know is that they've been paid and they've delivered to shore. They don't stay to see who takes the goods away. The old-timers say that it used to be that the Goo provided everything. Nothing came in from the outside that wasn't on their backs when they got here.† Nate took a bite of his sandwich and nodded as if considering what she'd just said. Since he'd arrived in Gooville, he had spent every waking moment thinking about two things: one, how this whole place could possibly function; and two, how to get out of it. The Goo had to get energy from somewhere. The energy to light the huge grotto alone would require tens of millions of calories. If it got energy from outside, maybe you could use that same pathway to get out. â€Å"So do you guys feed it? The Goo?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"Well, then-â€Å" â€Å"Don't know, Nate. I just don't know. How does dry-cleaning work?† â€Å"Well, I assume that they use solvents, that, uh – Look, biologists don't have a lot of stuff that needs to be dry-cleaned. I'm sure it's not that complicated a process.† â€Å"Yeah, well, right back at you on all of your questions about the Goo.† Cielle stood and gathered up her parcels. â€Å"Let's go, Nate. I'm taking you back to your apartment. Then I'm going right to the whaley-boy den and find out if they can get the Colonel to see you. Today.† Nate still had a couple bites of his sandwich left. â€Å"Hey, I've still got a couple of bites of my sandwich left,† he said. â€Å"Really? Well, did you ask yourself where in Gooville we got meatballs? What sort of meat might be in them?† Nate dropped his sandwich. â€Å"Bit of the whining wussy boy, aren't we?† said Brennan as she came out of the kitchen to take away their plates. Nate was reading a cheesy lawyer novel that he'd found in the small library in his apartment when the whaley boys came for him. There were three of them, two large males with killer-whale coloring and a smaller female blue. Only when the blue squeaked â€Å"Hi Nate† in a mashed-elf voice did he recognize it as Emily 7. â€Å"Wow, hi, Emily. Is just Emily okay, or should I always say the Seven?† Nate always felt awkward with someone afterward, even if there wasn't anything for the ward to be after. She crossed her arms over her chest and bugged out her left eye at him. â€Å"Okay,† Nate said, moving on, â€Å"I guess we'll be going, then. Did you see my new doorknob? Brand-new. Stainless steel. I realize it doesn't go with everything else, but, you know, it feels a little like freedom.† Right, Nate. It's a doorknob, he thought. They led him around the perimeter of the grotto, beyond the village, and into one of the huge passageways that led away from the grotto. They walked for half an hour, tracing a labyrinth of passageways that got narrower and narrower the farther off they went, the bright red lobster-shell surface fading into something that looked like mother-of-pearl the deeper in they went. It glowed faintly, just enough so they could see where they were going. Finally the passageway started to broaden again and open into a large room that looked like some sort of oval amphitheater, all of it pearlescent and providing its own light. Benches lined the walls around the room, all in view of a wide ramp that led to a round portal the size of a garage door, closed now with an iris of black shell. â€Å"Ooooh, the great and powerful Oz will see you now,† Nate said. The whaley boys, who normally found practically anything funny, just looked away. One of the black-and-whites started whistling a soft tune from his blowhole. â€Å"In the Hall of the Mountain King† or a Streisand tune – something creepy, Nate thought. Emily 7 backhanded the whistler in the chest, and he stopped abruptly. Then she put her hand on Nate's shoulder and gestured for him to go up the steps to the round portal. â€Å"Okay, I guess this is it.† Nate started backing up the ramp as the whaley boys started backing away from him. â€Å"You guys better not leave me, because I'll never find my way back.† Emily 7 grinned, that lovely hack-a-salmon-in-half smile of hers, and waved him on. â€Å"Thanks, Em. You look good, you know. Did I mention? Shiny.† He hoped shiny was good. The iris opened behind him, and the whaley boys fell to their knees and touched their lower jaws to the floor. Nate turned to see that the pearlescent ramp led into a vibrant red chamber that was pulsing with light and glistening with moisture as the walls appeared to breathe. Now, this looked like a living thing – the inside of a living thing. Really much more what he'd expected to see when the whale had eaten him. He made his way forward. A few steps in, the ramp melded into the reddish flesh, which Nate could now see was shot through with blood vessels and what might be nerves. He couldn't get the size of the space he was in. It just seemed to expand to receive him and contract behind him, as if a bubble were moving along with him inside it. When the iris disappeared into the pink Goo, Nate felt a wave of panic go through him. He took a deep breath – damp, fecund air – and strangely enough he remembered what Poynter and Poe had told him back on the humpb ack ship: It's easier if you just accept that you're already dead. He took another deep breath and ventured forward a few more feet, then stopped. â€Å"I feel like a friggin' sperm in here!† he yelled. What the hell, he was dead anyway. â€Å"I'm supposed to have a meeting with the Colonel.† On cue, the Goo began to open in front of him, like the view of a flower opening from the inside. A brighter light illuminated the newly opened chamber, now just large enough to house Nate, another person, and about ten feet of conversational distance. Reclining in a great pink mass of goo, dressed in tropical safari wear and a San Francisco Giants baseball hat, was the Colonel. â€Å"Nathan Quinn, good to see you. It's been a long time,† he said.

Okc Murrah Building Bombing

Shelbey Brian Comp 1. OKC Alfred P. Murrah Building Bombing On April 19th, 1995 a horrific terrorist attack on U. S. soil took place in the heartland of Oklahoma. The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma was targeted and was completely blown to pieces by one gigantic homemade bomb. The unimaginable had happened at the starting of a typical day at work. This day would be forever commemorated for the rest of America's history, unlike any other day until 9/11, as a prominent attack on the government of the United States.At 9:03 a. m. a massive bomb resting inside a rented Ryder truck destroyed half of the nine story federal building in downtown Oklahoma City. Within moments, the surrounding area looked like a complete war zone. The smoke in the air so thick it was impossible to breathe or see. A third of the building had been reduced to rubble, with many floors flattened like pancakes. Dozens of cars exploded and were incinerated. Also more than 300 nearby buildi ngs were damaged or destroyed.It also claimed the innocent lives of 169 men, women, and children, while causing critical injuries to hundreds more. The bomb was made up of a deadly and potent cocktail of two and a half tons of ammonium nitrate , 4800 pounds of a common farm fertilizer, and fuel oil then was packed inside the rented truck. The most terrifying thing about the making of this bomb was that its ingredients were cheap and very accessible to the public. Most gardening stores sell 50 pound bags of ammonium nitrate for $10. The substantial destruction from the bomb was luck more than anything.Former FBI bomb expert Denny Kline commented that â€Å"he made the biggest bomb he had accessible to him, placed the device outside, and hoped for the best, and in fact, it was the worst scenario† (Camp, 1995). It blew off the front end of the building, blowing up ceilings and collapsing floors, and burying victims under an immense amount of concrete and steel (Camp, 1995) Just 90 minutes after the explosion, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol pulled over Timothy McVeigh for driving without a license plate on his vehicle. By April 21st, the 27-year-old Gulf War veteran would be known as the main suspect for the Alfred P.Murrah Building bombing and would subsequently be charged for the devastating crime. At the same time, Terry Nichols, McVeigh's old army buddy was wanted for questioning. Nichols turned himself in, in Herington, Kansas, and was also charged with the bombing shortly after. (Clark, 1995) There has been speculation that the bombing of the federal building was to demonstrate the anti-government feelings over the 1993 government raid of the Branch Davidian Compound in Waco Texas. The Branch Davidians are a deeply religious group that originated in 1955 from a schism in the Davidian Seventh Day Adventists.They have many theological beliefs in common with Messianic Judaism. The Waco raid began because ATF (The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms) ag ents were trying to arrest a man named David Koresh, the head of the Davidian Branch, and search the Davidian Compound. The feds believed that Koresh was illegally converting semi-automatic AR-15’s into the fully automatic machine guns that soldiers use. Both McVeigh and Nichols were once spotted at the compound in Waco and were openly supporting the other Branch Davidians.In 1993, McVeigh drove to Waco, Texas during the Waco Siege to show his support. At the scene, he distributed pro-gun rights literature and bumper stickers, such as â€Å"When guns are outlawed, I will become an outlaw. The bombing occurred exactly two years to the day after the compound burned to the ground killing 80 men, women, and children after a 51-day standoff between the Branch Davidians and the FBI. The bombing definitely put the spotlight on other groups with anti-government sentiments. McVeigh's trial was set for Denver, Colorado on March 31, 1997.On June 3rd 1997, the jury found McVeigh guilty of all 11 counts, including eight counts of first degree murder in the deaths of eight federal law-enforcement agents, conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, using a weapon of mass destruction, and destruction of a federal building. The jury deliberated for 23 and a half hours before deciding the verdict. In the end, Timothy McVeigh was left all alone as dozens of former best friends and family relatives testified against him (Eddy et al. , 1997). On June 14th 1997, the jury sentenced McVeigh to death by lethal injection.Many of the victims' families were ecstaticly over joyed with the decision, as many people could see it no other way than to put him to death for the horrible crime he had committed. However, there were some people who were very saddened by the whole trial. One observer claimed that â€Å"it's not going to bring back my wife and lessen my loss,† said Mike Lenz, whose wife was pregnant when killed by the explosion†. Another echoed his attitude t oward the situation, â€Å"I really did not want the death penalty,† said James Kreymborg, who lost his wife and daughter. â€Å"I've had enough death. (Wilmsen & Simpson, 1997). The evidence against McVeigh was overwhelming. According to testimony, McVeigh constructed himself a fake driver's license with the name Bob Kling. Someone matching McVeigh's description rented a Ryder truck in Junction City, Kansas. That truck which was identified by the axle number found at the bomb site blew up in Oklahoma City. McVeigh's fingerprints were found all over a receipt that showed the purchasing 2,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate. He told his friend, Michael Fortier, that he planned to stash a getaway car in an alley near the federal building.The keys to that truck were found in the alley. In addition, testimony proclaimed that McVeigh was stopped 1 ? hours after the bombing; explosive residue was found on ear plugs inside his vehicle; he had an envelope packed with newspaper clippings and papers with revolutionary writings; he wore a tee-shirt with the slogan: â€Å"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. â€Å"(Wilmsen & Simpson, 1997). The trial for Terry Nichols had a different result compared to the one for McVeigh. Nichols' trial took place after McVeigh's trial.On December 24th 1997, the jury found Nichols not guilty in 10 of the 11 original charges against him. He was found guilty of one charge of conspiracy and eight lesser charges of involuntary manslaughter. The jury deadlocked as how to sentence Nichols and left it up to the judge (Gorov, 1998). On June 5th 1998 the judge, US District Court Judge Richard P. Matsch, gave the 43-year-old Nichols a life sentence for his role in the bombing (Haynes, 1998). The bombing was quickly solved, but the investigation turned out to be one of the most exhaustive in FBI history.No stone was left unturned to make sure every clue was found and all the culprits i dentified. By the time it was over, the Bureau had conducted more than 28,000 interviews, followed some 43,000 investigative leads, amassed three-and-a-half tons of evidence, and reviewed nearly a billion pieces of information. In the end, the government that McVeigh hated and hoped to topple swiftly captured him and convincingly convicted both him and his co-conspirators. The relatives of the victims were able to have some redemption with the horrible tragedy that happened.The worst terrorist act on US soil was committed by two Americans, the least likely thought by government officials to contain such a hatred for the American government. The April 19th 1995 bombing was an unthinkable tragedy but also an important lesson for the United States: one should look to themselves before pointing fingers at others. Works Cited Page Camp, J. (1995). Terror in the heartland. CNN interactive: Oklahoma City Bombing: http://cgi. cnn. com/US/OKC/facts/Bombing/Terror5-4/index. html. Clark, T. (1 995). The worst terrorist attack on US soil: April 19th 1995.CNN interactive: Oklahoma City Bombing: http://cgi. cnn. com/US/OKC/daily/9512/12-30/index. html. No author (1995). The Bombing. CNN interactive: Oklahoma City Bombing: http://cgi. cnn. com/US/OKC/bombing. html. Eddy, M. , Lane, G. , Pankratz, H. , & Wilmsen, S. (1997). Guilty on every count. The Denver Post: http://www. rickross. com/reference/mcveigh1. html. Gorov, L. (1998). No Nichols death penalty: Jurors deadlocked; judge will sentence. The Denver Post: http://www. rickross. com/reference/mcveigh5. html. Haynes, V. D. (1998). Nichols gets life for bombing role.The Denver Post: http://www. rickross. com/reference/mcveigh6. html. Wilmsen, S. & Simpson, K. (1997). McVeigh receives ultimate penalty. The Denver Post: http://www. rickross. com/reference/mcveigh3. html. â€Å"Oklahoma City Bombing. † History. com. A&E Television Networks, n. d. Web. 23 Feb. 2013 â€Å"THE TRUTH ABOUT THE OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING. † THE TRUTH ABOUT THE OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING. N. p. , n. d. Web. 23 Feb. 2013. â€Å"Terrorist Bombing, Murrah Federal Building, Oklahoma, 1995. † Oklahoma City Bombing 1995. N. p. , n. d. Web. 24 Feb. 2013.

CURRENT ISSUES IN FINANCIAL REPORTING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 4

CURRENT ISSUES IN FINANCIAL REPORTING - Essay Example Off-balance-sheet-financing is that debt that is not usually reported on a company’s balance sheet. The formal distinction between off and on-balance sheet items present some complications that are usually subject to some level of judgment by management. However, the primary distinction between the off and on-balance sheet items is based on whether or not a business/company owns or is legally responsible for that debt. Additionally, uncertain liabilities or assets are subject to being grouped as ‘probable’, ‘meaningful’ and ‘measurable’. Some of the examples of the off-balance sheet items include; unconsolidated subsidiaries, operating leases, financial instruments such as hedging contracts and derivatives securities, contingent assets/liabilities among many others (Bauman, 2003). Financial statements need to be adjusted from time to time so that they are able to reflect the economic substance of the information they represent. Companies should, therefore, focus on accounting methods that emphasis on economic substance by considering changes in accounting policies. Economic substance is a transaction that has a purpose besides reducing tax liability. Conversely, Sally and Schreiber states that, â€Å"The economic substance doctrine is a common law judicial doctrine that disallows tax benefits of a transaction if the transaction lacks economic substance or a business purpose.† Therefore, transactions and events should be accounted for in a manner that faithfully represents their true economic substance and not the mere legal form. The off-balance sheet items; thus, provide a reason financial statements often fail to faithfully represent the economic substance. Off-balance sheet activities usually do not represent the true picture of a net worth of a firm. This is because firms do not include market values of their off balance sheet items. Furthermore, the transparency of off balance sheet activities are

Philosophy- Dualism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Philosophy- Dualism - Essay Example In the world of religion, there is the persistent visible combat between what is good and that which is evil. In general, the key centre of argument is a belief in existence of two morally opposing links which cannot occur at the same moment. Occurrence of one means the other cannot happen concurrently. One cannot be a male and female at the same time under normal spheres of life. On the other hand, darkness and lights are two scenarios which cannot occur one on top of the other at the same time. In addition, it is impractical to display an active and at the same time passive .No one can be in motion at a stand still. To create an extinct reality, contrast is applied to experience something. These reciprocal interactions are what is referred to as a feedback loop an axis where two antagonizing forces do not oppose each other in occurrence but instead inverse to encourage stability. Active part of every autonomous unit lays a function of its contradictory. For instance, in illness lie s good health, in sadness is passive happiness. This concept applies the basic reality in simultaneous interaction of generally bad or good (Miller 6). Human mind is comprises of more components rather than just the brains. There is a spiritual non-materialist dimension encompassing consciousness and holistic eternal element. To comprehend this concept, an individual should imagine himself being an urn containing the physical body, brains alongside non physical parts like the mind, soul, spirit as the cables connected to urn to enable it perform completely and wholly desired by its owner who is the individual. Just like in a radio, the sound waves are not physical but the radio is just a piece of a thing without well configured waves. In contradiction, materialism concept concentrates only on physical aspects of material and dismisses non-physical parts as vague imagination. If this is true, then dualism is just but a wild imagination. However, in practicality, this cannot be true a s the human mind would completely lack the conscious and non conscious components actively involved in imagination and reasoning. Mind then would be compared to programmed software in a computer operating on manuals like machines (Miller 7). The brain would only reorganize the usual module of operation rather than normal free choice alternating between emotions, desires, will, thoughts and angulating sensations. Materialistic mind would only detect a pre determined program based no more than the edict of nature. With these revelations, dualism seem to carry the day as many scientists have come to accept that the law of science, cannot comprehensively explain the root components of the conscious and sub conscious attachments of human mind. The only response which would be expected from material minds would be machinery response rather than responsibility of behavior as all their action would be directed just by a program based on matter attributes. It would be difficult in that world to even allocated the lowest percentage of trust to our minds that are dependent on matter to carry out its duty. Dualism exist in so many varieties, one being substance dualism and the second variety is property dualism. Substance and property dualisms are but ones way of choosing what things are dualistic about. The third variety of dualism, which is however, the weakest form of dualism, is predicate dualism. This form is possible for the description of

Financial Accounting and Corporate Governance Research Proposal

Financial Accounting and Corporate Governance - Research Proposal Example Chief among these participants are the board of directors and management. There are aspects of the corporate governance regime that have an impact on the relationship between shareholders and the company† (Jacques du Plessis & Et. Al., 2010). The regulators and legislators in the United States have realised that transparency is essential to inspire trust and confidence in the business. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was passed in 2002 by the United States Congress to protect the interest of the investors by making corporate disclosures more accurate and reliable (Hoffman & Rowe, n.d.). Corporate governance helps in integrating the choices and the actions of the managers with the shareholders’ interests. Financial accounting plays an important role in this integration process. Corporate governance can be thought of in terms of the outsider’s perspective or the shareholder’s perspective. The organisation consists of a hierarchy which includes shareholders, board of d irectors and managers. Responsibility is delegated to the various entities in the hierarchy. Corporate governance simply involves alignment of interest of all these entities. Two kinds of agency problems arise whereby the alignment of interest may occur between managers and the board but not the shareholders and alignment between the board and the shareholders but not the managers. The financial accounting system resolves these agency problems. They provide useful information to directors and shareholders (Armstrong, 2009). Corporate governance plays an important role in promoting transparency in an organisation. There are various approaches to corporate governance which result in various theories. The objectives of the organisation are set by the owners or the directors in the agency theory. Managers have the responsibility of execution of the objectives. Structures and processes are designed to enable control of management. The theory holds that individuals are rational and egoist s and thus managers cannot remain faithful to the owners. The managers can resort to diversion of corporate resources to fulfil their selfish needs unless an external control is placed on them. The owners or directors can be considered as the principle in the agency theory. The action is originated by the principle and he bears the responsibility for the action. The principle does not always execute the objective himself. He may employ an agent to act on his behalf. The managers are the agent and should behave ethically and should avoid conflict of interests. Compliance with rules is essential and a minimum threshold exists for the acceptable behaviour. According to the stockholder theory the organisation is merely a property of stockholders. Stockholders take an egoistic view. The owners channelize the members of the organisation towards the achievement of their interest. The owners expect a return from the investments they have made in the organisation. Managers have the duty to f unction in a manner in order that return is maximised. Strategies are implemented to ensure faithfulness on the part of the managers. The stakeholder theory focuses on all the stakeholders of the organisation. All the stakeholders function in a manner to maximise their self interests. The managers have the responsibility to balance out the conflicting interests of various stakeholders. The managers are faithful agents of all the stakehold

Stop YELLING AT YOUR KIDS. It's Bad for Them Essay

Stop YELLING AT YOUR KIDS. It's Bad for Them - Essay Example There is a lot of research that supports the usefulness of this system. Unless, an individual is rewarded for showing good discipline and punished for showing bad discipline, the individual cannot learn, actively or passively, which behaviors are socially acceptable and which are not. The author has based her results on a study that found out that yelling has bad effects on the psychology of the children which can be biased. Furthermore, the study is based on middle-class families in which the children require least disciplining anyway. Even if the results of the study are believed, they cannot be applied on poor and elite Americans that make a larger part of the American society combined, alike. The author has made a good analysis of the possible outcomes of yelling i.e. either the child gets embarrassed and becomes quiet or the child yells back. While these are rightly the two possible outcomes of yelling, it is wrong to say that parental yelling instills embarrassment or anger in the children. Yes, it does induce these feelings in the children for a while, but this is healthy. If a child is raised without letting him/her experience these feelings at all, he would not know when to use these feelings in his/her dealing with others in the society. ... Not only those children never shout back at their parents themselves, they cannot take it when somebody else even talks bad about their parents. Their behavior toward their parents is so nice because their parents have used right combination of spanking and yelling to raise their children in such a way. Their technique works more often than not. The west should take lessons from those societies. On the contrary, what happens in our society where the law has placed so many restrictions over what a parent can and cannot do to the children is completely devastating. Let’s take the Maury Show for example. It is a very popular show in which Maury, the host introduces the problems faced by average Americans in their personal lives. This includes all classes of Americans, including the rich, the middle-class, and the poor. One can frequently find such episodes in the Maury Show where a parent is abused verbally, physically, or both by his/her children. This is a really upsetting situ ation and parents in such a situation feel awkward and unsafe in their own home. This is definitely the result of such a legal framework in which parents’ hands are tied whereas the children are given the leverage to do whatever they want to do. Children in such a society as ours know the legal limitations imposed on the parents and tend to blackmail the parents for that. Concluding, in a society in which beating, spanking, and so many other kinds of behaviors that a parent can execute to discipline a child are forbidden, yelling is the one and only weapon in the hands of the parents. If the weapon of yelling is taken away from the parents, they practically get into an inferior position to their children because while

Ch 8 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ch 8 - Essay Example The United States policymakers face varied challenges of recognizing that the fundamental change in global politics and utilizing the supreme military power of America to fashion an international environment conducive to its interests. Moreover, globalization has contributed to varied changes not only to my lifestyle but also to my urban area. It has contributed to social conflicting issues especially through social media such as increased cyber bullying, cyber crimes and increased health related issues due to too much use of social media. It has also created effects on efficiency, production and competitiveness in production of commodities, as well as, increased unemployment levels with associated social impacts in urban areas. There are significant considerations taken when making decisions to migrate and this includes the need for employment opportunities, search for better working conditions, political considerations including a stable political climate and economic considerations. These aspects might differentially impact many people in different ways. First, an unemployed young Mexican will be impacted by these decisions in a manner that migrating to another new working environment may contribute to communication problems because of language barriers. Although many young people prefer migrating to new places in search for new pastures, many of them face varied issues due to spatial interaction problems. Secondly, a retired Midwestern farm couple will also be impacted because of locational attributes and other aspects. For instance, incomes of retirees vary from one location to another; thus the migration decisions coupled by job market conditions will impact them. Lastly, an unemployed heavy equipment operator might find it difficult to operate new equipment machine in anew working environment because of changes in technology. Sometimes, working rules differs from one working environment another and this

Biblcal Concepts of Worship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Biblcal Concepts of Worship - Essay Example Martin's definition of worship as a dramatic celebration of God must have kindled this quest for finding ways on how one should worship. A look at the Scriptures about the doctrine of worship will help make this new trend be subject to the evaluation of the churches in general, in this modern age. In the Old Testament there is one main word which is identified which is rendered "worship." It occurs a total of 172 times in the Authorized Version and being rendered 99 times by "worship" and 68 times as a verb or as an action which denotes the bending over or making oneself appear to be smaller than one really is. The word worship means bow, bow down, obeisance, reverence, fall down, stoop, or crouch. Worship is a technical term for an action where a man's attitude before God is concerned. Worship is our reaction based on our knowledge of who God is or of what He has done for us. The Hebrew word "worship" carries with it the action of bowing down. The emphasis on the action illustrates the relationship of the creature, man, towards the Creator, God. Worship, therefore, in this case is acknowledging God's sovereignty. In several Scripture passages, the word translated "worship" means to do obeisance. It is to show respect and reverence to a superior. When the authority of the superior is recognized, the inferior "bowed down" or "prostrated themselves" at the other's feet as a recognition of their being superior. More often, worship is tied up with the revelation of who God is. When a person "worshipped" God or fell down before God in the Old Testament, they were doing so because they knew who God is in their lives. How a man will worship God will be based on how he knows God. If he doesn't know God, he cannot react in worship. If his knowledge of God is limited, so will his worship be also. Bowing down or falling down is an acknowledgment of God's supremacy, His sovereignty, and His authority. From this confession that God is superior arises an action of obedience in the life of the one who worships. When God said, "Why do you call Me Lord, Lord and not do what I tell you" He was expressing the idea that if one acknowledges God as sovereign it must result to his obedience to the commands that are received from Him. The New Testament Worship There are many words in the New Testament which are translated as "worship". There is one which occurs in 60 occasions and is always rendered "worship" in the Authorized Version. The word connotes that the worshipper had to be involved in some form of bending, kneeling or prostration. This was parallel to obeisance in the Old Testament. There are two other words which mean "to revere" or "to adore" and this emphasizes the feeling of awe or devotion in the act of worship. The Contemporary or Modern Worship As mentioned earlier, many of the churches today of the Protestants and the Catholics have ventured into the realm of findings new ways of expressing their worship, more specifically, public worship. This venture results from the desire to have a kind of worship that will work and continue to be practiced in the church. "A worship that will have staying power is a worship that is firmly grounded in the old, yet aware of and concerned for new ways to respond to the old, old story." (Webber) Everyday, many churches coming from different lights of traditions are making a new touch with their worship. From liturgical

Labor Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Labor Management - Essay Example Workers become members of unions seeing the past record, strength of the union and the reputation of its leaders in the organization. Union security often works to the advantage of the organization as well, because in such a situation the management holds discussions with a representative body of the workers and comes out with requisite policies. In addition, the management also gets a feel of the shortcomings prevailing in the organization. Ensuring the basic minimum wage standards: Law of the land stipulates some minimum wage for different types of jobs. But at times, some companies try to maximize their profits by cutting on the salaries and perks of their workers. The individual worker finds it difficult to raise his/her voice against such practices fearing adverse reaction from the management. But when such instances are taken up by the management, it helps in resolving the issues without any adverse impact on the individual worker. Protection of the basic human rights of workers: While working in difficult situations like coal factories, steel furnaces, chemical and fertilizer industry, colder places etc. the workers are supposed to have some protective equipment or shorter working hours in the harmful conditions. In case the management tries to compromise on these aspects, unions try to highlight it with the management or at other appropriate forums. Collective Bargaining Agreements: Quite often the wage stan... fixed by the management in consultation with the workers representatives by way of mutual agreements termed as Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA). Protection against discriminatory policies: If there are any effort by the management to discriminate on the basis of race, sex, age etc. the union will take up the matter with the management. Providing an informal forum to discuss problems concerning personal issues or official matters: Union meetings, conferences and conventions provide opportunities for interaction amongst the members, union representatives and the management. Quite often, it proves a very useful forum for coming out with remedial measures and taking feedback. (3) Identify actions by Government that have tended to strengthened or weakened union security in the private sector. Unions are not always liked by the government and the management, for a variety of reasons. Therefore the tug of war continues between the management and union representatives. Some actions of the government in the recent past which have resulted into strengthening the unions are; i. Enacting laws protecting the rights of workers ii. Fixing minimum wage standards and working hours iii. Taking cognizance of the hazardous situations in which workers of some industries have to operate and stipulating the requirements for adequate safety precautions. One of the key actions initiated by the governments which have resulted into weakening of the union movement is the excessive emphasis on outsourcing and contractual employment, which at times makes the workers ineligible for the membership of unions. Off-shoring and outsourcing implies that works are done by people in other countries, which again results in attrition in the organizations, thus weakening the unions. B. (1) Discuss

HR Training and Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

HR Training and Development - Essay Example should be to make sure that the employees follow a certain standard operating procedure within the workplace and they must not adhere to any other specifications than what have been told by the organization. The training procedures need to be elaborate covering all necessary details in such a manner that there is enough learning for everyone. The training regimes therefore bank on the experience which has been gained and which shall be used for the betterment of the employees in the long run (McCracken, 2005). The effectiveness of the training programs is significant and this can be gauged through the productivity shown by the employees once they implement these training realms within their respective quarters. This means that the different tangents behind these training modules would ask for a better understanding of the employees as per their work measures and how they are able to showcase their strengths and weaknesses as and when

Csr in Foxconn Essay Example for Free

Csr in Foxconn Essay More and more companies are investing in China, to share the incredible profit generate from the 1.4 trillion people. One of the US based company, which its going to invest 35% of its stake, to a fast growing China private-owned timber flooring company. Like most local Chinese company, CSR is not implementing in that company as well as no management working on it. Generally speaking, CSR (Corporate Social Responsibilities) is a form of corporate self-regulation integrates into business model, in which a company monitors and ensures its active compliance with the spirit of law, ethical standard and international norms. Although this timber company has high growth in the market and generate good profit, it may easily pose a risk to investor if they are not pay attention to social and environmental issues. Below summaries would like to analyst the potential impacts may arise from different parties such as employees, consumers, environment, and communities and how they may be affected by the decision. First of all, its no doubt that employee are the basic component of an industry. By taking measures from the Social Accountabilities 8000 (SA8000), they should consider if the company has employed child labor. Child labor is very popular in China and other developing countries like Guatemala especially industry like involving agricultural and manufacturing that need high working force. It may violate the law and damage the company brand easily. Other than legal extend, an interesting figure showed that (www.DoWellDoGood.net), 83% of the employee will leave the job if their employer used child labor. Obvious, child labor nowadays give more harm than good, instead, providing wellness program for employee and their families create certain shared value that they will love more the company in both mentally and physically. Moreover, its also important that the firm should provide adequate safety working environment as well as organize enough safety training. It will certainly reduce the number of accidents occurs. In the early 80s, China had launched Social Security Fund, all companies must follow closely and provide all kinds of insurances to employees in order not to obstruct from the law and political issue. In addition, the company should encourage workers to form union and those who involve wont be discriminated. Because employee more involve in the discussion regarding payroll, community welfare and company development will surely increase their loyalty at all. The investor has to review all the working hours, salary standard and penalty and make sure its fair to everyone. Secondly, the investor should concern to the consumers feedback in which the company has to create customers satisfaction to their products. However, in this competitive world, many companies like to exaggerated the usage and beauty of their products to attract more customers by means of media as a communication platform. For this reason, the investor should review all these products advertisement that might cause harmful effect to the product brand name. Reputation of the timber flooring company takes years to come to the top five in China can be ruined in hours. One accident always cause in flooring industries may be the level of formaldehyde is so high that cause toxic to human. Heath problems always cause fatal to death of company. One of big scandal happened recently nearly killed AJISEN one of the ramen restaurant in which has been accused of making their broths using soup concentrate and cheap flavoring powders, known for a guarantee that all their soups come from a broth of pork bones simmered to perfection.(Patrick Keefe) Stock price of AJISEN drops from HK$17.82 to HK$9.32 (51.7%) within 2 weeks just right after the scandal and never climb back up until now. Indeed, customer are all likely the same, they only purchase goods they fell confidence by faith as choices are not the only one. Above example shows a warning signal that in case the company has listed in the stock market in the future. They have to take care much more than now on the CSR issues as media can spread out news within one day. Thirdly, the company should put more efforts not to interfere the environment. Recently, Chinese government has set up many laws to preserve environmental friendly after enter the WTO, ISO14000 standard is basic management standard that has to follow. Due to their factories including plantation, chemical working for production and raw material importation, there are a lot of chances may encounter to environmental dispute. As an investor, other than make sure correct documentations and license for environmental issue, they also have to study all the process in terms of energy use and logistics. Considering the firm has 50% of timber source globally and 10% of their customers are overseas, excess packaging of products and greenhouse gases are not just costly to the environment but also costly to the business. By reducing its packaging and cutting 100 million miles from the delivery routes of its trucks, Wal-Mart lowered carbon emissions and saved $200 million in cost. (Harvard Business Review). Above example shows typical how mutual benefits if we re-arrange business decision and enhance regulation reforms even just simple as logistic. Besides, China has a lot of tax reduction and funding approaches to achieve government supports by encouraging people to protect the nature. Furthermore, the investor should also pay attention to their suppliers. Not only to check if the imported products are fulfill the regulations but also review the availability and the ease of transportation as 50% outsourcing of the company is not a small figure to ignore. Above all, CSR is not a short term objective, the investor should set up a CSR team in the company for promoting and working for long term prospective. Its clearly that CSR is helping to build up the company brand far more easily than performing marketing and sales on timber flooring only. According to Harvard Business Review, Not all profit is equal. Profit involving a social purpose represent a higher form of capitalism, one that creates a positive cycle of company and community prosperity, its no doubt that customer will purchase more if the timber flooring shows green and if the company anticipate more social welfare activities. To conclude, the investor should immerse CSR into each employee and the community in order to enhance share value to form a mutually beneficial society.

How God Can Help to Understand the Presence of Natural Evil

How God Can Help to Understand the Presence of Natural Evil Thousands have died in the last 12 months as a result of adverse weather conditions, hundreds of thousands as a result of earthquake and volcanic activity, and millions through cell mutation leading to diseases such as cancer. Explore how models of God can help or hinder an understanding of the presence of such natural evil in the world. Generally when you think of the word evil, your first reaction will be to think of moral evil evil committed by human beings. Three examples of such evils are murder, rape, and terrorism. In Christian tradition, evil consists of breaking the rules given by God to man, and suffering is Gods punishment for breaking those rules. Theologian Henri Blocher depicts evil, when looked upon as a theological concept, as an unjustifiable reality. In common parlance, evil is something that occurs in experience that ought not to be.[1] The focus of this essay however, is natural evil. This is evil in the world that arises from what we call natural events. This would include earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, disease, birth defects, and other aspects of our world that cause suffering and death, e.g. cancer. These create a problem for us in how we think about God, because such events inflict evil on victims, but with no human perpetrator to blame for it. Now that the actual issue of evil has been addressed, we can begin to look at how models of God can help or hinder an understanding of the presence of such evil. Evil poses a big problem to Christianity, because they propose the existence of a deity who is omnibenevolent (all loving), while simultaneously also being omnipotent (all powerful), and omniscient (all knowing)[2]. This is arguably the most obvious problem caused by models of God with regard to natural evil, yet also the biggest, and it still has not been solved. If God is omnipotent, then God has the power to eliminate all evil. If God is omniscient, then God knows when evil exists. And finally, if God is omnibenevolent, then God has the desire to eliminate all evil. If God is all powerful, then he must have the power to stop such events. If he has the power to stop them, but chooses not to, then he isnt omnibenevolent. If he doesnt stop such events even though he wants to, then he is not omnipotent. This would then insinu ate that God, or at least the Christian image of God, does not exist. This is obviously a model of God causing great hindrance to getting anywhere near to understanding natural evil. In God and Evil, McCloskey examines five popular solutions to the problem of understanding natural evil. In this article natural evil is referred to as physical evil. The five solutions proposed are; physical good (pleasure) requires physical evil (pain) to exist at all; Physical evil is Gods punishment of sinners; Physical evil is Gods warning and reminder to man; Physical evil is the result of the natural laws, the operations of which are on the whole good; and finally, Physical evil increases the total good.[3] With regard the first solution offered, McCloskey is quick to shoot it down. It doesnt cover all natural goods and evils. He says that Disease and insanity are evils, but health and sanity are possible in the total absence of disease and insanity.[4] He goes on to describe how the argument is unsound in respect of its main contention, and hence seriously limits Gods power. This solution would maintain that God cannot create pleasure without pain, and as McCloskey shows, the y are not correlatives. Next, McCloskey considers the solution that natural evil is Gods way of punishing sin. This was the idea used to explain the terrible Lisbon earthquake in the 18th Century, when tens of thousands of Portuguese citizens were killed. Voltaire replied to the argument that it was a punishment by asking if God chose the people he felt were least virtuous in society, which clearly is not the case. For this argument to help us understand natural evil, it would require every single human being to have sinned so badly that we all deserve severe punishment from God; such is the uneven distribution of the punishment if it is so. McCloskey argues that even if it were the case that we all deserve punishment, why is there the issue of birth defects such as blindness or mental disabilities what have the children then done to deserve punishment? In fairness he does concede that this argument has dropped out of the theological sphere, but it is one that is still used at the popular level.[5] Thirdly, the issue of natural evil as a warning to men is considered. Again this explanation comes no closer to helping us understand natural evil. Joyce, cited in God and Evil puts forward that natural evils inspire a reverential awe of the Creator who made them.[6] McCloskey goes onto describe evil as the main reason why people turn away from religion and so if God is using it to try and inspire veneration, then he is a bungler'[7]. Also the use of evil for this reason wouldnt be something youd expect from a benevolent deity. Penultimately, evil as the result of the natural laws is considered. McCloskey summarises the argument by saying This fourth argument seeks to exonerate God by explaining that He created a universe sound on the whole, but such that he had no control over the laws governing His creations, and had control only in His selection of His creations.'[8] This would then indicate three of the main arguments used by theists contradict each other and in turn make it more difficult for us to understand natural evil. It also asks questions of Gods omnipotence. The previous two arguments attribute the detailed results of the operation of these laws directly to Gods will. Therefore it is not without significance that they betray such uncertainty as to whether God is to be commended or exonerated.[9] The solution considered lastly is that the Universe is better with evil in it. This type of argument portrays evil as a means to a greater good. McCloskey again discredits it by saying even if the general principle of the argument is not questioned, it is still seen to be a defective argument. On the one hand, it proves too little it justifies only some evil, and not necessarily all of the evil in the universe; on the other hand it proves too much because it creates doubts about the goodness of apparent goods.[10] While we must take into account that McCloskey is a firm atheist, it is difficult to prove any of his arguments against these explanations as wrong. Only the last argument does not conflict with the theist model of God, and even then it only shows that natural evils that occur may have a justification. This is hardly an argument that helps understand the presence of natural evil in the world. Perhaps a model of God that can help us to understand why natural evil is existent in the world is the theodicy of Augustine. A theodicy is an answer to the problem of evil. The biblical story of The Fall in the book of Genesis is fundamental to Augustines theodicy. According to Genesis, Adam was created perfect in a flawless world but then sinned consciously by eating from the forbidden tree. Mans original wholesomeness was lost and all his descendants inherited original sin and original guilt. Augustine puts forward that our punishment for Adams moral evil, which we have inherited, is natural evil.[11] Augustine argued that God is entirely good and cannot be held responsible for creating evil. He would say that Man deserves to be punished and therefore it is right that God should not intervene and put a stop to suffering because we created evil by misusing our freedom. Evil, therefore, is not a thing in itself but rather a privatio boni, that is a lack of goodness or a falling short of the perfection which God intended for us, since God only creates good and it makes no sense to talk about creating a deprivation. Evil only happens where good goes wrong and it is always man who causes this to happen.[12] If evil is a lack of goodness or perfection (privatio boni) rather than a substance in itself, how do we know what perfection is? In order, for example, to distinguish between what is good in man and what is bad we would need to understand what perfect human nature is. There is a logical contradiction in maintaining that a perfectly created world has gone wrong, because this would mean that evil must have created itself out of nothing, which is not possible. In other words, whether evil is considered to be a substance or a lack of goodness responsibility for it must lie with God. Either the world was not perfect in the first place or God allowed it to go wrong (by allowing Satan to tempt Adam to eat the apple). If, in the Garden of Eden, before the Fall (i.e. in the perfect world) there was no knowledge of good and evil, how could there have been the freedom to obey or disobey God? Adams initial capacity to choose evil must still be attributed to God. For scientifically minded critic s the main weakness of Augustines theodicy is, again, that it is derived from Genesis and the story of the Fall. It does not take account of evolutionary theory. The idea that a perfectly created world was damaged by humans (and that this is how evil and suffering came into the world) is not borne out by evolutionary theory. According to this view of the world, evil and suffering must have existed long before homo sapiens appeared on earth. According to Darwinian theory, for example, evil and suffering are the inevitable consequence of the struggle for survival in which all creatures have been engaged. So, again, if Gods world contained flaws (in the form of evil and suffering) before man existed, God must bear responsibility for them. Augustines theodicy begs the question of whether God could have created free beings who always choose what is morally right. All the most recent scientific evidence suggests that the human race is not descended from one ancestor (Adam) as Augustine cl aims, but grew up across the globe from a number of different forebears and before that from apes. Therefore we cannot be thought to have inherited Adams original sin. Nor, therefore, is God just in punishing us for someone elses sin. Hell appears to be built into the design of the universe in Augustines theodicy. It would seem, therefore, that God was expecting things to go wrong, and chose to do nothing about it. How can we believe in Gods justice when some have been granted His grace and others not , on an apparently arbitrary basis? And why would a benevolent God have wished any of his creatures to suffer eternal torment in hell? Blocher, H. 1994. Evil and the Cross. p.10 Tooley, M. 2002. The Problem of Evil. Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy. [Online] Available at: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/evil/ [Accessed on 26/04/2010] McCloskey, H. J. 1960. God and Evil. The Philosophical Quarterly (10)39. pp.97-114. Ibid. Ibid. Joyce cited in McCloskey, H. J. 1960. God and Evil. The Philosophical Quarterly (10)39. pp.97-114. McCloskey, H. J. 1960. God and Evil. The Philosophical Quarterly (10)39. pp.97-114. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Birnbaum, D. 1988. God and evil: a unified theodicy/theology/philosophy Birnbaum, D. 1988. God and evil: a unified theodicy/theology/philosophy

Essays --

Economics is an integral part of society whether this involves governments allocating scarce resources or individuals deciding on how to spend their limited income; utilizing limited resources is such a pervasive part of everyday life. Pondering upon this it is easy to sort out how everything is related to economics. Every shop we pass by, every argument we hear, our precedence; everything is linked with economics. It is this omnipresent nature of economics that captured my interest. My interest in economics came forth when I first studied it at my GCE O Levels. I was astounded by how accurately economic theories describe what happens around us in our everyday lives and how even the most minor decisions that we make are governed by economics. Every time I pick up a newspaper or watch the news, economics is there. The opportunity to study this diverse and dynamic subject is a huge desire and ambition of mine, as it plays such a big role in the world we live in and impacts upon everyon e and everything. My passion for Economics was dampened when I discovered that Mathematics, my least favorite subject, was going to be an essential part of further studies in economics. I used to detest Mathematics and never practiced it, but a few months before my GCE O level exam I realized that I had to do achieve a good grade in Mathematics to realize my dream of a degree in economics. My passion for economics compelled me to focus on Mathematics and my efforts were rewarded with an A star in my GCE O Level result. I, grudgingly, took Mathematics as an A level subject, but my new teacher encouraged me and coaxed out my innate potential, I discovered that I had a flare for Pure Mathematics and since then i have not achieved a grade lower than an A... ...lization at work. This experience also enhanced my management and communication skills. I spend my leisure time in playing football, reading books, swimming, watching movies and playing games. I have a secret passion for acting and am very impressed by Hollywood. I once participated in a play and earned an honorable mention. I have never before considered acting seriously but now I feel that if I focus on honing my acting ability I can become a good actor. Today I stand as a vigilant student looking forward to a deserved, a chance to contribute to Economic progress and to deliver my knowledge to others to the fullest extent possible. I really look forward to exploring Economics at university level and using my talent talents in Economics to flourish my career. It would be highly inspirational to get recruited as a student of Economics in your prestigious institute.

Cloud Computing and the Computer Scare Essay -- Information Technology

Once you login to your computer you are bound to use an application that is related to the cloud computing infrastructure. For example, when any service needs an internet connection it immediately uses what is known as a â€Å"cloud† network, which is a broad term for the use of a device or application that is not physically present. The computer user is then accessing a network in the cloud, which stores personal information and allows for multiple tasks to be completed in an efficient manner rather than just using a single personal computer. Computer Scientists do find an importance for expanding the cloud network since it not only helps them create projects using multiple computers linked on the cloud but it also helps deliver applications to any computer user. Unfortunately, there are some deficiencies that computer science majors should be aware of; the biggest default the risk of cloud security issues constantly. These issues include vulnerability to data loss and hacke rs overtaking the system; computer scientists should be aware of the structure’s defaults and be able to use cloud services efficiently. Cloud computing is a highly useful and quickly growing aspect of technology, and although the security issues are a risk, it is a useful service that should be used with the proper prior knowledge. Before delving into the exact security issues, it is important to understand the basic structure of the cloud system. To begin, the cloud computing structure has three major branches: 1) Infrastructure as a Service, 2) Platform as a Service, and 3) Software as a Service (Dorey 6). The most common service to general computer users is the Software as a Service branch because it provides the structure of the system and is notably appr... ...e. Web. 16 Apr. 2012. Fox, Armando. "Cloud Computing-What's in It for Me as a Scientist?" ScienceMagazine.org. AAAS.org, 28 Jan. 2011. Web. 23 May 2012. . Jamil, Danish, and Hassan Zaki. "Cloud Computing Security." International Journal of Computer Science and Engineering 3.4 (2011): 3478-482. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Apr. 2012. Jamil, Danish, and Hassan Zaki. "Security Issues in Cloud Computing and Countermeasures." International Journal of Computer Science and Engineering 3.4 (2011): 2672-676. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Apr. 2012. Segal, Naresh K., Sohum Sohoni, Ying Xiong, David Fritz, Wira Mulia, and John M. Acken. "A Cross Section of the Issues and Research Activities Related to Both Information Security and Cloud Computing." Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Apr. 2012.