The Architecture of El Tajin

The once-magnificent city of El Tajin, which flourished not far inland from Mexicos Gulf Coast from roughly 800-1200 A.D., features some truly spectacular architecture. The palaces, temples and ballcourts of the excavated city show impressive architectural details like cornices, inset glyphs and niches. The City of Storms After the fall of Teotihuacan around 650 A.D., El Tajin was one of several powerful city-states that arose in the ensuing vacuum of power. The city flourished from about 800 to 1200 A.D. At one time, the city covered 500 hectares and may have had as many as 30,000 inhabitants; its influence spread throughout Mexicos Gulf Coast region. Their chief God was Quetzalcoatl, whose worship was common in Mesoamerican lands at the time. After 1200 A.D., the city was abandoned and left to return to the jungle: only locals knew about it until a Spanish colonial official stumbled across it in 1785. For the past century, a series of excavation and preservation programs have taken place there, and it is an important site for tourists and historians alike. The City of El Tajin and its Architecture The word Tajà ­n refers to a spirit with great powers over the weather, especially in terms of rain, lightning, thunder and storms. El Tajà ­n was built in the lush, hilly lowlands not far from the Gulf Coast. It is spread out over a relatively spacious area, but hills and arroyos defined the city limits. Much of it may once have been built of wood or other perishable materials: these have been long since lost to the jungle. There are a number of temples and buildings in the Arroyo Group and old ceremonial center and palaces and administrative-type buildings in Tajà ­n Chico, located on a hill to the north of the rest of the city. To the northeast is the impressive Great Xicalcoliuhqui wall. None of the buildings is known to be hollow or to house a tomb of any sort. Most of the buildings and structures are made of a locally available sandstone. Some of the temples and pyramids are built over earlier structures. Many of the pyramids and temples are made of finely carved stone and f illed with packed earth. Architectural Influence and Innovations El Tajin is unique enough architecturally that it has its own style, often referred to as Classic Central Veracruz. Nevertheless, there are some obvious external influences on the architectural style at the site. The overall style of the pyramids at the site is referred to in Spanish as the talà ºd-tablero style (it basically translates as slope/walls). In other words, the overall slope of the pyramid is created by piling progressively smaller square or rectangular levels on top of another. These levels can be quite tall, and there is always a stairway to grant access to the top. This style came to El Tajà ­n from Teotihuacan, but the builders of El Tajin took it further. On many of the pyramids in the ceremonial center, the tiers of the pyramids are adorned with cornices which jut out into space on the sides and corners. This gives the buildings a striking, majestic silhouette. The builders of El Tajà ­n also added niches to the flat walls of the tiers, resulting in a richly textured, dramatic look not seen at Teotihuacan. El Tajin also shows influence from Classic era Maya cities. One notable similarity is the association of altitude with power: in El Tajà ­n, the ruling class built a palace complexes on hills adjacent to the ceremonial center. From this section of the city, known as Tajin Chico, the ruling class gazed down upon the homes of their subjects and the pyramids of the ceremonial district and the Arroyo Group. In addition, building 19 is a pyramid which features four stairways to the top, on in each cardinal direction. This is similar to el Castillo or the Temple of Kukulcan in Chichà ©n Itzà ¡, which likewise has four stairways.   Another innovation at El Tajà ­n was the idea of plaster ceilings. Most of the structures at the top of pyramids or on finely built bases were constructed of perishable materials such as wood, but there is some evidence in the Tajà ­n Chico area of the site that some of the ceilings may have been made of a heavy plaster. Even the ceiling at the Building of the Columns may have had an arched plaster ceiling, as archaeologists discovered large blocks of convex, polished blocks of plaster there. Ballcourts of El Tajn The ballgame was of paramount importance to the people of El Tajà ­n. No fewer than seventeen ballcourts have been found so far at El Tajà ­n, including several in and around the ceremonial center. The usual shape of a ball court was that of a double T: a long narrow area in the middle with an open space at either end. At El Tajà ­n, buildings and pyramids were often constructed in such a way that they would naturally create courts between them. For example, one of the ballcourts in the ceremonial center is defined on either side by Buildings 13 and 14, which were designed for spectators. The south end of the ballcourt, however, is defined by Building 16, an early version of the Pyramid of the Niches. One of the most striking structures at El Tajin is the South Ballcourt. This was obviously the most important one, as it is decorated with six marvelous panels carved in bas-relief. These show scenes from the ceremonious ballgames including human sacrifice, which often was the result of one of the games. The Niches of El Tajin The most remarkable innovation of El Tajà ­ns architects was the niches so common at the site. From the rudimentary ones at Building 16 to the magnificence of the Pyramid of the Niches, the sites best-known structure, niches are everywhere at El Tajà ­n. The niches of El Tajà ­n are small recesses set into the exterior walls of the tiers of several pyramids on the site. Some of the niches in Tajà ­n Chico have a spiral-like design in them: this was one of the symbols of Quetzalcoatl. The best example of the importance of the Niches at El Tajin is the impressive Pyramid of the Niches. The pyramid, which sits on a square base, has exactly 365 deep-set, well-designed niches, suggesting that it was a place where the sun was worshiped. It was once dramatically painted to heighten the contrast between the shady, recessed niches and the faces of the tiers; the interior of the niches was painted black, and the surrounding walls red. On the stairway, there were once six platform-altars (only five remain). Each of these altars features three small niches: this adds up to eighteen niches, possibly representing the Mesoamerican solar calendar, which had eighteen months. Importance of Architecture at El Tajin The architects of El Tajin were very skilled, using advances such as cornices, niches, cement and plaster to make their buildings, which were brightly, dramatically painted to great effect. Their skill is also evident in the simple fact that so many of their buildings have survived to the present day, although the archaeologists who restored the magnificent palaces and temples surely helped. Unfortunately for those who study the City of Storms, relatively few records remain of the people who lived there. There are no books and no direct accounts by anyone who ever had direct contact with them. Unlike the Maya, who were fond of carving glyphs with names, dates and information into their stone artwork, the artists of El Tajin rarely did so. This lack of information makes the architecture that much more important: it is the best source of information about this lost culture. Sources: Coe, Andrew. . Emeryville, CA: Avalon Travel Publishing, 2001. Ladrà ³n de Guevara, Sara. El Tajin: La Urbe que Representa al Orbe. Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Economica, 2010. Solà ­s, Felipe. El Tajà ­n. Mà ©xico: Editorial Mà ©xico Desconocido, 2003. Wilkerson, Jeffrey K. Eighty Centuries of Veracruz. National Geographic 158, No. 2 (August 1980), 203-232. Zaleta, Leonardo. Tajà ­n: Misterio y Belleza. Pozo Rico: Leonardo Zaleta 1979 (2011).

A Plan for Positive Influence on Team Behavior - 1147 Words

A Plan for Positive Influence on Team Behavior The success of a business is contingent on how efficiently the business operates; whereas, the efficiency of the business’s operations depends on the personalities and attitudes of its employees. The personalities and attitudes of an employee can be affected by a number of variables, e.g., the values and vision of the company in which they work. According to Amos and Weathington (2008) â€Å"The concept of P-O fit is important to organizations because it suggests that if people fit well with an organization, they are likely to exhibit more positive attitudes and behaviors.† (P-O) means Person-Organization, which suggests that employees favor a work environment that has attributes associated with†¦show more content†¦70) Individuals with an interactive behavioral style are friendly and outgoing, and excel when accepted and recognized for his or her accomplishments. Individuals with a steadiness behavioral style are slow paced, receptive to others, good listeners, compassionate, and dedicated employees. These types of individuals are balanced, and require concrete information and data. Individuals with a cautious behavioral style are methodical in his or her problem-solving techniques. These individuals prefer to analyze information, and aim for perfection when achieving an objective (Alessandra, n.d.). Using the information from the six assessments can help provide a solid foundation for creating a plan for positive influence. Knowing the values and behaviors of each team member can greatly enhance a team’s capabilities; therefore, enabling the manager, and the team to work effectively together. For example is if employee (A),(B), and (C) were on a team that worked within a business unit for a major oil company. The team’s objective was to locate a new oil well, calculate projected costs for the project, and create a presentation explaining the results. Employee (A) had low job involvement, employee (B) exhibited a steadiness behavior style, and employee (C) had low emotional intelligence. After observing employee (A)’s assessment, management could develop a plan that involves participative management (Robbins Judge, 2007). Management can includeShow MoreRelatedLearning Environment Reflection1466 Words   |  6 Pagesinformation regarding the positive disci pline and behavior management approaches required in any school to achieve a safe and supportive learning environment. This reflection discusses why a principal should maintain a safe and supportive environment and how a school-wide discipline and behavior management influences what happens at the individual classroom level. 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Social Work Volunteering

Question: Discuss about theSocial Workfor Volunteering. Answer: Introduction Volunteers change peoples lives by helping them to self-help. Volunteering refers to development of social skills while giving back to community selflessly. This work is similar to what most social workers do in their profession. However, for social workers it is a paid job and volunteering is the part of their profession. Therefore, many people misconstrue social workers as volunteers. On the other hand volunteering is to gain experience while benefitting others without any monetary benefits (Son Wilson, 2015). There are various benefits associated with volunteering. Social workers engage in volunteering to excel in professional life. The paper discusses how social workers can be misconstrued as volunteers and will propose ways to enhance social work as a profession. How Social Workers can be Misconstrued as Volunteers People do not understand the historic relationship between social work and volunteerism. Even before social work was introduced in the society, the importance of volunteerism was realized (Aked, 2015). For functioning democracy, it was vital to have liberty to participate in volunteer movements. The development of volunteer associations and its prosperity has allowed people to survive and have the right to survival. These volunteer associations led to the improvement in the transportation, communication, infrastructure, health care and education (Schech et al., 2015). In addition, it also advocated for fair treatment of women and children. For example, Mother Teresas work for children will be recognized in every generation. Son and Wilson (2015) believed that volunteering is an effective option to gain meaningful hands-on experience in the field of social work which is the profession of people. It gives the students a chance to prepare for a real world work. For current social worker s volunteering is an efficient opportunity to reinforce their experience. Hence there are more number of social workers who are participating in the volunteering work. Therefore, it is justified for people to misconstrue social workers as volunteers. Volunteerism is the basis of existence of the social work professionals (Pollard, 2012). Activities or initiatives taken by the social workers are successful because of volunteerism. Since, volunteers established restoration services, supportive associations, child welfare organizations, childrens homes day care and several mental health services and movements it is justified to misinterpret social workers and volunteers. In short it can be said that volunteerism is the origin of social work (Mundle Buck, 2012). In every discipline of practice, the volunteers have paved the way for social work. The rich literature available on social welfare and social care services acknowledged volunteerism as the basis of the social work profession. Further, the function of volunteers and its connection with the surfacing of the career of the social work is evident from the associations such as- SHINE Singapore Charity Project, Singapore Kindness movement. Volunteers work for people who are strugg ling with crisis or manic-depressive illness, adults, children animal, and others staying remotely from home. They thus gain insights into peoples lives similar to social workers. However, volunteers work in range of places when compared to social workers. The later has limited range of opportunities. Volunteers has opportunities in sport teams, libraries, senior centre, community theatres, local animal shelters, wildlife centers, museums, monuments, service organizations such as Rotary clubs, or Lions clubs, after school programs, places of worships, historical restorations. Moreover, the volunteers do not have specified time for their work. They can work as long as they feel comfortable (Pollard, 2012). On the other hand, social workers have specified working hours such as those working in aged care centers or rehabilitation centers. Moreover, they cannot switch their domain or jobs as frequently as volunteers can. Volunteers can always render the service delivered by a social worker however; the later cannot invest time as volunteer. Social workers mostly deliver systematic and professional services. On the other hand, volunteers provide a hidden safety net (Mundle et al., 2012). Hence, public who are not aware of these differences misconstrue social workers as volunteers. According to Son and Wilson, (2015) in a typical social worker the power dynamic inherent are not so prominent. The relationship they built with the service users are not strong enough. Aked (2015), argued that the volunteering is the effective way to enable better personal relationships with the service users. For instance, there are social workers who act as befriender for a childrens charity group and have gained priceless transferable skills. It was not merely interacting with children. It also includes issues around confidentiality, regular communication and engagement with the families and using different communication styles in regards to different developmental stage and the age of the child (Schech et al., 2015). To hone these skills there is a need for social worker to participate in volunteering. Therefore, social workers were misconstrued as volunteers. Singapore has many charity organizations and these mainly initiate volunteer movement however, it has become important precursor to the social work. The mission of many of these charity movements is to help poor people. These movements consist of volunteers who help families help in meeting their spiritual, economic and physical needs (Gazley et al., 2013). The study executed by Dubois and Miley (2013) showed that volunteering is the rewarding experience and also helps in building reputation of the young and nave social workers. Since volunteering is the effective way to meet new people and understand their lived experiences, many social workers invest time in volunteering to develop new skills to solve their daily problem (Freeman, 2016). According to Muir et al., (2010) several social workers are participating in volunteering despite their commitments to people and busy schedule. The reason for this added benefits of volunteering include reducing stress, anxiety, mental stimulation , combat depression, and to have a sense of purpose in life. They can also advance in career as they tend to develop skills such as problem solving, task management, conflict management, project planning and organization. Therefore, social worker can stretch their wings to other career or domain once they hone these skills in volunteering (Bulmer 2015). In addition, volunteering does not involve a long-term commitment. American research showed that the percentage of being happy increases with time spent in volunteering (Glasby et al., 2013). The research also showed that people working as volunteer tend to be physically healthy and exhibit high self-confidence. Therefore, there are misconstrued as volunteers. It is a misconception that volunteering only enhances a basic skill because it is mostly unpaid. Volunteering also includes extensive training (Whittaker Holland-Smith, 2016). For example, one can become crisis counselor while he or she is volunteering for a woman who is a victim of domestic violence. Many such volunteers have turned to social working after mastering the skills of communication and advocating. Social workers who have previously worked as volunteers are creative, motivated, and have a clear vision that is carried into their personal and professional life (Haynes, 2012). Hence, social workers working as crisis counselors are also misinterpreted as volunteers. Propose Ways to Enhance Social Work as a Profession In Social work, Jane Adams was recognized as one of the matriarchs of the profession (Thyer Myers, 2010). Currently, the practice of social work is different from what she has envisioned before. Social workers work in diverse setting such as hospitals, drug and alcohol treatment centers, hospices, mental health centers. Therefore, the work practice has narrowed. In the last three to four decades, it was found that most of the practitioners in the social workers do not engage in partnership with people using their skills, values, knowledge to address the systemic social problems of the people (Gazley et al., 2013). In fact, methods that involve working with volunteers do not exist anymore. Therefore, less people are working towards the stated mission Meeting the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty (Haynes, 2012). It is possible to enhance social work as profession by sev eral ways, which are discussed in subsequent sections. According to Dubois and Miley, (2013) increasing the number of posts in the field of social work other than regulation and advocacy can encourage more people to uptake social work as profession. In addition increasing the number of colleges offering both bachelor and master degree in social work would fulfill the ambition of students interested in social work. These programs must be able to train the students to improve the developmental capabilities of people. They must be trained to improve the problem solving skills, realize goals and accomplish essential life tasks. Haynes et al., (2012) argued that the true definition of the social work has to be amplified at the national and the regional levels. The true definition of social work is- a practicebased profession that promotes social change and development, social cohesion, and the empowerment and liberation of the people (Cournoyer, 2016). Most educational institutes fail to instill in the mind of the students of social work that their primary sense of duty should be attitude of service. Professional networking helps to strengthen social work career (Gazley et al., 2013). It includes attending face-to-face events such as conferences, responding to social work issues post on social media, connecting to LinkedIn official group, and being in touch with the social work happenings on the popular YouTube Channel. To secure the future of the social work it is crucial to advocate for social work (Cournoyer, 2016). Therefore, the non-governmental organizations must promote their social work and the clients and communities they serve. Every country must take initiative a collaborative effort comprised of leading social work organizations. The initiative may include other stakeholders committed to strengthen social work profession through federal and state investment pertaining to retention, training and recruitment (Huybrechts, Mertens Rijpens, 2014). Schech et al., (2015) suggested that the volunteering is an effective way to enhance social work a profession. Social work agencies must provide more opportunities for its staff to volunteer. Volunteering not only expands the social work network but also enhance skills. Volunteering can also be gateway to connect with popular service organizations such as American Red Cross, The Samaritans Purse and many others. These organizations are dependent on the volunteers to run their food banks, staff thrift stores, tutor children or prepare meals for homeless. Moreover, these organizations have several networking possibilities. Hence, volunteering is vital to enhance the profession of social work. Social workers face several challenges when dealing with diverse populations and trying to keep up with evidence based methods which leads to job burnout and fatigue (Thomas and Choi, 2014). Therefore, the proposed method for the service organizations is to emphasize on forward thinking and interdisciplinary approach to social work practice. It is necessary to omit the thinking social work means individual clinician working with individual client (Cournoyer, 2016). There is need of applying out-of-the box tactics to interface with the clients and systems. The rationale for this proposed method is the many other forms of practice that is incorporated in social work. It is not an exclusive discipline. Hence, the field can be taken forward if people can transform how present social work practice is viewed and conducted. Conclusion Social work involves tremendous responsibility. The practioners in this field have power over the well-being and lives of others. Volunteerism is the basis of this profession and hence social workers are misconstrued as volunteers. The paper has discussed how social workers are misconstrued as volunteers and various reasons for this behavior. The paper has proposed ways by which social work can be enhanced as profession. It can be concluded from the above discussion that social work requires the practioner to have broad knowledge on wide range of human behavioral areas. To enhance social work as profession an individual need to understand the interaction between various social, cultural and economic elements. It requires the practioners to have a high degree of ethical integrity. It is evident from the discussion that there is a need to redefine the practice of social work in order to respond to new challenges emerging in the profession. References Aked, J. (2015). What's Different about How Volunteers Work? Relationship Building for Wellbeing and Change.IDS Bulletin,46(5), 29-42. Bulmer, M. (2015).The Social Basis of Community Care (Routledge Revivals). Routledge. Cournoyer, B. R. (2016).The social work skills workbook. Cengage Learning. Dubois, B. L., Miley, K. K. (2013).Social work: An empowering profession. Pearson Higher Ed. Freeman, K. R. (2016). Exploring the Lived Experiences of Supervising Child Protection Social Workers. Gazley, B., Bennett, T. A., Littlepage, L. (2013). Achieving the partnership principle in experiential learning: The nonprofit perspective.Journal of Public Affairs Education, 559-579. Gazley, B., Bennett, T. A., Littlepage, L. (2013). Achieving the partnership principle in experiential learning: The nonprofit perspective.Journal of Public Affairs Education, 559-579. Glasby, J., Miller, R., Lynch, J. (2013). Turning the welfare state upside down?Developing a new adult social care offer.Health Services Management. Haynes, K. S. (2012). Empowering and.The SAGE Handbook of Social Work, 264. Huybrechts, B., Mertens, S., Rijpens, J. (2014). Explaining stakeholder involvement in social enterprise governance through resources and legitimacy.Social Enterprise and the Third Sector: Changing European Landscapes in a Comparative Perspective. New York: Routledge, 157-175. Muir, K., Fisher, K. R., Abello, D., Dadich, A. (2010). I didn't like just sittinaround all day: Facilitating Social and Community Participation Among People with Mental Illness and High Levels of Psychiatric Disability.Journal of Social Policy,39(03), 375-391. Mundle, C., Naylor, C., Buck, D. (2012). Volunteering in health and care in England.A summary of key literature. London: The King's Fund. Pollard, N. (2012). Voices talk, hands write.Groupwork,17(2), 51-73. Schech, S., Mundkur, A., Skelton, T., Kothari, U. (2015). New spaces of development partnership: Rethinking international volunteering.Progress in Development Studies,15(4), 358-370. Son, J., Wilson, J. (2015, December). The Psycho?Social Processes Linking Income and Volunteering: Chronic Financial Strain and Well?Being. InSociological Forum(Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 1059-1081). Thomas, M., Kohli, V., Choi, J. (2014). Correlates of job burnout among human services workers: Implications for workforce retention.J. Soc. Soc. Welfare,41, 69. Thyer, B. A., Myers, L. L. (2010). Behavioral theory is one of the oldest and most extensive theories applied to clinical social work. Almost 80 years ago, the distinguished social work educator Virginia Robinson (1930) provided the following observations in this regard.Theory Practice in Clinical Social Work, 21. Whittaker, C. G., Holland-Smith, D. (2016). Exposing the dark side, an exploration of the influence social capital has upon parental sports volunteers.Sport, education and society,21(3), 356-373.

Cultures of Criticism and Accountability in Discussions

Question: Discuss about the Cultures of Criticism and Accountability in Discussions. Answer: Introduction: To understand the role of media in reformation, it is important to understand how it is planning to build up the political viewpoint. They generate viewpoints, anxiety, perceptions, aspirations and strategies for supporting particular policies and practices. The politicians and the religious leaders have stated that there is a causal link between the violence shown in the film, computer games, TV programs and the actions in real life. It is often argued that those particular media content states a terrific negativity on the young and innocent audience. Such beliefs have resulted in an increased state control over the worldwide media. One of the most constant arguments is concerned about the extent to which mass media can be responsible for causing anti social or criminal behavior. It is a matter of concern that to what extent media is responsible for bringing a negative effect on the viewers and audiences. The two prime sources of mass society theory and behaviorism have resulted in the phenomenon of effects research (Anderson and Carnagey 2014). Effects research is often called as hypodermic syringe model as the relationship between the audience and the media is considered as an unrefined and mechanistic process. With this process the media evoke information, values and ideas directly to the audience which further produces instant and immediate response directly from them. The book Ill effects: The media violence debate by M Barker and J Petley claimed that the possible effects of cruel media are true and they vary from a daft to the mischievous. The reason to be considered behind this is the claims that are being used inconsistently are wrong. The cause behind these inappropriate questions is due to the fact that violence does not exist in reality to pose a harmful effect on the media. Violence exists in the form of music, color and so on to develop the effects of violence. There have been old claims about new and bad media images and these are so common that they are always a debatable issue. But these claims are unjustified as they lack any kind of evidence or logic. On the other hand, it is a raising question that how the media influence can be understood. In the report given by Elizabeth Newson, the principle that what is experienced vicariously will have some effect on some people is an established one, and is the reason why industry finds it wor thwhile to spend millions of pounds in advertising, is a common and consistent sentence found in various words. If it is assumed that TV or film or other media have some influence on the life of the people then it is that kind of influence that they want to attribute. For instance, a man took a gun and shot his entire family after getting influenced from the news. When he was taken for trial he casually explained that on the basis of bad world news no one has any point to live. In this example the blame cannot be totally given on the effect of the media. This is because there is a probability that he was depressed and upset because of a family problem which let him murder his family. It can be said that the man in this case was unusual and the news cannot be blamed completely (Svensson 2016). This is not an example of anti- media campaign because the media or news cannot be considered as causes. Andy Ruddock contradicted in his book understanding audiences by mentioning about cultivation analysis which is evolved from the debate on media violence. The question that is frequently asked in this respect is that why television was so violent and what were its impact on the viewers and their behavior towards society. To analyze this question the author had to go beyond content analysis for creating a cultural indicators project. This project took care of the institutional research, scrutinizing the broadcasting structures, analysis of message system and cultivation analysis. The findings explained that the violence shown in television carried the message of social structure with it (Barker and Petley 2002). But the intention is not to provide violence among the audience but to fill the programs with a melodramatic representation. It was revealed in the survey that a major chunk of television viewers overrate the amount of violence in reality with that of their own chances of bein g a victim. The critical treatment of cultivation analysis made it possible to have a focused view on the claim that is made by Gerbner that TV has a distinguished and recognizable effect. But there can be questions and issues that need to be addressed in this respect. Research has shown that there is a relation between the effects of cultivation and the development of media literacy. It can be suggested that the cultivation effects can be created with the tendency to puzzle the information gathered from the TV shows and those that are shown in the news. Lawrence Lessig explained that there are many ways to think about constitutional laws and limits that might be imposed on government regulations (Ferguson and Beresin 2017). Copyright law, defamation law and obscenity laws are continuously threatening the permit for the violation of legal rights. There are policies and norms which can regulate market behavior. The constraints related to these laws are not found easily and they can be changed in different ways. The real difference and similarities between code and law cannot be missed. The fact that can be considered here is market mechanism which helps in observing the regulation behind law. It is also observed by the author of the book, code and other laws of cyberspace, that the government uses a range of tools to evaluate. Thus, the government can attain regulatory ends by the regulation of code writing. This can often take place without experiencing any kind of political consequences that would have been occurred otherwise. But the rule that makes regulation easy is a strict matter of concern (Ferguson 2015). It is often argued that the power of government has a vulnerable sense of value that can enhance efficient regulation. In his book the cultural industries, David Hesmondhalgh has critically put forward that the governments intervene in all areas of commercial life. There is no existence of free market in todays modern and complicated society. But it is appropriate to be inspired by those who believe in the concept of market in the ideal situation. This can be regarded as the best way to issue resources and address human needs. The three areas of legislate, regulate and subsidise are known as policy. These policies of culture, along with the media literacy and communication help in providing knowledge about cultural industries and the changes that have taken place in the previous years. The key elements in the book focus on the consequences of cultural industries since 1980 that had taken place in broadcasting and telecommunication sector (Gentile 2014). In the early 20th century, most places had used telecommunications which was available to the entire population of the area. To be influenced by the actions of the media hence, is not something new. Most of the democratic liberal states had had the role and responsibility to organize telecommunications that passed the authorities in charge of the postal system. Radio was also developed to form one- to- one communication, similar to the kind of telephone or a telegram using the airwave instead of broadcasting. The power of radio as a broadcasting technology became apparent socially as well as commercially and politically. The reason behind the high intervention of the government in the broadcasting and telecommunications were breaking down under the terrible attacks of 1980s and 1990s specifically due to private business from the critics and policy makers who were responsible for supporting their wellbeing (Hesmondhalgh 2007). There are many variations in the public service system but the most important one being funding of television system and the public service channels that are included in it. The other variation is state control of public service broadcasters in some open-minded independent countries such as Greece and France. With the improvement in marketisation the public service broadcasting is pulled apart on the basis of the effort put to arrange the cultural industries. The pro- market union was operated through lobbying and Public Relations along with the policy makers, critics and opinion leaders of the media. One of the important consequences of telecommunication marketisation took place in juxtaposition with a long term effect in broadcasting and the changes that took place in the IT industry. Thus it can be said that the media had actively influenced the society from a long time in the post colonization era and is still continuing to do so which are evident from the given sources (Lessig 2 009). The media reader by John Thompson throws light on the significance of the term communication media. The relevance of this term in this assignment is beyond explanation as the topic is based on the effect of media on the behavior of people. But the term mass is sometimes misinterpreted as in it evokes an image of a large gathering constituting millions of individuals. This can be considered as an appropriate icon of for the media products such as film, TV programs and newspapers. So it can be said that the term mass should not be used in a narrow way. The originality of mass communication lies in the availability of the products to plurality rather than a large number of people are receiving the products. Also mass culture and mass society was considered to have an adverse impact on the society by creating a homogenous culture which entertained the individuals without involving their critical faculties (Mackay and O'Sullivan 1999). The innovation and development in the new media of communication and transport had affected the means by which the individuals experience spatial and sequential characteristics of the social life. Before the media industry was developed many people had the knowledge of time and distance only through symbols. Thus, it can be said that the media had not only affected the society in a bad way but also in a good way. The communication media has given rise to the development of mediated historicity. Verbal interaction and personal communication are considered to have molded the society in recognizing the past which grabs the symbolic attention from the media industry products (Ruddock 2000). The evidence gathered from the books as well as other sources have affirmed that there has always been a controversy on how the media has a negative impact on the society in the form of inflicting violence and changing the opinion of the people. The accusation has varied from a simple claim to a major panic sometimes. The discussion throughout this assignment is a proof of why media has always this reaction from the society. The readings have referred to the debate as whether the media has influenced the public to behave in an aggressive way and change their thinking or the people are only responsible for their difference in behavior. The social impact of the risks associated with the debate of media violence can cause panic and nervousness among the public. The social implication of the risk in relation to the society and the moral panic that is created out of media violence is a debatable issue. It can be said that it is not always the case of media violence but the organization ca n also cause panic in the society. The instances of media violence vary from the childrens cartoons to the horror films of the adults which pose a negative impact not only on the individuals but also on the society. The individuals which are affected by the media have a tendency to imitate the scenes and action that they have experienced on the screen. Video games can also be regarded in this respect as the children are getting affected by its activities. Reference Anderson, C.A. and Carnagey, N.L., 2014. The role of theory in the study of media violence: The General Aggression Model.Media violence and children,, pp.103-133. Barker, M. and Petley, J. eds., 2002.Ill effects: The media violence debate. Routledge. Ferguson, C.J. and Beresin, E., 2017. Social science's curious war with pop culture and how it was lost: the media violence debate and the risks it holds for social science.Preventive Medicine. Ferguson, C.J., 2015. Does media violence predict societal violence? It depends on what you look at and when.Journal of Communication,65(1). Gentile, D.A., 2014. Why dont media violence effects look the same on everyone?: Developmental approaches to understanding media effects.Media violence and children: A complete guide for parents and professionals, pp.45-69. Hesmondhalgh, D., 2007. The cultural industries. Lessig, L., 2009.Code: And other laws of cyberspace. ReadHowYouWant. com. Mackay, H. and O'Sullivan, T. eds., 1999.The media reader: continuity and transformation. Sage. Ruddock, A., 2000.Understanding audiences: Theory and method. Sage. Svensson, G., 2016. Blaming the media. Cultures of criticism and accountability in discussions over refugees, immigration and integration. InECREA conference, Panel The Mediation of Refugeedom. Europes refugee crisis through different lenses, 9-12 November 2016, Prague, Czech Republic..+

Football Essays (1142 words) - Pittsburgh Steelers, Steagles

Football This is a crwative essay only A Steeler Game I harbor a lot of passion for the game of football. It's more than just a game to me. Some people fish or do crosswords. What I do to relax and have fun in my spare time is watch or read about football. While engaged in watching or reading about this particular sport, I escape from the everyday grind of life. Going to a sporting event like a football game is outrageous. The building anxiety weeks before I attend a Steeler game can drive any normal fan to insanity. It's 6:00 AM Sunday morning. There was no need for an alarm to wake me up on this fine morning. I am about to pack my portable grill and a few cases of beer into my car to go on a two-hour road trip to Three Rivers Stadium. I am going to attend a Steeler game. On the road it's WDVE on the radio all the way to Pittsburgh. Myron Cope, WDVE's celebrated play by play analyst, sounds off. As usual he is as exited about toady as I am. Myron Cope is talking about players, injuries and coaches. There are a lot of things he'll talk about with Tunch Ilkin, his sidekick and former Steeler player. As they make their predictions, as to how the day will go for the Steelers, and other teams in the Steelers division. After two hours of listening to the analysts, its time to pay the ten dollars to park my car. I open my car door and its pandemonium. Organized chaos! Thousands of people (fans) parking their cars, setting up their grills and cracking their first beer of the morning. All of this is happening at 8:00 AM. The day has just started, and it gets better. My breakfast on a day like today would consist of two hamburgers over easy and sixteen ounces of beer. In this kind of environment, Fruit Loops and O.J. just won't do. It seems as though a lot of fans feel the same way I do. I smell nothing but grilled food and stale beer. For those of you who come from other planets, and with me being a responsible citizen of earth, I must tell you this. Sitting in a parking lot or open field, drinking alcohol, eating large quantities of food, and socializing before or after any football game is called tailgating. There are other things to view before the game even starts. Low flying aircraft with advertisement banners in tow. You know the kind, the same ones that interrupt your quiet time at the beach every ten minutes. Sometimes one of those huge blimps will be flying over Three Rivers Stadium too. I really like those blimps, and the blimps fly really low to the ground in the parking lot too. But I did not pay to see an air show. I came to watch a football game, and the only thing that I want to see in the air is a football. And looking at Three Rivers Stadium is quit a site, in itself. It's not just its size, but its history that impress me. Well its time to get inside the stadium to watch the game. I'll pass many scalpers in the parking lot on my way to the stadium. At this time I'd like to address the visitors from other planets again. Scalpers are not Indians trying to cut your forehead off. No sir, they are humans selling tickets to the game for three times their original value. I then get my game day program. I always buy this program. It makes a great souvenir. Once inside the stadium, it's a new world. It's nothing like watching the game from home. Everything looks different; the field is ten times more colorful than on television. The fans cheering are ten times louder, and more exciting. It feels like you're apart of something really big. Once I sit down in my seat, like most fans I stay there until halftime. And at that point in time I wonder why I waited, because now I have to fight my way in and out of the restroom. That my friends, is the only bad thing

khdsaf essays

khdsaf essays Universal Essay: Slaughterhouse Five Throughout history, society, in general, has been molded by the ravages of war. From King Henry VII's invasion of Brittany, to the bloodshed on the shores of Iwo Jima, all the way to the present-day territory dispute in Bosnia and Herzegovina, war abounds mankind and its short history. As nations, ethnicities, ect. constantly attempt to outdo one another war will continue to arise. In recent years much has been said about the poor effects war has on society in a general sense; but what does war do to an individual? This is a question often avoided as a result of the bitter truth: War can all but destroy the sane mind of the common man. This is a fact that was abundantly presented in Kurt Vonnegut's "absurdist classic" Slaughterhouse Five. The story is initially set during World War II, but moves from place to place, and from time period to time period throughout the novel. The story centers around the infamous fire-bombing of Dresden and the mythic journey of an American soldier/ prisoner-of-war named Billy Pilgrim. Pilgrim suffers from post traumatic stress syndrome and imagines his abduction by aliens, and a great journey through space and time, to a fictional planet named Tralfamadore. A great deal of strange thoughts occurred inside Bill Pilgrim's mind, but Billy had no control over these thoughts. War has an uncanny ability to inflict mental stress on man. The story of Billy Pilgrim is a near-perfect example of the horrendous way in which war can affect the mind of the common man. As a prisoner of war, Billy Pilgrim is subjected to daily torture ranging from beatings and malnourishment. Pilgrim also witnessed the beatings of many other soldiers, some of whom he was familiar with. Billy Pilgrim's mind was not only a victim of torture, but also the Dresden fire-bombings one of the most deadly acts of war ever. Despite the fact that Billy was confined to a subterranean prisoner-of-w ...

Recruitment and Selection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Recruitment and Selection - Essay Example Heavy reliance on internal sources is thought to perpetuate the racial, gender, and age composition of the workforce. Thus, a balance between promoting current employees and hiring outside applicants is needed. Newspaper ads. Running ads in periodicals such as local newspapers or professional journals is a common method of recruiting employees. In fact, in a survey of 188 organisations, personnel executives claimed newspaper advertising to be one of the most effective avenues of applicant recruitment (N.A. Mason & Belt, 1986). Although little research is available, there is plenty of expert advice on the best way for an employer to write recruitment advertisements. Kaplan, Aamodt, and Wilk (1991) tested some of this expert advice by first determining the characteristics of help-wanted ads and then comparing the design of actual help-wanted ads in 10 newspapers with the quantity and quality of applicants who responded After examining thousands of ads, Kaplan et al (1991) found 23 advertising characteristics, as follows: Ad Design: company emblem included, creative illustrations used, creative wording, white space around ad, job title enlarged or in bold face. Legal Information: affirmative action statement, EEO statement. Information about the Job: Benefit package listed, job title mentioned, salary description, multiple jobs listed in the same ad. Information about the Company: company address listed, company description included, company name mentioned, phone number listed. Applicant qualifications: educ ation requirements, personality traits desired, pervious experience requirements, skills needed by applicants, salary history requested. After comparing the presence or absence of the 23 characteristics with the presence or absence who responded to the ad, the researchers found that ads displaying the company

Pedestrian and bicycle facilities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Pedestrian and bicycle facilities - Essay Example Both regional and local authorities have the responsibility of planning, and implementi8ng cycling policies. National level commitment is essential for putting right the legal, regulatory, and financial framework that lead to successful implementation of cycling initiatives. This is the city in the region with a well advanced form of League of American Bicyclists Bicycle Friendly Community where bicycling is an important means of transport and recreational activity. According to the 2007-2011 American Community Survey, 4% of Newark households engage in bicycling for recreation (Delaware Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan Survey). It is a normal phenomenon that all cyclists at one time have felt to be invisible to motorists. Bike Delaware has provided the â€Å"intentional blindness† that addresses this phenomenon. Another issue of safety is the question as to why cyclists’ and pedestrians’ safety is termed as invisible to traffic engineers. Most traffic engineers pay close attention to road safety and traffic congestion. Despite this safety, little is realized on the ped/bike safety projects. The federal program called the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) is responsible for funding Road Safety in Delaware. According to the data collected from the research, Delaware has spent more than $8 million HSIP dollars every year on road safety improvement projects but none focused on reducing pedestrian or cyclist fatalities. As a result, motor vehicle occupant fatalities have reduced while pedestrians’ fatalities have not. Cycling around Delaware University and Newark area is a favored means of transport to students, staff, faculty, and locals living in the area. Cyclists are assisted by the Newark Traffic Relief Committee (NTRC) that has prepared a Newark City Bicycle Map. The map shows cycling and pedestrian routes in the city and provides

Sports Sponsorship Paper Term Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Sports Sponsorship - Term Paper Example This paper is aimed at analyzing the extent of sponsorship by indicating what has been spent and by whom with the aim of arming the readers with the relevant information in planning for sponsorship. Sports sponsorship is a golden opportunity for companies to market their products on a large scale. Whenever companies align their products with the value of the sport, the result is that the customers associate the success of the brand with that of the sports team that they sponsor. The linkage of brands and the emotional connection that the target consumers have for particular sports in one of the largest market places in the world can have a profound impact on the market share of those brands. Brands and corporations can have the power to leverage upon the sponsorship of certain sports with the goal of building a long lasting relationship with the customers. The emotional bond that sports enthusiasts attach to the sports can be transferred to a brand if the sponsorship is right. Such b onds are not usually temporary and in most cases last for a lifetime (Dobson & Goddard, 2001). This presents the corporations with the perfect opportunity to capitalize on those opportunities by building customer loyalty which may be the cure for surviving economic uncertainty in the long term. Discussion TV programming now encompasses a vast diversity in terms of coverage of sports events. There are many channels that are now dedicated entirely on sports. Studies that have been done on the Spanish population reveal that 70% of them watch news where about 20% is dedicated to sport which is the same amount of time dedicated to politics (Garcia & Rodriguez, 2002). It is no wonder that sports stars now enjoy the same level, if not more, of prestige as do the politicians. Olympic Games and world football are the two major events in the world that drive people in a frenzy. These events easily bring countries where they are being held to a standstill. The previous events and most recently the Olympics in Beijing, previous world football events like the recent world cup in South Africa are some of the examples of the enthusiasm that is attached to sports. The physiognomy of a country changes rapidly due to hosting an international event. The Olympics for example changes both the physical as well as the economic standing of the country it is held in. PricewaterhouseCoopers, an audit firm conducted a study in 2004 which placed the impact of the Sydney Olympics as having been 2.78% of Australia’s GDP in that year. The 1996 Atlanta Games also accounted for 2.41% of the American GDP. Professional football also has a profound impact on the GDP of a country. In Spain, for example, the industry accounts for 1.7% of the GDP and rises to 2.5% when in relation to the service sector. With such immense numbers both in terms of revenue and the attendance by the people, corporations see it as a perfect opportunity to market their products. Real Madrid, a football club in Spa in, is one of the most reputable worldwide. The election of Florentino Perez as its president had a profound effect on the club. He is responsible for the success of what was referred to as the Galacticos era or the Galaxy players. These players were world class and they were brought in order to improve the image of the club. Perez referred to the club as being both a brand and content. The brand was built on the human resources who included the players, coaches and the management

Inclusive School And Inclusive Teacher

Inclusive School And Inclusive Teacher Providing a quality education for all students in inclusive settings has been acknowledged as perhaps the most challenging, yet most important issue in education. The concept of inclusion places the stress on altering the system rather than the child. The inclusive school system is often thought of as the inclusion of all students, regardless of ability into the same schools and classrooms with peers who are not considered to have disabilities. Inclusive school is a school where all children are taught to understand and appreciate human differences. Teachers and administrators receive the support necessary to include all students in regular education classrooms. Parents concerns for their children are taken acutely. In inclusive school special education is a service not a place. Inclusive teacher is a teacher who is equipped with general as well as special techniques of teaching and who can ensure quality education for all students. Introduction Inclusive school is a school where all children are taught to understand and appreciate human differences. Teachers and administrators receive the support necessary to include all students in regular education classrooms. Parents concerns for their children are taken gravely. Supportive learning and peer instruction are strategies used throughout the school. Where all kids are given the opportunity to develop real friends, not just peers buddies or helpers. In inclusive school the entire community honors diversity and supports quality education for all students. Philosophy of teachers about inclusion Heres what some teachers say about the philosophy of inclusion: Kliewer (2001) Inclusion involves all kinds of practices that are ultimately practices of good teaching. What good teachers do is to think considerately about children and extend ways to reach all children. Eventually good teaching is a relationship between two people. Good results acquire to the teachers because they enter into that relationship. Inclusion is very important and providing more options for children as ways to learn. Its structuring schools as society where all children can learn. But theres no formula for becoming an inclusive teacher or an inclusive school. Its not a preset system. Etscheidt (1999) Inclusion is based on the belief that people/adults work in inclusive communities; work with people of different races, religions, aspirations, disabilities. In the same stratum, children of all ages should learn and grow in environments that look like the environments that they will ultimately work in. Heston (2000) When good inclusion is in place the child who needs the inclusion does not stand out. Strong parental participation includes in the inclusive curriculum, students making choices, and a lot of hands-on and heads-on involvement. East (1995) Inclusive education means working of teachers with the students in that situation which is suitable to a miscellaneous population of students. It also means the teacher may need another prospect and goals for students, and its complex to get teachers to do this. Inclusive education Inclusive education means that achievement of education is the right of all the children in their own community schools. Inclusive education means that classroom teachers have the final authority and responsibility for educating them. This does not mean that all children will necessarily receive all instructional services in the regular classroom. Kronberg (1992) Inclusive education does not mean that students must waste every minute of the school day in general education classes, that students never receive small-group or individualized instruction, or that students are in general education classes to learn the core curriculum only. It means, rather, that if a trained disciplinary team decides that students require instruction beyond the normal developmental curriculum, need services beyond the ability of the classroom teachers (e.g. mobility training or speech reading) or specialized services, then them (which includes the classroom teacher) ensures that students receive this help in their community school. Moreover the classroom teachers are in charge of orchestrating all the required elements of his or her program plan. Stainback (1992) Some educators have suggested that inclusion means getting rid of special education special educators, and a continuum of services (e.g. individualized instruction and tutoring). We believe that inclusion means that those elements are brought into regular classroom. Inclusion embraces the concepts of integration and mainstreaming and promotes the idea that very one has a contribution to make, that a childs school experience should be one that is maximized, not restricted. We agree with Rogers, J. (1992) they note that inclusion means that the childs educational program is adapted to meet his or her academic or social needs and the child and teacher receive the support they need to succeed. Full inclusion never means simply placing a child with challenging needs in an ordinary classroom without adaptations or supports. Collier (1987) Inclusive education can function on many levels. In inclusive education the disabled student joins the general education classroom for part of the day, depending on the type and strictness of the disability. In inclusive education all students are in the general education classroom instead of the special education classroom. Theoretically this would eliminate the need of a special education classroom. Full inclusive education should allow disabled students to be part of the various setting, teach social skills, foster independence and provide opportunities to build friendships with non-disabled peers. Factors to be considered in the development of a full inclusion classroom should include age appropriate placement in local public schools, integrated delivery of services in the general education classroom, social integration, curricular expectations adapted to the level that best challenges the handicapped student, home-school partnership, staff development, team collab oration, and systematic evaluation and related services. Implementing inclusive classroom in schools Salisbury (1994) It is actually useful that the process of inclusion needs to occur within the larger context of a school where there is a clear philosophical foundation teaming practices and a commitment to shared decision making. Unfortunately not all schools and communities value the inclusion and or teaming model of intervention. Even though national mandates and policies call for the provision of intervention services in mainstream schools laws alone are insufficient for changing attitudes. Stainback, (1993) Opponents of inclusive classrooms often refer to barriers that inhibit effectiveness of this approach. Such barriers include lack of adequate training in general and special early education philosophical difference between the two disciplines lack of related services in many programs (e.g. speech language therapy physical therapy etc and lack of monitoring systems and negative staff attitudes. Additional barriers that have been identified by other researchers include the emphasis on academic achievement in the educational reform movement competition for shrinking fiscal resources lack of flexibility in teachers contracts and lack of clear policy directives. All of these identified barriers are indeed real issues and need to be addressed in planning and implementing inclusive programs for he/ she children with special education needs. Unless these barriers to inclusion are adequately addresses it will be difficult to convince reluctant schools and communities to move toward or adopt the inclusive approach. School-based learning All parents want their children to feel comfortable and competent when they enter school yet there is no way to build in assurance that this will be the case. While this is true whether or not a child has a disability the concerns are certainly magnified for children with special educational needs. Common concerns expressed by parents of children with disabilities relate to medical fragility and or special health condition (e.g. seizures asthma immune deficiency etc). Peer acceptance and making friends participation in group activities (e.g. listening to stories playing group games etc) and fear and distress in separating from parents. The transition from home-to school-based learning places new expectations and demands on the child and family. Bout child and family must become acquainted with new people in their lives and adjust to new schedules. Parents know there will be certain school-related behaviors that their child will be expected to adopt. Inclusive Teacher To be effective an inclusive teacher education program must instill in the pre-service teacher an understanding and appreciation of diversity. It means they must be equipped with both general as well as special education techniques through pre service, and in-service. Pre-service teachers must also become comfortable with change and they must learn early in their preparation to be flexible and creative. Our classrooms have undergone tremendous changes and those changes will continue in the future. It is one of the biggest roadblocks to inclusion has been the inability of many educators to shift from one operational standard to another. This can be proficient by providing experiences that require forthcoming teachers to develop creative problem-solving skills and to view situations from different perspectives. Some of the main essentials of inclusive teacher are as under: Teachers Beliefs, Values, and Attitudes inclusive education Many teacher characteristics affect the process of inclusive education, for example, the type and level of educational training and the number of years of teaching experience. Ostensibly, the more training and experience teachers have in special-needs education and programming, the greater their chances for successfully implementing educational programs and practices based on inclusive education. And if classroom teacher are willing to teach children with diverse learning and behavioral needs, the chances for effective inclusive education are greatly increased. Inclusive education also depends on certain necessary values. Teachers need to value learning as a lifelong process in which they share responsibility with parents for maximizing the quality of childrens loves; the need to enrich childrens academic and social competencies; their colleagues and the benefits of collaboration; and, perhaps most importantly, the goals of inclusive education. It has been suggested that the most critical element of inclusive education is the attitude of classroom teachers toward children with special needs. Teachers attitudes affect not only what happens in classroom settings but also the instructional option that is chosen for students. Unfortunately, many teachers are opposed to having children with diverse needs in their classrooms. This finding suggests that teachers must be given opportunities to confront their biases so that constructive and workable solutions can be developed. Attitudes vary according to types of disabilities, the types of perceptions people have about disabilities and the labels assigned to children with disabilities. Teachers attitudes influence the nature of the interaction between students and teachers, as well as the students achievement. Schrag (1994) point out those teachers constantly communicates important messages to students about individual differences. It becomes obvious to all students whether teachers favor high achieving students, feel respect, pity, or disgust for students who have special problems, believe that every person has inherent value, or are prejudiced against those who are different. Enabling Conditions for Incisive Education The merger of regular and special education will not happen quickly or easily. The process requires regular and special educations to consult and collaborate with one another and to plan provide adaptive instruction for all children. It also depends on teachers positive attitudes and the resources available. From our perspective the most important enabling conditions are professional training and development, pooling of resources and administrative leadership and support. Adaptive Instruction Inclusive education requires regular and special education teachers to respond and adapt innovatively and collaboratively to the unique learning needs of all students. Adaptive instruction assumes that each teacher will identify and provide a wide range of instructional supports that are needed by individual students to effectively master the learning and behavioral objectives. Wang (1984) Adaptive instruction requires teachers to, Assess the characteristics and capabilities of each student, collaborate and consult with others to plan developmentally appropriate instruction. Than make environmental and individual accommodations to facilitate student learning. Than manage and instruct students in ways that permit those to master content at a pace suited to their abilities, needs, and interests. This will result in promoting all students social ability and social integration. One of the basic premises of effective adaptive instruction programs is that a variety of educational objectives, instructional materials, and learning tasks is needed; furthermore, success in achieving instructional objectives requires a wide selection of teaching and learning strategies. Successfully implementing and practicing adaptive instruction procedures depends on teachers beliefs about student diversity, and on the enabling conditions of the educational environment. Professional Training and Development Teachers federations agree that present in-service training methods fail to provide successful integrated learning experiences. Teachers need information that will broaden their understanding and appreciation of children with special needs-for example, information on how to identify learning problems, and on how to adapt the environment and their instruction to accommodate those problems. Their courses should include such things as dynamic assessment, individual educational planning, adaptive instruction differentiated learning, multicultural education, and holistic curriculum development. Pooling of Resources Inclusive education will need a high quality of service, requiring well-trained teachers, support personnel (e.g. teachers aides), transpiration services, school building modifications, and material resources (e.g. assessment instruments program materials and instructional aides). Inclusive education will impose additional financial demands on school board. Therefore teachers must be trained to pull recourses for inclusion. Collaborative Teaming Smith (1993) The ultimate goal of collaborative teaming is the creations of a collaborative school. At its core are the professional relationships, particularly between teachers and administrators, and the unified goal of school-wide, continuous improvement, and shared responsibility for the continuous progress of all students within the learning community. Salisbury (1994) Collaborative problem solving to promote inclusive education is typically carried out between teachers and other support professionals who get together to solve specific problems, usually concerning a student or group of students, focusing on classrooms- based interventions increase the students chances for success. Assistance might involve interactions between classroom teachers and speech and language specialists, counselors, school psychologists, specialists in visual and auditory impairment, special-education specialists, or other specialists bilingual education, reading and mathematics. The relationship in collaborative problem solving is based on mutually defined goals and a common framework, and involves shared authority for idea generation, mutual accountability for success, and the sharing of recourse and rewards. Co-teaching Reynolds (1991) Co-teaching may refer to cooperative teaching or collaborative teaching, and is sometimes referred to as team teaching. Cooperative teaching requires a group structure and clearly defined roles for the participants. Collaborative learning requites only a collaborative goal. Team teaching is seen to be either the equivalent or a subset of co-teaching. Co-teaching as an activity in which special educators and general educators work together in one physical space in a variety if instructional activates in order to provide optimal instruction to the greatest number of students. Achieving social integration Research findings indicate that children with and without disabilities generally do not engage in high levels of social interaction with one another unless they are encouraged and supported in doing so. Factors frequently associated with this lack of interaction include language and cognitive delays poorly developed play skills and behavior disorders on the part of the children with special education needs. It takes a great deal of energy and creativity on the part of early childhood educators to achieve social integration between children with special education needs and their typically developing peers as the levels of social interaction skills of these two groups generally differ to a significant extent. Individualized curricular accommodations Salisbury (1994) Curricular adaptations are usually designed to serve two main goals to promote positive child outcomes and to optimize the physical social and instructional inclusion of the child in ongoing classroom actives. Do adaptations in an inclusive program actually achieve these goals? Results of studies relating to each of these outcomes lend support to the effectiveness of the inclusion-with-modifications model. Further studies however are certainly warranted. Such studies would do well to focus on the effects and perceived value of the process by stakeholder groups including school administrators teachers and parents.

The House Of The Seven Gables Essays -- essays research papers

Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables The mood of Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables is dark, and painstakingly creepy and slow. The story centers around the murders of two men, centuries ago, the curse that was placed upon the house as a result of that conflict, and the repercussions to the current generation. The overall story is like that of a nightmare of total and complete oppressive darkness. Not so much the fright that results from images of goblins and monsters, but that feeling of being scared of the dark; not because of what is there, but because of what you don’t know is there. Hawthorne sets this mood by describing the events that triggered the curse placed upon the Pyncheon mansion in the very first chapter, but never reveals more than a piece of the motivations and consequences at a time, throughout the remainder of the story. The descriptions of the house deteriorating throughout the years covered in the book establishes the sensation of the endless nightmare – that despite mortal man, the house remains as it was from the day it was erected and only the outward appearance changes. . In fact, as the story centralizes around the curse placed upon the house, it is almost the main attraction of the story, the other characters only playing supporting roles to show the potency of the dark power that the house holds on members of the Pyncheon dynasty. Because Hawthorne gives the house human characteristics, â€Å"So much of mankind’s varied experien...

Multiple Regression Model

Project: Multiple Regression Model Introduction Today’s stock market offers as many opportunities for investors to raise money as jeopardies to lose it because market depends on different factors, such as overall observed country’s performance, foreign countries’ performance, and unexpected events. One of the most important stock market indexes is Standard & Poor's 500 (S 500) as it comprises the 500 largest American companies across various industries and sectors. Many people put their money into the market to get return on investment.Investors ask themselves questions like how to make money on the stock market and is there a way to predict in some degree how the stock market will behave? There are lots and lots of variables involved in how the stock market behaves at a specific time. The stock market is in a way an information agency. Based on new information, whether good or bad regarding almost everything from political issues to interest rates and inflation, the stock market can go up or down. The market is anticipating economic occurrences proactively, ignoring already occurred events that were predicted before.This way it is very hard to predict how it is going to move in the future. As S 500 is considered to be the most reliable benchmark  for the overall U. S. stock market, we decided to study what factor has the most impact on it. We created two regression models and included the economic indicators, such as Consumer Price Index, Producer Price Index, House Price index, Interest Rate, Unemployment Rate, and Gross Domestic Product of some countries. Model Specification and Data How accurately can we predict the stock market behavior?People working in the finance industry have been trying to estimate or predict the behavior of stock market for a long time, or maybe some of them already have a very long and complex model of predicting the behavior of a stock market based on many factors and variables. We decided to use the US econo mic indicators and the other countries’ GDP. With this research we are hoping to find a statistically significant model that would describe what affects the stock market. We used the average annual data from 1980 to 2011 to track the influence on the US market. Our data is a time-series data.It is very interesting since within these 31 years there were a lot of changes in the countries’ economies, financial regulations and policies. At the very beginning, we assumed that the following factors may have influence on stock market: S (Percentage Change) = ? 0 + ? 1*(Annual CPI) + ? 2*(Annual Average PPI) + ? 3*(Annual Average House Price Index) + ? 4*(Annual Average Interest Rate) + ? 5*(Percentage Change of Annual Average GDP of US) + ? 6*(Percentage Change of Annual Average GDP of Spain) + ? 7*(Percentage Change of Annual Average GDP of Germany) 1: Consumer Price Index reflects the state of inflation in the country’s economy. That indicator is very important in th e assessment of the stock market performance. If inflation grows, the interest rate rises and this prevents the companies to borrow money for further development of their businesses. This entire situation may hurt the stock prices of the companies and that’s why we wanted to see how big the impact is. We assume that this variable is going affect the dependent variable a lot. ?2: Producer Price Index indicates early state of inflation.Therefore, if investors know that the PPI heralds a strong economy with no increase in an interest rate, then they feel confident to invest in the businesses what means increased positive activity in the market. We assume that this variable is going to have some impact on the dependent variable however; it is not going to be crucial. ?3: House Price Index is an analytical tool for estimating changes in the rates of mortgages. If mortgage rates are high, then housing market is weak because demand for houses drops due to expensive loans, therefore HPI drops.In 2008 mortgage default affected stock market very severely because before that period house prices went down because people couldn’t pay their mortgage payments and banks collapsed. Decrease in house prices is one of the possible contributors to recession because the home owners lose their equity in their houses. Considering such recession scenario, the stock market always becomes bearish. Additionally, house market is considered more stable investment than stock market. When stock market drops, people are willing in the houses and HPI goes up.We assume that HPI and stock market shouldn’t move in the same direction thereby we don’t take into consideration the complex scenario of 2008. ?4: 10-Year Treasury Constant Maturity Rate impacts on the number of issued bond and is used as risk free rate to calculate the excess return on the investment. It also has an influence on the stock market. ?5: Gross Domestic Product of the US is important for business profit and this can drive the stock prices up. Investing in the stock market seems reasonable when the economy is doing well.If the economy is growing fast then the stock market should be affected positively, the investors are more optimistic about the future and they put more money into market more. This variable is crucial for the dependent one. ?6: Gross Domestic Product of Spain. Since Europe is currently in a recession, we wanted to include the GDP of Spain, as one of the weakest economies in Europe now, to check if there is any relationship between Spain’s economy and the US stock market performance. Very small percentage of US investments goes to Spain.Compared to Germany, which is the 5th country the USA invests into, Spain is the 31st country on the list. There should not be any correlation between these two variables, so we included Spain’s GDP into our regression to check our hypothesis. ?7: Gross Domestic Product of Germany is an indicator of Germany is the 5th largest economy in the world and is the largest European trade and investment partner of the US. Germany is the largest economy in Europe and almost 1/5 of GDP of the European Union is that of Germany alone. We assume that this variable has to have an impact on the US stock market.The second regression model is the following: S (Annual Average) = ? 0 + ? 1*(Annual CPI) + ? 2*(Annual Average House Price Index) + ? 3*(Annual Average Interest Rate) + ? 4*(Average Annual Unemployment Rate) + ? 5*(Annual Average GDP of US) + ? 6*(Annual Average GDP of Germany) + ? 7*(Annual Average GDP of China) After we run the regression of the second model, it resulted in improving of our model accuracy. We excluded PPI, GDP of Spain because it came out that these variables have no impact on the US stock market.Also, we added the unemployment rate and GDP of China because it is the largest US business partner. Here is the explanation of the new variables: Unemployment Rate is one of the most impo rtant factors of the economy’s performance. High unemployment rate decreases the buyer power of the consumers. 2/3 of the US economy is consumer based and it influences the stock market negatively. We assume that there is a relationship between these two variables. Gross Domestic Product of China affects the US economy because cheap export from China prevents inflation in the US.China is a huge buyer of the US Treasuries. It lowers the interest rate and companies borrow money to invest in development hence, it directly affects the stock market. We assume that GDP of China and US stock market move in the same direction, meaning if China does well, it has money to buy US Treasuries. Additionally, the US stock market increases because production of those US companies that is outsourced to China grows. Results The First Model [pic] Looking at this model, we see that only the interest rate and GDP of US are statistically significant because they have P-values lower than 0. 05.The rest variables do not correlate with S because their P-values are high. Our assumption about Spain’s economy affecting the US stock market was proved. The coefficient we got for GDP of Spain is statistically insignificant. Looking at the US and Spain investment relationships in the broad aspect we see that Spain’s performance has no significant impact on the US stock market even considering its economic situation. PPI is a fraction of inflation and CPI also reflects inflation, so we decided to exclude one variable because two variables together cancelled each other out and we got defected result.As P-value is smaller compared to P-value of PPI, we decided to keep it in the second model. Looking at the adjusted R square which is 26 %, we concluded that model is deficient and we have to change the variables. The Second Model [pic] Each estimated coefficients we can interpret as follows: -For every 1 unit increase in Annual CPI, the S will go down by -25. 68 S points. Whe n inflation goes up, it causes interest rate to go up, therefore companies are not willing to borrow money and invest. Hence the S index moves in the opposite direction to CPI.The P-value of 0. 000368 implies that the results are statistically significant and it coincides with our assumption. -For every 1 unit increase in House Price Index, the S goes down by -7. 97 units, which tell us that when the price of houses rises, the stock market moves in the opposite direction and it shrinks because people invest in the housing market. The P-value of 0. 000028 shows it is a statistically significant outcome. -For every 1 unit increase in Annual Average 10-Year Treasury Constant Maturity Rate, the S index goes up by 27. 4 units. It would imply that when interest rates go up then the stock market goes up as well, but the p-value of 0. 154 tells us the results are not statistically significant and we should not rely on this outcome. There is no correlation. -For every 1 unit increase in Annu al Average Unemployment Rate in US, the S goes down by 40. 44 units. The p-value of 0. 043 shows what we consider a statistically significant correlation. We can conclude that unemployment rate has a reverse impact on the stock market.When more people have jobs, more people have money to spend and to invest, hence the economy speeds up and the stock market goes up. -For every 1 unit increase in Annual Average GDP of US, the S goes up by 0. 601 index units. The p-value of 0. 00000069 shows the outcome is statistically significant, and implies that when the GDP of US grows meaning that the economy is doing better, investors are more confident and invest more and stock market also goes up. -For every 1 unit increase in Annual Average GDP of Germany, the S goes up by 0. 224 units.We assumed that when Germany is producing more products and their economy is doing well, then the stock market in US does somewhat better too because Germany and US have an economic interaction. The P-value of 0. 155 tells us that the relationship is not statistical significant to conclude the Annual Average GDP of Germany has a positive relationship with S. -For every 1 unit increase in Annual Average GDP of China, the S goes down by . 154 units. US economy as we know is affected by Chinese economy. When US companies move production overseas, specifically to China, the stock market in US does poorly.The P-value of 0. 005 means that this results is statistically significant. We did not find any violations with SLR/MLR assumptions. There appears to be no problem with the data and all the results are relevant. Summary The adjusted R2 of . 96 means that our regression of 96% explains the changes in S. We found out that the biggest correlation is observed between US GDP, CPI, HPI, and China’s GDP. We found out that the GDP of Germany and Interest Rate has no significant correlation with S predicted performance.As we explained above in the result section, the investors should look at US economy performance as well as China’s economic performance, CPI and HPI to try to predict the stock market behavior. References: 1. http://www. infoplease. com/ipa/A0774473. html 2. Federal Housing Finance Agency Web Site 3. U. S. Department of Commerce: Bureau of Economic Analysis Web Site 4. U. S. Department of Labor: Bureau of Labor Statistics Web Site 5. mhttp://research. stlouisfed. org/fred2/series/SP500/downloaddata? cid=32255

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