Rubrics - How to Make Grading Easier

Rubrics can be defined as a simplified way to grade a complicated assignment. For example, when you are grading an essay, how do you decide whether it gets an A or a B? What about if you are assigning number grades to the essay? Whats the difference between a 94 and a 96? The times that I have graded without a rubric, I have typically relied on the subjective method of reading and ranking. I read each essay and rank them in order from best to worst. Usually when Im knee deep in essays, I begin to wonder why I did this to myself. The easy answer, of course, is that it seems much easier to avoid the extra work required to create a rubric. However, the time saved up front is more than lost while grading. Here are three reasons why I find rubrics truly effective. First, rubrics save time because I can simply look at your rubric and mark off points. Second, rubrics keep me honest, even when Ive had a horrible day and my cat wont leave me alone. I feel much more objective as I sit before my mountain of papers. More important than these two reasons, however, is that when I have created a rubric beforehand and shown it to my students I get better quality work. They know what I want. They can also see right away where they lost points. How to Write a Rubric Writing a rubric is a fairly easy process even though it takes a little time. However, as Ive already explained, the time is worth it. Ive created step-by-step instructions for writing rubrics for any assignment you give. Examples of Rubrics Here are some wonderful rubrics that you can adapt and use today! Biography FrameworkBody Paragraph of an EssayCompare Contrast EssayCritical ThinkingDebate RubricFlorida Writes - Expository Persuasive EssaysExpository EssayPersuasive EssayStand Alone ParagraphSupporting DetailsWriting Prompts

A New Beginning For African Americans Essay - 1291 Words

Marisa Pope EH-232 American Literature II Professor Alan Brown November 19, 2016 A New Beginning for African Americans From the 1920’s to the mid 1930’s a literary, intellectual, and artistic movement occurred that kindled the African Americans a new cultural identity. This movement became known as the Harlem Renaissance, which is also known as the â€Å"New Negro Movement†. With this movement, African Americans sought out to challenge the â€Å"Negro† stereotype that they had received from others while developing innovation and great cultural activity. The Harlem Renaissance became an artistic explosion in the creative arts. Thus, many African Americans turned to writing, art, music, and theatrics to express their selves. The Harlem Renaissance opened doors to the African American people who traveled from the south. This huge movement was known was the Great Migration, where over six million African Americans were driven from their homes by insufficient economic opportunities and punitive segregationist laws, many blacks headed north, where they took advantage of the need for industrial workers that first arose during the First World War. A teacher and critic by the name of Alan Locke coined the name â€Å"Harlem Renaissance† because of its essence. Locke states â€Å"Negro life is seizing its first chances for group expression and self-determination† (Staff). With this name Harlem became the center of a divine coming of age in which Locke’s â€Å"New Negro† altered â€Å"social [discouragement] intoShow MoreRelatedThe Evolution of African American Identity1514 Words   |  7 Pageshas been a major concern of African and African American authors from the beginning. In fa ct African American identity underwent drastic transformations between the eighteenth century and twentieth century. As Amistad, Federalist No. 54, The New Negro and The Souls of Black Folks shows, African American identity has shifted from an early tribal identity, to a dehumanized identity based in slavery, and finally to a ‘new type of Negro identity based in art and African origins. These transformationsRead MoreAfrican American And The Civil War876 Words   |  4 Pageswhen the civil war ended in America and slavery was abolished, the African American population in the South faced many challenges related to their new found freedom. Following the post-Civil War Reconstruction period, white supremacy resurfaced in the South (AE Television, 2015). Beginning in the early 1900s through 1970 there was a mass exodus of African American s from South to North America. Although some African American s were known to have moved from the South as early as 1850, thereRead MoreAfrica n Americans During The Civil War1170 Words   |  5 Pagesthe civil war ended in America and slavery was abolished, the African American population in the South faced many challenges related to their new found freedom. Following the post-Civil War Reconstruction period, white supremacy resurfaced in the South (AE Television, 2015). Beginning in the early 1900s through 1970 there was a mass exodus of African American s from the South to the North in America. Although some African American s were known to have moved from the South as early as 1850, thereRead MoreAnalysis Of Hansberry s The Sun And Local Business Owners 898 Words   |  4 PagesSuper bowl MVP’s, or local business owners, African Americans today are among the most influential and successful people. Yet the terms poor, dependent of whites, unstable, and family struggles come to mind after reading the beginning of A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. The way Hansberry’s portrayal changed thro ughout the play is very much similar to how the public view African Americans today. Hansberry’s beginning portrayal of African Americans is that they are poor, dependent of whiteRead MoreThe New Jim Crow?919 Words   |  4 PagesAlexander, the author of The New Jim Crow, did not see the prison systems as racially motivated until doing further research. After researching the issue, Alexander found the prison system was a way to oppress African Americans and wrote the novel The New Jim Crow. The New Jim Crow follows the history of the racial caste system and in the novel Alexander comes to the conclusion that the mass incarceration of African American is the New Jim Crow, or in other words a new system of black oppression.Read MoreThe Origin Of African American Music1462 Words   |  6 Pages The origin of African-American music Nowadays, the United States has the largest music market in the world. Inheriting from the European tradition music from the European immigrants, American music has been deeply influenced by African-American music in both rhythmic and lyrical styles. African-American music includes a diverse range of music genres, such as blues, hip hop, jazz which are developed by African Americans. although these forms of African-American music may different a lot in musicRead MoreAfrican Americans Need To Understand â€Å"The Necessity, As1562 Words   |  7 PagesAfrican Americans need to understand â€Å"the necessity, as well as the propriety, of behaving themselves inoffensively and with civility at all times and upon all occasions; taking care, as they pass along the streets, or assemble together, not to be obtrusive† in order to not â€Å"provoke† further violence. Those were the recommendations of the citizens’ committee that investigated the causes that had led to the Philadelphia race riot in 1834, during which a mob of Whites viciously attacked African AmericansRead MoreAfrican Americans Participation During The Civil War1509 Words   |  7 Pages Beginning in 1861, the civil war was fought over many political questions regarding slavery, yet was barely focused on the actual freedom of the slaves themselves. It is often taught that the Union fought for the freedom of slaves at the beginning of the war. However, it is more accurate to say that Abraham Lincoln’s primary goal at the beginning of the war was to reunite the Union after the majority of the slave-owning states seceded to protect their way of life: slavery. Yet, by the end of theRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem September Cotton Flower By Jean Toomer1586 Words   |  7 PagesNew beginnings are often disguised as painful endings†¦Ã¢â‚¬  – Lao Tzu Whenever a scene of a movie approaches where a debacle unravels or innocent lives are jeopardized, audiences grip their chairs in anticipation for help to come or for a hero to spring into action and save lives. Similarly, in many circumstances, no matter how dire an event might seem, there is always a beacon of hope amongst doleful situations. From every ending comes a new beginning. The poem, â€Å"November Cotton Flower†, written byRead MoreThe Harlem Renaissance And Marcus Garvey s Universal Negro Improvement Association ( Unia )854 Words   |  4 Pages1920’s were a time of change for African Americans. They were beginning to retain a sense of pride in their background and culture, were becoming more independent socially and economically, and were becoming more militant. Part of this was because of the Great Migration, in which a proliferation of African Americans moved from the Southern states to the Northern states, and the excessive levels of racism and prejudi ce they faced during the process. African Americans were really starting to make their

University of Newcastle Free Essays

1)What segmentation base has Red Bull adopted to target consumers? How should Red Bull further segment the market in the future? When marketers begin instigate their strategy they will begin by selecting a marketing base at which they will aim their strategy. The Bases can be broken into four segments on the basis of two criteria: 1- Facts, which can be determined by a single objective or cognitions that are more abstract 2-Consumer rooted features relating to consumers physical, social and psychological needs versus consumption specific behaviour or preferences towards a product. Based on this criteria the four segments business use include: -Demographic, based on general features of human life -Geographic, based on the region the consumers live in -Behavioural, based on the consumers preferences towards products -Psychographic, based on the personality traits of consumers While many companies choose to aim their marketing strategy at a single consumer base, many successful companies choose to engage many segmentation bases with one marketing strategy. We will write a custom essay sample on University of Newcastle or any similar topic only for you Order Now This process is called hybrid segmentation. This can be seen with Red Bulls â€Å"guerrilla marketing† strategy that established them as a successful company. It is clear that the marketing strategy segmented the market demographics and psychographic segments. For example the unique strategy that was developed to demographically target students/young adults and aimed to psychographically appeal due to their active and outgoing lifestyles. In order to continue their success in the market, Red Bulls targeted consumer base can be further segmented to increase profitability. ) How Does Red Bull arouse the motivations of consumers to purchase energy drinks? Motivation can be seen as the driving force that impels the consumer to act in fulfilling their needs, hopefully through the consumer purchasing their products. Red Bull achieves this through providing positive motivation for the consumer. 3) Describe the Brand Personality of Red Bull. Why do you think the concept of brand personality is so important to Red Bull? How to cite University of Newcastle, Essay examples

Human Resource Management for Institutions and Technologies

Question: Discuss about theHuman Resource Management for Institutions and Technologies. Answer: Introduction This paper is a project proposal on the impact of outsourcing the staffing function has on business organizations. Outsourcing is a practice in the corporate world where a business organization delegates non core functions of the organization to another company under an agreed criteria and terms. Business organizations are made up of many functions which are coordinated together to help the organization become successful (Australia, 2015). In the recent past, however, business organization have seen it more beneficial and efficient to delegate functions such as staffing, cleaning services and transport and logistics to companies that specialize in this functions for various reasons. This research project proposal aims at identifying the reasons why organizations outsource the staffing function and the impact that outsourcing has on organizations in Australia. The research proposal begins with the identification of the aims and objectives of the project and identification of the scope of the project. Literature is reviewed to help identify gaps that exist in the research and to compare the findings of different researchers to give a deeper understanding of the subject being researched. This will also help in deciding on the research questions to be asked during the study. This study will be carried out using both qualitative and quantitative research design. Project aims and objectives This project aims at investigating the impact that outsourcing has had on organizations across Australia. The research project seeks to identify if outsourcing is beneficial to the organizations and what are the specific benefits of outsourcing. Establish the shortcomings of outsourcing to organizations in Australia. Scope of the project The scope of this project is very wide. The project seeks to examine the impact of outsourcing the staffing function. The project is wide in scope because the project seeks to investigate both positive and negative effects that outsourcing staffing function may have on an organization. This, therefore, means that a lot of data from various organizations in different industries needs to be collected to help meet the research objectives. The project does not discuss the outsourcing of other functions such as security and its scope is limited to staffing function of an organization(Caruth, Caruth Pane, 2009). Justification of the project Outsourcing of human resource functions is becoming popular for many organizations in Australia and globally. The outsourcing of the HR function which includes recruitment and managing the workforce is being outsourced by many organizations. Due to this reason, the researcher finds the need to identify the impact that outsourcing of staffing function has had on organizations. This study is justified further by the fact that most researchers have studied outsourcing as a whole and therefore very little information is available on the effects of outsourcing the HR function (Sople, 2011). Literature review Most organizations in the 21st century are so focused on minimizing cost and will take whatever actions to cut on their costs. Organizations are also focused on achieving high levels of work flow and efficiency at the workplace and for all employees (Leimeister, 2010). Outsourcing is the only way that all these can be achieved since it assists in delegating work and functions to people or organizations outside the company. Bucki (2017) defines outsourcing as the process of delegating work to other people who are not related to the firm to carry out agreed tasks under the agreed terms of a contract. Normally, companies outsource tasks or functions that are not core functions of the organization and therefore can be undertaken by another party more effectively and efficiently. Some of the common tasks that organizations outsource include IT services, security services, manufacturing of some units as well as other services such as transportation and law (Kirk, 2010). The delegation of staffing function which involves hiring and recruiting employees is also common. This literature review helps to identify the findings of other researchers concerning reasons for outsourcing staffing function. The review also helps to establish the negative and positive impact that outsourcing of HR function has on organizations. Organizations outsource the HR function for various reasons. One of the reasons why organizations outsource is to save on cost. Most organizations find that they incur a lot of costs in managing their workforce. The cost of running the HR function in most organizations is more than one-third of the organization's entire expenses on labor/salaries. This, therefore, means that it represents a significant expense for the companies. To reduce this costs, organizations find it appropriate to delegate the HR function to a third party(Sparrow,2009). The third party should have experience and expertise in the management of employees and be performing other HR functions as might have been agreed between the organization and the third party. Organizations have many options of outsourcing the HR function. An organization can decide to either outsource the entire HR function or to delegate specific aspects of the human resource function. The common types of agreements in outsourcing HR function include Software-as-a-service(SAAS) where software is licensed and delivered to an organization with applications that help the organization to reduce the function of the HR function and hence reducing costs. Other arrangements include business process outsourcing, single-source outsourcing as well as shared services and shared service centers(Van Tiem, Moseley, Dessinger, Van Tiem van Tiem, 2012). There are many benefits that accrue from an organization outsourcing the HR function. One of the major benefits of outsourcing the HR function is that it helps to reduce costs for an organization. Most organizations spend a lot of money on organizing the HR function in their organizations. Most of the staff employed in the HR department are also permanent and pensionable, and therefore they cost an organization a lot of resources. Since human resource is not the core function of the organization, the management might find it more appropriate to delegate this role to a third party at a cost. The company agrees with the third party on the terms of the deal and the HR functions that the third party is expected to perform. In his research M,(2013) observed that by outsourcing the HR function, organizations could save up to 40% of the cost of the HR function. Outsourcing HR function also helps an organization to focus on its core function and hence making processes and tasks more efficient. When an organization delegates its HR function, it can remove the burden of managing the workforce and hence all the companies efforts and resources are focused on achieving the primary objective of the organization (Hossain and Abdullah, 2017). This is important in achieving increased efficiency and productivity which in turn leads to better profit margins for the organization. In addition to this outsourcing, some HR function may contribute to more motivated employees and better-organized HR function (Chiang, Chow and Birtch, 2010). This is because the third party had specialized in the management of human resources and will use their experience to manage the employees better than when the function was under the company itself. Outsourcing also helps an organization to recruit highly qualified and experienced workforce with skills that fit the job profile. This is because the third party specializing in human resource management has wider networks that assist in the recruitment process (Weissman, 2015). Some of the negative impacts of outsourcing the HR function is that the person or company to whom the role is delegated may fail to undertake their responsibility appropriately and hence leading to failure of the entire organizations. Outsourcing some HR functions may also lead to staff becoming lacking motivation and hence affecting their performance. Research questions Does the outsourcing of human resource function lead to increased efficiency in the organization? Does outsourcing HR function help an organization to reduce cost? Does outsourcing result to loss of control and unmotivated employees? Research design and methodology Qualitative research This study will be carried out using a combination of both qualitative research design and quantitative research technique. The qualitative research results in descriptive data that is not in numerical form. The descriptive data collected in this research will be analyzed to help uncover hidden phenomenon that will help in making conclusions related to this study. The major secondary information for this study will be collected by analyzing various journal articles, thesis, and dissertations as well as books written recently concerning the study. The data resulting from this study will be analyzed and characterized so that it those aspects that are closely related can be ranked in the same group. The classified data will be given codes for easier identification and interpretation. Ethnography is another form of qualitative data analysis that will be used for this research. This method helps to study people and organizations in naturally occurring settings (Truss, Mankin Kelliher, 201 2). It results to summarizing observed activities and patterns which helps in making conclusions about the subject matter. The impact of outsourcing will be analyzed by mainly comparing the current performance of the HR function with previous performance when the functions had not been outsourced (Kavanagh, Thite, Johnson,2014). Data collected through this method will be presented using reports with findings and recommendation. Quantitative research The quantitative research design is used in this research to collect numerical data on the impact that outsourcing has had on the performance of organizations. The data will be mainly from the financial reports of various organizations chosen to undertake this study. The financial performance after outsourcing can be compared to that before outsourcing, and hence conclusions can be made. The data on the performance of employees can also be compared at the time when the organization had not outsourced and the current performance (Mitchell and James, 2017). The data analysis for quantitative data will be done using SPSS applications and Excel spreadsheet (Mba, 2011). The correlation and regression between the variables under study will be determined to help measure the relationship between the variables. The data will be presented using graphs and tables. Research limitations This research is expected to face some challenges and limitations. The first limitation is the time allocated to do this research may make it difficult to collect enough information and analyze it to increase the confidence level in the research. The data available on the research subject may not be accurate in some situations since some organizations may tend to exaggerate their performance. Research plan Task/Activity Time schedule Preparation for the study 2nd Oct 2017-5/10/2017 Data collection from various secondary sources 6/10/2017-15/10/2017 Data analysis 16/10/2017-20/10/2017 Writing of report 21/10/2017-22/10/2017 Presentation 26/10/2017 Conclusion This research proposal on the impact of outsourcing the HR function on organization in Australia presents the aims and objectives of the research that will help to guide the researcher during the whole research process. This paper also contains the research questions that will be addressed by the study as well as a justification of the research. The paper also contains a summarized literature review as well as the limitations of the study. The research design and methodology to be used in this study is also clearly discussed. References Australia, c. L. (2015). Organization theory and design. Cincinnati oh, cengage learning us. Http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?P=4635701. Caruth, d. L., caruth, g. D., pane, s. S. (2009). Staffing the contemporary organization: A guide to planning, recruiting, and selecting for human resource professionals. Westport, conn, praeger publishers. Http://ebooks.abc-clio.com/?Isbn=9780313356155. Chiang, F., Chow, I. and Birtch, T. (2010). Examining human resource management outsourcing in Hong Kong. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 21(15), pp.2762-2777. Italian association for information systems, d'atri, a., sacca?, d. (2010). Information systems: People, organizations, institutions, and technologies. Heidelberg, physica-verlag. Http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?P=510611. Hossain, M. and Abdullah, A. (2017). Challenges and Impacts of Human Resource Outsourcing (HRO) in Bangladesh. International Journal of Human Resource Studies, 7(3), p.63. Kirk, s. A. (2010). It outsourcing: Concepts, methodologies, tools, and applications. Hershey, pa, business science reference. Kavanagh, m. J., thite, m., johnson, r. (2014). Human resource information systems: Basics, applications, and future directions. Https://nls.ldls.org.uk/welcome.html?Ark:/81055/vdc_100025343796.0x000001. Leimeister, s. (2010). It outsourcing governance: Client types and their management strategies. Wiesbaden, gabler. Http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?P=750026. Mba, a. A. M. (2011). Business process outsourcing unleashed. [place of publication not identified], lulu com. M, F. (2013). Towards Successful Outsourcing of Human Resource Functions. International Journal of Human Resource Studies, 3(3), p.39. Mitchell, I. and James, P. (2017). Outsourcing transitions and the employment relationship implications. Human Resource Management Journal. Rothwell, w. J., prescott, r. K., taylor, m. W. (2008). Human resource transformation: Demonstrating strategic leadership in the face of future trends. Mountain view, calif, davies-black pub. Sople, v. V. (2011). Business process outsourcing a supply chain of expertises. New delhi, phi learning. Sparrow, p. (2009). Handbook of international human resource management: Integrating people, process, and context. Chichester, john wiley sons. Http://www.books24x7.com/marc.asp?Bookid=29466. Truss, c., mankin, d., kelliher, c. (2012). Strategic human resource management. Oxford, oxford university press. Van tiem, d. M., moseley, j. L., dessinger, j. C., van tiem, d. M., van tiem, d. M. (2012). Fundamentals of performance improvement: Optimizing results through people, process, and organizations : Interventions, performance support tools, case studies. San francisco, ca, pfeiffer, a wiley imprint. Weissman, r. L. (2015). Mechanical trading systems: Pairing trader psychology with technical analysis. Hoboken, nj, john wiley sons. Http://www.books24x7.com/marc.asp?Bookid=11306.

Apprentice ship of Duddy Kravitz Essays - New Canadian Library

Apprentice ship of Duddy Kravitz Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz In the Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, Mordecai Richler clearly intends to portray his main character as a failure. Duddy understands perfectly well that a man must pursue his dreams, which is why he is one of the most motivated young man of his time. From the moment Duddy hears his grandfather say, "A man without land is nobody, he is prepared to seek the land of his dreams. This aspiration of Duddys is very respectable, but unfortunately his methods are totally inappropriate, and that leads to him being a failure. The moment that Duddy began to immerse himself into the establishment of his film company, it could be seen that he was willing to do anything to get money, even if he had to lie. For example, the film Duddy made for the bar mitzvah was of extremely poor quality, and as a result, the product was an obvious failure. Duddy himself knew that well: Duddy didnt say a word all though the screening but afterwards he was sick to his stomach. (Page 148). Later, Duddy said to Mr. Friar: I could sell Mr. Cohn a dead horse easier then this pile of _ (page 148). After this particular incident, Duddy does not even speak honestly to his clients. In conclusion, the only way Duddy sells his waste films is by telling lies. He always lies to gain money, and thats all that Duddy cares about. Duddy has never been loved in his family, so originally he was quite content to know that Yvette cares about him. At the beginning, Yvette and Duddy are in love. Its so nice to see you lie still for once, she said. Your always running or jumping or scratching. Duddy was surprised and flattered to discover that anyone cared enough to watch him so closely. (Page 92) As time passed by, however, Duddy began to use Yvette as a tool. The main reason for that is Duddy was striving to get the land, and since he could not legally own it as a minor, he employed Yvette to act as a figurehead in his purchase. This treatment of Yvette, combined with her breaking ties with her family due to Duddy being a Jew, is what ruins their relationship. As Yvette states: My brother found out Im living with youI wont be able to see my parents again. (Page 218). Virgil is another type of victim that Duddy takes full advantage of, due to his physical disabilities. This can be seen when Duddy takes the smuggled pinball machines from Virgil. Duddy cheats him out of the money for the machines by giving him a truck and a job that covers the cost of the truck. However, the cost of the truck was lower than the cost of the pinball machine. Another way Duddy take advantage of Virgil is by stealing money out of his bank account for the land Duddy took a quick look at Virgils bank balance, whistled, noted his account number and ripped out two cheques. He forged the signature by holding the cheque and a letter Virgil had signed up to the window and tracing slowly. (Page 304) Duddy uses other tragic disability as nothing more than another suitable way to advance to his own goals. In conclusion, Duddy has obviously chosen the wrong kind of man to become, which leads to his apprenticeship being a failure. He has chosen to become a crooked person, telling lies to Mr. Cohn, Virgil, and Yvette. He takes advantage of Yvette just for her land, and he takes advantage of Virgil due to his disabilities. Duddy can be seen as a corrupt and ruthless man. It is totally unfortunate that he chose the wrong path at a young age, and continued moving along that path. He ends up being seen as a failure.

With Practice

With Practice I once took the AWAI course for copywriters. You know the one. Its where they talk about six-figure income from copywriting and how to earn some serious bucks once you take their course. They asked me to be an affiliate, and I did it for a long while, but one condition was that I receive a copy of the first course to study. Yes, it was a legit course. The advice was sound. I endorsed it for a long while. One of the simplest lessons in the course, however, amazed me. They advised to simply copy down existing letters used in commercial campaigns, written I felt like I was copying my mothers cursive writing as a child. Id read a line, then write it. Read another line, then write it. The logic was that there is power in muscle memory. When we repeat something, we retain it in our minds. After all, we practice sports over and over to get it right. Sewing, running, painting, singing, whatever it is, the more werepeat the drills, the closer we get to doing the task well. Using that theory, you can copy great pages of writing Before you holler plagiarism, I assure you that the exercise does not mean that you copy the work into your own story. And it does not mean that youll accidentally spit out three paragraphs of JK Rowlings words into your story and not know it. Butyou will absorb some of her techniques. Greg Digneo wrote a post on Boost Blog Traffic last week called The Brain-Dead Simple but Astonishingly Effective Way to Become a   Better Writer. Imagine how my brows rose when I saw this blog post telling other bloggers to copy great blog posts to learn how to   master blogging. ( http://boostblogtraffic.com/better-writer/ ) What I found fascinating in Gregs post, however, was that Picasso learned how to paint so well You learn to write without so much passive voice.You learn to write more colorfully.You learn to write in a certain verb tense better.You learn to write a particular point of view better.You learn to diversify your sentence structure better.And the list goes on and on Dont want to copy the pages verbatim? Then read them over and over. Your mind is a phenomenal sponge. It absorbs. It learns when you dont think its learning. Make yourself read great works, repeatedly, and the skills sink in. Or you could practice writing them, pretending youre in the mind of a great author, hoping some of that magic sloughs off on you.

Tourism in Moab Utah Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Tourism in Moab Utah - Research Paper Example The town’s population increases to over 100,000 mountain bikers annually. The surroundings are characterized by stark red rock, and a hot and arid environment. â€Å"The La Sal Mountains nearby provide a cooler escape† (Buckley 423), and Moab also functions as a minor destination for amenity migrants. The town has been transformed as a result of tourism. Moab is located in a valley fifteen miles long and three miles wide within the heart of the Colorado Plateau, in the American West. â€Å"The biblical name Moab was adopted in 1880 when a mail route was established between Salina, Utah, and Ouray, Colorado† (Moabhistory, 2011). Moab was among the last parts of colonized America to be â€Å"civilized†, with the first permanent white settlers appearing well after the Civil War, in the 1870s. Prior to their arrival, Native Americans had inhabited the valley. â€Å"Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the Hole in the Wall Gang, and the Wild Bunch rode to hide-outs around here† (Ricks 50) after robbing banks in Colorado mining towns. Farms, ranches, a community school, railroad and ferry services across the Colorado river were established by 1885, and a three-span steel bridge by 1912. In 1890 Moab became the county seat of Grand County, was designated as a town in 1903, and as a third-class city in 1936. The area’s economy based on farming, ranching and Utah’s finest fruit growing industry declined with the uranium boom of the early 1950s which brought in an influx of prospectors, miners, speculators and workers. New facilities such as markets, schools and businesses developed. In 1911 the first commercial oil well was drilled, and the oil boom that enriched the Moab economy lasted into the 1960s. With the demand for uranium declining by the early 1960s, potash became the next boom industry. A modern potash plant and a railroad spur line to connect vital points were constructed in 1963 (Moabhistory, 2011). For over the last quarter of a

Prenatal Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Prenatal Development - Essay Example The paramount relevance of prenatal care in reducing infant deaths has been over and over again reported in studies and the connection between Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and prenatal development corresponds, most obviously, to this factor. The impact of drug consumption during prenatal development is, therefore, highly perilous and the connection between prenatal development and FAS draws attention to the same danger. The relationship between prenatal development and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome offers one of the stimulating topics of profound analyses in the area and it is important in such analyses to determine when and how the fetus is affected. Therefore, this paper mulls over the various pertinent areas of the relationship between prenatal development and FAS in order to determine the proper utility of such analyses. In a reflective analysis of the broader picture of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome in the modern world, one becomes aware of the immensity of the issue and the prenatal exposure to alcohol is the single most cause mental retardation in the US today. Important studies on prenatal development prove that the use of alcohol during this period have a venomous impact on the growing facial features, the central nervous system of the fetus, the growth rate and birth weight. "Alcohol consumption during pregnancy can result in full-blown fetal alcohol syndrome or a host of fetal alcohol effects that include a wide range of mild to severe cognitive, behavioral, and growth delays. Fetal alcohol syndrome occurs in about 1 of 750 births in the United States. Many thousands more are born with fetal alcohol effects." (Sloboda and Bukoski, p 330). In fact, the widely recognized human teratogen called alcohol has been the prime producer of FAS and the other related effects in children. Alcohol, among all the substances of abuse, is the most dangerous and serious manufacturer of neurobehavioral effects in the fetus. While the nature of the substance used in the prenatal development period has a vital role in causing Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, it is more imperative to analyze the timing of the exposure alcohol as it is a major variable influencing FAS. As mentioned before, one of the most vital variables predicting the effect of the consumption of alcohol during the prenatal development has been the timing of the exposure to the substance. Thus, the exposure of the fetus to a substance can have different types if impact when it either coincides with or misses a period of peak sensitivity to the substance. "For example, fetal exposure to alcohol, even at relatively low doses, has its greatest impact on development if it occurs early in the first trimester or at any time during the third trimester. This is because the developing fetus has different periods of peak sensitivity to alcohol." (Sloboda and Bukoski, p 330). Therefore, it is vital to relate to the timing of the exposure alcohol when the fetus is affected the most in prenatal development. The broad period of prenatal development is often divided into three periods for the sake of convenience, i.e. the pre-differentiation period, the period of the embryo, and the period of the fetus. In the total span of prenatal devel

Business-to-business financial system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Business-to-business financial system - Essay Example In this regard, there are a lot of things and probability that might come into picture, and more often than not, it is due to VALUE LOSS caused by INTANGIBILITY. However, this kind of concern doesn't seem to catch the attention of even financial experts solely on the basis that majority of them fails to go back into the basics, and that is to search for the appropriate term for the word intangible. Upton III 2007 pointed-out that "there are times where it is desirable to value intangible assets for internal business purposes, whether they are related to taxation or not. For example, determining the appropriate value of an intangible asset (or set of intangible assets) may be necessary or useful for corporate planning, establishing royalty rates, inter company transfer prices or even litigation dispute and resolution (although often this is tied into taxation related reasons).Regardless of the reason, it is necessary to value intangible assets carefully and appropriately' 'The purpose of the intangible asset valuation is often to understand not only what the intangible asset is (and does) but also how it affects the bottom line. An ethical and conscientious valuation expert will keep this in mind, and will not fall prey to the desire to value an intangible asset in a biased man'" In this case, it is very important to understand that there are instances that intangible assets particularly with that of a financial one is sometimes the culprit in value loss of a certain financial or even a business enterprise. It is clear that the more the value that a financial or a business enterprise's assets are, the more the stable the business stands. In this case, it is very important to ensure the value of a certain financial asset. Looking into a much complicated picture, defining what intangible asset might create derailment on how value loss is created by intangibility of a financial product. It is an established fact that the major component of a service product is intangible. Upon analyzing this kind of premise, it is not impossible to consider finances as an intangible asset because it is subject to inflation or deflation of a country's economy. In the case of the aforementioned argument, the place where a financial service industry could set the pace of the businesses financial standing if it is doing well or not. In this kind of consideration, it is understood that monetary standing of a financial service industry is unpredictable day after the other- it is why stock market, along with its components is monitored day after day. However, one cannot fully understand the risk and devaluation of financial service providers with regards to intangibility of monetary asset if b2b is not yet defined. Of course, this kind of system is presently penetrating several or perhaps majority of the world market today. Furthermore, the website searchcio.techtarget.com (2000) defined it as "B2B (business-to-business), also known as e-biz, is the exchange of products, services, or information between businesses rather than between businesses and consumers. Although early interest centered on the growth of retailing on the Internet (sometimes called e-tailing), forecasts are that B2B revenue will far exceed business-to-consumers (B2C) revenue in the near future. According to studies published in early 2000, the money volume of B2B exceeds that of e-tailing by 10 to 1. Over the next five years, B2B is expected to have a

Effects of a Student Lifestyle on Health

Effects of a Student Lifestyle on Health An investigation into the effects of a student lifestyle on health Results and discussion The questionnaires were sent out to the student population in the manner described. A total of 240 were distributed and we received back 120 of these – a 50% return rate. Of these 120 (n), 68 (56%) were from male respondents and 52 (44%) were from females this approximately reflects the male / female ratio of students at the University. We shall consider each question in turn. Questionnaire I Age. As could easily be predicted, the vast majority of respondents were from the 18-21 yr. age range 100 (83%) in total, with the remainder scattered over the range 22-32 yrs., again this roughly equates with the student age profile of the University campus. 108 (90%) were full time students with only 12 (10%) being part time We decided to make a preliminary breakdown into sports and non-sports related courses. We felt that this was better for our purposes than specifying each individual course studied, as it lent itself to clearer analysis. 24 (20%) were on sports related courses and 96 (80%) were not. It would be a useful breakdown of male / female in these two groups if you have the information. In terms of hours studied, the results were rather surprising as 29 (24%) admitted to studying less than 6 hrs a week, the biggest cohort of 50 (41%) admitted to 6-10 hours a week and only one (a female) felt that she was studying more than 21 hours a week. The relevance of this is that, in the context of exercise and health, it would be difficult for any of these students to present a convincing argument that they did not exercise because they were committing too much time to their studies. They clearly had plenty of uncommitted non-study time on their hands. Perhaps a bar chart would be appropriate here. Smoking. Given the data presented earlier our results were not totally in line with the national averages. Our cohort had 64 smokers (53%) of which 60% were men. If our cohort had followed the national patterns then we would have expected 42% of men and 39% of women in this age range to be smokers. The reasons for this are not clear from our survey One possible explanation may be the unexpectedly high response to our question about stress levels (see on) With regard to the number of cigarettes smoked the range was surprisingly narrow with over 75% of smokers admitting to smoking 15 or less per day and only 2 admitted to smoking over 30 a day The length of time that each had smoked was less than four years in 75% of smokers. Although we do not have the data, we should perhaps not be surprised at that as we have already mentioned, the majority (83%) of our group were under the age of 22yrs. You might like to break down the ages of the smokers further to see if you can demonstrate that the majority started smoking when they got to university – the figures should bear this out. This figure is quite significant when we compare it against the number who profess to be concerned about their fitness (see on) as we have highlighted above that smoking is one of the greatest impediments to general good health. Drinking. 112 (93%) of our respondents said that they did drink alcohol with only 8 (6%) stating that they were teetotal. Of much greater interest was the amount that was drunk. Given that the current recommended weekly intake is 21 units for men and 14 units for women, 75 of our respondents admitted to drinking more than that (66% of drinkers) with the biggest groups 38 in total, drinking in the range of 26-35 units on a weekly basis. It has to be said that it was rather worrying that 15 of our respondents (13% of drinkers) admitted to regularly drinking over 41 units a week and 3 of those were women. 7 a+b) When contrasted against the figures for drinking before coming to University, it can be seen that there is a marked increase in the quantity of alcohol consumed since the transition to the â€Å"student lifestyle†. There may of course be many factors at work here. Sudden relaxation of parental control, the availability of more money, and being older may all play a part. It is also possible that the influence of peer pressure is a significant factor here. It is probably also significant that only two of the group actually admitted to drinking more than 30 units a week before coming to university which certainly is in marked contrast to our findings. the enquiry into illicit drugs brought out an interesting response. We had considered the possibility that students may not be willing to openly discuss their use of illicit substances and mainly it was for this reason that we elected to make the questionnaire anonymous. We received a definitive answer in every case and 42 of out cohort (35%) currently use drugs of some sort while at university. This compares to a much lower figure of 20 (16%) who used drugs before arriving at university and the student lifestyle. From this evidence it would appear that the fact that someone comes to university is associated with a doubling of the incidence of recreational drug use. Again we can only postulate about the reasons for this. In much the same way that there was a marked increase in the use of alcohol after the transition to university life, it is possible that the factors which we suggested may have been responsible for this increase may also be the same factors that are relevant in the i ncrease in drug use. 8b) The breakdown of admitted drug use is interesting not only for its description of the actual drugs used but also for the pattern of sex distribution that it reveals. There is clearly multi-drug usage as 42 respondents admitted to using drugs and there are 85 different admissions of type. We do not have the figures to tell us if the majority of drug use is single use with a comparatively few users accounting for the polypharmacy or whether most drug users are using multiple types of drugs. The majority of use is in the category of so-called recreational drugs 71 reports (88% of total drug use) and only 14 reports of cocaine use (12% of total drug use). It certainly is a clear trend that the drug use amongst men is greater than that amongst women. Of the admitted drug users (by type) 53 (62% of use) was by men and 27 (38%) was by women, this compares with the prevalence of men in our sample (56%) and women (44%). When these results are compared with the responses of drug use prior to arrival at university, it can be seen that the pattern of drug use is different. Cannabis and Ecstasy form the preponderance of drug use in this age group and the incidence of cocaine use is clearly much less. It would therefore appear that cocaine tends to be used by an older age group and this may or may not be an influence of life at university. It is not the function of this survey to pontificate on the apparent rights and wrongs of drug use. We are trying to define and delineate the effects of a student lifestyle on health and there is considerable evidence (see above) that drug use is certainly not conducive to health. Perhaps we should confine ourselves to the comment that there is certainly a public health issue here. 10) The psychological aspects of â€Å"the student life style† also produced some unexpected surprises. With specific regard to anxiety there is an immediate problem seen in the results. In 10a) the students were asked if they felt stressed while at university. 72 (60%) responded â€Å"yes† but when asked to grade the severity of their stress 109 (90%) indicated that they had experienced a degree of stress. This may represent a difficulty in perception. Some people may be able to relate to the experience of minor degrees of stress and regard it as â€Å"normal† rather than â€Å"feeling stressed† which is a term that they may reserve for higher levels of actual perceived stress. We would have to regard this as a criticism of the actual wording of the question, in which 10a) might have been better phrased as â€Å"have you ever felt any degree of stress while at university?† when, presumably, the two figures would then have matched. It is certainly significant that the majority of the â€Å"yes† respondents were women. The majority of the studies done on the subject of stress (see above) show that women will report feeling stressed more frequently than their male counterparts. Many reasons and hypotheses have been advanced for this observation. It may well be that men are physiologically better equipped to deal with stress than women. There does not, however, appear to be any evidence to back up this point. It has been shown that men are less likely to seek help for psychological (and indeed physical) symptoms than women – quite often to their own detriment. Any sociologist will tell you that in our current social climate the gender roles of the two sexes are programmed differently during rearing. Boys are expected and encouraged to be stoical and brave, hiding their emotions whereas it is generally considered far more acceptable for girls to exhibit emotional liability. It is therefore not unexpected to find that at the highest end of the reported stress range. The proportion of women is greater than men. Equally the converse is also true that men are over represented at the lower-stress and no-stress levels. The pre-university results are not as diverse as they appear to be in other areas of enquiry. This should not altogether surprise us as we have to bear in mind the fact that all of the students who have made the transition from school to university will, almost without exception, have been through the A-level system, which is an inherently stressful experience. It is interesting to note that the sex differences are almost identical in this group when compared to the university group. Again this reflects the findings of other, more general, studies on the subject. 12) With regard to the comments made about the discrepancy of the figures in the questions about anxiety (11a and 11b) we can see that there is exactly the same disagreement in the questions about depression (12a) and 12b). When asked the direct question about whether they had felt depressed while at university 98 (81%) said â€Å"no†, but when asked to grade their degree of depression only 34 (28%) indicated that they had not felt depressed to any degree. This apparent discrepancy can presumably be analysed along the same lines as our suggestions with regard to anxiety. This is given further credence by the observation that in the group who admitted to experiencing depression, women were represented at nearly double the relative frequency of the men. When we look at the group admitting to severe depression the proportion rises to over three times the relative frequency. When compared to the responses that were reported before coming to university we can see however, that this time (compared to the anxiety situation) there is a marked difference as very many fewer respondents admitted to feelings of depression in their pre-university life. We do know that levels of depression reach a peak in the early twenties ( most markedly in men) and therefore we would expect to find lower levels in younger age groups. We also have other environmental factors in play as the majority of pre-university or school age pupils, will normally be living in the comparative security of a family lifestyle with all its attendant support networks hopefully in place. At university however, the situation is generally quite different with young people thrust into a different, and possibly alien environment, with no pre-existing support networks to fall back on for advice. This is clearly a fertile breeding ground for reactive depression and also endogenous depression if there is a predisposition for it. 14) This section is even more subjective than the preceding two as it deals with the question of self confidence ( you might like to see if your results show a correlation between the people doing sports related courses and high self-confidence rating because the chances are that there will be – see on) the self-assessed results in this section show a fairly predictable Gaussian distribution curve with the highest concentration in the middle ranges of self confidence and a slight preponderance towards the above average assessment. One always has to approach self-assessments with a fair degree of scepticism but one could reasonably expect a higher than average number of self-confident people at university as they clearly would have to have a fair degree of self-confidence to take the necessary exams and to put themselves forward in the first place. One interesting point in the analysis is shown by the fact that there is an increased correlation in a high self confidence rating and the participation in a sports-related course. We can only conjecture why this might be but, in order to excel in sports it is usually totally counter-productive to be shy and retiring, so perhaps we could postulate a preponderance of certain personality types in a sports-related field. 15) there is very little difference in the ratings of self-confidence before and after coming to university. If anything, there is a slight increase in the perceived ratings. This may well correlate with the feelings of independence and the necessity to be responsible for one’s own actions at university. The increase in the ratings may simply reflect the confidence that comes with experience of the independence of the â€Å"student lifestyle† which most of our respondents clearly have had. 16) When designing the questionnaire we considered the problems that may arise with questions of a personal or sexual nature. We are therefore very heartened by the fact that the vast majority of respondents found that they could give us answers in this section with 115 (95%) responding positively. Sadly, the results do tend to bolster the tabloid editors portrayal of promiscuity which we referred to in the section on sexually transmitted diseases of our respondents, only 4 (3%) admitted to being a virgin (or celibate). The biggest group – 25 (21%) had only one partner since being at university, but it was something of a surprise to see that the next biggest group of 20 (17%) had five partners since arriving at university. 10 of our sample (12%) admitted to having 10 or more partners while being at university. We do not presume to make any moral judgements on this set of results but it would be fair to say that to have 10 or more different sexual partners within a three year spell at university (and some may have had ten partners in less than that time) does put the respondents in a high risk group for sexual health problems (see conclusions) With the single exception of the lowest degrees of promiscuity (Groups admitting to one or no partners at all), men outnumbered women in all the groups. It is hard to fully explain this anomaly. A logical evaluation would suggest that there are three possibilities, either it is an unexpected statistical quirk, it reflects the fact that normal sexual activity is carried out by most men but a few very promiscuous women or that there is an unexpectedly high amount of male homosexual activity going on within the university. The author could not possibly comment on which eventuality is the most likely. 17) When compared to the figures obtained for sexual activity before coming to university we can see that there is a marked difference. The degree of promiscuity is much lower pre-university. This may well be a reflection of the age and circumstance of the pre-university respondents, quite apart from the independence factor that becomes more apparent after arriving at university. We can also see that the number of celibates pre-university is also much higher. This again, is probably a reflection of the perception of independence found at university. 18) In continuation of the issues discussed in section 16, the issues of sexual health are tackled here. The question is purposely blunt – â€Å"Have you ever had a sexually transmitted disease?† In our sample 6 (5% of sexually active respondents) had admitted to having one. This may very well not be accurate, as any experienced health professional will tell you that there are a lot a sexually transmitted diseases that are asymptomatic or may clear up spontaneously. Male monillia is often both trivial and self-curing and may only show as a transient blotchy rash of 24-36 hours duration. Male and female chlamydia may be completely asymptomatic in both sexes and the sufferers may truthfully respond that they do not think that they have a sexually transmitted disease. The fact of the matter is that both monilliasis in the female and Chlamydia in both sexes, can have serious repercussions with regard to fertility in the future. As we have flagged up in our earlier discussions, high levels of promiscuity are a potential problem for the overall sexual health of the student body. Questionnaire II BMI was worked out from the statistics of height and weight supplied by each respondent. The first inference of note is that there is a predictable Gaussian curve for both male and female distributions of BMI with the mean for males (predictably) coming to the right of the female peak ( a graph showing the two distributions would be helpful here) although the male curve actually has two maxima, this is almost certainly a statistical quirk due to the relatively small number of the sample. There are only three respondents that fall into the clinically obese range (25 and over) and only two – both female – who would be considered clinically underweight with a BMI of 15 (WHO definitions). This distribution is approximately the distribution that one would expect from the population as a whole in this age range. The first question asks respondents to rate their degree of physical activity. This set of answers should be analysed in conjunction with the responses to questions 3a-6 and the knowledge that 24 (20%) are on sports related courses and we would therefore expect them to be physically active in the pursuance of their course in any event. As we can see 32 (26%) take less exercise than the Government recommended target of 30 mins. five times a week and a further 49 (40%) just straddling the target level. If we arbitrarily equate â€Å"very physically active† with doing in excess of 80 minutes of exercise a day, â€Å"fairly physically active† with doing more than 40 mins a day, together with â€Å"not very physically active† doing more than 20 minutes a day then we can see a marked discrepancy straight away. Those who professed to be very physically active were 22 (18%) but this compares with 13 (10%) who actually do more than 80 mins. exercise a day. In the fairly physically active group there were 58 respondents (48%) but this corresponds to 39 (32%) who actually take more than 40 minutes of exercise a day. For those 25 (20%) who profess to be not very physically active they correlate with 49 (40%) who straddle the Government guidelines by taking between 21-40 minutes exercise a day. The group with the lowest professed activity – 15 (12%) correlate with the 32 (26%) who do virtually no physical activity at all. Immediately one can see that there is a discrepancy here. Those who feel that they take a lot of activity tend to overestimate the amount of exercise that they actually do, equally there are a second group who, say that they are not very active when the figures suggest that the actually-inactive group is much bigger than the professed-inactive group. Professed Actual Activity (n) Activity (n) Very active 22 13 Fairly active 58 39 Not very active 25 49 Inactive 15 32 All in all it would appear that the respondents have an ability to feel that they are actually doing more exercise than they actually are doing. Equally you could argue that we are making the criteria too strict and that we are being over-ambitious in our expectations of what amount of exercise people of this age should be doing. Perhaps the best independent arbiter should be the Government’s own documents and consultation papers quoted elsewhere in this piece (Game Plan and At least five a week). It can be seen that approximately 50% of our respondents do not meet these criteria. 3b 4a 4b You have given me no information here and I have no real idea of what the results might actually show. I would suggest that you base your analysis along the lines of my previous answer (which may have to be modified in the light of whatever your figures show) 2a+b) The weight of our respondents seems to have remained remarkably steady with 103 (85%) remaining effectively unchanged. We note that in the case of the 17 (14%) where the weight has changed we did not ask them to specify whether this was up or down. If this is analysed in conjunction with 2b) where 2 respondents indicated that this was an intentional change and 15 said that it was unintentional, the normal inference would be that people who have elected to change their weight intentionally might normally have been expected to loose weight however, in this particular cohort with a strong sporting interest, it is possible that this group may have been trying to put weight on. And equally the converse may also be true, we do not have enough information to make this judgement. 5) when asked if they thought that they got enough exercise to keep them healthy 62 (51%) of our respondents thought that they did. Interestingly 10 (12%) didn’t know. This is presumably a reflection of public education issues although you could take the opposing view that the message has got through to the other 88% who felt that they did know. 88 (73%) of our respondents felt that they wanted to increase the amount of exercise that they did. We are not in a position to say whether these are the ones who felt that they did not do enough exercise to start with or whether they are the ones who already exercise and feel that they need to do more. Presumably, for those on a sports related course there is always the incentive to try to make yourself even fitter. 44(36%) of our sample visited the gym on a regular basis. We can reasonably assume that at least 24 of these will be on the sports related courses as one can assume that they would be visiting the gym regularly as part of their course so at least another 20 were actively trying to get fitter. We can see that there is a preponderance of males in this group (33m to 12f). With regard to this question you might like to see if the 32 negative respondents correlate highly with the active or non active groups. You could then draw appropriate conclusions here. For example if they were the predominantly the active group then you might conclude that they didn’t feel the need for sedentary activities or conversely, if they were the inactive group it may be that their sedentary activities precluded them from activity. 11-14 The diet related questions are perhaps better considered as one entity. The most interesting comparisons come from the pre-university and at university comparisons as one can see that there is a marked change in the eating activity of our respondents It is something of a surprise that 81 (67%) of our respondents used a fast-food outlet less than twice a week. The general perception of the student lifestyle is frequent use of such facilities. This clearly is not borne out by our survey. A worryingly large number of students eat less than the recommended amount of fruit and vegetables with 83 (69%) and 86 (71%) respectively taking less than the WHO recommended minimum. This contrasts dramatically with the results in the pre-university question where it can be seen that the amount of fruit and vegetables eaten (presumably primarily under parental influence) is much higher. In terms of health, this is an important finding as fruit and vegetables are a major source of roughage, vitamins and anti-oxidants (and of course many other essential nutrients) that are essential for health in general. A reduction in intake therefore jeopardises the overall healthy diet. 13. It is an interesting comment that 36 (30%) of our respondents said that they were concerned about their diet. One would have thought that with the independence of student life, if they were concerned that they now actually had the means to do something about it. Clearly this is a sweeping statement that does not take into account a mass of other obvious factors such as the finances involved in buying comparatively expensive items such as fruit. Conclusions There are many conclusions that one can draw from the figures presented above. Top of our list should be a consideration of the shortcomings of the survey which obviously will have a bearing on the conclusions that we feel able to draw from our figures. It is acknowledged that the survey is comparatively small. Although we can hope that it may be representative of the student body, it small size precludes rigorous statistical analysis. It is certainly possible to detect trends within our survey and many of these have been commented upon as we have looked at the figures. The mechanism of using the same sample of students as their own controls by asking their activity before coming to university, is a useful tool to gain a degree of statistical validity, and certainly has helped us to answer the original question of the effects of a student lifestyle on health. To specifically answer that question, we can point to a number of areas where there appears to have been marked changes in behaviour patterns pre- and post-university. Smoking, drinking, diet and sexual behaviour have all changed dramatically and to a lesser extent, drug taking patterns and depression levels have also changed. To some extent, a cynic might observe that this equates with the worst aspects of the typical tabloid editor’s portrayal of the â€Å"typical student†. The reality is, of course, far more complex than that We have already alluded to the major sociological changes that occur when the typical student leaves school and arrives at university. The release from the comparatively structured and dependent world of home life and school into the comparatively independent and less structured world of the university allows a sudden explosion of freedom in many cases where new experiences and activities can be tried, exploited and (perhaps) enjoyed. Can we draw any conclusions as to whether the typical university student is more or less healthy than their pre-university counterpart? Clearly we have delineated some important pointers to this question. In terms of diet (perhaps one of the most important long-term factors in deciding the criteria of health) there is little doubt that our typical student has a worse diet at university than they did before coming to university. We can clearly see the reduction in fruit and vegetable intake although it is gratifying to see that the expected transition to fast-food existence is not a major factor in most cases. The amount of exercise appears to have increased, although we have to accept that a disproportionate number in our sample have a sporting interest, so clearly that will skew the figures to a degree. As we have discussed earlier, there is a basic amount of exercise that has been shown to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease, myocardial infarction and stroke, obesity and Type II diabetes. Our typical student just qualifies for the basic minimum target set by the Government, but the range is great. As we have seen, exercise varies from virtually minimal to enormous amounts on a regular basis. We can probably just about conclude that university has a positive effect on health as far as exercise levels are concerned. Drug taking is another area where the student lifestyle has a bearing on health. Less than a third of our respondents have used illicit drugs, so they clearly are not the majority, but this group nonetheless represents a significant group within the whole. It is a matter of intense current debate as to the effect that drugs have on the actual health of a person and therefore we cannot presume to take a firm view when there is still such controversy raging. We can say that there is probably a general consensus that there is evidence that some illicit drugs do appear to have long term implications for health and on that basis, we can point to a negative effect of the student lifestyle on health. An area that we can point to that has far more clear-cut implications for health is the explosion of sexual activity that appears to equate with the student lifestyle. We have already passed comment on the degree of promiscuity that our survey has revealed. Celibacy or monogamy is clearly the best way of avoiding the risks of sexually transmitted diseases. We have commented on the number of respondents who have already known that they have had a sexually transmitted disease, but perhaps our concern should be for those who have contracted asymptomatic disease and are therefore, unknowingly passing it on to other contacts. Again, this is an apparent negative effect of the student lifestyle on health. Recommendations It is difficult to know how to structure this section as, on the one hand, we have clearly identified areas where the student lifestyle could be changed to improve the overall health of the individual, but a much deeper and possibly more significant question remains – â€Å"should we seek to change it?† There are many significant arguments here. One is the basic freedom of choice argument. Some may say that it is appropriate to give people information on matters such as health but it is ultimately up to them as to whether they actually take or implement that advice. Equally there is the converse argument that points to the drain on the public purse of avoidable ill-health. Do people have a duty to society to keep themselves as healthy as they practically can? Should they avoid obvious factors that will cause ill-health in later life? If we follow this argument through to its logical conclusion then we would insist that everybody had a uniform healthy diet, did not smoke or drink to excess, took daily exercise and remained monogamous for their lifetime. A more balanced approach may be to conclude that, in general terms, people learn by their mistakes. Is has been said that the student lifestyle is not only about getting and education it is about getting an Education. Most students will utilise their time at university to explore and perhaps formulate their ideas and personal guidelines for their future life. Perhaps we should take a pragmatic view and observe that, although we have been able to point out some short term negative aspects of the student life style on health, perhaps it is a necessary phase of experimentation which is part of the evolution to a healthier lifestyle as an adult. PDG 25.3.05 Word count 5,572

Ethnicity and Female Equality: A personal Opinion Essay -- Sociology G

Abstract The subject of my essay will be a compilation of facts and opinions on the role of ethnicity and gender on female status in the United States. Equality for females and males is influenced by ones ethnicity, by the media, by stereotypes, and by the myth of equal rights. The research methods that will be used for this essay will be only the personal opinions of the author of this essay. One believes that the findings of this essay will show that ethnicity and media generated stereotypes influence gender roles and that inequality for females is a fact of life. Ethnicity and Female Equality: A Personal Opinion The role of ethnicity plays an important part in our society's view and the status level that is afforded to females. The overall level of female status in America is not as high as males, but this status is even further lowered when a female comes from an ethnic minority. These minority females face a double-edged sword in a society that puts an emphasis on maleness and whiteness. Society is an evolving object and the role of females and minorities has improved steadily throughout our history, but improvement is still needed to make one and all more equal. The role of socialization is in a sense began even before a child is born. Parents anticipate the sexual gender of their child and prepare accordingly. Nurseries are painted blue of pink and either denim or lace is bought. Thus, one sees that even before birth children are stereotyped into gender roles. Parents also, often only want a child to be male and are extremely disappointed if their child is born female. This failure to meet a parents overall urge for a son can have terrible psychological and sociological aspects on a child. The author of ... ...males and males are not equal in this society and probably never will be. There is little that any single individual can do to change this. To be comfortable with one's gender and to live the most gratifying life that is possible females must accept who they are and realize that to a large extent that this is a "male-dominated world" that exists. By accepting this truth females can attain personal growth and power by being what they want and by being able to fulfill the society expected roles that are stereotyped to them. This by no means is a belief that adheres to the popular thought of feminization and equal rights, but it is one that the author of this paper believes has been beneficial to her. It is by accepting one's femininity and role that one can achieve harmony not only with one's self but with the society at large and with the expectations of our ethnicity.