Psychiatry, self harm risk Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Psychiatry, self harm risk - Essay Example ose to slit their wrists or do something similar to ease their pain or even to feel alive by sensing the pain, or they choose to ultimate and fatal option- to commit suicide. One of so many examples of self harm people cause to themselves is of a 26 year old person, Mr. A, who has Downs syndrome and whose functioning indicated intelligence in the range of mild retardation. He lived with a supportive family and attended a vocational program. He had not history of smoking, nor did he receive any unusual medications. Similarly, he hasnt been through any unusual medical procedures or any surgeries, and his medical history was very ordinary. In the early stages of his adolescence, he approached non-disabled young women for dates and was continually rejected. In response, he made suicidal statements and gestures, one of which was to burn himself with a cigarette lighter he took from his mother without her knowledge. At the age of 26, after being rejected once again, he jumped from a second story window, but wasnt injured badly. His family reported that he had been agitated and having troubles to sleep in the months previous to the incident, and staff at the vo cational program reported agitation and unproductiveness at work. He was sent to a psychological evaluation. In his apperception test, he described feelings of sadness, tiredness, frustration and hopelessness, with thoughts of suicide. He was referred to psychiatric evaluation, and started psychotherapy sessions, in which he articulated his belief that he wouldnt be able to have a relationship with a woman of his choice due to his having Downs syndrome. He enrolled in social programs for people with mental retardation and hasnt made anymore suicide attempts since. 1 Ive seen him about four months ago, in December 24th at a vocational program to which he still goes. Hes been going to it for nearly a decade now, and reports that hes very happy with it since it gives him tools on how to handle his life and function

Howard County High School Students Have Their Say Essay Example for Free

Howard County High School Students Have Their Say Essay Lunch menus in public schools have changed significantly over the past several years. There is an increased national concern about the alarming number of school age children who suffer from obesity. Federal and state requirements have been difficult to achieve due to the complexity in satisfying the palette as well as public health concerns. Howard County, Maryland has joined with other areas to find a compromise between public policies and student satisfaction. John-John Williams, IV in his article, â€Å"Having a Say on What They Eat,† examines the efforts of the Howard County Public Schools in Ellicott City, Maryland. In response to a 2006 â€Å"wellness† policy, high school administrators were required to reduce the amount of high fat foods offered to students. Items such as french fries or anything resembling fast foods were excluded as suitable choices. In response, students protested with their pocketbooks by refusing to purchase certain cafeteria items. Howard County high schools lost thousands of dollars in much needed revenue and were forced to include student-consumers in the decision making process. Students enrolled in the Culinary Arts Program are making their voices heard at Oakland Mills, a high school in Howard County. The young male and female chefs hope to create dishes suitable for next fall’s menu. Students enrolled in the cooking class, much like many restaurant owners and professional chefs, are faced with the challenges of providing foods that meet national nutritional guidelines and at the same time manage cost and taste appeal. Students participating in the taste-test were required to prepare dishes that would meet the national guidelines of 750 total calories (110 of which could derive from fat), and150 grams of sodium at the cost of $1. 22. On April1, just a few days away, judges will select recipes from twelve high schools in five counties including Howard. One of the major problems for high school administrators has been student awareness regarding food preparation and nutrition. They explain the students’ culinary wisdom in terms of cable food networks and celebrity chefs. High school students’ tastes in foods have clashed with administrative obligations yet culinary program participants have found a productive means of influencing systemic and institutional change. There are a variety of sociological issues imbedded in the Howard County challenge. The context of the struggle is the public high school, a social and political institutional space that operates under certain federal guidelines and state budgets. The question of community and culture is a dominant theme as Howard County explores how best to address the concerns of multiple and diverse constituents. While the primary goal is to meet public health and nutritional guidelines, the underlying impediments to meeting these objectives have been both economic and cultural. In order for Howard County to be in compliance they must not only answer the question of health but must also find a way to establish a form of nutritional wellness that is both affordable and acceptable to students. For example, Erika Henderson, a senior from Oakland Mills High enrolled in the Culinary Arts class, stated that the food was distasteful because it was â€Å"cheap food with no seasoning† (Williams, IV 10). As a result, Erika decided to bring her lunch each day. Erika’s choice to pass on the cafeteria foods raises issues about class. Students from lower incomes may not have items to bring from home and, in many instances, rely on the cafeteria cuisine. At the same time, Erika appears to have been quite comfortable with preparing her own food. She had a particular notion about ingredients suggesting that the culture of her home allowed and encouraged food preparation and experimentation. In addition, the Culinary Arts Program created a subculture; a cohort of students who, perhaps, were more aware of the nuances of food preparation and trends than their peers. The culinary arts students were the most vocal in demanding that their recipes be taste-tested and, if successful, placed on the menu. Laurie Collins, Instructional Facilitator at Oakland Mills, insisted that â€Å"they will try something that [has been] prepared by their peers† (Williams, IV 10). With just days away from a decision, over seventeen-thousand students at Oakland may have a chance to have their way in terms of affordable, healthy, appetizing, and appealing choices for lunch whether it is the baked onion rings or apple slices. Realizing that it will be difficult to please everyone, all parties are optimistic about the fall menu. Howard County and the Oakland students have taken matters into their own hands by offering a realistic solution to what is a national and institutional problem. The students, through hard work and creativity, are cooking up their own taste of â€Å"wellness. † Works Cited Williams IV, John-John. â€Å"Having A Say On What They Eat: Howard Students Taste- Test, Prepare Own Candidate for Cafeteria Menu† The Baltimore Sun 22 March 2009: 1, 10.

Tamil Nadu Tourism Essay

Tamil Nadu Tourism Essay Welcome to Incredible Tamil Nadu Tourism Tamil Nadu is one of the state of India, Its capital is Chennai is the main centre where the traditional and modern merge,.Tamil Nadu population of 72,138.95as of 2011 .Divided into 32 districts in Tamil Nadu. State 89 % of population are Hindus .11% population together Christians and Muslims. Tamil Nadu official languages Tamil and English. Tamil Nadu culture and tradition together which attracts tourists from the whole world. Tamil Nadu known as the temple state of India, and all across this magnificent state one will find a remarkable memorials, temples containing involved carvings and humbling gateways. It is characterized by a history ,dates back to over five thousands years and a rich culture. Each attraction most important will have a religious or creative story attached to it will leave one spellbound Tamil Nadu Tourism revives the mind ,carry happiness, moderation , enjoyment gives to the Tourist. Tamil Nadu is taking a lot of opportunity for the development of tourism industry. It has many heritage centers, pilgrimage centers, long natural coastal line, perennial river system, hills station pilgrimage centers, and weather owing to lack of so many factors like infrastructure facilities, government cooperation, marketing facilities to mobile number to tourists within the India and abroad, proper planning and ideology Tamil Nadu state that attracts a huge number of foreign tourists every year. Tamil Nadu State with several famous for tourism genre The credit should be given to the presence of unlimited attractions that include beautiful temples, mesmerizing hill stations, silent beaches and cities with rich heritage. The credit should also be given to the high standards of the facilities that the top tour operators in the state arrange for the visitors. Tamilnadu-tour.in claims to be a leading name in offering customized tours to the foreigners, expecting a lot from the states tourism industry. INTRODUCTION; Tamil Nadu Tourism one of the preferred hotspots for persons wanting a continuing heritage, cultural and beautiful splendour .religious experience.Tamil Nadu is breath taking hill stations and long sunshiny beaches ,provides to people who visit not only to marinate in the culture but people who want to relax and just let go for a while. Tamil Nadu coastline 910 kilometers (600 Mt) long, Tamil Nadu third longest coastline in the country .Foriegn visitors were The government of Tamil Nadu is now making peaceful promotional efforts and accord importance for tourism. Tamil Nadu to promote as an attractive destination of tourist at the International level to support the existing tourism in the state. Tamil Nadu state provide world class services to tourist. Tamil Nadu 2nd state in attracting foreign tourists and 3rd in domestic tourists. .Tamil Nadu Tourism should be become an exclusive offerings to overcome all the above advantages for development. Tamil Nadu is popular for its mysteriou s beauty and charms ,It will surely capture your gentleness a lot. Foreign and Domestric travellers can easily determine a number of comfortable stay in boarding places in the Tamil Nadu, tourist stay,seven star hotels, five star hotels,three star hotels ,budget hotels and resorts. According tourist preferred to stay in accomdation of the Tamil Nadu state. Tourist can look for magnificent lodgings in Chennai, Ooty Coimbatore, Karaikudi, Trichy, Kanyakumari, Madurai, Tanjore, Dindigul ,Rameshwaram,Kodaikanal and yercaud, Natural resources tradition and further socio-cultural assets numerical demographic dynamics like employment, population, income,occupation levels. Tamil Nadu state sixteen tourist information centres situated at airports and railway stations in the state information on tourism potential and services in Tamil Nadu Tourism Tamil Nadu Tourism leads in Medical Tourism. Eco- Tourism. Rural Tourism, Pilgrimage Tourism Heritage Tourism Cultural Tourism Adventure Tourism Responsible Tourism TOURIST ATTRACTIONS AND HISTORICAL PLACES IN TAMILNADU HILL STATIONS AND BOTANICAL GARDEN; Ooty Ooty is famous as the queen of the hill stations and contains of attractive varieties, of the local economy is now controlled by tourism Kodaikanal Kodaikanal is one of the finest beautiful hill stations in Tamil Nadu.Its located about 7,200 feet above the sea level. Kodaikanal is honey moon destination of several tourist Thalaiyar Falls, as rat-tail falls is unique of the highest (975à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ² high)  falls .The falls seen although roaming from Ghat road to  Kodaikkanal by road. Yercaud An modest hill station, 30 km distance from Salem . Yercaud. isSettled mid the Shevaroy Hills of the Eastern Ghats, some of the places be visited are the Lake, Ladys Seat, Arthurs Seat, and the Shevaroyan temple. Tourists do make a point to pick coffee aswell as pears ,bananas and jackfruit Yercaud Lake is centrally situated and is the middle of attraction YelagiriKolli Hills Yelagiri is a popular hill station characterized by its scenic view Sirumalai Hills Valparai Top Slip Kalrayan Hills Pachamalai Hills Javvadhu Hills BEACHES; Marina Beach : Marina beach is a second largest beach in the world ,Its located in chennai  marina beach is a most tourist charm of the city Kannyakumari Beach Arabian Sea ,Bengal and the Indian Ocean the most exciting residences to go in Kanyakumari,and famous for Vivekanandar rock, Thiruvalluvar statue Eliots Beach Sottavalai beach Mudaliarkuppam Beach Sangutuarrai beach WATER FALLS Hogennakkal Falls Courtallam Falls Thirparappu Falls Papanasam Falls Akasa Gangai Falls FAMOUS TEMPLES AND DECLARED MONUMENTS Chola Temples (Thanjavur) Siva Temple (Gangaikonda cholapuram) Iravatheeswarar Temple (Dharasuram) Monuments(Mamallapuram) NavaTirupathi temples Navagraha Temples Six Residences of Lord Murugan Temples Located at: Kancheepuram The traditional and modern merge. Kanchipuram is famous tourist Place and is also well known for its silk sarees. Rameswaram Chidambaram Thanjavur Madurai Srirangam Thiruvannamalai Kanyakumari CHURCHES: Santhome Velankanni Manappad Ponnimadha Pannimaya Madha Church MOSQUES: Thousand Light Mosque(chennai) Nagore Durgha Thengaipattinam Keelakkarai Erwadi Kalyalpattinam PALACES: Thirumalai Naicker mahal Thanjavur Palace Chettinad palace Padmanabhapuram palace BIRD SANCTUARIES: Vedanthangal Karikilli Koonthakulam Karaivetti Pulicat Udhyamarthandapuram Vaduvoor Chittirankudi Pichavaram Mangrove Coast Vettangudi Vellode WILDLIFE SANCTUARIES: Mudumalai ; Madumalai is a famous for its wild life sanctuary Mundathurai Berijam Kalakkad Kodaikarai NATIONAL PARKS: Anaimalai Indira Gandhi National Park Gulf of Mannar Maraine National Park Guindy National Park LIST OF TOURIST ATTRACT DAM IN TAMIL NADU Tamil Nadu to satisfy there are many small and large man-made. dams Amaravathi Dam Mettur Dam Krishnagiri Dam Noyyal Oarathuppalayam Mukkadal Grand Anicut Bhavanisagar Dam Vaigai Dam Upper Anaicut Varattu Pallam Vaigai Dam Kamaraj Sagar Perunchani Dam Perumpallam Shanmuganathi Dam Solaiyar Dam Sathanur Reservoir Above all tourist destinations in the air reached from Ooty, the nearest airport, from Coimbatore, 100 km .Coimbatore is well attached to, Bangalore, Mumbai, Madurai and Chennai.. Ooty well attached by road to many cities. regular bus services attaching Ooty to Tiruchirapally, Coimbatore, Chennai ,Madurai, Mysore, Bangalore, Kanyakumari, Calicut, Ooty attached to Mettupalayam to toy train organisation on the narrow tracks PESTLE ANALYSIS OF TAMIL NADU TOURISM: PESTLE Analysis are Political.Economic,social,Technology,Legal and Environment (P)olitical Consequence on Tourism Industry: One of the earliest Political parties was south Indian Welfare Association founded in 1916. In 1960 made DRAVIDA MUNNETRA KAZHALAGAM standard more powerful political force in the state, In 1967 election DMK captured of state government,split from DMK in 1972 ALL INDIA ANNA DRAVIDA MUNNETRA KAZHALAGAM was founded , since 1967 this two political parties has power in the Tamil Nadu state . IN 2011 election ALL INDIA ANNA DRAVIDA MUNNETRA KAZHALAGAM head selvi J.Jayalalitha took control of the Tamil Nadu state .Governments announced several projects in tourism Industry leaders say much can be done to rebuild tourism reputations. although Tamil Nadu state .has often political violence, The Government targete travelers and foreigners and domestic touristBut with the right government and industry reactions, visitors people, most of them foreigners. ow a days one of the worlds most famous destination Tamil NaduTourism, more visitors.from foreign investors and hotel operators.opportunities fo r tourism, The Tamil Nadu minister for Tourism, That was prepared successfully by the Tamil Nadu themselves, said.Industry analysis say tourism to expand promptly over the future twenty five years. But, the key, they say, is that Tamil Nadu governments find ways to prevent political violence, and action quickly to composed (E)conomic Consequence on Tourism industry: Tamil Nadu 2nd largest Tourism economy, one of the most advanced states in India .Its worth of economic effort, the GSDP, stands at INR 4.28 lakhs crore, as of 2012 Tamil Nadu a. An investor sociable state with the government expressing policies for the development of the Tourism activities .Tamil Nadu will continue to stay in the top stage of the country, with an annual growth .Tamil Nadu Tourism With medical care in Vellore Chennai, Madurai and Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu Government undertaking tagline adopted to promoting tourism ,has a strong banking system huge potential for tourist economic ,basically best Industrialized state ,Urbanized state and Tourism state in India (S)ocial Consequence on Tourism industry: In Tamil Nadu there are more cultural sharing by tourist visitors ,tradition a common locality by its manner of behaviour and speech, the style of dress and embellishment, the food behaviours and the social arrangement of life Tourist,people important contribution to sociality Tamil Nadu will reach a high standard of sociality development, with the Human Development of the state equivalent those of established countries (T)echnology Consequence on Tourism industry: Tamil Nadu 2nd largest software technologyexporter in Indiais central to Tamil Nadus foreign position and accounts for over Tamil Nadu is well placed to adventure its force in the IT sector to these management systems. Tamil Nadu has a moderately advanced technology,TamilNadu Infrastructure that is accomplished of searching, storage and supervision information. (L)egal Consequence on Tourism industry: Legal of Tamil Nadu provides several simulations The application for respect shall be the recognition as an permitted Travel Agent shall be decided by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, for five years, based on the Inspection Report Approvals of a Committee comprising of the Travel Agency should be under the charge of the Owner a full time member is sufficiently trained, proficient in matters ,concerning ticketing, , transport, accommodation currency,facilities, customs tourism, regulations and travel services. effective ,statement skills, knowledge of overseas languages, other than English. (E)nvironment Consequence on Tourism industry: Environment is gradually gaining standing eco-friendly journey tours are also gaining in Tamil Nadu Tourismseveral perfect locations to attract the tourist. The Eco Friendly areas of Tamil Nadu are for sightseeing the Environment at its finest and to be a measure of it. Tamil Nadu tourism Introduce the use of recycled paper ,polythene bags to possible Tamil Nadu alternatives encourage the planting of trees and greening of the local environment of tourism industry TAMIL NADU FUTURE TOURISM ; THREE RANGE OF YEARS IN Vision 2022 Vision 2030 Vision 2037 VisionTamil Nadu Tourism 2022 Tamil Nadu Tourism sets the plan for organisation development for the state to reach the preferred outcomes by 2022. Capital income of Tamil Nadus people will reach US   $10,000 per annum Income countries, Tamil Nadu Tourism provide to its people, high quality infrastructure arrangement overall state comparable with the finest in the world.Important to reaching Vision 2022 is classifying the organisation requirements.Tamil Nadu Tourism plans to develop the vital facilities. This Vision 2022document statements the inter-play in the middle of 3 crucial constituents of development, specifically should be the long term growth goals of Tamil Nadu Anything are the inputs required in terms of infrastructure, investments policies be the targeted amount produced mix in terms of financial income, sectoral structure and pace of development should the benefits be spread in people balance between growth and environmentVision 2022 include tourism industry enhanced economic enthusiasm, fines t in class human development indicators, a well established organisation Tamil NaduTourism will be amongst Indias maximum economically successful states by 2022, achieving the growth countries worldwide. Tamil Nadu will show a highly complete growth pattern it will mostly be a deficiency free state with occasions for gainful and productive occupation for disadvantaged, Tamil Nadutourism will be Indias most important state in social growth and will have the peak Human Development . Tamil Nadu Tourism development will improveWater Sanitation, Dynamism, Transportation, Connectivity, Irrigation Education and Healthcare. Tamil Nadu Tourism will be one of the top favourite investment destinations in Asia and the best preferred in India repute for good organization and competitiveness.Tamil Nadu Tourism will be known as the modernisation hub on the asset of world class organisations in various grounds and the best human ability.Tamil Nadu Tourism will safety zone ,Peace, Security and Fortune for all citizens and trade, supporting free movement of ideas, people , business and rest of the world VisionTamil Nadu Tourism 2030: Tamil Nadu Tourism development plan Vision 2030 has suggested to establish nearby villages for the development of the area.The vision document evaluated that about Rs 18,940 crore needed to be invested for the development of the areas for high tech tourism spots . The Tamil Nadu Tourism Department would invest the improve Government accomodation,star hotels, resorts and budget class hotels. More Foreign visitors to attract will open new parks ,bullet rail and moreInternational Airport in the state.The particulars finding in several levels of tourism Tamil Nadu will reservation and care for it Eco Tourism and Heritage Tourism Tamil Nadu Tourism Industry will actively address the sources of liability of the state ,its people owing to reservations arising from accepted causes, profitable recessions, and extra man-made motives and mitigate the effects.Vision 2030 Tamil Nadu Tourism will develop culture of responsive the see-through ability the security, and equivalent chance to all stake holders. Vision Tamil Nadu Tourism 2037 : Vision 2037 document, prepared by specialists on behalf Tamil Nadu government, has underlined that the natural resources state can be transformed future investment on creative economy.The vision 2037 future document, which is a highway map for future development, Tamil Nadu Tourism administration is preparing vision 2037 document for raise of tourism, keeping vision 2037 in mind. Is prepared by a board headed by tourist can revenue full value of creative economy. Infrastructure for Tamil Nadu tourism includes growth of resorts, hotels ,theme parks and entertaining hitech mallsimprovements to heritage monuments, development of places of tourist interest and the Tamil Nadu state targets a foreign tourist of 30 million by vision 2037. The estimated total investment in various projects amounts to Rs. 30,000 crore. SUSTAINABILITY IN TAMIL NADU TOURISM The Tamil Nadu Tourism Department is focusing on growth of sustainable tourism and in coming days all plans will be in sustainable Tourism model, The sustainable development method involves that the natural, cultural and other resources of Tamil Nadu Tourism All tourism simulations in coming days will be based on eco-tourism ,heritage tourism pilgrimage tourism, educational tourism model in Tamil Nadu Tourism.At present Tourism is one of the huge Industries in Tamil Nadu which are receiving more foreign tourists, every year. The Tamil Nadu Tourism Department, also the role of local media saying that local media is very active Tamil Nadu Tourism in and have been importance many local issues on systematic basis. This approach is really significant because utmost tourism development depends on charms and activities related to the natural location, important heritage and cultural patterns of areas Its heartening to see that in a like Tamil Nadu Tourism compared to several states, activit ies and participation of local media is very very high,TamilNadu is sustainability place in tourist attractions its contain towering temples pristine beaches, , , churches, mosques, scenario mountains wildlife. Other important fact of sustainable improvement relate to stress on pilgrimage-based tourism and quality tourism. This method to tourism focuses on forecasting and development process The Art, culture and planning represents all attractions. The Tamil Nadu Tourism cultural tradition invites foreign tourists. TamilNadu tops in foreign tourist visit in Medical Tourism and natural resources experience the enchanting TamilNadu present sustainability position involves related to the airlines, cruise and responsible Tourism Industry.Sustainable tourism generate benefits besides provided that tourist attractions, services and Facilities for`good value for money tourism resources and Charm the varieties of tourists. It is important to appreciate that sustainability and the movements required are part of a package with amongst the tourist Tamil Nadu Tourism is an motivated and statement that aims to Tamil Nadu to achieve likely along compound scopes of economic success, fullness, social progress, cultural plurality, and environmental sustainability. It dimensions on the strengths of Tamil Nadu sustainability due to natural the hard work of her citizens, and the results of governance. The focus of this document is on the physical, social and institutional infrastructure that needs to be established in Tamil Nadu if the growth rates in several sectors under to be achieved Taken in part or realized piecemeal, they are not probable to succeed. The goals set are achievable but call for a stretch by all investors the Tamil Nadu State government .

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and Mississippi Burning :: Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry Essays

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and Mississippi Burning Prejudice is just a word until a book or movie puts pictures in your mind. In Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and Mississippi Burning, there are several scenes that have an impact on me. Both stories tell how badly the black families of Mississippi were treated, and they show how they suffered through it and came out the other end with courage and honor. It also tells how unfair the white men were to the blacks, inside and outside of the courtroom. Prejudice is an ugly subject, and is still taught today. The horrible things that the white man did to the colored man make me realize how ignorance certainly is bliss. In both Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and Mississippi Burning, the black people were tortured and tormented for no reason other than that they were black. The black families in the book Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry live in constant fear of the nightriders. The nightriders would kill a man for looking at them the wrong way in those days. It is for this reason that the black people tried to have as little to do with the white men as possible. In the book, Papa tries to explain to Stacey why it's not such a good idea to get involved with Jeremy. "We Logans don't have much to do with the white folks. You know why?" Papa says, " `Cause white folks mean trouble" p. 158. In Mississippi Burning, the FBI agent Mr. Anderson tries to explain to his partner how prejudice the white men of Mississippi are. In this movie, the members of the Ku Klux Klan kill black men because they stepped out of line. When trying to explain this to his partner, Mr. Anderson tells him " Down here, things are different; here, they believe that some things are worth killing for." He also tells how thirty years ago, a black man could be hung for stealing a watermelon. After all the bad things that the white man did to the black man, I wouldn't be surprised if they still didn't forgive us. When comparing the book and the movie, I can't help but notice the honor and confidence that the black people possess.

Akeelah and the Bee

Akeelah was very successful in her Spelling Bee competitions. How many different learning skills are there in this movie to help all the spellers learn? Akeelah’s learning skills are what help her move further and further into the spelling bee. Basically, everyone in this movie has a different way of studying or learning. Akeelah, is a smart 11 year old girl who attends Crenshaw Middle School. She didn’t need to study for her spelling test, because she didn’t make mistakes on her tests. Akeelah doesn’t really fit in at school, she’s afraid of acting like she’s smarter than her friends or classmates.Before she goes for the Crenshaw School wide Spelling Bee, she studies alone. This makes her a Intrapersonal Learner in the beinging of the story. The principle wanted Dr. Larabee to coach her for the Regional Spelling Bee. Akeelah tells her principle no that does not need to be coached. She wanted to study alone. When Akeelah finally agrees to mee t with Dr. Larabee. She still very standoffish. She acted stubborn and hardheaded that she doesn’t need any help. So she ends up study by herself for the District Spelling Bee. She was very scared and nervous when she goes on the stage to spell because of all the people.She won tenth and made to the Regional Bee. There at the District Spelling Bee she befriends Javier a Mexican boy and fellow speller. He invites her to a spelling club at his school. The spelling club conducts itself outside on a basketball court as they pass the ball to each other to spell words. That makes me think that Javier is a Body/ Kinesthetic learner because he learns through body sensation moves around by playing basketball and spelling words. He also falls into Naturalistic learner because he’s outside while playing basketball and spelling words.Akeelah falls under the same two category but she does it a little different. She bounces the balls as she spells each letter. Another reason why I f eel this way is because she likes to be outside when studies her words. She overcomes her stage fright at the Regional Spelling Bee she’s a lot more confident. This is where I noticed that Akeelah is Verbal/ Linguistic learner. I then noticed another habit that she taps her hand on her leg as she says each letter. Just like when she was bouncing the basketball, again another example of her being a Body/ Kinesthetic learner.Dr. Larabee gives her a jump rope to spell the words as she spells, because she keeps time to spell better. This would make her musical/ rhythm because she’s keeping the rhythm as she jumps even when she taps on the side of her leg. Akeelah finally decides to apologize to Dr. Larabee so he can coach her. He doesn’t only want her to learn the words but life lessons as well. Dr. Larabee seems to be a Verbal/ Linguistic learner because he is a teacher and he communicates well through language and is a good speller. He was a former spelling bee co mpetitor when he was younger.Dr. Larabee also seems to be a Intrapersonal learner like Akeelah towards the end of the movie. The reason why I feel this way is because ,he wants to be alone doesn’t want to teach Akeelah any more. Dr. Larabee feels that teaching her is unpredictable. He gives her 5,000 flashcards to learn on her own. Akeelah gets overwhelmed with all those words, that she loses her motivation. With all the help of the neighborhood she learned all the words. As she was learning all these words she was using her jump rope outside going up and down the street.This is another example of her being a Body/ Kinesthetic and a Naturalistic learner. Because she moving her body and she’s outside while she does it. She makes it to National Spelling bee in Washington, D. C. Everything goes great because of her using a fake jump rope on stage to spell her words. The two finalist were Akeelah and Dylan, a Chinese boy who has won second place in the last two National Sp elling Bee’s. He is very contemptuous of her. Dylan’s father will not settle for second best.Dylan seems to be a Visual/ Spatial learner because he memorizes his words instead of learning them. They both win the National Championship. Mnemonic devices were used by all the spellers in this movie, because they would learn the spelling words. Then they use them when they would need them. For example they would use the word when they were ask to spell it In conclusion, most of the characters’ in this movie all had different learning style’s. But was also about the pursuit to pursuit to excellence the speller’s used. The difference between cramming and learning.

Benefits of Student Identification Tags

Benefits of Student Identification Tags Free Online Research Papers School uniforms have been used for quite a few years. There are many schools today that still use the uniform to identify their students. The uniforms consist of a polo shirt and khaki pants or shorts. Schools generally choose their own school colors for the polo shirt. For example, Mandeville High colors are skipper blue and white. Every few year’s the school mails out a form to the parent to vote for or against school uniforms. Student identification tags (I.D.) should be used in schools instead of uniforms. I.D. tags are more cost effective for families and they serve the purpose of identifying people who belong on campus. If the outcome is for uniforms, this can be very costly for the families. Especially if the child only has one year left at the school. Lower income families can’t afford to spend money on uniforms that their children will only wear at school. Their children may hit a growth spurt and grow out of their uniforms, which then causes their parents to go out and buy new uniforms. I.D. tags will fit anyone no matter what size or shape they are. Another down side of uniforms is that any person can purchase these items and enter the school premises. School identification tags are issued by the school office and have a unique design; for example it contains the school logo. These also contain the student’s picture for easy identification. Students are required to wear their I.D. tags on a daily basis on school grounds. If a student forgets to wear their I.D. to school, they must report to the school office to purchase a temporary I.D. Teachers have a right to question anyone without an I.D. The parents prefer their child to wear school uniforms so that they don’t get their good clothes dirty. The parents need to teach their children not to get their clothes dirty and explain to them that it cost money. The children need to learn to have responsibility. In conclusion there are many disadvantages with uniforms. It benefits the students and parents. It is more cost effective for the parents and for their children to wear I.D. tags. Identification tags can be improved in the future. Research Papers on Benefits of Student Identification TagsStandardized TestingPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyHip-Hop is ArtEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenThe Spring and AutumnThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoGenetic Engineering

Free Essays on Psychological Variables Of Coaching In Sports

The Psychological Variables of Coaching in Sports I have been playing baseball all my life. I went to Holy Ghost Prep High School, and played on the varsity baseball team my junior and senior years, starting at third base and I also was our team’s closing pitcher. As a junior, my team had an incredible amount of talent. Four of our seniors went on to play division one baseball. Throughout the year, however, we experienced many obstacles, most stemming from player-coaching relationships. The players constantly ripped our head coach, and never bought into what he preached. Nonetheless, we ended up winning our division (which was not a big accomplishment) and were picked to win the district tournament and maybe even win the state tournament as well. However, we lost in the first round to an inferior team, because, I believe, of the team’s inability to get along with our head coach. During my senior year, we had only one player who would play division one baseball; we were made up of a bunch of average role players who mostly played on junior varsity the year before. Although our third basemen was a stud (being me), we were not even picked to win our division, let alone do anything in the district tournament. Since, unlike the previous year’s team, we bought into our coaches’ philosophy, and we ended up beating three top-quality teams, and ended up reaching the district finals. Thus, in my presentation, I will explore the question of how much exactly does coaching play a role in a team’s success, and the other psychological factors that encompass the role of a coach. The best examples to prove that coaching is indeed an important instrument to a team’s success, perhaps even greater than the talent of the team, are the instances of a coach coming to a good team and making them great, or a coach coming to a bad team and making them contenders. Perhaps the greatest example of this is of Phil Jackson coming to t... Free Essays on Psychological Variables Of Coaching In Sports Free Essays on Psychological Variables Of Coaching In Sports The Psychological Variables of Coaching in Sports I have been playing baseball all my life. I went to Holy Ghost Prep High School, and played on the varsity baseball team my junior and senior years, starting at third base and I also was our team’s closing pitcher. As a junior, my team had an incredible amount of talent. Four of our seniors went on to play division one baseball. Throughout the year, however, we experienced many obstacles, most stemming from player-coaching relationships. The players constantly ripped our head coach, and never bought into what he preached. Nonetheless, we ended up winning our division (which was not a big accomplishment) and were picked to win the district tournament and maybe even win the state tournament as well. However, we lost in the first round to an inferior team, because, I believe, of the team’s inability to get along with our head coach. During my senior year, we had only one player who would play division one baseball; we were made up of a bunch of average role players who mostly played on junior varsity the year before. Although our third basemen was a stud (being me), we were not even picked to win our division, let alone do anything in the district tournament. Since, unlike the previous year’s team, we bought into our coaches’ philosophy, and we ended up beating three top-quality teams, and ended up reaching the district finals. Thus, in my presentation, I will explore the question of how much exactly does coaching play a role in a team’s success, and the other psychological factors that encompass the role of a coach. The best examples to prove that coaching is indeed an important instrument to a team’s success, perhaps even greater than the talent of the team, are the instances of a coach coming to a good team and making them great, or a coach coming to a bad team and making them contenders. Perhaps the greatest example of this is of Phil Jackson coming to t...

Road to Hell Essays

Road to Hell Essays Road to Hell Paper Road to Hell Paper HW: Road to Hell Read the case study and answer 3 questions below. Submit a hardcopy (2 pages maximum) of your answers at class time. 1 . Identify at least 2 major mistakes Baker made in the final interview with Rennalls. Explain why they were mistakes and what he might have done instead. A: 2 major mistakes, 1) Baker knew a lot about Rennallss political views and racial issues sensitivity, but Baker made a mistake building his interview from his European perspective. Baker assumed that he gave some historical and personal suggestions that were not meant to be offensive. However, from Rennallss point of view, the suggestions were totally inappropriate. 2) Through the interview, Baker emphasized several times the importance and leading position of European staff in the company. In the effort to teach Rennalls to better cooperate with this leadership, Baker even offered a historical example, he put European culture on a pedestal of 300 years of development and left Barracania at the bottom of the human history. What he might have done instead. The main barrier to the problem solving is misunderstanding between people with different cultures. 1) Cultural diversity: being attentive to the culture values and orms of the foreign employees are very important. 2) Have the ability to integrate. 2. What actions should Baker take after receiving the resignation from Renalls? A: In my opinion, Baker is a racist, despite his unintentional behavior can be consi dered intentional. I think Baker should try to change his attitude and deal this problem carefully, anyhow he will always face this kind of issues in next Job and continue to go through the same problem. Thus Baker should make an apology to Rennalls and to persuade him to stay at the company. 3. Do you think that Remalls is a good match for Continental Ore? Explain why or why ot. What additional information do you need to answer this question? A: Rennalls is one of the brightest Barracanian prospects on the staff of Caribbean Bauxite, he is a good match for Continental Ore. However his well-educated made him sensitive to political, racial and equality issues involving relations between his culture and western influence. Rennalls should be change his behavior in sensitive to any sign of condescension on working with expatriates. This case is one of many examples of how people from different cultures and backgrounds do not take diversity into consideration. They evaluate and measure d conflicts.

Emerging Technologies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Emerging Technologies - Essay Example Audio files are broadcasted for download into iPod like devices and hence the name podcasting. Podcasting distributes the audio content through the use of RSS. RSS comprises a family of web feed formats that refers to standards like Really Simple Syndication, Rich Site Summary and RDF Site Summary. The use of RSS makes the whole process simple. Podcasting is emerging as a technology that has application benefits in several fields of human activity. (Curry, A., 2004). The versatility of podcasting is the primary reason for the choice of podcasting in the emerging technologies of ICT. Podcasting offers scope of use in several disparate industrial activities. The hardware used is already popular in its entertainment application. The simplicity and affordability of the iPod adds to the attraction in exploring the possibilities of its wider use. Podcasting is being tried out as a means to increase the efficiency of education. In this emergent form, it is already gaining the popularity of students for several reasons. The familiarity of the hardware, the ease of use, the option of what to listen, and the convenience of when it can be used are the main factors that are likely to play a significant role in its wider use. The versatility of Podcasting makes it possible to select many different industrial activities. The industrial activity chosen for this project is its application to the field education. There are many parts to the industrial activity. The first part is the development of iPod like devices with the objective of increased suitability to the field of education. The second business activity is the development of educational content suitable for students, to be broadcasted through podcasting. The final part of the business activities consists of promotion of these educational facilities to the target market of students either as part of their online educational activities, or as part of support to their

Shintoism in Japan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Shintoism in Japan - Essay Example This indigenous religion of Japan is an unstructured mixture of a several beliefs and practices such as the worship of nature, future foretelling, fertility sects and shamanism. In its most fundamental form, Shinto is the religious structure of Japanese nationalism. According to Shinto tradition, the Japanese people and their country were divinely created, their emperors descendants of the Sun Goddess. Commonly, Japanese who are affiliated with Confucianism or the Buddhist religion are simultaneously affiliated with the Shinto sect. The two revered books of Shintoism are the Nihongi (Chronicles of Japan) and the Kojiki (Chronicles of Ancient Events). The Kojiki teaches that in the beginning were the two kami (deities), Izanagi (male-who-invites) and Izanami (female who-invites). Following the creation of Japan they produced many other kami. According to this mythological legend, Izanami passed away after giving birth to the kami of fire. Izanagi, in an attempt to find her, voyaged to Hell where he found her decomposed body infested by maggots. Horrified, he then went back to Japan in revulsion and purified himself by entering a body of water. The Sun Goddess, the Great Kami Amaterasu emerged when he washed out his left eye and Tsukiyom the Moon Kami materialized when he washed out his right eye. Following many years of war between the people of Japan, the Sun Goddess made her grandson, Ninigi, the first emperor of Japan. The Shinto religion is the only religion of the world that is represented by a female Deity. Japanese legend contends that the first emperor appeared during the seventh century B.C. but modern researchers put the actual beginnings of Japanese emperorship at about 200 A. D.

What is meant by predictive validity Why are assessment centres Essay

What is meant by predictive validity Why are assessment centres considered to have greater predictive validity than facetoface interviews - Essay Example In particular, the prevalence of the traditional employment interview as the primary selection method will be compared to the alternative methods of cognitive ability tests and biographical data. Whilst the assessment and selection process provides information for decisions by both the employer and the potential employee, this is not the traditional view as employment decisions have long been regarded as a management prerogative (Torrington & Hall, 1991). However, given the predicted skill shortages and the fact that selection is also concerned with the future life plans of individuals, the predictive validity of selection methods is an important issue (Meijer, 1998) both for organizations and for individuals. Predictive validity refers to the extent to which an assessment measure can predict subsequent job performance (Smith et al, 1993) such as error rate, production rate, appraisal scores, absence rate, or other criteria that may be important to the organisation. Relationships between assessment outcomes and future performance are expressed as correlation coefficients (r), where r = 1 represents a perfect relationship, and r = 0 signifies that no relationship whatsoever e xists. A correlation of, say, r = 0.4 is regarded as comparatively good in assessment and selection (Torrington et al, 1991), but this does illustrate that there are no methods of selection that represent outstanding predictors of future performance. In their survey of management selection methods used in French and British organizations, Shackleton & Newell (1991) illustrated that, although there was an increasing use of personality assessments, cognitive ability tests, assessment centers and biographical data between the years of 1984 and 1989, the traditional method of face to face interviews continued to represent the dominant method of assessment and selection in the UK. The format of interviews may range from totally unstructured where no objectives are set, to highly structured, pre-planned processes in which topic areas are closely related to job behavior, with varying degrees of semi-structure in-between (Anderson & Shackleton, 1993). Huffcutt & Arthur (1994) used meta-analysis to demonstrate that predictive validity increased as interview structure increased; the degree of standardization of questions and response scoring mechanisms resulted in validities ranging from r = 0.20 for less structured interviews to r = 0.56 for more highly structured interviews. Nevertheless, even highly structured interviews may vary in their predictive validity. In a comparison of situational interviews (future-orientated) and behavior description interviews (past-orientated) Campion, Campion & Hudson (1994) found higher validities for past-orientated (r = 0.51) than for

How did the feminists movement find expression during the 18th century Research Paper

How did the feminists movement find expression during the 18th century (Humanities) - Research Paper Example Therefore, the feminist movement was born because women were tired of the harsh treatment by mean and thus they had to express themselves and fight the oppression (Treanor 2002). The plight of women was at stake in the 1800s. Their role was different to that of men. The woman was expected to look for a husband, give birth and was to take care of the husband throughout their whole life. During then, it was deemed as a taboo for women to remain single. For instance, single women were pitied and scorned by the society. Furthermore, a woman’s right to own property was when she was still at her father’s house but after she got married; her entire property belonged to the husband. The women were also not expected to divorce and they were expected to stay in marriage even if it was miserable. Hence, divorce was punishable by law but majority of the victims were women. In those days, marriage was a lifelong commitment. It did not only undermine their strengths but destroyed their opportunity to a kind of freedom and also subdued their voices giving them no hope of social recognition (Bhabha and Shutter 1994). Throughout history, women were entitled to less legal rights and occupation chances. The women’s legal rights were very minimal to no rights at all. Their right to own property was not respected but resulted to the property being the husband’s after marriage. On the other hand, their right to vote had not been accepted and thus there was no woman representative in the governments of the time. However, towards the end of the nineteenth century, the feminist movement had already won the rights to vote and their chances of accessing education as well as other occupation that were regarded for men. In terms of occupation, motherhood and wifehood were considered the most major profession for women all over. They were thus expected to be submissive in

Online Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Online Education - Essay Example The use of pen and pencil can be dated back to the Roman Empire. However with the developing pace the traditional means of attaining education are changing. The introduction of information technology has brought forward a new way of learning through the internet. E-learning is the new form of education introduced by IT which helps people to attain knowledge through the use of their computers. A portal is introduced by the use of information technology which the students are able to access and give their tests. However this new technology also brings with it other ethical issues of plagiarism and social contact. Online education is an inadequate alternative for traditional, classroom-based teaching for several reasons: there is no interactive communication between the student and the instructor, potential employer do not value online course work, class offering are limited, instructor feedback to the student might be delayed for days, and group projects are nonexistent. Discussion Wit h the advent of modern technology, a forceful impact of this technology has been observed in nearly all walks of modern day life. With the increasing access to these facilities, the lives of modern day human beings have changed so dramatically that in many cases a reversal towards the old ways of life seems apparently impossible. Similar is the case with the process of our education. The concept of e-learning has modified our learning modes and behaviors to a much greater extent. It has been seen that the use of pen and pencils has been prevalent in our society since the early days but this concept is gradually being changed with the introduction of e-learning. E-Learning is a type of education which helps the students to learn with the help of internet and computer. Individuals can access internet and enrol into courses through which they can gain knowledge. The ease of access to educational resources has improved the overall learning environment, while at the same time, there are a number of ethical, social and professional issues that have emerged in parallel with the emerging e-learning facilities as we shall discuss in the following lines (Alan 2007; Rosenberg 2001). The e-learning approach draws the burden on both students and teachers to create a learning environment where diversified student population feel comfortable and relaxed. The language, cultural and social differences should not pose as a hurdle in the learning process of the diversified students’ list. Since e-learning environment provides a virtual classroom environment, it becomes difficult to judge the confidence level, practical working abilities and enhancing practical knowledge of the students. It, thus, becomes an important factor to be analyzed while opting for this kind of education. E-learning affects the learning pace of students as it provides virtual classroom environment which is less effective for a number of educational areas. The areas that require face-to-face interac tion and on-campus practical demonstrations involve nursing, psychology etc. Hence such professional issues involving those related to the reliability of the infrastructure of the e-learning environment, access to the e-learning tools and the learning curve which is essential to be achieved by proper coordination between teachers and students must be considered while choosing e-learning software or education system (Billings, 2002 p 5). The importance and effectiveness of social interactions, virtual conduct and social support using e-learning courses have been discussed by a number of researchers in great depth (Gunawardena, 1995). Of these researches, mostly were determined to check the credibility of social learning theory on web based learning environm

Youth crime Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Youth crime - Essay Example Exaggeration of media stories and incidences often leave both the reporters and the public confused, uneasy and suspicious. Though media entities work hard to generate interest among its viewers and audiences, it is important that they remain focused and disseminate true stories and incidents to the members of the society. Criminal activities associated with young people (17 years and below) include arson, breach of bail, breach of conditional discharge, and breach of statutory order, criminal damage, death or injury by reckless driving, domestic burglary, drug offences, fraud & forgery, motoring offences Non-domestic burglary, public order, racial aggravated offences, robbery , sexual offences, theft and handling , vehicle theft and violence against person. It is not easy for an average person to know whether the media is exaggerating incidences or not. However, exaggeration of media content can be identified through Stanley Cohen’s five pointers and by comparing official sta tistics from government agencies to information contained in media reports. Establishing whether youth crimes are spiraling out of control as reported by the media in the United Kingdom Establishing exaggeration of media reports on youth crimes can be difficult for an average person. ... These five pointers based on moral panic concept would be used to establish whether it is true that youth crime is spiraling out of control in the United Kingdom as portrayed by the media. First, it is good to establish whether the media has inflated youth crime rates (statistics). The media has given prominence to youth crime rates over other equally important happenings in Britain. Though youth crimes are only reported as they happen and do not run longer as compared to other stories, they are put as prominent information. Most media in the United Kingdom exaggerates criminal offences perpetuated by young people by putting youth crimes incidences in more prominent parts of the newspaper or the newscasts. In addition, some media uses age to show the magnitude and scope of crime perpetrators. Four year old children were suspected to be involved with arson, assault, burglary and possessing offensive weapons. Reporting children as perpetrators is hard to believe or imagine. Pickard (20 08) claimed that Britain have experienced alarming increases in publicized knife crimes since 2008. The knife crime stories about latest victims and perpetrators are placed in front pages of the newspapers and headlines in the newscasts. The media constantly remind members of the society on imminent danger they face each day as they leave their houses as young people embrace knives as latest fashion accessory. Figure 1 is a graph showing the number of young people who got involved in criminal offences between the years 2003 to 2010. According to the graph below, the number of young people who got involved in criminal offences increased steadily from 2003 to 2006. After 2006, the number of young people who

How did the feminists movement find expression during the 18th century Research Paper

How did the feminists movement find expression during the 18th century (Humanities) - Research Paper Example Therefore, the feminist movement was born because women were tired of the harsh treatment by mean and thus they had to express themselves and fight the oppression (Treanor 2002). The plight of women was at stake in the 1800s. Their role was different to that of men. The woman was expected to look for a husband, give birth and was to take care of the husband throughout their whole life. During then, it was deemed as a taboo for women to remain single. For instance, single women were pitied and scorned by the society. Furthermore, a woman’s right to own property was when she was still at her father’s house but after she got married; her entire property belonged to the husband. The women were also not expected to divorce and they were expected to stay in marriage even if it was miserable. Hence, divorce was punishable by law but majority of the victims were women. In those days, marriage was a lifelong commitment. It did not only undermine their strengths but destroyed their opportunity to a kind of freedom and also subdued their voices giving them no hope of social recognition (Bhabha and Shutter 1994). Throughout history, women were entitled to less legal rights and occupation chances. The women’s legal rights were very minimal to no rights at all. Their right to own property was not respected but resulted to the property being the husband’s after marriage. On the other hand, their right to vote had not been accepted and thus there was no woman representative in the governments of the time. However, towards the end of the nineteenth century, the feminist movement had already won the rights to vote and their chances of accessing education as well as other occupation that were regarded for men. In terms of occupation, motherhood and wifehood were considered the most major profession for women all over. They were thus expected to be submissive in

Youth crime Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Youth crime - Essay Example Exaggeration of media stories and incidences often leave both the reporters and the public confused, uneasy and suspicious. Though media entities work hard to generate interest among its viewers and audiences, it is important that they remain focused and disseminate true stories and incidents to the members of the society. Criminal activities associated with young people (17 years and below) include arson, breach of bail, breach of conditional discharge, and breach of statutory order, criminal damage, death or injury by reckless driving, domestic burglary, drug offences, fraud & forgery, motoring offences Non-domestic burglary, public order, racial aggravated offences, robbery , sexual offences, theft and handling , vehicle theft and violence against person. It is not easy for an average person to know whether the media is exaggerating incidences or not. However, exaggeration of media content can be identified through Stanley Cohen’s five pointers and by comparing official sta tistics from government agencies to information contained in media reports. Establishing whether youth crimes are spiraling out of control as reported by the media in the United Kingdom Establishing exaggeration of media reports on youth crimes can be difficult for an average person. ... These five pointers based on moral panic concept would be used to establish whether it is true that youth crime is spiraling out of control in the United Kingdom as portrayed by the media. First, it is good to establish whether the media has inflated youth crime rates (statistics). The media has given prominence to youth crime rates over other equally important happenings in Britain. Though youth crimes are only reported as they happen and do not run longer as compared to other stories, they are put as prominent information. Most media in the United Kingdom exaggerates criminal offences perpetuated by young people by putting youth crimes incidences in more prominent parts of the newspaper or the newscasts. In addition, some media uses age to show the magnitude and scope of crime perpetrators. Four year old children were suspected to be involved with arson, assault, burglary and possessing offensive weapons. Reporting children as perpetrators is hard to believe or imagine. Pickard (20 08) claimed that Britain have experienced alarming increases in publicized knife crimes since 2008. The knife crime stories about latest victims and perpetrators are placed in front pages of the newspapers and headlines in the newscasts. The media constantly remind members of the society on imminent danger they face each day as they leave their houses as young people embrace knives as latest fashion accessory. Figure 1 is a graph showing the number of young people who got involved in criminal offences between the years 2003 to 2010. According to the graph below, the number of young people who got involved in criminal offences increased steadily from 2003 to 2006. After 2006, the number of young people who

Video game genres Essay Example for Free

Video game genres Essay Today, video games have become the most popular means of entertainment throughout our world. More than three-quarters of American youths have video-game consoles, and on a typical day at least 40 percent play a video game. Moreover, recently there has been a wide range of studies by professors throughout the world all focusing on the idea of whether or not video games are causing the youth to become a more illogical violent society in the future. Moreover, some people believe they are just a waste of precious time. However, they have been proven by many scholars that they are not only the best means of entertainment, but also one of the best sources of learning and improving brain performance and strategies, speed of alertness and decision making, and problem solving skills. Coming up with good strategies can be very handy for our lives whether it be in business, learning, teaching, etc. Nowadays video games have been proved to make people smarter towards creative strategy thinking. For example, it has been stated that â€Å"While there are many games that place a premium on strategy, most set an overall goal and give the gamer numerous ways in which he or she can achieve that goal. † Vila, Monica. 7 Reasons Why Your Son Should Play Video Games. http://www. babble. com/. N. p. , 04 Feb 2013. Web. 4 Nov. 2013. Video games teach kids to think objectively about both the games themselves and their own performance. In addition, players also get instant feedback on their decisions and quickly learn their own strengths and weaknesses through try and error since they get unlimited lives in a video game. Video games have a great effect on the youth regarding decision making. Some researchers compared action video-gamers and non-gamers with a series of simple decision-making experiments. Gamers devoted at least five hours weekly in the year before the experiment to playing action video games, such as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Halo 2. They presented volunteers with arrays of dots, asked them to identify which way the dots were moving, and varied the number of dots moving in the same direction to make the task easier or harder. Video games get kids to think. There are dozens of video games that are specifically geared towards learning, but even the most basic shooter game teaches kids to think logically and quickly process large amounts of data. Rather than passively absorbing content from, say, a TV show, a video game requires the player’s constant input to tell the story. Moreover, well known sources such as the video games CQ research proved this characteristic about video gaming â€Å"Games stress taking your knowledge and applying it. That’s pretty crucial in the modern world,† says University of Wisconsin Professor of Reading James Gee. † Glazer, Sarah. Video Games. Congressional Quarterly, 2006. 939. Print. Indeed, the argument that video and computer games are superior to school in helping children learn as gaining currency in academic circles. Claimed benefits include improved problem-solving, mastery of scientific investigation and the ability to apply information learned to real-life situations. In conclusion, as you have seen, there is more than just killing and violence in video games. Our future children should be more exposed to video games not only for ways of entertainment, but also for the sake of improving their intelligence whether it be in creating new strategies, enhancing problem solving skills, or even allowing them to make better life decisions.

Impact Of Crm On Customer Satisfaction And Retention Management Essay

Impact Of Crm On Customer Satisfaction And Retention Management Essay 1. Introduction Customer relationship management (CRM) is a set of strategic practices and is a broadly used term that covers different functions and concepts of organisations in aspects of operational, collaborative and analytical frameworks (Ramsey, 2010). There are many benefits the company could derive upon implementation of CRM systems. These benefits are: customers-suppliers linkage, access, hassle-free communication, and reduction of implementation cycles, centralised and regularised systems upgrade, centralisation of maintenance and enhancement expertise and homogenisation of CRM technology (Kelly and Gillbert, 2003) (Harrington, 2008) (Taylor, 2004) (Hunter, 2009). Customer Relationship Management is a fresh and prominent business approach that has integrated permanently in the contemporary business management literature (Chen, 2003). It usually refers to business activities directed towards initiating, establishing, maintaining, and developing successful long-term relational exchanges (Sharma and Mittal, 2007). CRM not only impacts business performance but has an effect upon customers. It results in clients retention, satisfaction and loyalty (Smith, 2006). The benefits of customer retention and satisfaction are many, therefore companies eagerly tries to secure a significant customer base (Kumra, 2005). Information technology plays an important part in facilitating the link between CRM and customer retention. Company can utilize the combination of computers speed and storage capabilities along with the internet connectivity. This helps in providing a powerful linkage among several functions of the company (Ramsey, 2010). For companies of different sizes, different CRM systems are available which range from the simplest contact-management systems that focus on assisting individual salespeople to most complex enterprise-wide and cross-enterprise systems (Newby and Sherif, 2005). The basic function of the CRM systems is to connect the company with its customers and suppliers. CRM systems ensure that customers have a consistent experience across multiple sales channels (Han and Kim, 2003). It is vital for a company to successfully implement CRM system as an effective implementation assists the company in meeting the customer needs. It is the responsibility of the management to integrate the system in the company and train its staff to effectively work on the CRM systems (Zarali, 2009). It is aimed to explore these issues and the researcher will attempt to identify the impact of CRM systems on the overall marketing system of the company. 2. Research Question Determine how CRM systems can impact the customer loyalty and retention, and its effect on skills of employees and customers satisfaction? 3. Aim and Objectives The main aim of this dissertation is to study the value and importance of CRM systems in terms of customer satisfaction and retention. To achieve this aim following objectives are to be achieved: * To analyse the published literature on CRM and to identify related issues. * To assess the impact of CRM systems on customer satisfaction and retention. * To summarize all the literature and the findings and present them in customer satisfaction context. * To provide recommendations to the company. 4. Companys Profile The company selected for this dissertation is MobileNet, Ltd which is situated in the heart of Delhi, the capital of India. The company deals with providing mobile phone and network connections to individual customers as well as corporate clients. Along with the mobile products, it provides direct and indirect services related to handsets and network system. It started as a small company with few employees but gradually developed into a successful medium size enterprise. Reasons for the choice of selecting this company includes: Availability of appropriate data, personal contacts with the company management and previous job experience with the company. The other motives are ease to conduct research, less finance needed and time effectiveness. The company has recently adapted and implemented CRM systems within the company. This has improved its overall business transactions, activities and performance as well as increased profits. 5. Research Significance and Problem Identification Although CRM is an established concept in contemporary management studies, little has been focused upon impact of CRM systems on customer satisfaction. There are literally no studies available on it regarding Indian environment. Constantly changing environment and performance oriented industry are influencing the organizational structure and leading to increased reliance on staff and customer loyalty. CRM is basically a new concept in India. It needs time to improve and integrate other aspects into it. But this problem can be addressed by relating effectiveness of CRM systems on organizations marketing activities. This issue is now established as it affects the field of management in several ways. It is especially valuable for companies seeking better performance. 6. Hypothesis The company can satisfy its customers, attract new ones and retain existing ones by successfully and effectively implementing latest CRM system within the company. If appropriate system is implemented, it can prove beneficial and help the company to achieve its marketing objectives. 7. Rationale Companies tend to apply out-dated and inadequate systems that most of times doesnt work on their business situations. While doing so, they often ignore to adapt advanced CRM systems. In order to improve the customer satisfaction, companies need to adapt new ways that can impact overall customer loyalty as well as help to successfully retain existing customers. There are many other specific topics that can be explored regarding the application of CRM systems. There is need to increase the limited knowledge regarding the implications and effects of CRM systems. This study proposes to focus on marketing activities of the chosen company. The research rationale is to determine the benefits of CRM systems implementation in marketing.    8. Theoretical Framework The main aim of the dissertation is to investigate the impact of CRM systems and its implementation on customer satisfaction. In this research, the researcher will try to reveal the general customer behaviours in existence. This will also include the exploration on patterns of customer satisfaction, retention and loyalty. Prior to this, the researcher will try to present information on the recent CRM systems in use in marketing and to discover its importance. In addition, the paper will also seek to discuss the benefits and limitations of CRM systems in marketing and how it could possibly improve the overall performance and position of the company. Moreover, the research will also aspire to investigate customer information management which includes responses and relationships. The role of management in implementing and managing CRM system will also be critically analysed in this dissertation. Finally, the paper will aim to compare actual practices on organisations with benchmark prac tices. This research will specifically examine impact of CRM systems focusing on marketing issues by taking into account environmental and cultural requirements of the company. The researcher will compare the literature with case study of the company and conclude on the benefits of adapting CRM systems   9. Usefulness of the Research This research will consider all the relevant factors related to marketing theory of CRM. It can be useful for the company for comparison reasons with its own survey. It can be a guideline for the company to take improvement measures. Further it can be used by students for reference purposes. This research when completed can provide better understanding of the risks associated with implementation of CRM systems. From a broader sense, this paper can essentially contribute to corporate decision making. It may contribute to help students improve their learning skill regarding CRM systems and how it applies to customer satisfaction. This research can be an important management or information technology endeavour in the academia.    10. Knowledge Gaps and a Future Research Agenda Research questions which are needed to be addressed include: How important is the implementation of CRM systems in marketing activities of the organisations? What are the benefits and limitations of CRM systems in marketing? How does the implementation of CRM systems in marketing affect the general performance of the organisations? Is the implementation of CRM systems in marketing improved the current position of the organisations? What are the strategic planning activities does the CRM systems provide the organisations? How do CRM systems contribute to customer satisfaction and retention? In what ways do CRM systems contribute to customers loyalty? Does the implementation of CRM systems affect the supplier-buyer relationship? In what ways? 11. Research Methodology According to Kothari (2008), research is a systematic study for the collection of data and information to solve the problem or achieve an objective. Saunders et al. (2010) describe it as a rigorous activity that involves organized development and acquisition of knowledge. Kumar (2005) defines methodology as a focused investigation beyond generally available knowledge in order to obtain specific and detailed information which later provides analysis basis on the topic of enquiry. For this dissertation, the researcher will examine all the available research techniques. Only the appropriate research methods will be selected and the reasons for the made choices with justification will also be provided. Gantt chart will be applied to plan and coordinate dissertation tasks. It will also assist in presenting the research graphically (Bryman and Bell, 2007). Data would be carefully collected and would remain within the research scope (Saunders et al. 2010). The researcher will make sure that all the data gathered is reliable and valid. Both secondary and primary information collection methods will form the data collection structure for this dissertation. Both of these methods will include Qualitative and Quantitative data (Saunders et al. 2010). The researcher has decided to apply cost effective methods to obtain maximum information from the target population. Companys internal information will be researched along with external sources. External research sources inc lude catalogues, magazines, newspapers, technical publications and journals. In addition latest articles from renowned journals and contemporary marketing and management books will be consulted and reviewed to give a broader view (Kumar, 2005). According to Bryman and Bell (2007) interviews are one of the best ways for collecting relevant information from participants experiences. It is the most effective way to collect primary data. As planned, interviews will be conducted from the managers and employees to review their opinions. Questionnaires will also be used that will be distributed to randomly selected customers. Questionnaires can be effective for the collection of data that can be later quantified using appropriate scales (Kothari, 2008). The researcher can easily circulate the questionnaire. It is also the cheapest method of communication with fastest response rate. Questionnaire can target huge base of customers. It also minimises the risk of losing the answers (Saunders et al. 2007). Multi-method/mixed-method technique (triangulation) will be applied. This technique focuses on combining quantitative and qualitative data to achieve the goals. All the collected information will be analysed on Microsoft Word 2010 Br yman and Bell, 2007). Both managers of the company will be interviewed; randomly selected few employees for interviews and randomly selected customers will be selected. The reason for selecting managers is quite forward as they can provide enough information on companys management of CRM system and related issues. Employees are selected to discuss their views on impact of CRM on their performance and satisfaction. It will be difficult to question every customer so the researcher will try to distribute questionnaire to as many people as possible so that the enough data can be collected to represent the whole population. 12. Limitation Limitation would arise as the research will progress. It may include management and employee or even customer bias, unavailability of essential data, ineffective time and resource allocation, etc. It is a natural limitation that information cannot be gathered from all the sources; therefore sampling will be done randomly. Not all sources can be searched; therefore Bells six point parameter will be applied to minimize sources and avoid collecting irrelevant data. 13. Time Scale Chart Task Date (Start) Date (Finish) Time Estimated Research Proposal Research Findings Literature Review Research Methodology Findings and Analysis Drafting and Submission 14. Summary of the Research Chapter 1 is introduction. The researchs overview will be laid out in this section. Aim and Objectives will be included along with the hypothesis and rationale. Research significance and usefulness will be explained as well as theoretical framework. In the end of this section knowledge gaps and research agenda will also be emphasized, before finally providing the research layout. Chapter 2 of dissertation is literature review which comprises almost half of the dissertation. Latest issues related to CRM will be discussed and critically analysed. This section will be divided into sub-topics of important subjects. The impact of CRM system, its adaption and implementation, its importance for customer satisfaction and retention, the role of management and employees and other important issues will be critically analysed. Several authors views will be considered and will be linked to CRM. Debate on important CRM issues and arguments presented by different scholars will also be provided. Chapter 3 reviews the methodology of the research. Selected research methods and techniques will be explained as well as research approaches will be clearly defined. All this will be clarified with justification. The researcher will clearly describe the benefits of using chosen methods to validate the research. It will be ensured to examine the research process in detail as well as to assess the limitations and constraints faced. Information about sampling method and data analysis tools will also be provided. By conducting research, the researcher will try to examine the importance of CRM system for customer satisfaction. Chapter 4 is the analysis of the gathered data which will partially be graphical presented. Findings of the research and analysis of the data collected will be combined for this section of the dissertation. The researcher will critically analyse results from interviews and questionnaires. Chapter 5 summarises all the literature and data to research conclusion. Recommendations will be proposed to the company in this section.

Organizational Communication Essay -- Functions of Communication

Organizational Communication is probably the most important type of interpersonal communication a person has to perform in his or her adult life. Communicating with others in the work environment is a process that cannot be looked at as a small one, but as a very complex and of utmost significance to a person's life as a whole. We all know communication is a key factor in everyone's life, and communicating in the work place is just a larger key for cultural expectance and normalcy. Everyone communicates with each other in all different aspects of society. When you are younger, school is the main agency for social communication and in later life it is the job you occupy. It is socially stated and seen as a norm that in adult life you should have a job for means of survival. Therefore, another way to put it is the best way to survive in life is to work. Because of this sociological norm, you must be able to adapt to your job. This is the most important aspect of the work environment. A nd the only way to adapt to your surroundings and be able to participate in everyday work life is to communicate with others.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Organizational Communication is therefore basically broken up into two parts; The Socialization process of communicating, and the later communication between co-workers in everyday situations. First and foremost we will look at the more complex and significant process of communication socialization. Sociologist J. Van Maanen's definition of organizational communication is "the process by which a person learns the values and norms and required behaviors which permit him or her to participate as a member of the organization" In other words, its learning the ropes of the occupation. Not only any skill you may need, but how co-workers communicate, and understanding the importance of the organization as well. One thing to understand is socialization in an organization is not a temporary process that stops after the first few months on the job, but it is fact a continuos process that will change as the longer a person stays with that organization. All socialization proc ess are broken up into stages, and organizational socialization is not any different. Think back to when you were starting a new job and it will be very easy to see and understand these stages. Remember the first day on a new job, when you probably didn't know any one, and you didn't know... ...ange in an organization just as they change in the real environment, and we must be able to change with them just as we try to do in that real environment. Moreover, communication is in all areas an important facet that we must be able to master if we want to have the ultimate experience in what we do. Lets face it we are all young and have or whole lives ahead of us. Most of that time is going to be occupied by the occupation we choose. In fact we may go through many jobs to find the one that we are most comfortable in. But above all the ability to communicate well with important others are something we cannot easily pass by, but must use to make our lives satisfying. Works Cited Wood, Julia T. (1998) Communication Mosaics: A New Introduction to the Field of Communication. Wadsworth Publishing Company Roloff, Michael E. & Berger, Charles R. (1982) Social Cognition and Communication Sage Publications Deveroux Ferguson, Sherry & Ferguson, Stewart (1988) Organizational Communication Transaction Books Macionis, John R. (1998) Society: The Basics. Prentice Hall Inc. Berne, Eric (1963) The Structure and Dynamics of Organizations and Groups J.B. Lippincott Company

1720s and 1820a :: American History

In the 1720’s to the 1820’s there were several events, changes, and processes that occurred in America. The three events I am choosing to analyze are: The Great Awakening, The Revolution, and The Market Economy. Each one of these events had a cultural, social and economic aspect. Each one of these events had different impacts and was manifested in several different ways. The first event I will be analyzing is The Great Awakening. â€Å"The Great Awakening cut across lines of class, status, and education† (Boyer â€Å"Bonds of Empire†, P. 86). â€Å"The American Protestantism was split† (Boy â€Å"Bonds of Empire†, P. 87). â€Å"In 1741 Old and New Light Presbyterians formed rival branches that reunited in 1758 when the revivalists emerged victorious† (Boyer â€Å"Bonds of Empire†, P. 87). â€Å"Members of Anglican churches started leaving and going to New Light Presbyterians and Baptists† (Boyer â€Å"Bonds of Empire†, P. 87). â€Å"The Great Awakening stimulated the founding of new colleges unscarred by religious wars† (Boyer â€Å"Bonds of Empire†, P. 87). With the Great awakening for the cultural effect was that they found different churches for others to go to and enjoyed more. They also found colleges that are really well-known colleges today. The next event I chose to ana lyze is The Revolution. During the Revolution, there were social changes that affected several different races, classes and genders. The four groups that the Revolution had an effect on the social changes were: white men, White women, Black Americans, and Native Americas. With the Revolution effecting the white men by â€Å"wearing homespun clothing in support of boycotts of British goods (Boyer, â€Å"Defining Nationhood†, p. 128). When the Virginia planters organized militia companies in 1775, they wore plain hunting shirts so that they didn’t embarrass the poorest farmer for his clothes so that they could enlist† (Boyer, â€Å"Defining Nationhood†, p. 128). While men were out in the war the â€Å"women stayed home and managed families, households, farms and businesses on their own† (Boyer, â€Å"Defining Nationhood†, P. 129). For the Black Americans, it started to show others that slavery was not a good thing. â€Å"The war, nevertheless, presented new opportuni ties to African-Americans† (Boyer, â€Å"Defining Nationhood†, P. 130). â€Å"The slaves were even trying to escape as all the confusion that was going on and pose as a freeman† (Boyer, â€Å"Defining Nationhood†, p. 130). Even though the Revolution showed new opportunities to the African-Americans it â€Å"didn’t end slavery nor brought equality to free blacks, but it did begin a process by which slavery could be extinguished† (Boyer â€Å"Defining Nationhood†, p.

A Newsletter About Solutions and Creating Exceptional Value Essay

High Impact Projects A Newsletter About Solutions and Creating Exceptional Value Software Company Narrows Focus from 1 Million Prospects to 40 – Closes 30 Sales in First Year! After 3 Years of Revenues Less than $2 Million, Sales Soar to $75 Million in 4 Years! Systems Produce Paybacks for Clients of more than 10-to-1 Stopped Trying to Sell to Information Technology Department – Found Line Executives With An Urgent Need to Buy CEO Found a Way to Reduce Risk and Capture Financial Upside A Repeatable Pattern Emerges Compiled by Tom Ingram, PMPi Before Jeff Miller took over as CEO, Documentum had suffered three years of flat revenues, never exceeding $2 million per year. After Miller took over, the next year’s sales increased to $8 million, followed by $25 million, $45 million, $75 million and an IPO in subsequent years. Granted, these were the boom years – but this success story carries some essential lessons which I have seen work in several other settings over the years. Below is a summary of these key lessons from several sources, including a Harvard Business School case study. None of this is easy. Documentum went through a period when it was burning $1 million per quarter, with only $4 million in cash reserve, and only two new customers. Success in the intangible, â€Å"black magic† world of software is difficult, and my hope is that you can take some useful lessons away from this summary. Following are some of the things that worked for them. Narrowed Their Focus from â€Å"everyone in the world that touches complex documents† to a â€Å"rifle shot.† Documentum chose to focus initially on the regulatory affairs departments of Fortune 500 pharmaceutical companies. This narrowed their universe of prospects from some 500,000 to only 40 companies worldwide. Urgent Need to Buy: Documentum was able to identify buyers in extreme pain due to the regulatory paperwork requirements for submitting new drugs for approval. They focused on finding prospects that were in a situation where (1) regulatory requirements created much pain, (2) prospects demanded a solution and (3) the solution could represent a significant competitive advantage. Documentum closed 30 out of 40 initial target prospects in the first year! Help for Struggling Software Companies tom@tomingraminc.com 972-394-5736 Newsletter #25 July 2004 Page 1 TOM INGRAM & ASSOCIATES, Inc. Huge Payback for Customer Every day that was saved in drug approval application time resulted in a $1 million incremental profit for Documentum’s clients. The system reduced drug approval application time from 1 year to approximately six months. Average profit per day of $1 million times 128 days saved = $128 million in incremental profits per drug application. A typical system might cost $4 Million – Resulting in a 32-fold Payback! Target Buyer: Documentum discovered that their target buyer was not the Information Technology (IT) department! IT departments are often happy with the status quo – while line executives are not. They also discovered that executives and department managers were really the ones that drove the priorities for IT. Documentum stopped trying to sell to IT department buyers and focused on line executives with a problem and a budget. I will add that I have seen this to be true in dozens, if not hundreds, of instances in my 24 years in the technology and software business. The boom times of the ‘90s were a slight exception to this rule. The IT department was buying a great deal, and companies got used to   selling to the IT department. When reality came crashing down upon us, and the techbubble burst in the early 2000’s, this aberration disappeared. I will note that this is an   extremely difficult shift for companies to make because their sales force, including sales executives, and even the CEO, often have experience only selling to the IT department – they have no skills, credibility or capacity to sell to line executives. Picking the Initial Target Niche: One of the key issues in picking the initial target niche is the size of payback to the customer. By focusing on the area which your customer has the greatest payback, they have the most to gain economically from purchasing from you quickly. Assuming you can consistently deliver this payback, it is much easier to get Niche 2, Niche 3 and Niche 4 going after you have a strong set of happy customers behind you. Subsequent Niches: After Documentum’s initial success in the regulatory affairs department, they spread to other niches in every department within pharmaceutical companies. (regulated chemicals, oil refineries, etc.) This included a big win in the document management area for oil and gas exploration and production companies, where Documentum helped them manage the property/lease/royalty paperwork. This approach is often called the bowling pin model, because you set up the initial niche as a â€Å"headpin†, knock it down and that makes it substantially easier to â€Å"knock down the following pins†. This approach also helps you keep a controlled risk (or cash burn rate) by requiring the software company to demonstrate that it can find and close customers with an urgent need to buy, one niche at a time. Changes to Software Product Offered: Note that Documentum had the discipline to stay focused on the needs of very tightly defined sets of customers. They started in the regulatory affairs departments of pharmaceutical companies, and slowly spread, niche-by-niche (bowling pin-by-bowling pin)   to other departments and other industries. It is critical to recognize that Documentum invested its precious cash in software product enhancements only for these customers. The Harvard Business Review Case highlights a particular situation where Documentum declined a $2 million order because it would have required them to make Help for Struggling Software Companies tom@tomingraminc.com 972-394-5736 Newsletter #25 July 2004

How Can Building Surveyors Efficiently Differentiate Asr and Attack

Contents 1. Introduction2 2. Concrete attacks2 3. Alkali-Silica Reaction – ASR3 4. Sulphate Attack5 5. Reference List8 1. Introduction This report was issued in order to provide an in depth understanding of how a surveyor can differentiate between Alkali-Silica Reaction and Sulphate attacks in concrete when inspecting a building. In order to satisfy the requirements for this report, the author will give a detailed description of both kind of attacks, different study areas, experiments, diagnosis and forms of repair.To be able to define and analyse this topic, the author of this report has used different sources of reference such as books, academic journals, World Wide Web and several British Standards. By the end of this report, the writer will be able to demonstrate that the questioned concrete attacks can be differentiated by any professional surveyor when inspecting the concrete in a building. 2. Concrete attacks Chemical attacks usually occurs when using poor quality cemen t although good concrete has been known to be subjected to conditions that can lead to its deterioration.The environment â€Å"supplies† several physical and chemical forces which can contribute to concrete deterioration. BRE (2005) delivered a full list of chemical attacks that can arise both land contaminated by human and natural ground. There are several rarely occurred chemical attacks that are mainly caused by contaminated land; these are chemical species such as ammonium or chromium, but also organic such as phenols. The higher the quantity of these chemicals is, the higher the concrete attack.The most known forms of concrete attacks are: * Chloride penetration leading to corrosion of steel and spilling of the concrete cover; * Inadequate cover of reinforcing steel. Less common causes of concrete deterioration caused by chemicals or chemical reaction are: * Cycles of freezing and thawing; * Carbonation resulting in an increase of steel corrosion; * Sulphate attack; * Sh rinking aggregates; * Alkali-aggregate reactions. . Alkali-Silica Reaction – ASR It is believed that there are three types of alkali-aggregate reactions that will affect the condition of concrete: alkali-silicate reaction, alkali-carbonate reaction and alkali-silica reaction. It is believed that the alkali-silica reaction â€Å"may be found in the concrete because microcrystalline quartz or stained quartz is often present in aggregates contacting phyllosilicates† (Hobbs D. W. , 1988).The Institution of Structural Engineers (1988) described Alkali-Silica Reaction as being a chemical process in which the alkalis, found mostly in cement, when combined with specific types of silica found in aggregates, particularly in moist condition, will produce an alkali-silica gel that eventually will absorb the moisture from concrete, causing cracking and disruptions of concrete. British Cement Association (1993) advised that in order to determine that the inspected concrete cracking is a result of Alkali-Silica Reaction, the surveyor should sample and test the area â€Å"before any definite interpretation can be attempted†.Because of poor workmanship, shrinkage, weathering or differential stresses, the concrete can produce characteristics that will often be confused with Alkali-Silica Reaction. BCA (1993) are aware that â€Å"it is not always easy to distinguish these features from those indicative of ASR†. Their recommendation is that if suspected the sample should be taken into laboratory and further investigated. Because of the damping characteristics, the surveyor should allow dry weather when inspecting a suspected Alkali-Silica Reaction area.The degree of wetting should be recorded by the surveyor as this might be due to rain, condensation, leaking pipes, water run-off or poor detailing of construction. A second inspection is recommended if damp patches at the junction of the cracks are observed. It is known that Alkali-Silica Reaction will form a mapping crack at the surface of the concrete. Fig 1 is and extreme example of macrocracking found at the Hoover Dam, USA. Fig1. Example of cracking due to ASR at the Hoover Dam, USA Image taken from Hobbs, D. W. (1988, pp. 16)As it can be seen from the image, there are specific signs that this is an Alkali-Silica Reaction such as damp patches at the junction of the cracks and the edges of the cracks often appearing to be light in colour. Cracking like this will often be confused by surveyors as being caused by an expansion or contraction. As it was said before, one major feature of Alkali-Silica Reaction in concrete is cracking. In order to record data for further investigations, the surveyor should sketch or photograph the crack pattern. One other characteristic of Alkali-Silica Reaction is discoloration.This occurs along the cracks and although similar to rust caused by reinforce bars within the concrete, the surveyor is advised that colour photographs are to be taken for a n off-site second investigation. If occurred in reinforced concrete, the cracks caused by Alkali-Silica Reaction will tend to follow the lines of the reinforcing bars. Although often confused with the cracks produced by the corrosion of the reinforcements, in order to provide a definite confirmation of ASR, the surveyor should enforce a microscopic examination of a sample taken from the interior of the concrete.It is often that the surveyors confuse the cracking pattern of the affected cement. Other characteristics of Alkali-Silica Reaction are discoloration, efflorescence, exudations and pop-outs. 4. Sulphate Attack â€Å"Sulphate attack is the term used to describe a series of chemical reactions between sulphate ions and the components of hardened concrete, principally the cement paste, caused by exposure of concrete to sulphate moisture† ( Skalny et al. 2002, p. 3) It is well known that sulphate attack mainly affects the brickwork and concrete by creating a disruption of t he mortar. The sulphate attack can create expansion, bowing and/or cracking of affected material. The chemical and mineralogical compositions of Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) are the most vulnerable to sulphate environments (Bonshor 1996, Amin et al. 2007). OPC is one of the most common cement used in construction industry. Its main composition is ground limestone and clay.When burned, these components form the basis of most concretes. According to Ramson (1993, p. 19) if bauxite is used instead of clay, a high-alumina cement is produced. The main characteristic of this cement is its rapid rate of strengths developed and also if not ‘covered’ the high resistance to sulphate attacks. This can be one of the first evidence for surveyors that the concrete is not affected by sulphate attack. The main idea of sulphate attacks is simple.Bonshor and Bonshor (1996) describes that the sulphate salts migrating from neighbouring building materials, or sometimes even enclosed in th e groundwater react with elements of the OPC to produce ettringite or thaumasite. The most common circumstance of sulphate attack is when the unprotected concrete contains sulphate based materials or is exposed to sulphate groundwater. There are three main requirements necessary for sulphate attack to occur: (i) soluble sulphate salts such as sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium.It is important to specify that attacks from different sulphates will have different result. Mortars or concretes attacked by sulphates such as calcium or sodium will have a soft mush; on the other side when attacks form magnesium sulphate occurs, this being considered the most aggressive, the main feature of this attack are the salts that sometimes crystallize out or near the surface of the attacked material; (ii) tricalcium aluminate consisted in ordinary or rapid hardening cement; (iii) a persistent wetness on the material.To understand the main manifestations of sulphate attacks in building component s, the author will describe the visual characteristics that a surveyor will look for, in order to distinguish and recognise when sulphate attack has occurred. * The mortar in the brickwork is considered by Addleson and Rice (1995) to be under sulphate attack from as early as two years after construction. One of the main visual appearances of the attack is the white colour of the cement. The mortar subjected to sulphate attack will become loose at the surface, sometimes presenting cracks along the bed joists.It is important to mention that surveyors often confuse the horizontal cracking from rendered walls caused by corrosion of strip ties in cavity walls with the sulphate attack. Bonshor and Bonshor (1996) recommend that if not confident with the diagnosis from visual inspection, the surveyor should sample the affected mortar and further examine in a specialist laboratory. University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol (2006) advice that sulphate attacks occurs where saturation is greatest and usually around parapet walls and chimney.This is due to the large exposer to rainfall. UWE believe that although in some cases repairs are possible, in most instances once started, the sulphate attack is impossible to stop therefore the only option is the re-building. * When the sulphate attack is detected in rendered brickwork there are several visual signs for a surveyor to distinguish the type of attack. Wide horizontal and vertical cracks will appear in the rendering. Outward curling of the rendering in the cracks might appear as a result of sulphate attack. Fig2. Example of Sulphate Attack on chimney brickworkImage taken from University of the West of England, Bristol, (2006) The adhesion of the rendering on the brickwork may fail; this can result in rendering falling off either from one brick or even a large portion this depending on the seriousness of the attack on brickwork. If untreated, the brickwork may be exposed to efflorescence. * There are several occasi ons when the sulphate attack occurs on the underside of the ground slabs. If not isolated by a damp proof membrane, the salts in the ground will react with the Portland cement causing a map-pattern of cracking.Bonshor and Bonshor (1996) recommend that BRE Digest 363 will provide guidance in the case of a sulphate attack on concrete. Generally sulphate attack in ground-bearing slabs will form cracks in a solid ground floor mainly if the recycled colliery shale has been used as capping layer for the ground underneath the slab. Because the sulphate attack in ground bearing slabs, the surveyor will have to investigate further whether the slab has a damp proof membrane and if possible what sort of material has been used as colliery shale fill.WRAP Organisation (2011) recommends colliery shale should be tested for sulphates especially if it is to be used in proximity to concrete. As building professional, a surveyor will be able to differentiate between Alkali-Silica Reaction and Sulphate attacks in concrete. There are several visual differences between these two chemical attacks. One of the major confusion made by surveyors is when inspecting a cracking pattern in a building. It is highly recommended that if suspected, the surveyor should take samples for laboratory examination. There are numerous chemical reactions that are likely to produce disruptive cracking in buildings.This is the reason why a professional surveyor should not rush and give diagnosis unless entirely sure about the cause. Word count: 1759 5. Reference List Addleson, L. and Rice, C. (1995) Performance of materials in buildings. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Alan Wood & Partners (2012) Sulphate attack . Available at: http://www. alanwood. co. uk/pdf/Sulphate-Attack. pdf (Accessed on 5th October 2012). Amin, M. M. , Jamaludin, S. B. , Pa, F. C. & Chuen, K. K. (2008) ‘Effects of magnesium sulphate attack on Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) mortars’, Portugaliae Electrochimica Acta, (26) , pp. 235-242. Bonshor, R. B. and Bonshor, L.L. (1996) Cracking in buildings. London: Construction Research Communication. British Cement Association (1993) The diagnosis of alkali-silica reaction. Available at: http://homepage. tudelft. nl/n89v3/LinkedDocuments/1992-DiagnosisOfASR. pdf (Accessed on 5th October 2012). Cook, G. K. and Hinks, A. J. (1992) Appraising building defects: perspectives on stability and hygrothermal performance. Essex: Longman Scientific & Technical. El-hachem, R. , Roziere, E. , Grondin, F. & Loukili, A. (2012) ‘New procedure to investigate external sulphate attack on cementitious materials’, Cement & Concrete Composites, (34), pp. 57-364. Farny, J. A. & Kosmatka, S. H. (1997) Diagnosis and control of Alkali-aggregate reactions in concrete. Available at: http://www. nebrconcagg. com/assets/PromotionPages/Mix%20Design/ASR1. PDF (Accessed on 6th October 2012). Giaccio, G. , Zerbino, R. , Ponce, J. M. & Batic, O. R. (2008) ‘Mechanical behavi our of concretes damaged by alkali-silica reaction’, Cement and Concrete Research, (38), pp. 993-1004. Hobbs, D. W. (1988) Alkali-silica reaction in concrete. London: Thomas Telford. Mittermayr, F. , Bauer, C. , Klammer, D. , Bottcher, M. E. , Leis, A. Escher, P. & Deitzel, M. (2012) ‘Concrete under sulphate attack: an isotope study on sulphur sources’, Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies, 48 (1), pp. 105-117. Ransom, W. H. , (1993) Building failures: diagnosis and avoidance. 2nd edn. London: E & FN Spon. Sachlova, S. , Prikryl, R. & Pertold, Z. (2010) ‘Alkali-silica reaction products: Comparison between samples from concrete structures and laboratory test specimens’, Materials Characterization, (61), pp. 1379-1393. Sarkan, S. , Mahadevan, S. , Meeussen, J. C. L. , van der Sloot, H. & Kosson, D. S. 2010) ‘Numerical simulation of cementitious materials degradation under external sulphate attack’, Cement & Concrete Composites, (32 ), pp. 241-252. Skalny, J. , Marchand, J. & Odler, I. (2002) Sulphate attack on concrete. London: Spon Press. The Concrete Society (1985) Alkali-silica reaction: new structures-specifying the answer existing structures-diagnosis and assessment. London: Concrete Society. The Institution of Structural Engineers (1988) Structural effects of alkali-silica reaction: interim technical guidance on appraisal of existing structures. London: the Institution of Structural Engineers.University of the West of England, Bristol, (2006) Durability of clay bricks. Available at: https://environment7. uwe. ac. uk/resources/constructionsample/Conweb/walls/bricks/section6. htm (Accessed on 20th October 2012). WRAP, (2011) Burnt and unburnt colliery spoil, Available at: http://aggregain. wrap. org. uk/applications/wrap_pdf/aggregain/pdf_material. cfm? id=2910 (Accessed on 22th October 2012). Zerbino, R. , Giaccio, G. , Batic, O. R. & Isaia, G. C. (2012) ‘Alkali-silica reaction in mortars and concre tes incorporating natural rice husk ash’, Construction and Building Materials, (36), pp. 796-806.