Destin Brass Products

Destin Brass Products Co. Case 1. Cost: Material $22 Set-up Labor $0. 48 Direct Labor $6. 4 Machine Depreciation (0. 2 hours per unit *$25 per hour of use) $5 Receiving and Material Handing (78% * $220000/4000) $42. Engineering (50%*$100000/4000) $12. 5 Packing and Shipping (73%*$60000/4000) $10. 95 Maintenance (7%*$30000/4000) $0. 525 Total Cost per Flow Controller $100. 755 2 Cost| Traditional| Revised| ABC| Set-up| 16. 45%| 71. 43%| 71. 43%| Machine Depreciation| 16. 45%| 7. 4%| 7. 4%| Receiving & Handling| 16. 45%| 19. 2%| 78%|Engineering| 16. 45%| 7. 4%| 50%| Packing & Shipping| 16. 45%| 7. 4%| 73%| Maintenance| 16. 45%| 7. 4%| 7%| 0. 4*4000*16/9725*16 = 16. 45% 12*10/168 = 71. 43% 0. 2 * 4000/10800 = 7. 4% 3. Under the traditional cost accounting system, the company allocated the total overhead cost assigned to production on the basis of production-run labor cost. The unit labor cost of flow controllers is $6. 4. The unit overhead cost allocated to it is only $28. 10. When u sing the revised cost accounting system, the company allocated the overhead cost based on machine hours.The machine hour of flow controllers is the lowest among the three products. So whether the company uses direct labor dollars or machine hours, the overhead costs allocated to flow controllers are relatively low since they consume less of this cost basis. When use ABC system, the company allocates the overhead cost on the basis of transactions. Among all the products, the company spends 78% of its receiving and materials handling, 73% of packing and shipping and 50% of engineering efforts on flow controllers.Since flow controller production use most of the transactions, the costs assigned to flow controllers are higher under ABC than they are under the traditional cost accounting system. 4. After using the ABC costing system, more overhead costs are allocated to flow controllers and less to valves and pump. Since other factors are stay the same, the net income for valves and pumps will increase and the net income for flow controllers will decrease. Income does not change.

Only God can be the source of moral awareness Essay

Moral awareness is sometimes referred to as the human conscience, it supposedly separates us from other animals and allows us to function as a society. A moral is a value that we live our lives by and each one contributes to a moral code of conduct which then becomes a country’s laws. This essay focuses on the ideas of Kant and Newman, who believed the source of moral awareness could potentially be God, and Freud and Russell whose views oppose religious ones. Some key ideas used are the Moral Argument, Psychoanalytic theory of personality, and the Euthyphro Dilemma. Kant’s understanding of moral awareness was that it consisted of universal moral laws that everyone knows of and are obligated to follow; these laws do not vary between cultures or throughout time. An example of an objective moral law would be that we shouldn’t commit murder. A moral action might be to help an elderly person across a busy road. We would perform this moral action- or others- out of duty, obligation and reasoning. To discover the correct action to perform in a situation we apply moral reasoning- otherwise known as the categorical imperative. This is like a test that enables us to identify our moral duty. When deciding whether to lie or tell the truth, for instance, we consult the categorical imperative. These ideas helped Kant to formulate his Moral Argument for the existence of God. Humans, he said, have a sense of innate moral awareness that burdens us with the obligation to be virtuous. True virtue is logically rewarded with happiness, but we’re incapable of rewarding ourselves. He called the state in which virtue and happiness coincide the ‘summum bonum’, and the only way to ensure this state is reached is by the existence of a God. Summum Bonum can then be reached in a form of afterlife, explaining why we feel the constant pressure from our conscience to do the right thing, even when it won’t directly benefit us. Importantly though, Kant didn’t explicitly say that God was the source of moral awareness, but that human reason was and that this reason was provided by God. Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890) had similar views on the source of moral awareness, he said: â€Å"We feel responsibility, are ashamed,  are frightened at transgressing the voice of conscience, this implies that there is one to whom we are responsibl e.† By this he means that the existence of conscience implies that we are answerable to someone who provided moral laws, and that the law-giver is in all probability God. On the other hand, Freud would disagree with Kant and Newman, because morals aren’t objective and consistent as they claim them to be. Freud noticed the differences in ethical values and actions, and attributed them to social conditioning. He said that the area of our mind- the superego contains the reasoning ability to make decisions, it’s our conscience. Freud said our conscience is shaped by people involved in our early developed- parents and teachers. These people pass on their moral values to us through socialisation, which is the process where we acquire a personal identity and learn values, social skills and behaviour from other in society. This version of the source of our conscience accounts for the subjective values seen in the people of the world and can be used as evidence against God as the source of moral awareness. Another who felt God was an unsatisfactory explanation for the origin of moral awareness was Bertrand Russell. He reformulated Plato’s Euthyphro Dilemma, wherein Euthyphro is unable to solve the question of whether a thing is good because God commands it, or if God says something is good due to a quality it has? Euthyphro didn’t know what that quality could be. Russell presents the argument that either God isn’t good, or He’s not the most powerful being. God isn’t good if Divine Command Theory (morality is the revealed will and commands of God) is correct, as this would demean God’s goodness by making His most important quality power. Also, by this logic, any immoral act could become moral if God was to say so- for example, murder would be acceptable if God said so, yet we would still know from our conscience that murder is wrong. The second problem is even worse for Christians to accept, as by definition God is the most powerful being. However, if He acknowledges a moral code superior to Him, that we must abide by, God wouldn’t be the Divine Being at all. This argument suggests that God is not the source of moral awareness and instead implies that either there is something superior to God where the moral code originated, or that  conscience simply exists without an outside being’s intervention. In conclusion, God is not necessarily the source of moral awareness, as there’s no solid evidence that this is the case. Other proposals have been made by people such as Freud- conscience could be the result of our upbringing or just something that is naturally occurring in humans. The statement ‘only God can be the source of moral awareness’ is therefore incorrect.

Joint Venture Investment Appraisal Report Assignment

Joint Venture Investment Appraisal Report - Assignment Example This essay stresses that NPV calculates the net value of the investment while taking into consideration the changing value of cash. This method tries to calculate the amount need to be invested to attain certain annual revenue in a specified period of time. The value of money will be affected by interest rates payable on a certain investment. This method is good in comparing alternative investments. NPV assumes a constant capital gearing. This rarely happens as constant refinancing the project will be needed according to. This method cannot be used in environments where companies are facing capital rationing. Capital rationing is where there is a limitation to the amount that can be invested. In this situation it is important to use both profitability indexing and NPV to evaluate the viability of an investment. This paper makes a conclusion that discounting of trade bills is a short-term financing method that many corporate can enjoy. This method is widely used in Asia and Europe making it a perfect method for short-term finance for IFM. It can be used for both international and domestic finance needs. Companies holding bills get to cash them before they mature through a bank. The cashing of the bills is through a discount. Development Banks – financing can be sort from development backs which operate in many countries. They fund large companies and large projects. The investment needs of IFM qualify them to get a long term loan from a development bank. Asian countries are likely to offer incentives to companies of the size of IFM so as to invest in the country.

Illustrate and discuss the simple keynesian model. What are its policy Essay

Illustrate and discuss the simple keynesian model. What are its policy implications - Essay Example nt of time, government intervention was the prime needs to stabilize the economy and role of the government gets severely distorted under an open economy. The following is a very simple representation of his theory known as the Simple Keynesian Model. For the above-mentioned model we assume that the aggregate price level is fixed. The central idea of Keynesian model is the output to be at the equilibrium level, it has to be equated with the aggregate demand. If ‘Y’ stands for total output, that is, the GDP and ‘E’ equals the aggregate demand, then equilibrium condition requires: The aggregate demand or the desired expenditures on output is a summation of household consumption or ‘C’, desired business investment demand or ‘I’, and government expenditure or ‘G’ (government expenditure is nothing but the government sector’s demand for goods and services). Incorporating all these components into the equilibrium condition, the equilibrium condition can be written as: Now, national income or ‘Y’ in general can be decomposed into three parts – one part of the national income gets consumed (C), one part gets paid in taxes (T) and the rest is saved (S). So we may write: So, the equilibrium condition for output in Simple Keynesian Model is desired business investment equal to realized investment. At any disequilibria situation, (Ir – I) will either be greater than or less than zero. Ir and I may differ in the following ways. In the above case, (Ir-I) represents the unintended inventory accumulation. This is the amount by which the total output level surpasses the aggregate demand and will result in the unsold output that exceeds the level of desired inventory of the firms. In this situation there is an inventory shortfall of (I-Ir) which is again undesired or unintended. Here demand exceeds production and the firms end up selling more than planned. Thus inventory falls short of the desired level. The equilibrium is reached where Ir=I. It

Business strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Business strategy - Essay Example To start with, political and legal factors such as government instability, taxation law, legislation law, employment law, safety regulation, and foreign policy regulation. It is already been observed that future political decisions, such as alteration to taxes, will affects the trade of these retail businesses. As this is not enough, the retailers have found themselves following safety regulation policies (Carpenter, 2011:74). The report released by Reuters Business Insight shows that retail businesses continue to grow, but economic challenges seem to heighten up. The records on inflation rates, unemployment ratios, collapse of the global economy have characterized the industry. The Reuters have narrowed this trend as resulting in worldwide change in trade economies. The same conclusions carry the load of blame for the resultant changes in the retail industry. Notably, the financial instability affected sales of expensive product and consumer spending rate cut down. During recession, according to Euro monitor Market Research, inflation is inevitable hence affecting the trend in market prices of goods (Amato and Amato, 2012:436). Social factors still pose as a challenge to the Trade Industry. According to Reuters Business Insight, population statistics, lifestyle changes, consumer trends, and income distribution ratings have all influenced the Retail Industry. Even though the inclusion of technology comes as a boost in Today’s world, it has influenced the modalities of Retail Industry. The speed of technology, use of the internet, and innovation of new technologies in everyday business world create a challenge to the Retail Business. This has affected the supply chain since the promotion, and supply chain management links innovative come too quick to some retailers. Majority of them though offer their products through online (Newman & Cullen, 2002:120) Moreover, environmental factors hamper the development of these Retail Industries. Through company repor ts, the issues related to sustainability, environmental protections, desertification, and recycling impede their progress. Competitive Environment The internal competition in the retail industry is inevitable given the existing market and foreseeable innovations. The diversification of the market has rendered it so competitive, and this has seen the installed independent retailers overpowered by the continual rise of chain stores. In order to reach a wide variety of customers, the retailers have resulted in stocking large in these chain stores. This creates a barrier for the beginners. The industry is mature enough in terms of the industry life cycle making it impossible for fresh entrance to survive with the already existing stores. In addition, the power of suppliers has created a relevant competition, especially the bargaining power between retailers and suppliers on prices and supply. The probability of existing retailers taking more from existing and new suppliers is much possi ble as you compare this with any new vendor. Suppliers can easily establish links with existing product manufactures leaving an open chance to the power of buyers on the same product. Because of available alternatives, the buyer is able to go for the best available alternative. This results from standardization and undifferentiated products in the markets leading to lowering of products (LOUIS and Christie, 2012:438). Substitution of product is another way through which competition has entered

Abortion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Abortion - Essay Example serious problems, such as when the birth of a child can result in the death of his/her mother or the child was conceived through rape and its birth will have an extremely negative role on the rest of the woman’s life. Nevertheless, despite the fact that the supporters of abortion point out rather strong factors in favor of abortion, it is necessary to take into account the fact that it is primarily about human life that is recognized as priceless by all. The high incidence of abortions as the most simple solution to the problem has led to the fact that partly a childs life has lost its meaning and significance as a gift of God or a gift of nature (depending on how one perceives the birth). This problem did not exist until 1912 because before 1912, there were no laws against abortion (London). Despite the adoption of various laws on abortion, the problem is that abortion is still being applied even in cases when the birth of a child shall not be a threat to the physical or ment al health of the mother and is justified from a practical point of view (too early pregnancy, physical complexity, condemned by the parents, etc.). Given all this, one can confidently assert that abortion is an extremely negative phenomenon and its evaluation should be primarily negative. Justification for abortion is only possible in some cases, namely, if the birth of a child will lead to the death of the mother or cause deep psychological trauma that can lead in tragic consequences in the woman’s life. As noted above, the proponents of abortion can point out many arguments in favor of their position. In particular, one of the first argument can appeal to the fact that nature itself provides the means for a natural abortion. Natural abortion can occur as a result of the inability of a woman to bear a child, her poor health, bad heredity, etc. Thus, even nature suggests the possibility of miscarriage. For this reason, one cannot blame the doctors that they offer women the opportunity to

Oppression Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Oppression - Essay Example This paper then aims to discuss the elements and the faces of oppression in order to draw a sound conclusion whether or not a man really oppresses another man and whether or not the society can advance without necessarily oppressing any other person or group of persons. I have learned that oppression can be seen as a social concept and as a structural concept. According to the article of Young (1990) oppression is a structural phenomenon that "immobilizes or diminishes a group" and structurally, oppression is "the tyranny by a ruling group." It is a description that has long been used through the centuries of pains and struggle of people from different kinds of bondage. However and whoever defines the term to me oppression has been witnessed to be a very powerful tool that can really be utilized by those who are in control to preserve the present structure of the society. It is used as a weapon by the ruling class to stay in their power and control not only the political affairs but most especially the economy of the country. This means that in this society, the struggle for more power and greed of money has turned many individuals as oppressors of other men. This society has shaped men only in to two kinds: the predator and the prey. The predator oppresses and eats the weaker men and the prey is eaten and devoured by the more cunning oppressors. I have read from the article of Young that there are five faces of oppression: (1) exploitation of labor; (2) gender exploitation were women are treated less powerful that men; (3) racial exploitation where cultural groups are not given the same rights and privileges; (4) marginalization where a social group are deprived to participate in a social life; and (5) cultural imperialism which is describes as involving " the universalization of a dominant group's experience and culture and its establishment as the norm." We can recall what we have learned in our history and looked at the plight of the Africans who were victimized of the Trans-Atlantic Slavery. The experiences of this social group do not speak only of one face of oppression but they have suffered the five faces of oppression. The Africans were sold to be slaves of wealthy men and nations. They were harassed and maltreated, and if they showed resistance they were killed. We can recall how the Africans men and women alike suffered in the plantations in the South where they have to withstand economic deprivation and the rapacity of their masters. Their lives were always threatened and they live not only wallowing in extreme poverty but in extreme fear. Their women were raped and abused by their masters. Who indeed can say that man cannot oppress his fellowman The history of the African Americans and the suffering of other minority tribes are glaring reality that men are oppressors of weaker men. So many times we have witnessed death and destruction because of labor unrest, or subversion. Men are imprisoned or killed unable to defend their homes and their families as they result to violence because of starvation. Oppression of men must be cruel but it happened and it still happening. Until now many are affected by the cruelty suffered by the poor natives of Africa who

Three topics every topic one page Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Three topics every topic one page - Essay Example As early as the 1820s the United States instituted reform measures aimed at curbing slavery throughout the country. For instance, the Missouri Compromise, established in 1820, outlawed the practice of slavery in any of the territories acquired in the Louisiana Purchase. While the Missouri Compromise constituted a major reform measures, undoubtedly another of the most prominent reform measures was the Compromise of 1850. The Compromise of 1850 established a number of reform measures aimed to curb the then boiling tensions regarding slavery. This compromise specifically indicated that Washington D.C. would not become a slave state and that the Southern wish to involve California in the slave trade was also prohibited. Conversely, the act granted the southern states a strong fugitive slave act, which ensured escaped slaves would be returned. Ultimately, however, while these reform measures put off the eventual war, they would not be enough to stop the significant sectional crisis that e merged. 2. The mid-19th century American division between the northern and southern states over slavery came to be referred to as the sectional crisis. The sectional crisis divided the nation along geographic lines and created new divisions that the nation had never previously experienced. This essay argues that the

Art as a Political Statement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Art as a Political Statement - Essay Example But it is a measure of his talent, of his ability to meld form and context, that these works have only served to enhance his reputation over time. In fact, one of his political paintings is generally considered to be his greatest work. The Death of Marat portrays the murder of Jean-Paul Marat, one of the French Revolution’s most incendiary journalists and radical thinkers. Just as Marat himself was a polarizing figure who stirred powerful sentiments, David’s portrait of his murdered corpse was intended to elicit an emotional response from the viewer. The painting’s context is clear: Marat has been martyred by an enemy of the revolution, whose act should serve as a rallying point for those whom Marat sought to inspire. Marat had admitted into his chambers a young Girondist woman named Charlotte Corday, a citizen of the provinces. She plunged a knife deep into Marat’s chest as he sat in his bathtub, killing him in seconds. David’s representation of th e murder exhibits a form that is at once affecting and subtle, as though the artist sought to make a political statement in a way that would be impactful without alienating the viewer’s sensibility. There is a blending of subject and background that focuses attention on the dead man’s body in a unique manner. ... xiv). It is a remarkable achievement. The Death of Marat is undoubtedly a work of political propaganda by an artist deeply moved by a politically motivated assassination. David’s painting was also remarkable for the effect it had on its subject’s legacy. In Revolutionary France, Marat was widely seen as a rabble rouser, an unscrupulous politico and opportunist who had parlayed unprecedented social and political turmoil into a stage for his own renown. In spite of this, David’s subliminal appeal to the viewer, his classically oriented interpretation of the Revolutionary period’s most famous assassination has obscured the negative aspects of Marat’s persona. David’s purpose in The Death of Marat is to bring attention to Marat’s prestige as a leader of transformative social change, a matter for which the artist cares deeply. Marat himself is â€Å"idealized and flawless,† an expression of the â€Å"compassion and outrage† Da vid felt at his murder (Twomey, 2012). It is this expressiveness that makes David one of the greatest synthesizers of form and content within the context of politics. Pablo Picasso - Guernica The great abstract artist Pablo Picasso was decidedly not a propagandist, though he is responsible for what many consider the greatest anti-war painting ever created. Guernica is Picasso’s representation of the slaughter of innocent citizens in the Basque village of Guernica by fascist (German and Italian) armed forces under the command of Spain’s nationalist government, headed by the dictator Francisco Franco. Picasso’s mural, created for the 1937 Paris International Exposition, portrays a chaotic, jumbled scene meant to convey genocidal destruction let loose by the fascists on a profoundly vulnerable populace. It is also

Mobile phones Essay Example for Free

Mobile phones Essay In this high-tech fast world, undeniably, mobile phones became an inevitable part of everybody’s life without any age limit. Although, it has lots of merits, in my point of view, the intense use of mobile phones among children may be discouraged because of its adverse impacts on them. To begin with, mobile phones have numerous benefits. Presently, it is not merely a simple device, which allows an easy connectivity between people. It is supporting a number of other programs such as calculators, alarm clocks, voice recorder and so on. these programs boost their academic performances, if they use it cleverly. For instance, alarm clocks in mobile phones are useful for them to woke up early in the morning or adjust the time duration to write an essay. The easy accessibility of parents and friends make them comfortable and enable them to meet any emergency or unexpected conditions. Parents also will be much relaxed, as they know their children are safe. On the other hand, these wonderful devices have negative sides also. Most importantly, the radiations from these devices are harmful for their developing brains. Researches proved that, these radiations might lead to cancers. The destruction of studies is another matter of concern. The games in the mobile phones create additions to children. Chatting and telephonic conversations with anonymous people may result in insurmountable impacts to their young minds. These contacts may indulge them in bad company and mafia especially drug and sex, spoil their future. Furthermore, easy connectivity to internet attracts them to unhealthy web sites and their total character may change. Additionally, children can effortlessly cheat their parents by convincing a false. To illustrate, if they are enjoying a television program at his friends home, they can make to believe their parents that they are on the way to their tuition class. To conclude, mobile phones are beneficial devices, if we use it sensibly. Children, as they are not mature to handle it effectively, it may leave drastic disadvantages on them. Hence, I believe that mobile phones are not favorable for children, especially if it is used uncontrolled without proper guidance and time limit.

Positioning And Differentiation Strategies

Positioning And Differentiation Strategies The increasing competition that organizations are experiencing in the face of globalization and innovation has of late resulted to them seeking to enhance their competitiveness. This has been achieved through application of various management as well as marketing strategies. Some of those strategies are meant to enhance organizations as brands of choice through effective brand positioning. Consequently, differentiation has also become crucial as one of the key means of effectively positioning organizations relative to their competitors. In that respect, this analysis identifies UnitedHealth Group and WellPoint Inc. Group as two organizations in healthcare industry for analysis on their application of positioning and differentiation strategies. The analysis notes the best practices in positioning and differentiation strategies application as well as compares and contrasts the strategies application by the two organizations. Body Organizations Overview UnitedHealth Group is a parent company to various health insurance and health care service organizations. It is the second largest publicly traded US company in health insurance providing healthcare services worldwide in healthcare consulting, specialty services and healthcare management. Serving over 75 million people globally, the organization has a large scale advantage extending across its product lines which helps it attract new hospitals in its members list and in negotiating for low prices. The companys service is divided into two main business lines; Health benefits and Health Services with UnitedHealth care delivering Health benefits while Optum is in charge of Health services. (UnitedHealth, 2013a) On the other hand, WellPoint is among the largest health benefits organizations in US. The organization has over 36 million members in its affiliated health plans as well as 67 million being served by its subsidiaries. It offers a wide range medical services and products. (WellPoint, 2013a) Positioning Strategies Organizations are experiencing increasing changes in information technology, globalization and market competition that is changing the business landscape calling for them to implement effective positioning strategies to enhance their competitiveness. (Njuguna, 2009) Consequently, organizations apply positioning strategies which refers to the applications they use in defining their services and products to customers minds against the competitors brands. (Karadeniz, 2009) This is due to the fact that, positioning is a key element in the modern day marketing being crucial to organizations in growing their customer base as well as the brand equity. (Manhas, 2010) In that respect, an effective positioning of an organization involves considering: The target market. The difference with competitors. How the difference can be communicated to customers. The value of the difference to customers. (Manhas, 2010) In addition, organizations employ positioning strategies that seek to identify and address brands positioning and differentiation from comparing brands, identify opportunities for potential markets to introduce new brands and reposition the existing ones as well as identifying the underserved segments that the existing brands serve. (Gwin Gwin, 2009) Organizations also employ experiential positioning as a strategic process seeking to understand clients desires and needs and providing services that deliver certain experience and communicates an organization promises to clients in a different way from competing brands. (Padget Mulvey, 2009) Positioning strategies should follow the process of creation of competitive advantages, selection of the right competitive advantages and choosing a competitive positioning strategy. It also entails engaging in effective communication to the target market. (Kardeniz, 2009) In that respect, UnitedHealth and Wellpoint position their services to customers depending on transaction factors, packaging, availability, pricing, advertisement, and benefit factors. The strategies applied also depend on composition factors defining the quality of service and their consistency. (Manhas, 2010) Positioning their brands also relies on brand communication which seeks to help clients identify the source of the brand. They use distinctive qualities of their brands as additional stimuli to the brand name including color, symbols, taglines and advertising styles. (Ramoniuk et al, 2007). The positioning strategies applied by UnitedHealth and WellPoint include: Positioning within the market through differentiation of a product or service. In this case, the differentiated service share attributes to the competitors service but are superior in differentiated attributes. Positioning through creation or establishment of a new market from the competitors, a strategy that uses differentiation attributes to give a perception about the services different attributes from that of competitors. (Mita Bettman, 1989) In this consideration, UnitedHealth Group positions itself as an organization with all connections relevant to the healthcare including that of right doctors and patients, between right patient data and physicians, between right information and consumers as well as between patients and their needed medicine. (UnitedHealth, 2013a) The organization has also established itself as the national exchange centre for essential information entrusted with the globally largest clinical data. (UnitedHealth, 2013a) UnitedHealth also sets itself as a leader in healthcare technology system. (UnitedHealth, 2013a) Example is the organizations Health Coverage through which it directly provides various health insurance plans to students, families and individuals aged below 64 years through Golden rule Insurance. Through this service, the organization positions itself as a preferred service provider for the target segments. (UnitedHealth, 2013a) WellPoint WellPoint seeks to make health care easier through improvement to their system as well as improving the clients healthcare access. (WellPoint, 2013a) The organization uses health affiliated companies and healthcare plans to drive innovation, empower customers as well as control healthcare costs. (WellPoint, 2013a) Differentiation Strategies In a bid to establish competitive advantage, UnitedHealth and Wellpoint delivers services that provide valued features of quality, reliable delivery and flexibility. (Spencer, Joiner Salmon, 2009) It also entails developing of added value through remarkable differentiation to set the service apart from their competitors. Their differentiation is a component of their positioning strategies. (Barna Chapman, 1986) In that respect, their well positioned brands through differentiation bears the qualities of being different, creative and striking. (Karadeniz, 2009) Their products and service differentiation as a means of effectively positioning themselves has benefits in that brands have to be differentiated from the competitors for them to attract clients. In addition, it enhances their ability to maintain market share since more differentiated brands have loyal customers who are not much sensitive to competitors brands. (Ramoniuk, Sharp Ehrenberg, 2007) However, differentiation is dynamic in that, the porters generic differentiation strategy has developed to strategies including differentiation through service innovation, marketing and image management and customers responsiveness as ways of responding to environment complexity. (Spencer, Joiner Salmon, 2009) Thus organizations seek to establish their positioning through application of various types of differentiation that include service differentiation in which the service has different attributes from that of competitors, price differentiation and niche offers that establish segments which are different from the mass market. In addition, they carry out differentiation through added services by providing extra services which motivate customers as well as service differentiation through communication. (Grimm Malschinger, 2010) In that respect, United Health seeks to position itself through differentiation in its service provision through innovation. An example is the Health4Me mobile application that offers consumers health information regarding benefits, registered nurses information as well as physicians and hospitals locations. (UnitedHealth, 2013a) UnitedHealths cancer care is differentiated in transaction through a payment model that bundles payments to ecologists ensuring continuity of the patients care as well as improving their healthcare quality. (UnitedHealth, 2013a) UnitedHealths iPlan integrates health reimbursements accounts with highly deductible health plans. This expands ordinary plans to include employer groups health savings accounts. (UnitedHealth, 2013a) United Health also has differentiated service delivery through its care coordination. This channels resources to physicians and consumers eliminating the prior authorization. (UnitedHealth, 2013a) On the other hand, Wellpoint applies some differentiation to its service delivery with an aim of effectively positioning itself as a competitive healthcare service provider. Some of the differentiation strategies applied are noted below Operating in an industry where physicians face the challenge of having to incorporate a huge volume of articles and data into practice and putting them in operation in their patients care. In this respect, WellPoint has in collaboration with IBM established the IBM Watson application program that helps doctors analyze huge volume of data and get results in less than three seconds which has enhanced the organizations ability to deal with complex cases. (WellPoint, 2013b) Wellpoint also provides their clients with an online feedback tool through which they provide feedback on their experiences with physicians as well as rate their services. (WellPoint, 2013b) Wellpoint also provides a virtual enrolment centre which provides customers with a platform to engage the organizations employees. Through the platform, customers can also access benefit plans, healthcare plans as well as prescriptions information. (WellPoint, 2013b) Thus both organizations seek to position themselves as preferred healthcare service and benefits providers. To achieve this UnitedHealth seeks to focus on the target markets needs of healthcare information by offering differentiated service which has more information provided as added services and through healthcare education through Optum insights. On the Other hand, Wellpoint seeks to position itself as an organization whose services are easier and effective to access. This is done through the various innovations aimed at making consumer experiences as efficient as possible. However, both organizations have some similar strategies in their focus on effective utilization of healthcare data to position themselves as efficient providers of services based on informed decisions. This is clearly visible in UnitedHealths utilization of its large healthcare data while WellPoint utilizes the IBM Watson application program to access and analyze large volume of healthcare data. (WellPoint, 20 13b) Conclusion The analysis has demonstrated effective positioning as crucial in establishing successful brands that are capable of effectively competing in face of increasing rivalry in the healthcare industry. It has also brought out the need for firms to identify their target markets, their competitors brands competitiveness as well as their ability to deliver value to their target markets as a means to positions themselves favorably relative to their competitors. Differentiation has also come out as a key element of positioning strategies as it seeks to set an organizations brand apart from the competitors through various differentiation strategies. In conclusion, UnitedHealth Group and WellPoint Group have been demonstrated to be applying some similar positioning and differentiation strategies as well as contrasting strategies in a bid to set their brands as unique compared to the competition brands. Consequently, the strategies application has had a significant impact with both organizations having established themselves as the brands of choice in their respective locations and being nationally ranked position one and two in terms of market share and performance.

Essay --

Input technology †¢ Keyboard †¢ Mouse †¢ Scanner †¢ Touch screen Output technologies †¢ Printer †¢ Speaker †¢ Monitor †¢ Liquid Crystal display (LCD) Communications and Networking technologies †¢ Intranet †¢ Internet Input technology 1. Keyboard ïÆ'Ëœ It is a text base input device that allows the user to input alphabets, numbers and other characters. It consists of a set of keys mounted on a board. ïÆ'Ëœ Allow user to key in data into computer. For example, sales managers key in the amount of food that retailer would like to purchase from our company ïÆ'Ëœ The price of a keyboard is around Rm 30. 2. Mouse ï  ¶ Mouse used to move the cursor on the screen to issue commands and make icon and menu selections. By moving the mouse on a desktop or pad, an icon will display on the screen. ïÆ'Ëœ Company use mouse to click in information or to control information. For example, HR manager can see the working hours of the staff by just clicking into it. ïÆ'Ëœ There are 2 types of mouse in the market, wireless mouse and non wireless mouse. Wireless mouse is using Bluetooth to connect with computer and its cost around Rm70 for a normal wireless mouse. Non wireless mouse connect to computer using wire. It is much cheaper than wireless mouse. With around Rm25, user can get a non wireless mouse. 3. Scanner ïÆ'Ëœ Scanner is an input device used for direct data entry from the source document into the computer system. It converts the document image into digital form so that it can be fed into the computer. Capturing information like this reduces the possibility of errors typically experienced during large data entry. ïÆ'Ëœ To help company’s staff keep document in the computer instead of hardcopy, to prevent lost. Paper w... ...unication and networking technologies 1. Intranet ïÆ'Ëœ A private network work within an organization . Intranet makes company information accessible to employees and facilitate in group. It lets people in the same company to share or provide information to employees. ïÆ'Ëœ Managers can now share business file to other managers. Besides, different department managers use intranet to discuss information. ïÆ'Ëœ To have Intranet, organization only needs to create a company webpage. It is free of change. 2. Internet ïÆ'Ëœ Can mail anywhere in the world in a moment with the fastest mailing service of the world called "email". And transfer files to anywhere in the world. It also helps organization to spread the message quickly. ïÆ'Ëœ HR can select best qualified person for position by searching database of application. . ïÆ'Ëœ There is no change for internet. Essay -- Input technology †¢ Keyboard †¢ Mouse †¢ Scanner †¢ Touch screen Output technologies †¢ Printer †¢ Speaker †¢ Monitor †¢ Liquid Crystal display (LCD) Communications and Networking technologies †¢ Intranet †¢ Internet Input technology 1. Keyboard ïÆ'Ëœ It is a text base input device that allows the user to input alphabets, numbers and other characters. It consists of a set of keys mounted on a board. ïÆ'Ëœ Allow user to key in data into computer. For example, sales managers key in the amount of food that retailer would like to purchase from our company ïÆ'Ëœ The price of a keyboard is around Rm 30. 2. Mouse ï  ¶ Mouse used to move the cursor on the screen to issue commands and make icon and menu selections. By moving the mouse on a desktop or pad, an icon will display on the screen. ïÆ'Ëœ Company use mouse to click in information or to control information. For example, HR manager can see the working hours of the staff by just clicking into it. ïÆ'Ëœ There are 2 types of mouse in the market, wireless mouse and non wireless mouse. Wireless mouse is using Bluetooth to connect with computer and its cost around Rm70 for a normal wireless mouse. Non wireless mouse connect to computer using wire. It is much cheaper than wireless mouse. With around Rm25, user can get a non wireless mouse. 3. Scanner ïÆ'Ëœ Scanner is an input device used for direct data entry from the source document into the computer system. It converts the document image into digital form so that it can be fed into the computer. Capturing information like this reduces the possibility of errors typically experienced during large data entry. ïÆ'Ëœ To help company’s staff keep document in the computer instead of hardcopy, to prevent lost. Paper w... ...unication and networking technologies 1. Intranet ïÆ'Ëœ A private network work within an organization . Intranet makes company information accessible to employees and facilitate in group. It lets people in the same company to share or provide information to employees. ïÆ'Ëœ Managers can now share business file to other managers. Besides, different department managers use intranet to discuss information. ïÆ'Ëœ To have Intranet, organization only needs to create a company webpage. It is free of change. 2. Internet ïÆ'Ëœ Can mail anywhere in the world in a moment with the fastest mailing service of the world called "email". And transfer files to anywhere in the world. It also helps organization to spread the message quickly. ïÆ'Ëœ HR can select best qualified person for position by searching database of application. . ïÆ'Ëœ There is no change for internet.

Catcher In The Rye - A Sequel Essay -- essays research papers

Catcher In The Rye - A Sequel Loomis Chaffee Chapter 1   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another day another school...I thought about this new school they placed me in. They said I will like it. Well I'll be the one to decide that. Next thing I know I'm on a 6:30 train to Windsor, CT.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It was a Thursday and I received a call from Mr.Spencer, well it wasn't really for me but for my parents. I immediately new who it was, you can just hear it's a school teacher. One can just hear that over the phone. After the phone hangs up I hear a yell, â€Å"Holden, front and center!† Then we go throughout that whole, we had a discussion with, and all that crap. Then I received the news, after speaking to Mr.Spencer we have decided to send you to Loomis Chaffee. â€Å"Loomis Chaffee!† I...

Clamence from The Fall by Albert Camus Essay -- Jean-Baptiste Clamence

Clamence from The Fall by Albert Camus The Fall, a 1957 novel written by Nobel Prize winner Albert Camus, is a story based on confession. The main character, Jean-Baptiste Clamence, portrays himself to be the epitome of good citizenship and acceptable behavior and now he has come to face the reality that his existence has been deeply seated in hypocrisy. Clamence also openly enjoys the wealth of cheap dreams that the prostitutes and bars his Amsterdam home has to offer. In a bar called Mexico City, Clamence begins to recall his life as a respected lawyer, supposedly immune to judgment. There are different theories on whether Clamence recalls his life to himself or to another person, but it is in fact a random acquaintance from the bar that Clamence shares stories of his life’s triumphs and failures. While Clamence is in the bar, he asks another person who is trying to order a drink if he "may offer his services without running the risk of intruding" because unless the man authorizes him to perform his services, the bartender will not guess that he wants gin. The service Clamence is referring to is his ability to speak Dutch, the only language the bartender speaks and understands. What suggests that Clamence is speaking to another person in the bar is the fact that if someone wants to do something, they do not need to be given permission by himself. If a person feels they are not allowed to do something, it is because one of two reasons. One, the person might feel the action is inappropriate and that would directly deal with that persons set of morals and discipline. Secondly, the person might not be allowed to perform the task by the person it would deal with and that would have to do with power of authori... ...nce states that he is "embarrassed to be in bed when you arrive." This quote clearly states that Clamence is in one location and another person enters this place unexpectedly and catches him by surprise, thus causing the embarrassment of possibly an unkempt house or a unattractive personal appearance due to the sickness. The reason why there are two people present is because Clamence says "you" which means he is addressing some one else. Although different theories on whether or not Clamence is alone when he recalls his life may exist, it is in fact an acquaintance that he shares his life with. In order for Camus' choice of wording that deal with ownership and possession and by definition of key words such as "secret" to be used in accordance with rules of proper grammar, another person must be present for the meaning of the words to be applied correctly.

Internet Fraud Essay

The Internet is recognized as tremendous means for investors, students, and common people to easily, economically and efficiently access plenty of source and opportunities to accomplish their task. In parallel, it also invites fraudsters to grab excellent opportunity to become rich by applying impostor schemes. Among its many uprising effects, the Internet has changed the manner in which investors learn of and research prospective investments (Richard H. Walker, pg 405). As Internet is growing explosively, online criminals try to present fraudulent plans in ways that look, as much as possible, like the goods and services that the vast majority of legitimate e-commerce merchants offer. Internet fraud is simply the extended actions that subsisted long before information technologies broke into the sphere of cyberspace (Jason Whittaker; pg: 232). These fraudulent tricks are continually threatening to Internet users and it will not be surprised when people will loose faith on Internet business in future if proper measures are not taken to curb these acts. In present scenario, there is a necessity to arrest numerous Internet frauds by creating awareness among people, and to protect them from being victimized by genius fraudulent. People take notice of frequently in their surrounding that some or other person is gripped under E-mail Spam or credit card fraud. For smooth working on Internet and entirely utilizing such a vast technological advancement, everyone must be geared up to combat any challenge. Thus the present paper concentrates on how Internet fraud tactics emerged, various ways these frauds have been executed while working on Internet and develop ability to escape from fraud by adopting control measures. Basically Internet fraud is a type of fraud scheme that uses one or more technique of the Internet such as chat rooms, e-mail, message boards, or Web sites to present fraudulent solicitations to potential victims, to conduct fraudulent business, or to pass on the proceeds of fraud to financial institutions or to other connected with the scheme. Very often it has been observed that fictitious merchants publicize goods for very low prices and never deliver. Victims are then left to deal with credit card companies for recompense. Fraudsters are very clever and choose small and expensive products, such as watches, jewelry, laptops, digital cameras, vehicles and camcorders. These items are usually available in the market in broad range and can easily be purchased by anyone. Internet has several traits, which provides fabulous benefit to the global economy and to people around the world. These same positive qualities also make the Internet a near-perfect implement for fraud such as the regular and omnipresent availability of the Internet and its vast content, the broad distribution of Internet access, and the simplicity with which such access can be established. Other facilities like the rapidity with which content can be published and delivered online and the almost complete physical detachment between Internet content and the individual or entity selling that content, also attract fraud shooter to be successful in their mission (Emile Loza, pg:55). People seek to take benefit of the Internet’s exceptional potentials for example, by sending e-mail messages worldwide in seconds, or posting Web site information that is readily accessible from anywhere in the world. These advanced techniques provide fraudster to carry out various types of fraudulent schemes more quickly than was possible with many fraud schemes in the past. The Internet fraud trade is thriving at the Federal Trade Commission where the agency gets thousands of complaints each month from individual and business consumers deceived by online operators. The FTC is quite alert and already has taken action to prosecute plenty of Internet fraud cases. The FTC’s vigorous prosecution of Internet fraud shows few signs of dwindling, with new cases announced almost every day ( Richard H. Walker,pg:- 405). Those spreading fake and deceptive statements online, intending to affect a stock’s price, do not realize that the securities laws apply to their conduct. Perhaps some view fraudulent acts as less immoral in the impersonal world of the Internet where victims are faceless, distant, and known only by a screen name. Others may fail to appreciate the harm their actions may cause innocent investors. The SEC has faced a host of novel, but unsuccessful, arguments from those engaged in Internet securities fraud seeking to justify their conduct. These arguments include claims that the First Amendment protects all speech online; that trumpeting a stock online is no different than what Wall Street analysts do daily; and that the federal securities laws do not apply neatly to conduct in the new online world ( Richard H. Walker, pg: 405). Internet fraudsters use numerous ways to trap innocent Internet users in their web. Fraudulent schemes appearing on online auction sites are most recurrent form of Internet fraud reported by the Federal Trade Commission and Internet Fraud Watch. Initially, auction sites had tended to take a lenient attitude to activities on their sites, where buyers did not receive goods, incited many of them, such as QXL, to remove fraudulent sellers. Nor are all auction scams particularly small: one of the most celebrated was the sale of a fake Richard Diebenkorn painting on eBay in 2000 for $135,000, with fraudsters offering fake bids to drive up the price (Jason Whittaker; pg: 238). Business Opportunity/†Work-at-Home† Schemes Online type of fraudulent schemes often use the Internet to market supposed business opportunities that will allow individuals to earn thousands of dollars a month in â€Å"work-at-home† ventures. These schemes classically entail the individuals to pay wherever from $35 to several hundred dollars or more, but fail to deliver the materials or information that would be needed to make the work-at-home prospect a potentially practicable dealing. In identity Theft and Fraud, various Internet rackets also engage in identity theft. They obtain and use someone else’s personal data in illegal way that involves fraud typically for economic gain. Internet user does not even know that his information is being misused by someone. Under Market Manipulation Schemes, Cheaters use two basic methods for trying to manipulate securities markets for their personal profit as indicated by the Securities and Exchange Commission and criminal prosecutions. At first, in very popular â€Å"pump-and-dump† schemes, they in general propagate forged and fraudulent information in an effort to cause striking price increases in thinly traded stocks or stocks of shell companies then immediately sell off their holdings of those stocks to realize substantial profits before the stock price drops back to its original low level. Second, in short selling or â€Å"scalping† schemes, which takes a similar approach, by propagating false or fraudulent information in an effort to cause price decreases in a particular company’s stock. One of the most outspoken of this new breed of cyber-scofflaws has been Jonathan Lebed, who at age fifteen was charged with securities fraud by the SEC. The Commission charged Lebed with using the Internet to devise a series of â€Å"pump and dump† manipulations. Lebed repeatedly bought low-cost, thinly-traded stocks. He then used the Internet to spread hundreds of false and deceptive messages concerning the stocks- generally baseless price predictions- for the affirmed purpose of driving up, their prices ( Richard H. Walker,pg:- 405). Crackers in the mid 1990s invented phishing to steal AOL accounts â€Å"Phishing† is the act of attempting to deceitfully obtain sensitive information, such as passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a reliable person or business with a genuine need for such information in a apparently official electronic notification or message (most often an email, or an instant message). It is a kind of social engineering assault. To conduct this fraudulent scheme, the message is mailed and the victim is asked to reveal his or her password, for the purpose to verify your account or to confirm billing information. Once the victim provides the password, the assailant gets success and accesses the victim’s account and utilizes it for illegal intentions, such as spamming. With phishing, pretext e-mails are sent to consumers by the millions. Lawful addresses are either purchased on the â€Å"cyber black market† or parsed together by programs that at random join common last names and first initials with common domains mark@gmail. com. By random probability, some â€Å"phish mails† will happen to correspond with legitimate addresses where the user has a bank account (Lauren Bielski, pg-46). Fraudsters exercise phishing widely by using spam messages camouflaged as large banks (Citibank, Bank of America) or PayPal. These fraudsters copy the code and graphics from legitimate websites and use them on their own sites to create a legitimate-looking scam web page. They also link to the graphics on the legitimate sites to use on their own scam site. These pages look so genuine that most people cannot identify that they have visited to a scam site. Fraudsters are also put the text of a link to a genuine site in an e-mail but use the source code to links to own fake site. Pharming is executed when criminals misuse the susceptibility in the DNS server software that permits a hacker to obtain the domain name for a site, and to forward that website’s traffic to another web site. DNS servers resolve Internet names into their real addresses. In financial computers crime, Credit card fraud is the most frequently performed. Online thefts, particularly from banks, have reasonably been a cause of alarm to authorities. In 1993 for the theft of ? 122,000 from the Agricultural Bank of China, one convicted hacker, Shi Biao, was even executed. The more complex crimes include using the Internet to manipulate information. The posting incorrect financial information in cyberspace typically takes place for reasons of fraudulent profit making, which is very different from insider dealing where someone uses valuable and confidential information to trade in company shares before that information becomes wide spread available. Inaccurate information, on the other hand, is aimed at falsely inflating or lessening share values. This helps to sell with considerable profit or buy more cheaply. One vastly publicized example of this took place in 2000 when a securities trader based in Houston, Fred Moldofsky, issued nineteen false press releases claiming that Lucent Technologies, the world’s leading Telecom company, expected its earnings to fall short of market expectations, causing Lucent’s share price to fall by 3. 6 per cent during march in that year. He was found guilty of securities fraud a year after (Jason Whittaker; pg: 238). As everyone knows, the recent downturn in the web world has hit the stock market, especially the NASDAQ, hard lately. According to one report, online use of credit cards is rising over 50% a year in the United States and Internet spending is also on climbing. Though Internet credit card use has a long way to go, and while consumers increasingly prefer to shop online, but they are reluctant to provide credit card details on the Internet, under the apprehension that someone will obtain the information and use it to make fraudulent purchases (Kevin Blair; pg: 55). Lottery scams are very widespread on the Internet. Even if a person never entered a lottery, he/ she receive an email containing authentic information that he has won a prize. When a person shows interest then he was told to send some % of money to claim the prize. These e-mails are very well copied from authentic lottery system so that normally people get attracted. As an intelligent Internet user, one must ask for legal and bank information. It must be noted that in any transaction, amount should deducted from money being transferred. The pyramid schemes are another way to cheat people who want to earn online. They assure you money in return for the number of people you employ to join the scheme. Person will receive an email describing attractive earning details. But these claims are misleading. Moreover, pyramid schemes are unlawful. Another type of scam, Click fraud takes place when publicity network associates force paid views or clicks to ads on their own websites using Spy ware, the affiliate is then paid a commission on the cost-per-click that was falsely created. Affiliate programs such as Goggle’s Ad sense capability pay high commissions that drive the creation of bogus clicks. In international modem dialing, lots of consumers connect to the Internet using a modem calling a local telephone number. Some web sites, normally containing adult content, use international dialing to ploy consumers into paying to view content on their web site. Often these sites claim to be free and advertise that there is no need of credit card. These fraudsters provoke the user to download a â€Å"viewer† or â€Å"dialer† to allow them to view the substance. Once the program is downloaded it disconnects the computer from the Internet and proceeds to dial an international long distance or premium rate number. An international block is recommended to put off this, but in the U. S. and Canada, calls to the Caribbean can be dialed with a â€Å"1† and a three-digit area code, so such numbers, as well as â€Å"10-10 dial-round† phone company prefixes, can avoid an international block. Various procedures to hold back Internet fraud are presently being contemplated by industry experts. Most effectual and practical measures are increasing investor education and awareness, increasing the SEC’s â€Å"firepower,† increasing penalties and jail time for offenders, furthering coordination of federal and state efforts, and creating a â€Å"seal of approval† for traders and brokers. Lacking an improved effort in a combination of some or all of the anticipated solutions, Internet stock fraudsters will carry on to take advantage of the â€Å"easy pickings† created by Internet investors (Byron D.Hittle, pg:-165). The SEC is attentive of the current and future threats posed by Internet fraudsters. Federal statutes provide defrauded investors personal grounds of action for illegal falsification, and state enforcement agencies that keep an eye on the securities markets offer some protection against Internet fraud. But due to the immensity of both the securities markets and cyberspace, these protections fall dolefully short of successfully curbing Internet fraud (Byron D. Hittle, pg 165). The mail and wire fraud statutes have developed and lengthened into powerful prosecutorial tools. During 1994, both the mail and wire fraud statutes were expanded when Congress propagated the SCAMS Act as a means of skirmishing telemarketing ploys directed at the elderly. The SCAMS Act acted in response to the growing risk of new schemes and the increasing use of private carriers in such schemes by amending the federal mail fraud statute to cover not only the United States Postal Service but also private interstate commercial carriers (e.g. , UPS, FedEx, DHL). The SCAMs Act also particularly criminalized telemarketing fraud, finally, the SCAMS Act increased the penalties for conviction for mail and wire fraud schemes targeted at individuals aged fifty five and above. The mail and wire fraud statutes have been used as a â€Å"first line of defense,† that is, a â€Å"stopgap† device which permits the prosecution of a newly conceived of fraud until such time that Congress enacts particularized legislation to cope up with the new fraud. The mail and wire fraud statutes have thus been referred to as a â€Å"secret weapon† in the possession of federal prosecutors ( Anne S. Dudley, pg: 1025). Governing securities activities in this contemporary frontier is a flexible set of laws accepted more than a half-century before the increase of the Internet. Enacted in the 1930’s, the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws declare it illegal to make a material misstatement or omission of fact, or to employ a manipulative or deceptive device, in connection with a securities transaction. These same laws authorize criminal prosecution when the conduct involved is â€Å"willful† (Richard H. Walker,pg:- 405). The FBI and police agencies wide-reaching have people allocated to fight Internet fraud; Since February 1999, when the Department of Justice recognized its Internet Fraud Initiative, the federal government has been intensifying its efforts to merge criminal prosecution with coordinated analysis and investigation as part of a comprehensive approach to warfare Internet fraud. Similarly, it is very difficult to enforce law against online fraud. It is hard to notice. Investigations are hindered by the difficulties related with recognizing and locating the individuals and entities in charge for the online frauds. Other obstacles are the relative lack of physicality involved in online fraud makes difficult issues of personal jurisdiction, service of process, and the freezing of assets to secure them for consumer redress. Compliance monitoring of online conduct is necessary, but entails an extensive and ongoing commitment of investigative proficiency and other resources. The resources required to examine an online bar imposed against a particular defendant, who by now may have metamorphosed or otherwise masked his or her online, corporate, or individual identity, are extraordinary and likely much similar to the costs associated with finding one very small spine in one very outsized barn full of hay. These burdens and others considerably impact the procedures and budgets of federal Internet prosecutors like the FTC and can outstrip the resources of state and local law enforcement agencies (Emile Loza, pg: 55). In spite of laws made by government to control Internet fraud, it is responsibility of users to be vigilant and knowledgeable at their end. Most people find it hard to believe that they could become victims of fraud, but one should never undervalue the cleverness of tricksters who make money by misleading others. State and federal laws and agencies have inadequate power to guard customers from Internet fraud. The consumer must keep on alert to the likelihood of fraud. One must be careful about giving out precious individual data online such as Social Security number, credit-card number, or password. Criminals have been identified to send messages in which they make believe to be a systems administrator or Internet service provider representative in order to convince people online that they should reveal valuable personal data. Internet is an enormous new terrain for crooked marketers. As the Internet is used to perform many activities, which were earlier done by manually, these encourage swindlers to involve in deceptive and misleading promotions. Swindlers are paying attention to the Internet because they find this media is a superb way to reach thousands of consumers inexpensively, quickly, and secretly. Few limitations exist on the Internet, making it easy to place deceiving or misleading information online. It is a major challenge for consumers to judge the accuracy and reliability of online information. References: 1) Anne S. Dudley,Daniel F. Schubert . 2001. Mail and Wire Fraud. Journal Title: American Criminal Law Review. Volume: 38. Issue: 3. Page Number: 1025. 2) Byron D. Hittle. 2001. An Uphill Battle: The Difficulty of Deterring and Detecting Perpetrators of Internet Stock Fraud. Journal Title: Federal Communications Law Journal. Volume: 54. Issue: 1. Page Number: 165. 3) David M. Levine, Richard H. Walker. 2002. You’ve Got Jail†: Current Trends in Civil and Criminal Enforcement of Internet Securities Fraud. Journal Title: American Criminal Law Review. Volume: 38. Issue: 3. Page Number: 405. 4) Emile Loza . 2002. Publication Information: Article Title: Internet Fraud: Federal Trade Commission Prosecutions of Online Conduct. Journal Title: Communications and the Law. Volume: 23. Issue: 2. Page Number: 55. 5) Jason Whittaker . 2004. The Cyberspace Handbook. Publisher: Routledge. Place of Publication: London. Page Number: 254. 6) Julia K. Cronin, Amanda R. Evansburg, Sylvia Rae Garfinkle, Securities Fraud. Journal Title: American Criminal Law Review. Volume: 38. Issue: 3. Page Number: 1277. 7) Kevin Blair. 2001. Moving Fast: Competition Heats Up on Credit Card Security. Journal Title: ABA Banking Journal. Volume: 93. Issue: 4. Page Number: 63. 8) Lauren Bielski . 2004. Phishing Phace-Off: Online Fraudsters and Vendors Do Battle to Gain Control of Electronic Information. Meanwhile, Incidents Rise and Consumer Confidence Suffers. Journal Title: ABA Banking Journal. Volume: 96. Issue: 9. Page Number: 46.

Minds Are Opened When Our Hearts Opened Essay

Dr. ARAVIND MALAGATTIDr. Aravind Malagatti is a well-known name in Kannada literature. He has earned this name by his contribution to the field of critical writing, research and creative writing. He has given more than forty competent works to Kannada literature in varied forms like poetry, prose, essays, criticism and folklore study. Karnataka government has bestowed the prestigious Ambedkar Fellowship Award to him considering his corpus of writing. His Government Brahamana being the first Dalit autobiography in Kannada has got the Karnataka Sahitya academy Award. Apart from these, the Honorary Award of Karnataka Sahitya Academy was conferred on him for his total contribution to Kannada literature. It is highly creditable in spite of all these credentials, Dr. Malagatti maintains simple city. The social aspects of Dalits are his area of concern. In profounder of Kannada Dalit literature. Dr. Malagatti catches the attention of people as an orator and makes them think over issues. His writing are equally sharp. He has founded a number of Dalit organizations and has taken active role in Dalit movement. At present Dr. Malagatti is serving as professor of Kannada in the Kuvempu Institute of Kannada Studies, Mysore University. He has also served as the Director of the Institute and as the Director of Prasaranga, the publication wing of Mysore University, prior to this. He is also serving as the Hon. Director of Jayalakshmi Vilas Palace Museum, Mysore University.| | CURRICULUM VITATName : Aravind MalagattiMother’s Name: BasavvaFather’s Name: YallappaProfession : Professor, Kuvempu Institute of Kannada Studies Mysore University, MysoreDate of Birth : 01.05.1956Place of Birth : Muddebihal, Bijapur District, KarnatakaMarriage : With Dharani Devi. Deputy Superintendent of Police Karnataka State Police Service-in 1992Childern : Two sons –1. Daksha 2. YakshaEducation : Pre University and Graduation-From 1973 to 1978 M G V C Colleage, MuddebhihalPost Graduation-M.A. form Karnataka University Dharwad From 1978 to 1980 with a first class. Ph.D in 1985-gold medal for the Thesis from Karnataka University Dharwad.Experience: . Editorial Committee member of Vidyarthi Bharathi-Jounal 1981-KarnatakaUniversity Dharwad. Editor of Sahitya Sagathi-a literary magazine –  from 1988 – 1995. Member of the Editorial Committee of Folklore News letter formMangalore University Campus.Teaching Experience Research Experience from 30.09 .1980 to 30.10.1983, Under U G C Fellowship As a lecture-From 30.10.1983 to 31.08.1987, Government College, Mangalore. Experience as a Rader-From 07.07.1987 to 03.04.1994 Mangalore University. Professor-from 04.04.1994, Kuvempu Institute of Kannada studies, Mysore University, Manasagongotri, Mysore. Administration / Membership of Academic BodiesArts Faculty Dean – 2000 to 2001, 2004 to 2006 Univesity of MysoreAcademic council Member Univesity of Mysore BOS, BOE, BOA Member for various UniversityChairman of Kannada Department – Mangalore University Form 02.11.1992 to 03.04.1994.Director, Kuvempu Institute of Kannada Studies, from- 03.01.2000 to 01.01.2001 and from 15.04.2004 to 01.06.2006.Hon. Director Mysore University, Jayalakshmi Vilas palace Museum from 27.10.2007Dirctor, Prasaranga, Manasagangotri, Mysore 1995 to 2000 University of MysoreMembership of Government Committee`s and InstitutionMember of Wholesales Book Purchase Committee, Government of Karnataka, Kannada and Culture Department 1991 to 1993Member of the Publication Committee of Popular Book Series of the Government of Karnataka, Kannada Culture Department 1991 to 1993.Member of Kannada Pustaka Pradhikara of the Government of Karnataka-from 1991 to 1995.Text book Committee member for the Pre University Board, Bangalore, 1995-1996.Film Pre-Review and Selection Committee member for Bangalore Doordarshan Kendra from 1997 to 2000.Member of Karnataka Sahitya Academy, of the Government o f Karnataka from 1998 to 2000.Member of Executive committee Kannada Sahity Parishat Bangalore From 1998 to 2000 and from 2000 to 2003.Member of Chayan Parishat, Saraswati Samman, Bhirla foundation-Delhi from 2003 to 2006. Published Works of Dr. Aravinda MalagattiI. Poetry 1. When the dumb opens his mouth (Mookanige Baayi Bandaaga. 1982)2. Balck Poetry (Kappu Kavya. 1985)3. The Third Eye (Mooraneya Kannu, 1996) 4. Rhythm Re-Rhythm (Naada Nianaada, 1999)5. Aneel Aradhana (Composite Poetry-2002)6. Silicon City and the Cuckoo (Silicon City Mattu Kogile, 2003)7. The Untouchable Ascends to Heaven (Chandaal Swargaarohanam, 2003)8. Selected Poems of Aravind Malagatti (Aravinda Malagattiyavara Ayda Kavithegalu, 2004)9. Kavyakumkume (Selected Poems of Aravinda Malagatti – 2009)10. The Dark Cosmos (Selected Poems of Aravinda Malagatti – 2009 Translated in English by – Dr. C. Naganna11. Towards the universe (Vishwatomukha, 2010)12. Flower is too heavy (Huvu Balubhara 2010)II. Short Stories 1. Unending Stories (Mugiyada Kategalu, 2000)III. Novel 1. The Death Ceremony (Karya – 1988)IV. Drama 1. The Ablution (Masthakaabhisheka, 1983)2. The Inner Salt of the Ocean ! (Samudradolagana Uppu, 1999)V. Criticism, Literary and Social Thought 1. Dalit Millennium and Kannada Literature (Dalitha Yuga Mattu Kannada Sahithya, 1999) 2. Dalit Consciousness: Literature, society and Culture (Dalita Prange: Sahithya, Samaaja Mattu Samskuthi, 2003) 3. Cultural mutiny (Samskuthika Dange, 2004) 4. Fire and Moonlight (Benki Beldingalu 2006) 5. Sahitya Saakshi (A Collection of Critical Essays – 2009) 6. Selected writing`s of Aravind Malagatti (Translated works – 2011) Ed. Prof: D.A.ShankarVI. Autobiography Government Brahmana. 1994 (Translated to English-Pub. Oriental  Longman)VII. Reasearch in Folklore and other works 1. Anipeeni (Anipeeni-Janapada Samshodhane, 1983)2. Study of Floklore (Jaanapada Vyasanga, 1985)3. Search for Floklore (Jaanapada Shobha, 1990)4. Thuluvara Aati Kalenja (Thuluvara Aati Kalenja-Janapada Samshodane, 1993)5. Folk Games (Janapada Aatagalu, 1993)6. Thalikote Dyamavva (Thalikote Dyamavva-Vayaskara Shikshanada Kruthi 1995)VIII. Research 1. Devil Worship (Bhootaradhane, 1991)2. Theoretical Study of Dalit Literary Movement (Dalita Sahithya Chalvaliy thatvika Chinthane, 1991) 3. Myth, Folklore and Nativism (Purana Jaanapada mattu Deshivaada, 1998) 4. Folk Games (Janapada Aatagalu, Ph.D. Thesis-1985)5. Folk Journey (Janapada Abhiyana-2005)IX. Studies and Reflections 1. An Introduction to Dalit Literature (Dalitha Sahithya Praveshike, 1996)2. How Progressive is Intercaste-Marriage ? (Antharjaathiy Vivaaha yeshtu pragathipar ? 1996)3. Puna Pact and whither Should Dalits go (Poonapyakt Mattu Dalitarettha Sagabeku ? 1998)X. Editing 1. Conference (Co-Editor) (Samaavesh-Saha Sampaadane, 1983)2. Four Dalitist Novels (Nalku Daliteeya Kadambariglu-Ed. 1990)3. Ideology of Ambedkar (Ambedkar Vichaara DHare-Ed. 1991)4. Koraga Community: A Study (Co-Author) (Koraga Janaanga Ondu Adhyayana, 1991) 5. Ambedkar-Ism and Counter-Ism (Ambedkar Vaada Samvaada-Ed. 1992)6. From Grazing Ground to Gangotri (Goomaaladinda Gangotrige, 1993)7. Foundation and background of Dalit Literature (Dalitha Sahighya nele-hinnele-Ed.1997)8. Book industry in  Kannada (Kannada Granthodyama, 1997)9. Folk Theoretical Consciousness and nativism (Jaanapada saiddhanthika Prangne Mattu Desivaada, 1998)10. Principles of Folklore (Jaanapada Thathvaglu, 1999)11. Criticism on Dalit Novels (Kadambarigala Vimarshe-Ed. 2000)12. Male Mahadeshwara (Male Mahadeshwara, 2001)13. Sweetness and Bitterness (Co-editing) (Bevu Bella, 2001)14. Dalit Approach (Criticism) (Dalitha Maarga, 2002)15. Aneela Aradhana (Composite Poetry, 2002)16. What Gandhi says about Ambedkar (Pub. Prasranga Myore University 2000)XI. Editor of Encyclopedias and Works of Similar nature 1. Kannada Encyclopedia-Volume 14. Chief Editor, Kuvempu Institute of Kannada Studies- Mysore University-year 2005 1. C.D. S of Kannada Encyclopedia-14 volumes, Chief Editor Kuvempu Institute of Kannada Studies- Mysore University-year 2006 1. Kannada Vishaya Vishwa Kosh – Karnataka –(R evised)-Chief Editor- Kuvempu Institute of Kannada Studies- Mysore University-year 2005 1. Kannada Vishaya Vishwa Kosh – Folklore–Chief Editor- Kuvempu Institute of Kannada Studies- Mysore University-year 2006 1. Kannada Vishaya Vishwa Kosha-Zoology. Chief Editor, Institute of Kannada Studies-Mysore University –year 2006 1. Epigraphia Karnatica-(Volume 12) Chief Editor, Kuvempu Institute of Kannada Studies- Mysore University-year 2006 1. Kuvempu Kriti Vimarshe, Chief Editor, Kuvempu Institute of Kannada Studies- Mysore University-year 2006XII. Journalistic Work Sahitya Sangagti, (Perodical) 1988-1995: (Editor) Vidyarthi Bharati- Quarterly, Karnataka University Journal, member of the Editorial Board -1981-1983.Karnataka Folklore News letter – member of the Editorial Board, Mangalore- 1988-1991.Vishwa Sampada-Monthly, Mysore University Journal, member of the Editorial Board-1999-2000Prabuddha Karnataka, Quarterly – Mysore University Journal -Chairman of the Editorial Board 1995, 2000. Manavika Karnataka, Quarterly – Mysore University Journal Chairman of the Editorial Board – 2008 OnwardsXIII. Awards & Prizes Gold medal for the Ph.D thesis – 1985 Karnataka University DharwadDevaraj Bhaddur Award – 1982 Recipient : Karnataka Government BangaloreNarashimhaia Award – 1996 Kannada Sahithya Parishat- Dr. Ambedkar Fellowship Award – 1996 Bharatiya Dalit Sahithya Academy –Delhi Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award – 1996 for the Autobiography titled Government Brahmana Bangalore Karnataka Sahitya Academy Fellowship Award – 2002 (for Total Contribution to Kannada Literature) Bangalore Ambedkar Award – 2005 Govt. Karnataka, Bangalore XIV. Awared`s Conferred but not Accepted: Shiksha Rattan Puraskar-2007 India International Friendship Society. New Delhi-110001 Rashtriya Gaurav Award – 2009 India International Friendship Society. New Delhi-110001 Best Citizens of India – 2009 International publishing House New Delhi-110001 Twenty Ten National Academy Award for Literature Academy of Bengali Poetry Kolkata – 700054XV. Works on Aravind Malagatti’s Wittings1. Critical Responses to â€Å"Karya† (Ed.) Sabiha Bhumigowad-1989 2. â€Å"Dalitagna† (Dalit Scholar Par Excellance) A seminar was conducted on the literature of Dr.Aravinda Malagatti in – 1998 (Ed) Dr. Arjuna Golasangi – 20003. Aravind Malagatti Avara Kavyanusandhana (Critical Essay on Aravinda Malagatti poetry ) Dr. Dushala Bargur 2005 4. Prof. Aravind Malagattiyavara Marga-Sahitya Dr. K. Deshava Sharma 2006 5. Prof. Aravind Malagattiyavara Sahithya Mattu Chinthanne- (Ph.D. Thesis work) Dr. N.S. Shankare Gowda 20056. â€Å"Novu Hetta Preethi† A critical essay on ‘Government Brahmana’ (Ed) Dr. Appagere D. Somashekara and Dr. Malligahalli Narendrakumar 20037. Sharadey Kunisidha Kavi Prof. Arvind Malagatti Dr. H.S.K. Chethana Book House, Mysore 20078. Pagadiya Kowdiyali Deepagalu Belagi A Collection of Research articles – 2009 By : Dr. S.D. Shashikala9. Kavya Manthana – A Criticism Articles on Aranind Malagatti Poems – 200910. Vada Vagvada Samvada – 2009 A Collection of Interviews Ed- by Dr.Bislehalli Prabhu 11. Malagatti Mathu Mathana – 2010 A Collection of Interviews By – G.S. Bhat12. Depiction of poor in the Wores of Aravind Malagatti – 2008 By : Vijayakumar, C.E. M.Phil Thesis, Madurai Kamaraj University – Madurai13. Two versions of dalit growing up : A Comparative study of Vasanth Moon`s Growing up untouchable in India and Aravind Malagatti Government Bhahmana by – Banshelkar Yashpal Murhari M.Phil Thesis, Pandicherry University – 2008XVI. OTHER INFORMATION 1. Presided jIlla Kannada Sahitya Sammelan-Bijapur in the year 2006-(The literary meet was held for two days on 25th and 26th November 2006) 2. Prsided Dasara Kavigoshti-on 08.10.2005 at Jaganmohan Palace Mysore. 1. Participated in national seminar on history of folklore studies in India-held on 23-25 October 1998 in Manasagangotri, Mysore 1. Participated in other national seminars and presided many seminars and workshops in kannada. 1. Brought forth more than 200 seminar papers and research articles 1. NAVIKA Frist Kannada Summit-2010 (Pasadena Convention Center) Los Angleles, CaliforniaResidence AddressDr. Aravind Malagatti MIG 29, Gangotri Layour 1st Main, Saraswathipurm Mysore-9Ph. No. Res. 0821-2516927 Mobile : 9448342469 Office : 0821- 2419787|

Traditions and Beliefs

A  tradition  is a practice, custom, or  story  that is memorized and passed down from generation to generation, originally without the need for a  writing system. Traditions are often presumed to be  ancient, unalterable, and deeply important, though they may sometimes be much less â€Å"natural† than is presumed. Some traditions were deliberately invented for one reason or another, often to highlight or enhance the importance of a certain institution. Traditions may also be changed to suit the needs of the day, and the changes can become accepted as a part of the ancient tradition. Folk Beliefs, otherwise known as â€Å"Superstitious Beliefs†, forms part of a people's value systems and culture. They basically reflect the customs, traditions, and mores of a group, which has been based on religious beliefs, opinions, or popular old practices. Also they tell of how a people view the unknown and the Means to appease the gods that control the future. Filipinos still adhere to numerous widely-held folk beliefs that have no scientific or logical basis but maybe backed-up by some past experiences (yet can be dismissed as mere coincidence). Some are still practiced to this day primarily because of ‘there's nothing to lose if we comply' attitude while the others are totally ignored for it seemed downright ridiculous. A number of Filipinos have Folk Beliefs about life, family, luck, wealth, etc. Some of which were presented by the four groups last Monday, April 26, 2010. I have noticed that almost all groups presented folk beliefs about courtship and marriage. Courtship is one that is still being practiced among the strictest of the Filipino families. This is performed by the male (who is the suitor since it is wrong to do it the opposite way) visiting the home of the female. In the olden days, courtship doesn't start until the male suitor had obtained permission from the parents. This was done with the male suitor being accompanied by another respectable elder and approaching either the father or the mother of the female and obtaining permissions days in advanced to visit at a particular day and time. Nowadays this form of getting the parent's permission is still being practiced in the provinces, however, due to western influences, there are ome variations more adaptable to the modern times. One alternative is to make a phone call, asking for the parents' or guardian's permission through an elder to schedule a visit. Another way is for the suitor to approach the parents in a public place, and informally asking for permission to visit. Either way, it is to show proper respect to ask for permission prior to the formal visit. Proper ly greeting the parents by placing the back of the right hand of the parents to the suitor's forehead is practiced to show respect. This is called pagmamano in Tagalog. When the permission has been granted, the suitor whether accompanied by a friend or an elder will visit the girl's home and offers gifts. Gift bags or boxes of goodies or Filipino snacks purchased from a local store and flowers are generally given. The snacks or other goods are offered to the family of the girl then the flowers and special sweets (like chocolate or candies) are given to the girl. In a strict Filipino home, during courtship, the parents are present during the first visit. This is the opportunity to get to know each other. This is sometimes called courting the parents first and winning their hearts and approval then letting the boy or suitor court the girl. Subsequent visits are then scheduled if all went well during the first visit and, depending on how long the courtship will last; the answer is given by the girl with the parents' knowledge as well. After the courtship stage and the girl decides that she also would like to take the suitor's offer of love and commitment, then the girl will give the favorable answer to the suitor. At times it takes months before the answer is given. In the olden days, strict parents would sometimes give a series of tests, having the suitor do some chores like fetching some water from the well, cutting firewood to be used for cooking dinner, helping the father of the girl do some yard or farm work. Nowadays, a more modern approach is being performed by the suitor whereby he offers gentlemanly help to the parents, sometimes carrying groceries as he sees them walking down the streets, offering them a ride if he happens to be driving their way, doing other favors that can help win their favor and better his chances of getting the girl's love as well. After the girl announces to the parents that she is ready to be engaged the parents would be around to congratulate the suitor. From then on, the suitor is treated like a member of the family. Sometimes, even before marriage, the suitor is introduced to the friends and relatives of the girl's immediate family as future part of the family or future son-in-law. Engagements may take longer than a year, and then the date shall be set for marriage. During the waiting period they are free to go on dates, at times with a chaperone. Nowadays, after the first few chaperoned dates they can date on their own, especially those who live in the cities where it is not as strict as in the rural areas of the country. When the two decides that they are ready to get married, then the pamamanhikan (official request of the male and his parents or guardians for the girl's hand in marriage) begins. This is usually done in the evening after dinner. Then, if the parents of the girl agree, they will give them their blessings and set the date of the wedding. The engagement sometimes last from several months to a couple of years due to extensive preparations. The majority of Filipino weddings are now Catholic weddings, but some native traditions remain. Most have special â€Å"sponsors† who act as witnesses to the marriage. The principal sponsors could be godparents, counselors, a favorite uncle and aunt, even a parent. Secondary sponsors handle special parts of the ceremony, such as the candle, cord and veil ceremonies. Candle sponsors light two candles, which the bride and groom use to light a single candle to symbolize the joining of the two families and to invoke the light of Christ in their married life. Veil sponsors place a white veil over the bride's head and the groom's shoulders, a symbol of two people clothed as one. Cord sponsors drape the yugal (a decorative silk cord) in a figure-eight shape–to symbolize everlasting fidelity–over the shoulders of the bride and groom. The groom gives the bride 13 coins, or arrhae, blessed by the priest, as a sign of his dedication to his wife's well-being and the welfare of their future children. The four groups, as far as I can remember, presented more beliefs and traditions about death, marriage, life and luck. These were: †¢ The table should not be cleared while an unmarried woman is still eating because she might end up an old maid. †¢ Do not sweep your floor at night or else you are sweeping your luck out of the house. †¢ If one cuts his fingernails at night, a member of the family will die. †¢ One must not organize teams of 3 or 13, otherwise one member will die. †¢ Eating Pancit on their birthday will enable them to live longer. †¢ The use of the word â€Å"Po† or â€Å"Opo† means â€Å"Yes† in a very polite manner. It is usually said by a young person to an elder. Holding a family reunion to celebrate a birthday in the family, fiestas, for Christmas or New Year's Celebration. †¢ One must be able to have â€Å"handa† during feast days. The first belief tells me that when you clear the table while an unmarried woman is still eating, that woman will stay single all her life. I still don’t believe in such belief because I have met and seen single women getting married even if this clearing of tables while they ate happened to them. This is also my very first time to hear such belief. The second belief is one I heard when I was still very young. I was at my grandfather’s house at Negros Oriental one summer. One night, there housemaid swept the floor and was scolded by my grandfather’s sister for doing such act. I wondered why and so I asked my parents about it. They, too, didn’t know why sweeping floors during night was not allowed. Now, I know why. I still don’t believe in such belief although luck in that house has gone in and out. I believe it’s just coincidental when someone sweeps during the night and then you become very unlucky in the future. The third belief is somehow coincidental for me when you cut your fingernails and someone in your family dies. I have also tried a lot of times already cutting my nails at night and I have also tried losing a member of my family already but I don’t think it was because of what I did. I don’t see any connection between cutting fingernails during the night and death. With the fourth belief, I have heard this since I was in my grade school years. I still hear such until now. I usually go around with two of my very close friends. We always take pictures of ourselves yet not one of us has died, fortunately. I was told that whoever is in the middle will die first. It sounds pretty scary at first especially when I was still very young and innocent. However, as I grew up and hear such, it becomes lame to me and somehow funny because I have had lots of experience already with having two friends with me. The group presented this by three people who was about to take a picture of themselves and then their friend told them they shouldn’t be three otherwise the one in the middle will die. And so they invited more people to join them so they wouldn’t be three. The fifth belief tells me that eating Pancit will make your life longer. I always hear such especially during festivities and celebrations. On birthday celebrations, there is always pancit on the table because it is said that this will make you live longer on earth. They always say â€Å"pansit, pampahaba ng buhay†. I’m pretty sure it is such because pancit is long. We don’t usually practice such tradition in our family. The sixth belief shows respect to the older people when you say Opo or Po. It is our tradition to say such. We also â€Å"mano† or kiss the right hand of an older person when we greet them. Actually, you don't really kiss that hand. You just bow a bit, and gently take the older person's right hand with your right hand, and move it towards your own forehead. Sometimes, it's the back of their hand that touches your forehead. In our family, we practice such tradition as a sign of respect. When we got to our province in Negros and get to meet with the very many relatives of ours, we â€Å"mano† every older relative. Other relatives of ours especially my aunts and uncles who are in their late 20’s and early 30’s wont let us â€Å"mano† them because they don’t want to be â€Å"old†. The seventh and eight traditions have been practiced for years by almost all Filipinos. These happenings bring family members together especially those who are living away or are working in different places and rarely have the chance or time to come home. The presence of family visitors and reuniting members delight the other members of the family, aside from stories and gossips to tell. And, if a visitor is a foreigner or a relative who comes from abroad, the family is very proud especially when the neighbors are around, and offers everything just to please the visitor. Once the visitor is gone, the family will either praise or mock the visitor. It’s mostly not the presence but the presents. We always celebrate feast days by having handa and inviting people to eat inside the house. In our family, we do the same during our village’s fiesta. We invite friends, relatives and neighbors to dine and celebrate with us. Such tradition brings families and friends closer and patches up the times you missed together. With the very many traditions and beliefs of the Filipinos, I can say we only practice a few. Our family is not the type who believes in such beliefs. We only practice those traditions that are very common like celebrating festivities and occasions and giving of gifts during special days. I don’t believe in these beliefs because they sound ridiculous for me but I respect them and the people who believe in them. We were not raised believing in folk beliefs because they are mere stories and doesn’t have any connection with the real world. Sometimes, I wonder why people have made so many beliefs. Is it their way of scaring people especially beliefs about death and misfortune? I believe it is only you who can bring luck to yourself and it is not harmful to believe and practice such beliefs and traditions. I just learned that folk beliefs are not real and not practical and one’s life must not always work around with beliefs.

Application of Theory: Early Childhood Essay

Every builder knows â€Å"A house is only as strong as its foundation†. They also know that they have to evaluate and become familiar the land before beginning to work. This rationale can be used as a guideline for teachers across the world, especially with the children in the early childhood stage, ages 2-6, because how teachers assist children in this stage will serve as the foundation for the life ahead of them. A child develops physically, cognitively and socially. It is important for the teachers to know how the child is developing in order for them to effectively teach the students because they lack of understanding can lead problems for the child. Additionally, if the teacher is aware of how the child is developing, they can assist and promote the way their students think, succeed, socialize, and understand their emotions. At this stage, teachers can also begin to promote diversity, because most often, it is in the classroom that children of this age encounter people that are different. Throughout an individual’s life, he or she goes through several stages of development, where they are developing physically, cognitively and socially. These stages begin from the day you are born and continue throughout your lifetime and last up until the day you die. Through each stage, there are certain changes an individual is expected to go through. Looking specifically the early childhood stage, physically, children’s grow rate and body fat declines. It is also during this stage that the children began to rapidly develop their gross (running and jumping) and fine (writing and drawing) motor skills. Most importantly, during early childhood the brain and nervous system are growing. It is in the early childhood stage that the child enters school and their cognitive development is noticeable. Cognitive Development can be defined as the growth of one’s intelligence. During the early childhood stage, the child is developing symbolic reasoning and intuitive thought and they are perceived to be egocentrism. From the assignments they receive in class you can see the child’s rationale and how they see the world when they tell the stories of their pictures. It is also because the child has entered school that they began to develop more socially. Although the children initially develop there social skills from their parents once they begin to attend schooling they develop relationships with their peers. They often want to emulate what they see their friends do from the way the walk to the way the dress. They also want to spend majority of their time playing with the other children. All teachers should understand the different stages that a child goes through in order for them to effectively teach their students. Teachers should understand that successful learning depends on properly setting the stage for her development ? creating an open, supportive, engaging environment that meets a child’s social, emotional, and cognitive needs. (Church and Ravid. 2003) When teachers have a lack of understanding of the development stages it can cause confusion in the classroom. For example, children who are at the early childhood stages are at the point where they often display temper tantrums when things do not go the way that they planned. Not knowing this may not only cause the teacher to become impatience but also cause the students to continue the behavior. Most importantly, teachers who do not understand the development stages may not know where the students need to be. As teachers, we must understand that there may be some influences in the child life that has caused the child’s developments to be halted. Sometimes it only takes five extra minutes spent on a subject, extra work or tutoring for the child to get back on track. In my school, I see that more and more teachers are having problems teaching their students and when they are not mastering the material in the manner the teachers thought they would. Unfortunately, these teachers want to automatically have the child placed in a special education classes or have the resource teacher work with them (My school is working on the inclusion style of teaching for students with learning abilities). If the teacher knew much about the development of the students they would know the differences between a child with learning disabilities and a child that has not been in the environment in which they could properly develop. When a teacher fully understand the development stages and know what stage their children are in they will be in a better position to assist in their students’ development. One important skill a teacher a can assist early childhood children develop, especially children in the early part of the stage, is there listening skills. It is important that teachers know that taking advantage of the world of sounds is a wonderful way to help young children develop their listening skills. (Miller, 2001) Students can read stories, play music, or just simply talk to the students in order for the children to pay attention. If it is something of interest, they will often listen to what is going on. However, having children pay attention to the sounds is not enough; therefore teachers mush request the students to repeat what is going on. This year I have decided to incorporate the Arthur ® cartoon series into my classroom. This series teaches educational lessons through a story plot. I have the kids to pay attention to what is being said and ask them what is going on. I noticed that kids that watch the cartoons will remember what is said and the next time they see the cartoon they are able to cite some the lines along with the characters. Understanding the students’ development stages can also provide teachers information that can be used to help students achieve greater success; because, providing a high quality education for young children is a key to a child’s future success. Foundational skills needed to achieve academic success include social development, cognitive development, and physical development. (Sanders, http://www. pbs. org/teachersource/prek2/issues/703issue. shtm) Additionally, the students must have self-confidence and motivation to succeed. Therefore, the teachers must not only ensure that their students are receiving educational activities that enhance the development in all three areas but they must make sure that the students willingly participate in the activities. Some students may not want to participate in some activities because they may be weak in that area and as mentioned before, children at this stage often have temper tantrums. In my class, I often express to the students that it is important to participate in all the activities whether under my instruction or not. I make sure that I call on everyone student and that they attempt to answer the question. When I know that the student is weak in an area I give them the easier questions first and when they offer the right answer I often will say â€Å"I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT!!! â€Å". I also make big news when my students conquer their weakness and make it to the wall of fame and they often continue working to succeed in all areas. Therefore, giving your students praises and encouragement can cause them to strive harder to succeed in class. During the early childhood stage, the child begins to develop a conscience. The child is not only coming to an understanding of what is right from wrong but is often afraid of being caught doing something wrong. Knowing this, teachers must allow students to make decisions on their own. When explaining the rules to the students at the beginning of the year, I often will give each student a hypothetical situation and ask then what they would do and give the opportunity to explain why. By doing this, I am learning how much development the child has in this area. I had one student who had brought candy from home and while I was grading the test I watched him to see if he was going to sneak the candy. He was unaware that I was watching and I surprisingly; he chose not to eat the candy. I called him to the side before the class was to go to lunch and told him I was watching him and I was pleased that he had decided not to eat the candy. In addition, a child needs to have social skills if they want to succeed in class and in life. Helping children to develop a repertoire of positive and appropriate social behavior is a primary goal of early childhood education. Teachers need to coach the solitary child to learn to watch a group at play and then to suggest an appropriate role that helps them enter in. (Coons. 1985) When the students shy away from interacting with the other students the teacher should encourage the students to observe for a will then have them join. I often provide activities where I pair off the students to work together because I notice that it is easier for a child to â€Å"come out of their shell† when there is less people in the class. Each time, I make sure that I make different pairs and by the end of the first month of school each person has spent one-on one time with all the students in the class. Now I am able to incorporated group activities where the whole class is participating and my children are all comfortable in working together as a class to complete assignments. However, the teacher must realize that a child’s social skills will only continue to progress if the child is emotional developing. As instrumental figures in the students’ life, teachers can foster mental health in young children by providing many opportunities for healthy emotional attitudes to develop. Dr. Erik Erikson has made a significant contribution to our understanding of those basic attitudes. It takes a lot of patience combined with good judgment and warm, nurturing relationships to raise emotionally healthy children. But no matter what we do, children are going to feel sad, afraid, anxious and angry from time to time. (http://www. pbs. org/wholechild/providers/dealing. html) Having dealt with Emotional Disordered students, I realize that they are very quick tempered and many small things will make them angry. Although I teach my students not to laugh at each other when someone makes a mistake, there are times when they â€Å"slip up†. When they do the child that made the mistake often feels embarrassed and extremely angry and immediately wants to fight the other students. After disciplining the child who laughed, I pull the child aside tell them that it is totally acceptable to fell embarrassed and angry but you can not express it through fighting. I tell them if this happens again that they should express to the student n words how you feel. The student immediately gives me a smile because I understand and hen this happens to the next time, most of the time, they tell the other kids that they would not like it if it happened to you. This makes it important that teachers explain to the students the concept of diversity and ensure that they tell the students that we are all different in some way; one in which how we learn. Educators must help our children appreciate the diversity and complexity of all people; therefore, in or to fulfill our commitment to diversity and to empowerment of all children and families we serve, schools and early childhood programs need to take the lead in supporting the healthy identity development of this ever increasing population. (Wardle. 1998) Henry Brooks Adams, writer and historian, put it wonderfully when he said, â€Å"A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell, where his influence stops. † Teachers of children in the early childhood stage should especially consider this in the classroom. Their students are at the beginning stages of a lifetime of development and it is at this stage that what they observe and learn that will be the building block for who they will be tomorrow. Our lack of understanding can be the negatively effect their future; therefore would should try to provide a learning environment that will assist in development. As teachers, we have the power to promote critical thinking in our students and assist our students in succeeding not only in school but also life. We need to ensure that our students work on being socially and emotional healthy and understand how diverse the world is. If we do all of this, we are increasing the chances of our student to make it in the real world and therefore have demonstrated that we are effective at our jobs. References Church, Ellen Booth, Ravid, Frann. (2003. Sep. ) Setting the Stage for Learning. Scholastic Parent & Child, Vol. 11, Issue 1 Coons, Phyllis. (1985. December) STUDY SAYS TRAINING IN EARLY CHILDHOOD BENEFITS YOUNGSTERS. Boston Globe. Boston, Mass. Miller, Susan. (2001.Oct. ) 3 to 4: Listening and learning. Scholastic Early Childhood Today. New York. Public Broadcast Station (PBS). Dealing with Feelings: Emotional Health. Retrieved September 15, 2005 from http://www. pbs. org/wholechild/providers/dealing. html Sanders, Steve. The Issues: Physically Active for Life. Retrieved on September 15, 2005 from http://www. pbs. org/teachersource/prek2/issues/703issue. shtm. Wardle, Francis. (1998). Meeting the Needs of Multiracial and Multiethnic Children in Early Childhood Settings. Early Childhood Education Journal, Vol. 26, No. 1.