The power of play: learning what comes naturally Essay

Depth research has been carried out on the correlation between play and its positive benefits on early childhood learning, growth and development. It has been established that there is a positive connection between creative language and play and the social development of a child. Play has emotional benefits on a child such as enjoyment, relaxation, fun, love of life, tension reduction and self expression. Developmental benefits of play include cognitive development where imagination, creativity, problem solving, mastery of concepts and perspective taking improves. Socially the child grows which can be seen through co-operation, sharing, turn-taking, conflict resolution and leadership skills development. The language of the kid also develops that is in terms of communication skills, vocabulary and narration. This paper goes further to illustrate how play affects learning. ( p.66-67) In our case we will have a sharp in-depth look at two chapters, the first one being; Authoring books, plays and identities in writing workshops. Key practice: Approximated writing. The second chapter we shall look at is the discourse of creative expression. The first chapter mostly handles introduction to writing to kids where they are taken through a workshop where they mainly engaged in writing. The climax of it is when the kid finally authors a book and has a chance to sit on the authors chair and read the book to the class and to be admired and questioned at the end of the writing workshop. The rationale behind choosing this chapter on developing writing is that written communication is a very key skill communication skill and anyone should care being an expert in communicating really well through writing. It is thus a privilege and great pleasure learning how a kid or an individual at large develops this skill and also to reflect and see how probably we did begin at it or ought to begin at. Approximated writing is the key arguments in this chapter which symbolizes or represents a range of ways in which children can deliberate within their inner self between their personally invented forms of language understanding and the culturally determined rules for language. Approximated writing is close to the real writing language which embraces errors, incorrect spellings. It is used by children to formulate meaningful messages through their use of their emerging mastery of the language. The kids initiated their own writing projects and as they wrote they designed and illustrated images and prints for puppet plays, pages for kids-printed books, cards to relatives and friends, storyboards and journals. Graphophonic conventions such as using alphabetic symbols like â€Å"tuk† to represent the word took, putting bigger spaces between words, placing marks on words and organizing them in a pattern. Authoring in the workshop happened when the kids wrote, drew, told and dramatiz ed the texts they had written down. Finally in regard to authoring the kids connected texts for the kids-produced books that they presented to the others through reading aloud from the author`s chair or even short plays that were acted for the class and videotaped. A number of realizations came from these workshops or activity that was centred on kids literacy. The first one being that children are capable writers who are able to actively create and co-create meaning and such activities can be very instrumental in bringing out their literacy proficiency this is so because it is in such that they are challenged to explore all genres of written communication and also get a chance to freely air their ideas through their conversations and writings. The idea of getting a chance to sit on the author`s chair, present the book to the class, to be questioned and admired at the end of the writing workshop motivated the kids to really come up with a well-illustrated book. The methodology used in this chapter or writing workshop to teach the children how to write is something really great and enjoyable both for them and their instructor As a wrap up I can comfortably state that it is a matter of fact that children learn through play and exposure to plays enable them to develop their intellectual, social and emotional skills. Plays should thus be a part and parcel of a child`s life so that the child may grow and develop holistically failure to which the development of the child will be hindered. References Brock, A. (2009). Perspectives on play: learning for life. Harlow, England: Pearson/Longman. Elkind, D. (2009). The power of play: learning what comes naturally. Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo Lifelong ;. Gordon, I. J., Guinagh, B., & Jester, R. E. (2009). Child learning through child play; learning activities for two and three year olds. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Marzollo, J., & Lloyd, J. (2011). Learning through play ([1st ed.). New York: Harper & Row. Silberg, J. (2009). Learning games: exploring the senses through play. Beltsville, Md.: Gryphon House. Tizard, B., & Hughes, M. (2010). Young children learning (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.. Tizard, B., & Hughes, M. (2010). Young children learning (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.. Wood, E. (2013). Play, learning and the early childhood curriculum (3rd ed.). London: SAGE. Source document

Of Mice and Men †Life in America in the 1930’s Essay

â€Å"Of mice and men† by John Steinbeck tells the story of life in 1930’s America during the great depression, about the dreams, lifestyle, racism and sexism, which had become a way of life for the characters in Steinbeck’s book. I will be discussing these points to determine exactly what life in 1930’s American was like. Life in 1930’s America was very lonely, George tells us that â€Å"†¦guys like us†¦are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . Many of the other ranch hands share the same feeling. This is also made apparent by the fact that most people think that there has to be something wrong if two men travel together because nobody takes that much care of somebody else, Slim’s comment to this is â€Å"†¦ I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  George and Lennie’s new boss is also suspicious, he asks George, referring to Lennie, â€Å"†¦what stake you got in this guy?†¦Ã¢â‚¬  George feels he has to lie and tells the boss that Lennie is † †¦my†¦Cousin†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . The other ranch hands don’t interact with each other this is shown when Candy says to George â€Å"†¦a guy on the ranch don’t never listen nor he don’ t ask no questions†¦Ã¢â‚¬  this quote emphasises how private the menn keep their lives. Slim is an exception to this as he is always willing to talk if others wish to. However many of the others, despite their urge to talk, seem to be less inviting or trustworthy. George and Lennie seem to be an exception to this general life. They â€Å"†¦got somebody to talk to that gives a damn†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Slim describes what living on a ranch does to a man and really how lonely it is that â€Å"†¦they get mean†¦ they get so they don’t want to talk to anybody†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . The average ranch hand gets â€Å"†¦ fifty bucks†¦Ã¢â‚¬  they â€Å"..go in old susy’s place†¦ you can get a shot for two bits†¦Ã¢â‚¬  they describe this as â€Å"†¦ jus’ the usual thing†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and George describes how most ranch hands are constantly moving from ranch to ranch â€Å"†¦they come to a ranch an’ work up a stake and then they go into town and blow their stake, and the first thing you know they’re poundin’ their tail on some other ranch†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . The conditions in which the migrant workers lived were primitive. Bunkhouse walls were whitewashed, the floor unpainted. There were eight bunks in the bunkhouse, which showed that there was a lack of privacy for the men. Even their few personal belongings were on public display â€Å"†¦over each bunk there was nailed an apple-box with the opening forward so that it made two shelves†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . The only places for the men to sit were boxes. George saw that the conditions were also unhygienic when he found a can in his apple-box which said â€Å"†¦positively kills lice, roaches and other scourges†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . The life style in 1930’s America was not one of luxury, it was full of hard times, low wages and little opportunity. Crooks the Stable buck dreams about going back to a world much like his childhood, without prejudice. Many of the men on the ranch are very racist, including the boss, even though the boss is described as a â€Å"pretty nice guy† he â€Å"give the stable buck hell†. An example of racial prejudice is when Carlson casually refers to the stable buck as a â€Å"†¦nigger†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . George does not react to this reference, which shows that it is a commonly used word. Also the prejudice against coloured people is again shown as the stable buck, who is a coloured man, is not permitted to sleep in the bunkhouse along with the other migrant workers. The stable buck is also not usually allowed to join in with any activities and we are shown this when Carlson explains how, at Christmas, â€Å"†¦they let the nigger come in that night†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . The conditions in Crooks room are just as bad as the rest of the ranch, Crooks bed is â€Å"a long box filled with straw, on which his blankets were flung†. Even though Crooks has his own room his life is extremely lonely, being the only coloured man on the ranch the only contact he has with others is when he is asked to do something. Crooks teases Lennie referring to George â€Å"well, s’pose, just s’pose he don’t come back. What’l you do then?† the point crooks was trying to make by teasing Lennie was how its like on your own with no one, and that Lennie is very lucky to have George because, Crooks has no one and isn’t allowed in the bunk house. Again disrespect for the ranch workers is shown when Curley’s Wife refer’s to them as â€Å"†¦a bunch of bindle stifts – a nigger an’ a dum-dum and a lousy ol’ sheep†¦Ã¢â‚¬  the ranch workers world seems to contain quite a lot of prejudice, both racial and sexual. Curley’s Wife lashes out at Crooks when he tells her â€Å"you got no rights comin’ in a coloured man’s room† Crooks is forced to draw into himself and add covers of mental protection, because Curley’s Wife show’s how racism is very much a part of life in the 1930’s, her next words to Crooks are some of the harshest â€Å"well keep your place, then, nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny†. The Sexual prejudice in 1930’s America is very obvious, the men at the ranch make this point clear because, they assume that Curley’s Wife is â€Å"†¦a tart†¦Ã¢â‚¬  because she comes into the bunk house and supposedly gives Slim and Carlson â€Å"†¦the eye†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . It later becomes clearer that what she actually wishes to gain from her visits to the bunk house is company. This shows that the ranch is a very lonely place for her too. Curley’s Wife has a dream, although her dream is different from the men on the ranch. Instead of something to call her own, she wants fame. She is unhappy with her husband , and his constant stories of who is going to beat up next: â€Å"sure I gotta husban’. You allseen him. Swell guy, ain’t he?†. When she is talking to Lennie, alone in the barn, she recounts her obviously well told stories of her offers of fame. She seems to have a deep regret that she didn’t take up either men on their offers â€Å"if I’d went, I wouldn’t be livin’ like this, you bet†. The scene in Crooks room revealed that Curley’s Wife isn’t really â€Å"†¦a tart†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , she is just extremely lonely, and all she really wants is company and someone to talk to. I think the reason she lashes out at Crooks is because she has just had enough of people not wanting to talk to her, or asking her to go away Crooks tells Curley’s Wife â€Å"now you jus’ get out, an’ get out quick. If you don’t, I’m gonna ast the boss not to let you come in the barn no more†. Tragically Lennie and Curley’s Wife die, I feel very sorry for the both of them, Curley’s Wife, because she always wished for fame and a comfortable life. Curley’s Wife did not seem likely to achieve her dreams. Even if she wasn’t murdered, she was stuck in a rut with Curley, a rut that she would have gone round and round in until he left her for a new woman, or she finally built up the courage to leave him. Also someone who is referred to throughout an entire story as someone’s possession does not make a likely major character. Their marriage did not seem to be one that was destined to last until they died of natural causes. But Curley’s Wife did die, and her death seemed to be a release â€Å"†¦ discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face†. I also feel very sorry for Lennie, he was also described in the story as some kind of possession, he was George’s companion. Lennie’s child-like-mind and behaviour don’t make the ideal major character, I think all Lennie really thought about during the whole story was â€Å"Livin’ off the fatta the lan'† and â€Å"tending the rabbit’s†. I think Lennie knew what the dream was but for him it was tending rabbits. George and Lennie’s dream is a simple one – they want land to call their own. Candy sums the feeling up well: â€Å"Every body wants a bit of land, not much. Jus’ som’thin’ that was his†. Crooks has also seen it all before: â€Å"I seen guys nearly crazy with loneliness for land, but ever’ time a whorehouse or a blackjack game took what it takes†. This shows that the dream of owning land is very common among all ranch workers. George’s dream, although extremely similar to Lennie’s , is probably more detailed and complicated. Lennie thinks as far as â€Å"tendin’ the rabbits†, but George has to worry about whether it would be possible to really â€Å"live offa fatta of the lan'†, or would they starve? I think Candy grasped so readily on George and Lennie’s dream because, Candy knew that â€Å"Jus’ as soon as I can’t swamp out no bunk-houses they’ll put me on the county†, I think he also knows that if he doesn’t get a place soon he is just going to die on the ranch, sad and alone because the men on the ranch wont care. Maybe Lennie did get his dream, in one way or the other. As George is preparing to kill Lennie, he tells him one last time about â€Å"how ità ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s gonna be.† This last bedtime story for Lennie seems to describe not a little farm that they might buy, but the heaven someone might go to in their afterlife. As Lennie begs George â€Å"Leà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s do it now. Leà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s go to that place now†, and George replies â€Å"Sure, right now. I gotta. We gotta†, and then pulls the trigger, the pair seem at peace with themselves, and each other. George knows what he is doing is right, and he knows that Lennie would agree if he had the time to explain his reasoning to him. If Lennie could comprehend the reasoning behind Georgeà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s actions, he would realise that George was taking Candyà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s unknowingly offered advice: â€Å"I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldnà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½t ought to have let no stranger shoot my dog.† The American dream is very common in 1930’s America, it seems that every character in Steinbecks novel has a dream which all of them are unlikely to achieve. The world of the migrant workers in the 1930s, during the Great Depression, was monotonous and lonely. Generally speaking there was a lack of realistic ambition for the workers. The conditions in which they lived were cramped and unhygienic and encouraged prejudice and a lack of respect towards everyone. I think that Steinbeck’s novel paints an accurate picture of life and culture in 1930’s America.   

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Reaction Paper

My Reaction to I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou once proclaimed in an interview, â€Å"All my work is meant to say, ‘You may encounter many defeats but you must not be defeated’† (Anthology). This statement holds especially true in her autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Her inspirational coming of age story is filled with many defeats that shaped her into the independent and compassionate woman she became. After reading this book, I found there to be many meaningful areas that opened up my eyes and made me think again about my own personal and professional development.In addition, it allowed me to inquire more questions and wanted me to learn more about Maya Angelou’s path to greatness. There were many significant parts in Angelou’s autobiography that dealt with the issues of racism, sexism, violence, and loneliness. In my opinion, the parts that dealt with these various issues were most meaningful because they are controversi al issues that Angelou was courageous enough to write about. From the start of the book, Angelou expresses her racist views when she is in church and fantasizes that one day she will wake up out of her â€Å"black ugly dream. This part of the book foreshadows the rest of the racist events that will occur throughout the novel. For instance, the time when Angelou goes to the dentist with her Momma, the dentist says he would rather stick his hand in the mouth of a dog than in her mouth. Later in the book, Angelou discusses how she is raped by her mother’s boyfriend. She does not speak for five years because of this sexual assault. Later on, when her silence is broken, Angelou is involved with a violent attack. This time it is her father’s girlfriend who stabs her with scissors out of pure jealousy.Throughout the book Angelou feels alone because she has insecurities about the way that she looks and the color of her skin. Her loneliness is drawn out more after she is raped because she puts the blame on herself. All these monumental parts of the book are most meaningful because it shows Angelou’s endurance and how her life is not frayed by the unfortunate events that took place in her life. Throughout her childhood, Angelou experienced things that she should have never had to experience. It is admirable to think that with so many negatives in ones life Angelou was able to become such a successful person.Reading about Angelou’s experiences led me to think about my development as a person. Maya Angelou turned out to be successful even through her harsh childhood. I then question myself about what is stopping myself from developing in such way with a normal childhood. Upon finishing I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, I took away many reasons why this book will help my personal and professional development. I never experienced a traumatic childhood quite the way Angelou did. Therefore, I should be more thankful for the loving family I have, th e non-prejudice community I live in, my safety, and my college education.If Angelou was as victorious as she was all while enduring major hardships, then there is no excuse for me not to be. This book has also taught me, even though I may not see it, that people do go through hardships. For example, when Angelou took a vow of silence after her rape, no one understood why she was doing it. There is always a reason for why a person acts in the way that they do. As a professional, I will do my best not to judge anyone on the outside because I have no idea what goes on in their personal life. As a future occupational therapist, I will try to have my clients open up to me.Therefore, I can find out what is going on in their personal life and not judge them, but help them instead. I may have an impact on a clients life just by giving them an equal opportunity. There are many questions I raised and areas that I would like to learn more about upon finishing the autobiography of Maya Angelou. The novel ends in a positive picture of Maya with her newborn son. I question how much did Angelou’s life change with her newborn son and how she was able to accomplish so many things while taking care of her child?She, after all, was involved with the civil rights movement of the 1960s, and published many famous works of literature. Was it hard for her as an African American woman to achieve so much while facing racism and sexism? Lastly, how does her story end? Does Angelou end up with a loving husband whom she could’ve celebrated all her achievements with? My response to this novel is a positive one. The most meaningful part of this book is the way that Angelou was able to find herself while enduring major conflicts such as racism, sexism, violence, and loneliness. In her wn words she did encounter many defeats, but that did not stop her from being the best that she could be. For that reason Maya Angelou is an inspiration and a role model. From reading this book I know now that I am capable of developing myself more personally and professionally. I have not encountered many defeats in my life but if I were I know that I can brave the storm and not be defeated, just like Angelou was not. References Angelou, M. (1997). I know why the caged bird sings. New York, NY: Ballantine Books. Douglass, F. (2004). The norton anthology of african american literature. (2 ed. ). New York New York: W. W. Norton and company.

The relationship between creative written and verbal expression and Dissertation

The relationship between creative written and verbal expression and attitudes toward violence - Dissertation Example This quantitative study proposes to use a post-test only quasi-experimental design to address the research questions (Shaddish, Cook, and Campbell, 2002). Quasi-experimental design seems appropriate since the researcher finds it immpossible to randomly assign research participants, and also to conduct a pretest. As such, only a post-test will be distributed and non-random assignment of the participants is to be undertaken. Quasi-experimental designs are used to test whether educational practice makes a difference for individuals (Creswell, 2003). The treatment is defined in this proposed research project as a creative writing workshop, in which students are taught the elements of written and verbal expression. The treatment is considered to be complete once students construct a written creative expression and verbally share the written creative expression with the members of the treatment group. Neuman (2003) describes the concept of treatment as stimulus or manipulation, and in this case, the stimulus is the participation in the creative writing workshop. Post-treatment measures or the dependent variable that is considered in the research is the attitudes toward violence, and this will be collected and compared in order or determine whether there were significant differences in the attitudes changes of control and sample groups. . Research Design Research Instrumentat The Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) will be used as post-test for treatment and control groups. The test authors developed the SAVRY to provide a standard rubric that could be used by a variety of systems that need to assess and manage youth violence. The instrument is composed of three domains of risk factors, containing 24 items. The Summary Risk Rating... The purpose of this quantitative study is to explore the relationship, if any exist, between creative written and verbal expression and attitudes toward violence. To accomplish this purpose, the researcher intends to employs the quasi-experimental research design. Chapter three explained the research method and the dependent and independent variables. Context of the study was explained, the African American Males residing in what is considered the of the United States. Instruments involved were also explained which included the defined measurement. The primary data collect in the present study includes the scores from post-tests of the treatment and control groups. Data analysis to occur was explained along with limitations, threats to internal validity, and assumptions of the study. Population and sample size were defined, along with the geological location of the proposed study. In the following chapter the nature of findings and prospective areas of discussions of the study will b e presented. In the writing of this research, certain assumptions are deemed as influencing the researcher in the course of study. These assumptions are: first, juvenile violence is a contemporary phenomenon brought about by factors present only in this period. Second, the study assumes that there is no single entity or individual solely responsible for solving the problem. Third, the problem of juvenile violence will affect not only the youth of today, but also will have an impact on the children of tomorrow.

How to detect and prevent abuse and neglect in nursing homes Essay

How to detect and prevent abuse and neglect in nursing homes - Essay Example The fundamental means of reforming and strengthening the program of nursing homes is to corroborate the entire frame work with efficient plans and channelizing of resources in a judicious manner in order to deliver the citizens in the later stages of their lives solitude, satisfaction and quality that they deserve. This can be done by an early detection and intervention followed by long term surveillance to keep a hard eye on companies which might be looking for maximum profits while compromising on their services. Several measures can be incorporated into the system to work towards prevention of abuse and neglect. Training and provision of education to health workers relating to not only their professional responsibilities but also guidance on how to keep their stress levels to a minimum will contribute towards a more wholesome approach. Minimizing social isolation and engaging in community activities help care givers to attain better equilibrium, so does interaction with their fami ly members.

Money Management - Portfolio of funds or ETF Essay

Money Management - Portfolio of funds or ETF - Essay Example Most of these investors turned to government bonds, certificates and private or corporate bonds from reputable firms (Madura, 2008, p.13). This trend led to the emergence of special funds which allowed small investors to pool funds and investment in a number of securities or stocks. These funds are managed by fund managers which became popular with huge companies like insurance firms and banks. However the costs of managing these funds were high and some investors looked for other options to invest. This led to the emergence of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), which allowed investors to put their money on investment funds to be traded on stock exchanges (Abner, 2010). ETF investment funds incorporate an array of assets such as stocks, commodities or bonds and trades at a price close to the net value of these combined investments. For the many years it has been in existence, EFT’s have been successful with current stock markets due to its flexibility and low risk. Table of Content s Executive Summary 1 Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Individual Analysis 3 EFT Analysis 5 Swiss Based ETFs 5 Other Managed Funds (ETFs) 6 Personal Asset Allocation 8 The art of investing requires careful planning in asset allocation since the way you allocate your assets reflects the return on your investment. For instance, if you have $ 100, 000, you should invest in a number of investment options. Time factor is one of the most crucial factors to watch out while investing. Looking at the Swiss market, we witness that the some mutual funds have been performing very well compared to some ETFs. Therefore, it not easy to conclude that mutual funds are better than ETFs or vice-versa, the most important factor is tracking these investments over a suggested period of time (Ferri, 2011). A look at ComStage Stoxx Europe 600 ETF Household goods based product we notice that this ETF tracks household goods stocks in the Swiss market. This ETF has performed well over the past two years ret urning 40.2% compared to the ComStage Stoxx Europe 600 Food & beverages ETF which returned only 24.1% as witnessed by table 4 in the appendix. In comparison to the United States of America where there is a mid cap fund that has returned over 41.87%. This performance is better than the ETF based investment option in Switzerland (Wagner, 2008). This mutual fund is known as the JB holdings fund and it has invested in different segments based on a selected benchmark. A list of investments in the JB holdings fund is shown by table 5 in the appendix. Based on the analysis of the different ETFs and funds listed above, it is difficult to choose the best investment option by solely choosing and ETF or fund based investment (Madura, 2008). The best investment decision to undertake when investing in an ETF or fund is to analyze the industry or benchmark used in implementing the fund or ETF product. Time factor is also very important since most ETFs or funds take a minimum of three years for th e investment to make marginal gains. 8 Current Investing Trends 8 References 12 Appendix 14 Introduction The art of investing is very difficult and challenging and many a times, people find it difficult to invest. Several investment options are available to potential investors interested in making profits. Investing is a risky venture and many people prefer to invest in low risk investments. As a result, many investment banks and

Journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 69

Journal - Essay Example I forgot how to properly communicate with my friends, and in the sense, forgot to properly live in the community. Facebook and other forms of social media has influenced me to become less participative in the community. I have forgotten that laughing with friends is very different than just typing "LOL" or putting a smiley on the board. I did not realize this, until I read Kingsolvers speech. And as much as I hate to admit it, she was right. At this point, my reflection is beyond just the meaning of the speech. I believe I have to adjust my way of life and prevent myself from becoming one of those people who have forgotten to associate in the community. Now, Facebook or Skype I think, were designed to help us communicate with people who are thousand miles away from us, not those near us physically. I intend to keep that thinking in me. Maybe I should start trying to minimize chatting with my friends through SMS or over the phone, and be with them physically, to laugh with them and talk with them than working my fingers out typing in my laptops keyboard. Kingsolver spoke of hope, of building dreams with it, of putting it in ones life. I could not agree with her more, and I will try to live in that community that she portrayed. One that does not hesitate when asked at gunpoint, and I intent to be one who will always choose

Advise a policy maker Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Advise a policy maker - Research Paper Example While doing this, a policymaker should ensure that they followed any of the four perspectives to public administration in order to ensure that the framework within which a policy operates achieves the desired results and objectives. In effect, failure to ensure that the policy framework was within the four perspectives to public administration will consequently make a policy inept, and its objectives to be unachievable. Based on the abovementioned, one of the best approaches that any policymaker should incorporate while making decisions, resolving, developing, and implementing a policy is the political perspective approach to public administration. By its precise nature, this perspective has to be an effective approach to any policymaker who wants to achieve a policy that was effective, efficient, and equitable in nature. In this case, the perspective contains four basic aspects that will ensure that a policymaker attained effectiveness, efficiency, and equity while developing a poli cy. These four fundamental aspects include public participation in the policy, equal representation of the public in terms of demographics and interests, the public’s responsiveness to a policy, and accountability of administrators involved in any stages of the administration of this policy. In line with this, this expose uses the political perspective to assist a policymaker resolve a problem that requires their urgent resolution. It is pertinent to explain the nature of the problem that required urgent resolution. In this case, the problem involved state government’s resolve to close all land administrations offices in the state’s precincts in order to centralize the operations in its State capital. The objective to implement this policy was to institute cost-cutting measures that would see all matters of land administration administered from the State capital. In doing this, the state had observed that the land administration offices in the precincts were not cost-effective to operate, and it was recommended that centralizing land administration would save the expenses. Nonetheless, there was a public outcry over this issue, and it was important to resolve this issue within one week in order to ensure the policy developed was effective, efficient, and equitable to the entire population in the state. The political perspective to public administration recognizes the important role of political responsiveness while developing policy. In this regard, Dahl (1971) identified the important role of the government in ensuring that the government’s policy centered on the preferences of all the citizens, who in most cases should be considered as political equals. In this regard, it is important for the policy that we are going to formulate ensure that all the demographics will feel that the policy represented them equally. In addition, it is crucial for the policymaker to consider whether the needs of each citizen in the state are considere d before implementing this policy. Furthermore, political representation cannot be attained when developing and implementing a policy without considering all the characteristics of the constituents in the state. In support of political responsiveness, Lindbloom (1992) noted the importance of considering a policy that appealed to the masses in terms of objectivity and values that the policy espouses. In view of this requirement, it is evident that the policy that the State was about to implement did not meet these requirements. First, the policy does not consider the impoverished citizens in the state who would find it challenging to seek assistance from the State ca

Alternative Education Options Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Alternative Education Options - Assignment Example This is one of the key features for the school. The test serves the following purposes: to identify the students’ potentials, to allow the teachers to give sound judgment on the scope and effectiveness of the course and finally assess on the whole accomplishment of the course. The school uses formal tests, homework, class work, field trips among others to constantly assess the students’ progress. The school has a diverse range of out door activities available for learners. The include round square community service projects, drama, debating and verse speaking, horse riding and desktop publishing among others. These activities have greatly assisted in promoting self discipline among the students with the help of strict school rules and regulations. Brook House has the academic calendar beginning from the month of August to December for the first term but with breaks in between lasting for a period of one week. The second term resumes on January till March but with breaks for half term. The third term resumes after the Easter holiday with a merely short half term. The school has very skilled professionals who are fully dedicated to the tune of schools’ international focus. The staff comprises of the locals, Asians and British expatriates of whom they are well trained with technical knowledge of British curriculum. The school adapts the British form of curriculum throughout the entire academic period. Among the subjects done include; Music, modern Foreign Language, English, History, Art, Science, Mathematics, Physical Education, Geography and ICT. At the end of academic year, students sit for International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) examinations thereafter join International Foundational Year program. The school is governed by board of directors who are well knowledgeable about the academic prospects of life. For smooth operation of the school, it is funded by

Violence in Sports Essay Example for Free

Violence in Sports Essay Comedian Rodney Dangerfield once joked, â€Å"I went to the fight the other night and a hockey game broke out†, but violence in sports is a continuous problem that is not amusing. Whether the conversation is the about the â€Å"blood games† of the Ancient Greeks and Romans or the 2012 NFL season, there is one common factor and it is violence. Over the course of history sporting events have become more civilized which does not make the â€Å"blood games† and Monday Night Football an apples to apples comparison, however one cannot debate the fact that violence still remains a main stay in sports today. The real debate is who is responsible for its continuous existence. Has society witnessed so much violence that sports would not be sports without it? Did the media and the commercialization of sports help keep violence alive in today’s games? Is there truly enough evidence to pinpoint the real culprit or can we all mutually agree that all parties are to blame? The author argues that much of the violence in sports today involves overconformity to the norms of the sport ethic which is absolutely valid. Jay Coakley discusses how athletes may use violence to enhance their status amongst peers and gain popularity with spectators. He believes some athletes compensate their insecurities with extreme measures to prove themselves because â€Å"they are only as good as their last game†. Every day athletes are looking to make that big devastating hit that will have fans jumping out of their seats, teammates giving them high fives and coaches praising them in team film sessions. They have a desire to gain a reputation that demands respects, a player with a killer instinct that opponents fear. While I agree with Coakley, it is only to a certain degree. In today’s society you must factor in the media and the commercialization of sports as well. Players understand that the big hit will gain them the respect they desire, but it will also gain a clip in ESPN’s top ten highlights. Players in today’s game have a need to be noticed and recognized by the media because it will lead to cashing in on a big time sports contract and endorsement deals. Back in the 1970’s players demanded respect because they wanted to be a tough guy which is also true today, but now they prefer to be a famous rich tough guy. Violence in sports does not only exist within the participants of sporting events either, which continues to build on the Coakley’s argument that athletes use violence in an effort to gain spectators popularity. Sports fans fighting against other fans for obscene comments toward each other, wearing the wrong jersey in the wrong section, or looking to fight players for poor performances are becoming the norm. These events are putting fans in a state of wanting, in fact needing violence in order to be satisfied with sporting events. Soccer has become a sport that is synonymous with fan violence. Soccer fans have no level of fear when it comes to violence and it has come the point that soccer players are scared of their own fans. Alexei Barrionuevo and Charles Newberry of the NY Times wrote an article discussing the extreme fan hostility and violence that occurs in Argentinian soccer. There is an organization in Argentina dedicated to ending violence in soccer named Let’s Save Football, but there existence is not enough to deter the violence. In fact the president of the organization Monica Nizzard, stated, â€Å"We don’t feel safe inside of our stadiums in Argentina†, â€Å"That is why families have stopped going. † (NY Times 2011). This is just one example of many fans creating a violent atmosphere that exists in sports today. Coalkey also describes a scene from Pat Conroy’s novel The Prince of Tides that has a coach addressing his team in a manner that puts a player in a state of mind looking to create a violent experience. However he states â€Å"many coaches don’t use such vivid vocabulary because they know it can inspire dangerous forms of violence† and then adds that these coaches seek athletes that already think that way. He is correct, but at the same time incorrect. For example, the NFL recently made headlines with the New Orleans Saints â€Å"bounty program† where MSN Fox Sports quoted defensive coordinator Greg Williams quoted as saying, We need to decide whether Crabtree wants to be a (expletive) prima donna or he wants to be a tough guy. He becomes human when we take out that outside ACL. (Associated Press 2012). Coaches are just as responsible for violence in sports as the athletes. Some coaches may not be quoted like Greg Williams was, but on both amateur and professional levels coaches prepare game speeches about going to war with the enemy†¦not go give it your best effort. Below is a recent controversial video of a football coach that may or may not have assaulted an opposing 7th grade football player depending on your side of the situation. Regardless of the opinion on his actions it makes people wonder what this coach may be saying when the camera is not on. http://network.ardbarker. com/high_school/article_external/backyard/new_video_emerges_of_youth_coach_assaulting_player/12191230? refmod=backyardrefsrc=foxsports Sports play a significant role in society and grab the attention of millions of viewers while impacting the lives of hundreds of thousands of athletes. Some athletes use violence as a basic instinct while playing sports. Some athletes will use it as a means to gain money, power and respect. Some fans will cheer for violence and some fans will jeer against it. Coaches and parents will teach their children the right and wrong of violence in sports. With all that said, violence is not doing a disappearing magic act from sports. It used to exist, still exists and will continue to exist. Throughout all of my reading for this assignment I go back to one quote from Dan Lebowitz, executive director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University in Boston†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Questioning violence in sports offers an opportunity to question humanity in general. † (Discovery News, 2012) Cited References BarrioNuevo, A and Newberry, C. (2011, Nov. 26). In Argentina, Violence is Part of the Soccer Culture. Retrieved from NYTimes. com: http://www. nytimes.com/2011/11/27/sports/soccer/in-argentina-violence-is-part-of-the-soccer-culture. html? pagewanted=all_r=0 This article discusses the extremely violent nature of soccer in Argentina. It goes into detail the actions of violent Argentinian soccer fans. It also discusses how they are attempting to put a stop to the violence. Associated Press (2012, April 06). Report: Tape Captured Bounty Offer Retrieved from Fox Sports: http://msn. foxsports. com/nfl/story/gregg-williams-instructed-new-orleans-saints-players-to-injure-san-francisco-49ers-040512 In this article the author discusses the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal. It discusses the first released quotes from Coach Greg Williams regarding the bounties. It goes into detail about the entire tape and how it impacts the bounty scandal. Issac, A. (2012, Nov. 12). MNew Video Emerges of Youth Coach Assualting Playerkes Neon- Retrieved from Fox Sports: http://network. yardbarker. com/high_school/article_external/backyard/new_video_emerges_of_youth_coach_assaulting_player/12191230? refmod=backyardrefsrc=foxsports The video clip was used as a reference. The video shows a clip of a youth football coach assaulting an opposing 7th grade player. It details the legal action taken place against the coach and how it has affected his life. The player’s mother also speaks out against the coach. Sohn, E. (2012, March 07). Is Violence in Sport Inevitable Retrieved from Discovery News: http://news. discovery. com/adventure/violence-sports-football-120307. html The author discusses violence in sports and fans reactions to violence. It discusses actual fan violence as well as the viewership reactions to violence. The author also discusses the impact violence would have on sports if it did not exist.

Why Do Financial Markets And Financial Intermediaries Exist Finance Essay

Why Do Financial Markets And Financial Intermediaries Exist Finance Essay As a branch of economics, finance has its own research method, and mainly studies financial sector in a national economy. Content of finance can be summarised as currency issue and return; deposit absorb and withdraw; loan disburse and collection; gold, silver and foreign exchange trading; securities issue and transfer; insurance; trusts; domestic and international monetary settlement and other economic activities. (John, G. Edward, S. 1960) In short, finance is the activity about funds allocation. The place which people engaged in financial activities and funds to flow in was called financial marketing. Although it is not perfect, it relate to a broad area and range of economics. Finance can be divided into two forms, which are direct finance and indirect finance. The difference between these two forms is that whether financial intermediaries get involved. Financial intermediaries are people or institutions which play the roles of intermediary are people or institutions which play the roles of intermediary or bridge between capital supplier and borrower in financial markets. However, to analysis and explain what is the role of financial market and financial intermediaries and why exist, are the main purpose of this essay. Main body 1. What is financial market. Financial markets are the markets where capital providers and capital demanders transaction through the credit instruments. Broadly speaking, financial markets are the markets can achieve monetary loans and funds allocate, deal with trading of a variety of instruments and securities. More complete definition of the financial markets is: financial markets are organisations which can trading financial assets and determine the prices of financial assets. 2. The introduction to financial market. The component of financial markets are very complicated, it is a large system which was composed of many different markets. Whereas, generally based on the trading tools period in financial markets, financial markets can be divided in money market and capital market. Money markets are the places that for trading short-term debt securities and capital markets are the places that for trading medium or long-term securities. Financial markets also can be classified according to several different features they present: 1) Type of asset traded. There are two kind of financial securities deal by financial markets, one is bonds which issued by government, banks or corporations and another one is equity shares which by government or any kind of public company. 2) The means of settlement include cash market and forward market. Cash market, the place for people to decide of price and settlement all take place today. Forward market, for people to agree price on today, and settlement takes place sometime in the future. 3) The obligation to exchange. The buyers have to pay the price which been settled before for asset on the particular date in the future market. The buyers have right to decided whether to buy asset on the date and at the price agreed in the past. 4) The organisational structure of the market. By this way, financial markets can be divided into regulated markets and over the counter market. In regul ated markets, the buyer and seller of each transaction have to enter a contract in exchange such as clearing house; the contract is represented by the clearing house. In an over the counter market, there is no clearing house and dealers just trade between themselves. 5) The method of sale or pricing. Account to this feature, financial market can be classified into market makers and dealers market. 6) The nature of transaction. In accordance with whether the assets traded are newly issued or already issued, financial market be plotted out in two parts, primary market and secondary market. Primary market is the issue of new securities market and secondary market is already issued, in circulation in the securities trading market. Financial markets have direct and significant impact in all aspects of economic activities. Such as individual wealth, enterprise management, and the efficiency of economic operation are all directly dependent on the activities of financial market. 3. What is financial intermediation. Financial intermediaries are the units of economy that absorb money from economic agents with a surplus fund and transfer it to economic agents with a deficit and provide various kinds of financial services. The main functions of financial intermediaries are credit creation, settlement of payment, the distribution of resources, information provided and risk management. 4. The introduction to financial intermediaries. As the medium of capital supplier and capital requester during the process of financial intermediary in the financial market. It has been divided into two parts by John Gurley and Edward Shaw. (1960) They are monetary system and non-monetary intermediaries. As the role of intermediary, monetary system ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s main function is purchase primary securities and the creation of money. Non-monetary intermediaries perform only the purchase primary securities and the creation of monetary claims on their intermediary role. This kind of claim is about the form of savings deposit, shares, common stock and other form of funds. There are five main categories of financial intermediaries, deposit institutions, insurance companies, mutual funds or unit trusts, investment companies or investment trusts and pension funds. These five main categories of financial intermediaries carry out the intermediation function according to different methods. 1) Deposit institutions which with the main types like commercial banks, savings institutions and building societies, can take deposits from units in economic agents with a surplus fund and lend the money gathered to economic agents in deficit. 2) Insurance companies are non-deposit institutions which can gathering funds from insurance applicant and invest them in the capital markets. 3) Mutual funds in US or Unit trusts in UK are non-deposit financial institutions; they invest in the equity and bond markets use the money that get by rising from the public. 4) Investment companies in US and investment trusts in US are publicly quoted firms that invest in financial securit ies. They put the funds from individual investors together and invest them amount a number of securities or other assets. 5) Pension funds. A pension fund is an asset pool that employees put their money in during the non-working years when employees retired. Funds always gathered by employers and handed over to pension funds. In the modern market economy, financial activities were closely with the economic operation. However, almost all the financial activities treat financial intermediaries as the center. That is why financial intermediaries play an important role in economic activities. 5. Why financial markets and financial intermediaries exist. Both financial markets and financial intermediaries can facilitate the transfer of funds from surplus to deficit units. The reason why borrowers and lenders have a need for financial markets is that financial marks have two functions, pricing function and discipline function. Financial markets can provide both buyers and sellers a fair evaluation of the assets they are buying or selling. Pricing function can avoid traders been deceived into trading or investing. Financial markets are controlled by it can help financial markets to stop issuers of securities (borrowers) doing the activities which been considered that harmful to the value of their assets. Although financial markets such securities are bought and sold, it sometimes cannot guarantee that to transfer enough capital from lenders to borrowers. Because of two clearly barriers can be identified to the direct finance process. First one is difficulty and expense of matching the complex needs of individual lenders and borrows. Second one is the financial need of lenders and borrowers are complete incompatible. Lenders require to have minimisation of risk and costs, maximisation of returns and translate financial claim into cash with the value more than or equals to capital value itself. Whereas borrowers hope the cost of funds at a particular for a period of time can be lowest. In order to deal with these problems, financial markets need financial intermediaries exist. Size transformation, maturity transformation, risk transformation, liquidity provision, costs reduction and provision of a payments system are six main functions that can help financial intermediaries to be as a bridge links borrowers and lenders easier. The explanation of those six functions will be displayed below. A) Transform the size. Because amount of the deposit which saved by depositor a small than amount of loans required by borrowers. It will be difficult for lenders to pool their money together. However, financial intermediaries can collect small amount of money and put them together to lend to people who need large amount of money. B) Maturity transformation. Most depositors prefer putting their money in short-term for safety, but borrowers generally need long-term loans for their business. Financial intermediaries can satisfy both savers and lenders by working capital. C) Risk tr ansformation. Financial intermediaries would like to take the risks if can be offered some compensation. It ensures the implementation of many risky (but profitable) projects. Because savers not willing to take great risk when they investing money but borrowers choose to borrow money when doing risk projects. D) Liquidity provision. Cash have liquidity because of saving or withdraw by depositors; it is not safe for lenders to hold highly illiquid assets to finance borrowers if financial intermediaries are not exist. E) Costs reduction. Financial intermediaries broaden the choice of the transaction side of trading, increase transaction rate under a given terms of transaction costs. It not only reduces the cost of time spent on the road, but also reduces the contingency transaction and waiting time cost in some extent. Thus, greatly reduce the transaction cost of unit. F) Provision of a payments system. Financial intermediaries provide a payments system for some non-cash payment such as cheques, debit cards and so on. Hans Wijkander (1992) thought that the main reason why financial intermediaries exist is a result of asymmetric information and expensive information products. (Hans 1992) The first category of information asymmetric is compare to other investors entrepreneurs have the information advantage of their investment, and other investors have to spend some resources for access to information. Another type of asymmetric information is about the profit which already gets by investment project. Entrepreneurs can as well as other investors have to spend time and money in order to know it. Information production on technically have professional features. It makes some individuals may become agents of other investors, is product information and obtain benefit. Therefore, this arrangement have some problem which is how can investors ensure that their agents have done their best to pass on their information. When these agents become financial intermediaries, the problem of asymmetric information ca n be solved. Financial intermediaries can gather money from public investors and invest. Under this contract structure, ethical issues have been solved. (Hans, 1992) In a word, financial markets as an important part of unified market system, can offer securities are bought and sold, and use financial intermediation to achieve the goal of transfer money from economic agents with an extra fund to economic agents with a deficit. In carrying out this function, financial intermediates can help to improve the level of investment and savings. From the lending perspective, financial intermediaries engaged in investment or primary securities investment business, its unit cost can be much lower than most of individual investor ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s investment. Only in respect of its asset size, can greatly reduce risk through diversification. Financial intermediaries have a large number of depositors which can guarantee normal payment requirement. Because of the importance of scale economy, assets and liabilities of financial intermediaries are highly specialized. These specializations not only improve their competitiveness, but also help increase their chance of survival. Information economists and transaction cost theorists thought uncertainty and the existence of transaction led to emergence of financial intermediaries, and make them have various functions like reduce transaction costs; eliminate uncertainty and the resulting risk. (Web 1) In the modern market economy, no matter trade of means of consumption or means of production, technical and labour mobility etc., they all have to be achieved by currency transfer and closely with financial markets. In this sense, developments of financial markets have a pivotal role in restricting of the development of the whole market system. Conclusion In conclusion, financial market and financial intermediates exits to guarantee the normal operation of economic activity. Although financial markets and financial intermediaries have very important functions on the healthy development of economic and society, there are some arguments of them. Like the story of  ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½blind men touching an elephant ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½, someone sees a part of the world, and overstate it, believes that he is the only correct one. In the financial markets, this kind of argument happens every day. Lot of people make decision just based on the information they have exposure to and does not consider the information from other angles. After subprime mortgage crisis, former chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan said that  ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½we have done the best, but you cannot believe that we know everything and never make mistakes ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½forecasting cannot always 100% accurate. ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½(Gao mu, 2009) It is can be seen that though th e people wisdom as the characters Greenspan, they make mistake in the view of financial markets. This shows that financial markets are difficult to mastery. To find out a way to forecast financial markets and avoid crisis can be an issue for the whole financial systems.

Glucosamine/Chondroitin Essay -- essays research papers

Do you know what the dietary supplement glucosamine/chondroitin is, does or can do? Do you know what the side effects are or if there are any? Do you know how it’s made or what it’s derived from? I didn’t think so, so that’s what I am here to tell you. I was playing lacrosse one day when I made a sudden move and that’s when it all went down hill. I tore the cartilage in my knee, the meniscus - a piece of cartilage that acts as a cushion - to be exact. A few days later I was talking to my Aunt Marie, a podiatrist, when she mentioned the dietary supplement glucosamine/contortion. First, let’s brake it down. What is glucosamine? Glucosamine is an amino sugar that is produced naturally in our bodies. Glucosamine can also be found in the shells of shellfish. Glucosamine is necessary for the construction of connective tissue and healthy cartilage. It is the building block of proteoglycans, which are large protein molecules that act like a sponge to hold water thereby giving connective tissue elasticity and cushioning effects. It also provides a buffering action to help protect against impacts that could cause damage to the surrounding area. Glucosamine helps to form tendons, ligaments, skin, nails, bones, mucous membranes, and other body tissue. Many studies have been put together to determine whether it effectively supplements our bodies’ glucosamine needs. Studies have shown that it can replace what the body can not produce. For example in one study, oral glucosamine stimulate...

Essay About Family: Waiting for Papaw :: Personal Narrative Family Grandfathers Essays

Waiting for Papaw I am under the belief that the concept of time as we know it, does not exist in hospitals. Upon entering, one loses all sense of what time it is, what day of the week it is, and how long they’ve been there. Hospitals are places of healing, of caring, of great medical advancements and live saving procedures. They are a place of second chances, of last chances, and sometimes very little chance at all. They are also a place for dying. I learned all of this and then some during the eighteen days in December that I spent at my grandfather’s bedside in Holy Spirit Hospital. My grandfather went into the hospital with the symptoms of a stroke on Saturday, December 13, 2003. He spent the first 4 days of his stay in a coma, induced by the doctors’ misdiagnosis of his condition. My grandfather had not had a stroke, in fact he had a condition in which his liver was overloaded with toxins and was shutting down. It was a problem he’d been suffering from for quite some time; however, none of his doctors had diagnosed his symptoms correctly. The sedative they gave him upon arrival in the emergency room only worsened his condition. Upon waking up, he had to be restrained to prevent him from removing his IVs and attempting to get out of bed. He improved steadily over the next few days, and we were expecting to have him home soon. Unfortunately, he was left unrestrained one evening and was able to remove his IV, catheter, and then climb out of bed. The nurses found him on the floor of his bathroom. How long he was there, we’ll never know, becaus e the time the nurses told us he was found, we know is not correct. He was given another dose of a sedative which caused him to be extremely disoriented the following morning, yet his old self was still shining through. â€Å"Papaw,† I asked upon arriving in his room that morning, â€Å"Why are you so tired today?† â€Å"Because I made 300 faustnauhts last night.† He replied without hesitation. Now, I can imagine that anyone would be tired from that, but where my grandfather came up with the word â€Å"faustnauht† instead of â€Å"donut†, I’ll never know. On Christmas Eve, after spending eleven days in the same hospital bed, he lost circulation in his left leg and had to undergo surgery.

We Must Ban Assault Weapons Essay -- argumentative, persuasive, gun con

The controversy over assault rifles is one of the most problematic issues related to the contributions of gangs, drug traffickers, and most criminal activity. More often than not, criminals have access to the weapons of their choice more easily than it should be. Getting them from licensed dealers, black markets, and family members’ homes, the availability of these militia weapons has become to effortless to obtain. The rise of criminal activity is part of the reason more than one-third of high school students have easy access to a weapon or gun. â€Å"Four out of five guns brought to school are actually brought from their own homes† (Page par 2). This is one of the biggest problems when faced with where criminals get their guns. They either steal them from relative’s homes, ask to borrow them, or steal them from licensed sellers. There are a lot of ways people can get guns. People who should not be able to purchase a firearm are allowed t o, and illegal transactions are also a huge issue with criminals getting their guns. For all these reasons that is why Government should require restricted gun ownership to protect society, prevent crime, and allow for recreational use. Assault weapons have been labeled as the number one source for mass killings in America. The idea that a weapon can fire a large amount of bullets at a remarkable speed can be used for recreational use was thought of otherwise. This type of weaponry was made for one reason and that is to eliminate as many people as possible and accomplish it in a reasonably fast time. The problem is everywhere and to help control the issue the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence is the nation’s largest organization dedicated to enacting and enforcing gun... ...laws protect the society. They need to understand that bans and laws work and that they need to be enforced more strictly so the people of the nation can feel safe and protected. The nation has brought many new ideas to try to solve the issue on illegal gun selling and gun traffickers. They have provided with legislation laws on gun control, the declining of allowing fully-automatic weapons to be legal in this country to keep all citizens safe. All of the proposals that legislation has introduced do a great job in monitoring the selling and purchasing of weapons that should not be bought and sold. If the country wants us to be safe and protected by our government, they need to know that bans and laws on assault weapon works and saves lives of the American people and that there needs to be cooperation with them so the bans and laws can stay strict and strong.

It260 Midterm Study Guide

1 – Two basic types of computers that can be on an enterprise network are: Clients and Servers 2 – Which role creates a single sign-on environment by implementing trust relationships that enable users on one network to access applications on other networks w/o providing a secondary set of logon credentials? Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS) 3 – ________ enables administrators to create and enforce storage quotas, specify file types that are permitted on network volumes, and generate storage reports. File Server Resource Manager (FSRM) – By using _________ installation option of WinSvr2008, you get a stripped-down version of the OS that shows a single window w/ a cmd prompt. Windows Server Core 5 – Windows Deployment Services requires two types of image files to perform remote client installations, a ______ image and an install image. Boot Image 6 – Which role service w/n IIS enables the Web Server to forward incoming requests for a specific URL to another URL? HTTP Redirection 7 – IIS7 uses a generic request pipeline that is modular in nature.The component that manages the request pipeline, the server’s application pools, and the worker processes is called? Windows Process Activation Service (WPAS) 8 – Which feature of IIS7 enables you to publish content found on different drives or different computers on a network, w/o copying or moving the content? Virtual Directory 9 – Which feature of IIS7 is used to associate each incoming request w/ one particular Web Site, helping the protocol listener to identify each site request? Site Bindings 10 – To use FTP7, you must install it in a WinSvr 2008 computer that is already running the role.Web Server (ISS) Role 11 – While configuring a DNS server to perform reverse name resolutions, you must create records for the addresses you want the server to resolve. Pointer (PTR) 12 – IIS7 supports several authentication methods. Of these, the only method that is integrated into an IIS7 installation by default and used for Internet Web or FTP sites is _________. Anonymous Authentication 13 – IIS7’s Windows Authentication module supports two authentication protocols, Kerberos and _______. NTLM v2 14 – NTFS permissions are realized as, which consist of two basic types of _______, Allow and Deny.ACL & ACE 15 – When a client obtains a Web server’s certificate, its ability to decrypt the server’s encrypted transmission using the server’s, the system represented in the certificate. Public 16 – Web applications use a three-tiered architecture: The first tier is the client browser application, the second tier is a Web Server, and the third tier is a ____________. Database Server 17 – Which protocol enables a Web Server to run an application specified in a client request and pass the request to that application for processing? CGI 8 – __________ is an XML-based directory service that enables businesses to publish listings about their activities and the services they offer. UDDI 19 – _________ is the standard email protocol for the Internet. SMTP 20 – _________ enables developers to create dynamic Web pages, Web applications, and XML Web services using a wide variety of programming languages and development tools. asp. net 21 – If ________ is used as the method of obtaining multimedia, content cannot begin playing until the file transfer is complete. downloading 2 – Media streaming is always a trade-off b/t ___________ and signal quality. Bandwidth 23 – On-demand streaming begins when the user requests it. ___________ begins at a prearranged time and is typically used for live content. Broadcast 24 – Unlike Windows Media Services, ___________ is not a role; it has its Sharepoint Services 25 – What method will you use to impose limitations – such as who can play it, what d evices they can use, and how often they can play – on your multimedia content in order to control access to it? Windows Media Rights Manager

Two Countries Possess Two Different Educational Sytems

Is Another Country’s Educational System Better? Doubtlessly, different countries may have different educational systems but who knows which of them is better. I am an international student who came from Malaysia, a country which is located in Southeast Asia then came to the United States, a country which is far apart from my home country, to pursue a higher education. Many of my friends often ask me whether Malaysia or the United States is better but I could not answer them with certainty because I think each country is inimitable.Although the duration that I have been to the states is not long, I discovered that the education systems are distinct between my home country and the United States. Thus, each country has its own peculiarity as there are certain dissimilarities in the educational system in terms of rules and grading systems that exist between two nations. First of all, the contrast of regulations in educational system is one of the factors that lead the country into the current position in the world today. Undeniable, most of the schools in Asia, such as Malaysia, have tougher rules than in the United States.For example, school uniform and restrictions on hairs are mandatory for pupils during their student career. This motivation is because the government thinks that pupils will look more organized and professional as in the appearance. In the contrary, students in the United State are much more unrestrained as they are permitted to wear any type of clothing that they enjoy wearing. Both of the guidelines in each country are correct but the one which is using in my home country will affect the cogitation of the students because of the restriction on selection that they were accustomed to.Not only that, pupils have no rights and is not allowed to converse while the lecturer is instructing because it is considered as an interruption if you intent to speak to anyone. While in the United State, students always inquire the instructor regarding to t he hesitation they have in mind immediately, unlike the students in my country. They are encouraged to exchange their own opinions with teachers. In short, the rules and regulations in both countries are different, but it is not up to us to make a judgment if one nation is superior over another because they are unique in their own way.Moreover, apart from school’s ordinances, these two places use different approaches in the assessment system. Unquestionably, most of the Asia countries focus on the examination more than the students’ participation in the class. For example, students can still receive an outstanding grade even if they do not submit their homework according to the schedule that the instructor, as long as they study for the examination. As a matter of fact, this system is not equitable for those pupils that participate in the class as they only achieve the equal result with the students that do not engage in the class.Furthermore, in one essay, it was stat ed that teachers nowadays focus on teaching the materials that were based on the test which can help students to achieve better scores, but would cause a decreasing level of knowledge for this generation’s students. On the other hand, the scoring system in America is a reverse version of my home country. It is unthinkable for students here to attain an â€Å"A† even when they score wonderful marks for all of their tests because the system here concentrate more on the participation of students, but not just the scores.Unlike Malaysia, lecturers in America help pupils to obtain and absorb knowledge which can benefit themselves in the rest of their lives. Hence, these two regions possess distinct grading systems, but is the reason why they are incomparable. In conclusion, the education system that each country is having now makes them unconventional; we could not decide whether it is wrong or right. Irrefutably, without doubt, some people would think that the system in Am erica is better because of its current status in the world today but nobody can determine it.On the opposite side, the system in my home country, which is Malaysia, is more rigorous than where I am studying now. However, I could not tell which of them is better because both of them possess its own weaknesses and strengths. Even though we do not like some of the systems in education, we should adapt and acquire knowledge in the way it is formulated as. Every nation has a different educational system, but nobody can decide which of them is better.

Rbs – Case Study Example

Case Study Example Section I: Summary of Background and Facts Reliance Baking Soda was discovered by James Stewart Augusta in 1915. He called it the â€Å"miracle compound. † It was founded to serve as a leavening agent in baked goods to let them rise properly. With the invent of self-rising flour and instant cake mixes, baking soda’s original use importance declined. With this decline, Stewart Corporation started promoting baking soda for a myriad of other uses, which include household cleaner, laundry aid, and deodorizer.Reliance baking soda holds a 70% market share. They produce three box sizes, 8oz, 1lb, and 5lbs. The 1lb box holds almost 50% of the sales volume. Reliance has excellent brand awareness and customer loyalty. Stewart Corporation is comprised of four divisions. Reliance Baking Soda (RBS) is in the household division. Anna Regnante was promoted Domestic Brand Director for RBS. She was placed in charge of increasing Reliance’s profit by 10% in 2008 . The Household Division is planning to introduce two new product launches in 2008.According to Chris Dale, Managing Director for Stewart’s Household Products Division, they need the incremental profit increase from RBS to â€Å"fund the marketing launch expenses for the new products. † (Quelch & Beckham, 2009, p1) Regnante needs to figure out how she can generate the required profit growth for the old-fashioned, mainstay product of baking soda. Section II: Statement of the core problems Regnante’s core problem is figuring out what marketing mix to use to increase Reliance Baking Soda’s profit by 10% in 2008. One of the main problems with RBS is the current lack of advertising.Regnante’s predecessor had cut the consumer promotion budget in half. Advertising is a key component in making sure the brand’s product is marketed to its consumers. RBS did not properly advertise the significance for what all baking soda could be used to do, which inc ludes outdoor cleaning, baby care, pet care, and a myriad of other things. RBS had established brand awareness and loyalty with customers; but, they needed to educate the customers and position the brand through advertisements which can give RBS more of a competitive advantage. Decreasing the amount of money allocated owards advertising was not a wise choice, especially, when the company needed to revamp how baking soda was marketed. The trade promotions were effective in moving the product; however, they accounted for around 73% of total sales. This led to the company only selling around 25% of RBS at regular prices, which could be leaving RBS a lot less profitable. The trade was overbuying during the promotional periods, which caused inconsistencies in regular purchasing patterns of the product. Another issue was with the cooperative advertising program.Regnante was concerned that RBS was not getting sufficient advertising in exchange for the trade promotions. In fact, she found t hat â€Å"Advertising trade support for RBS is much lower than our branded competitors. †(Quelch & Beckham, 2009, p. 5) RBS also rarely advertised in retail stores, magazines, or television commercials. If RBS was more diverse with advertising, then, they would be able to capture their target audience in other ways. Section III: Secondary Problems Reliance Baking Soda lacked in providing different promotional discounts to grocery stores.By not providing promotional discounts for grocery stores, the store managers did not have a creative way to attract customers into the store to purchase baking soda. Grocery store chains thought that the Reliance Baking Soda needed to market their products better because baking soda was a boring product. Reliance Baking Soda does not manufacture for private label brands. Therefore, their market share decreased. This lack of going after the private label market has caused the RBS to lose 5% of its market share to private label brands.Reliance Baking Soda was the market leader, so, if they were able to manufacture private labels brands they would have not loss 5% market share; and its overall market share could have increase. Also, a problem existed with trade promotion events due to the fact that the company did not negotiate or set a price with the trade on what to sale its products for when they were purchased during a trade promotion. By not having set promotional retail prices, the trade was allowed to stock up on inventory at reduced prices. They did not have to extend the savings to the consumer.This ultimately caused a loss in profit for RBS. To make matters worse, these trade promotions often overlapped with consumer promotions. Therefore, it is hard to tell what the actual real incremental profits for the promotions were. Section IV: Constraints and Limitations Besides the problems listed in the above sections, Reliance Baking Soda is constrained and limited by the fact that baking soda is in the mature part of its life cycle. When a product reaches maturity, there is no room for traditional growth. The product must discover new uses.RBS is not a â€Å"wow† product that can be categorized as a necessity; therefore, it must be aggressive in its advertising in order to stimulate further purchase. The product was old-fashioned and needed some ‘refurbishment’ to make it attractive to the target market. The need for RBS nose-dived, following the introduction of self-rising flour and instant cake mixes. Naturally, it would be cheaper for bakeries to move to baking soda and reduce costs. This was a very big setback for RBS, as the market leader and the largest provider of the â€Å"miracle compound. Randall Todd, an Account Manager, for several of the major grocery chains, stated that even though the product was physically placed on the store shelves, it was not â€Å"visible† to the consumer. It was a very slow moving product, which needed â€Å"a lot of push marketi ng to stimulate trade interest. † (Quelch & Beckham, 2009, p. 2). Randall further observed that it was â€Å"not a natural traffic builder, it does not have high turnover, and it is boring. †(Quelch & Beckham, 2009, p. 2). RBS needed promotional methods which would turn the tide in their favor. According to Exhibit 3, RBS had â€Å"low advertising recall. There was greater need to refocus marketing communication efforts. Another limitation was the continual price increase for baking soda over the last 5 years. The price changes were not good because it had a negative impact on the numbers of cases that were shipped to the stores. This could lead to stores choosing a competitor’s brand or selling more of its private label brand. The final limitation is that RBS being a mature product is sold on the push system. The household sales force is paid based on quarterly sales quotas. This allows the sales staff to wait on trade promotions to sell the product.Therefore, they are not concerned with the day to day sales of RBS. Section V: Alternative Solutions Reliance Baking Soda must increase profit in its household division by 10% in 2008. In deciding how to do this, Regnante must decide what to do about the trade promotions, consumer promotions and advertising. Since baking soda is a mature product, a push system has been implemented at RBS using a quarterly quota system. In order to deal with the problem of 73% of factory shipments being sold using trade promotions, a new monthly quota system could be placed in service.This would make the sales force focus on selling baking soda all throughout the year, not just when promotions are in place. Another option is to totally revamp the co-op advertising reimbursement system. At this time retailers are not promoting the product with the same size ads of RBS’s competitors. RBS offers a 5% of invoice incentive for any ad. RBS should offer 50% of the ad cost up to a certain percentage of the invoi ce for a purchase made within 45 days of the ad. The ad also needs to be submitted for approval prior to the ad being placed.RBS needs to make sure that their co-op advertising plan states what an acceptable ad size is. This will encourage the retailers to do local advertising for RBS. The third option would be to increase the advertising and consumer promotions through event advertising. With this option, RBS could focus on important events like Earth Day. They could create a whole marketing campaign around this event and others like it. Another option would be to mount an internet campaign on the alternative uses of baking soda. This alternative would not involve huge cash outlays.RBS could create blogs on websites as well as have a complete interactive website devoted to helping the consumer understand the myriad of uses for baking soda. The final option is to focus on pushing the product through trade promotions. RBS could offer 10-15% off total invoice price several times durin g the year to make sure that our product is being shipped. With this increased trade promotion, RBS could list a lower suggested retail price on the promotional packages, so that stores will have to pass the savings along to their customers. This would alleviate the problem of purchasing simply to increase revenue.Section V: Implementation of Best Alternative The best solution is to take a holistic marketing approach and incorporate a marketing plan that uses trade promotions, consumer promotions and advertising in conjunction with one another. This approach should focus on event marketing for its major advertising expenditures. One such event that lends itself to the promotion of the different uses for baking soda is Earth Day. With more and more of the American population focusing on Eco-friendly products, RBS can showcase baking soda as being a one stop wonder.RBS should partner with Earth Day events and hand out 2oz samples with pamphlets on how baking soda is an environmentally safe cleaning agent. It should list all of the possible uses of the eco-friendly baking soda. The pamphlet could, also, reference RBS’s Eco-pack, which will include a $1. 00 off rebate. RBS can package 1 lb boxes of baking soda in twin packs called Eco-packs. The packaging should have new ideas of how to use baking soda in environmental friendly ways. Since this is a special packaging product, RBS should offer a trade promotion on the twin pack only for the six weeks starting the first of March.This promotion should consist of buy eleven cases, get one free. During this time RBS should also beef up television, print and internet advertising, which all should include the environmental aspect of the product. To coincide with the company’s marketing efforts, RBS should offer an incentive for the trade to promote RBS through advertising. RBS could pay for 50% of the advertisement cost attributable the RBS product, up to 5% of a total invoice purchase within 45 days of the advertisement this promotion would run through the entire month of April.Other events that could be marketed include the Start of Summer, Fire Prevention Month and the Holiday Season. For the start of summer, RBS should focus its advertising efforts on its uses for outdoor cleaning, pool, camping and weed removal. This is not a traditional high volume time; therefore, they should also use their trade partners by offering the same advertising incentives that were offered during the Earth Day promotion during the months of May and June. Since RBS can be used to put out certain fires. The company should focus on fire safety and prevention during the month of October.RBS could put a pamphlet and a $. 25 coupon in the bags that children traditionally bring home from school during this month. The pamphlet should focus on key fire safety initiatives and highlight RBS commitment to fire prevention and uses of RBS in fire situations. During the first three weeks in October, RBS should offer a trade promotion of 10% off invoice prices on all sizes. This will help the trade partners get ready for the upcoming holiday season. The final event marketing campaign of the year should focus on the holiday season and getting your home in tip-top shape for the holiday’s in a health conscious manner.RBS should again partner with other Household Division products to advertise nationally how to get your home ready for the holidays. This ad should run in the October/November editions of top Women’s magazines. It should also offer a contest for a $10,000 kitchen makeover. This contest will be open to the purchasers of the products advertised in the magazines. This will also be advertised on the internet and through POP displays in the stores. During the months of October and November, RBS should offer its co-op advertising promotion as defined in the Earth Day section.Section VI: Justification Since Reliance is in the maturity stage of its life cycle, it is important fo r them to focus on extending the usage rate and repositioning itself in the market. According to Shaeffer (2009), â€Å"As a market matures, the customer buys solutions and not products. † Therefore, it becomes more vital to focus advertising efforts on new ways of using baking soda. By focusing on event marketing, Reliance can help the consumers understand all the possible uses of traditional baking soda.This increased knowledge will drive the sale of baking soda to the levels needed to meet the 10% profit increase of the household division. To increase the profit by 10% the Profit before SG&A, Overhead and Taxes needs to be $20,587,000. The event marketing campaign proposed will increase the profit to $20,974,000, which well exceeds the 10% increase. The 2008 Profit and Loss Budget is listed as Exhibit 1. This budget was prepared based upon historical cost and sales data to gauge the response level of both the trade and consumer promotions. Exhibit 1 Reliance Baking SodaPro fit and Loss Budget For the Year Ended December 31, 2008 | | | | | |2007E |2008 | |Manufacturer's Price Per Case | | | | | |8oz | | | |7. 2 |7. 2 | | |1lb. | | | |12. 02 |12. 02 | | |5lb. | | | |54. 28 |54. 8 | | | | | | | | | |Factory Shipments (in 000's of cases) | | | | |8oz | | | |714 |883 | | |1lb | | | |1226 |1531 | | |5lb | | | |648 |660 | | | | | | | | | |Variable Manufacturing Cost Per Case | | | | |8oz. | | | |3. 38 |3. 38 | | |1 lb. | | | |5. 58 |5. 58 | | |5 lbs. | | | |24. 8 |24. | | | | | | | | | |Gross Sales | | | | 55,051 | 60,585 | |Variable Manufacturing Cost | | 25,325 | 27,896 | |Gross Margin | | | | 29,726 | 32,690 | | | | | | | | | |Advertising | | | | | | | |TV | | | 3,815 | 4,300 | | |Print | | | | 694 | 1,000 | | |Internet | | | | 248 | 300 | |Total Advertising | | | 4,757 | 5,600 | |PR/Media Production Cost | | 198 | 297 | |Consumer Promotion | | | 551 | 839 | |Trade Promotion | | | 5,505 | 4,980 | | | | | | | | | |Total Marketing Expense | | | 11,011 | 11, 716 | | | | | | | | | |Profit before SG&A, Overhead and taxes | $ 18,715 | $ 20,974 | Works Cited Shaeffer, Lee. (2009, October 14). Maximize Product Profitability as the Market Matures. Product Management Library of Knowledge. Retrieved October 1, 2010, from http://www. aipmm. com/html/newsletter/archives/000359. php

The Impact of Railroads in America

Nineteenth century America was a time of rapid growth and expansion. The movement of settlers further and further west accompanied by technological advances led to the major growth of cities and industries across the American frontier. However, it was the major innovations of transportation that had the most significant impact on the expansion of Midwestern and western America. The construction of canals and roads led to the increase in the use of stagecoaches, steamboats, and ultimately railroads. Railroads became extremely popular in America in the 1800’s. The railroad industry itself began to boom; it was supported by its reputation for speed and efficiency. But, along with the booming industry of railroads came the strong debate that plagued Congress for years: should railroads be constructed as the major source of transportation over roads and canals? Although roads had become increasingly popular, the railroad industry was also viewed as being monopolistic, undemocratic, and unsafe. Despite the fact that railroads were sometimes monopolistic and undemocratic in that respect, railroads proved to be most vital in the expansion of the Midwest and western America. It was the use of railroads over all other methods of transportation that aided in communication, the transportation of goods, and ultimately decreased the costs of transportation, all of which contributed to the expansion of the American frontier. Before the rise of railroads, stagecoaches and steamboats dominated the transportation industry. Stagecoaches were an effective means of transportation, but in the early 1800’s they were accompanied by Robert Fulton’s invention–the steamboat. The steamboat was a â€Å"combined river and overland transport system† that proved to be effective in transporting goods and people. These locomotives were able to travel the rivers from the north and provide military posts and plantations with goods in the south while transporting passengers and immigrants. Prior to railroads, steamboats were the major and often only form of transporting settlers and maintaining communication between certain areas. Yet, the rise of railroads led to the inevitable fall of the steamboats, and the railroads took over as the major method of transportation. Although stagecoaches and steamboats were effective means of transportation, they were soon surpassed by railroads as the preferred method of travel. Railroads began blanketing America in the 1820’s and by the 1860’s over 30,626 miles where covered by the railroads. This rapid growth of railways was due to the fact that railroads offered better economy, speed, and reliability than other methods of transportation at that time. First, a cheaper alternative to traveling by stage or steamboat was to use the railways. Railroad companies offered low-fare excursion rates that made it more economical to travel. Overall, the cost of transportation was reduced by $150 million by 1859 due to the economic advantages of traveling by rail. Another advantage the railroads had over stages and steamboats was its high rate of speed. Railroads were two times as fast as stagecoaches and four times as fast as steamboats (Shi, 499). Also, the railroads were much more reliable than the roads or canals. Railroads had the ability to travel all year long with few limitations, while both stagecoaches and steamboats had difficulty traveling during the winter months, â€Å"at no time†¦ was stagecoach travel more trying and difficult than during cold, winter months† (Winther, 72). With that in mind, steamboats could not function or operate when the canals were frozen over. These difficulties were all contributing factors in the expansion of the railroad industry. With railroads quickly becoming the preferred method of travel, the demand began to rise and railroads were being built in high numbers in order to accommodate the increasing demand. The more railroads that were available meant more and more industries could use them to transport goods. There was better communication between the east and west, and people could also use the railroads to travel throughout the states. And it was there that railroads began to have a significant impact on the development and expansion of American society. At the peak of expansion in the 1800’s, communication between the east and west was at the forefront of importance. A document from the State of Pennsylvania regarding railways in 1825 remarked that there is extreme â€Å"importance and necessity of effecting a communication between the eastern and western divisions of the commonwealth† (Wade, 5). The appearance of the railroads in the early 19th century decreased and nearly diminished the communication gap as it provided a reliable and speedy method of communication. As the railroads became more prominent across the United States, the western states naturally became linked to the Midwestern and eastern states through the Union Pacific Railroad. This railroad running from the east coast to the west coast opened up new doors in trans-continental communication. Businesses between the east and the west were able to communicate more effectively, and thus, trans-continental trade became more defined throughout the United States. The mail services began using railroads as well, which was a large factor in improving communication across the US. Trans-continental communication was broadened simply by the increased number of people traveling across the country. And, even when the railroads seemed an impractical method of transportation, â€Å"they might make possible long lines of communication otherwise impracticable† (Haney, 183). So, railroads played an important role in broadening communication between the east and the west. Another factor that was directly benefited from the widespread use of railroads was the transportation of goods between the states. Before the rise of railroads, interstate trade was limited. Most goods were transported by way of boat, which was a slow, expensive transportation method limited to the water, or by wagons. Also, the types of goods that were transported were limited as well. Perishable items, which were potential victims to bacteria and spoilage, could not be preserved on boats, and therefore could not be traded throughout the states. These were inefficient methods of the transportation of goods. On the other hand, railroads allowed for better inter-continental trade. The rail cars themselves could carry heavier loads of goods at higher speeds than boats or wagons, which made them extremely efficient methods for trade. Furthermore, goods transported on railroads faced a lower risk of damage or breakage than by boats because land travel is much more uniform in motion than water travel. Oppositely, canals posed a high risk of damage to the transported goods: â€Å"much damage has been received by goods from the roughness of the water† (Wade, 41). With regards to perishable goods, the railroads offered safer traveling conditions by eliminating the bacteria produced by stagnant water as well as dust particles. Some rail cars even served as â€Å"refrigerators†, so meat could be transported across the country. Of course, the tremendous speed of the railroads contributed to their efficiency in the transportation of goods. Along with communication and trade, the railroads made a significant change in the overall cost of transportation. First, railroads could be constructed across the country at one-third of the expense to build a single canal. This was primarily due to the on land construction, which took one-third of the time to build than canals, so workers were not being paid for such an extended period of time (Wade, 6). The railroads offered greater promise in making more money because they could be used for every season, all year long. The costs decreased even after the construction of railroads. The tolls on canals were expensive while the tolls on railroads were only one-third the cost per ton of that of canals. Also, railroads were preserved and repaired more easily than canals. While the cost to repair canals was extremely expensive, railroads were repaired at one-third the cost. When repairs were needed there was no delay for the passengers or the goods because it was quite customary to transfer from one rail station to another (Wade, 35). The decreased costs to build and repair both contributed to the lower rates of travel for the passengers. Railroad rates were based on cost, determined by weight, distance, and grade, not on profit. These decreased costs were important in promoting the railway industry because they offered such affordable means of traveling for their passengers. Overall, the rise of railroads across the United States in the 1800’s led to great benefits in communication, the transport of goods, and the overall decrease in cost of transportation. These factors all played important roles in the expansion of America. Breakthroughs in communication and trade led to the rise of major cities and industries. The low rates offered by the railways allowed affordable means of transportation for all people, which brought more and more settlers westward. Oscar Winther relates that â€Å"the building of these western railroads had been in a very real sense frontier enterprises; they were, by and large, gigantic thrusts into and across the heretofore unsettled domain† (Winther 116). It was, in fact, the railroads that led to the ultimate expansion of the American frontier.