Hidden Figures By Margot Lee Shetterly Segregation / Civil...

American history has a long, winding path that is what shapes American today. For example: segregation. Segregation was the discrimination of colored people and being separated from the white community. This time period, the 1960’s, was shown in both Hidden Figures and The Help. The book Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly represents segregation/Civil Rights Movement as a nonfictional story about three black women who strive to be engineers at the Langley lab in Virginia and their efforts to get there. However, The Help by Kathryn Stockett represents segregation/Civil Rights Movement as the backdrop for the plot, two black woman and one white woman who struggle in Jackson, Mississippi and go on to write a book with other black maids†¦show more content†¦But they do not know what a pathetic mess I turn into when Leroy’s beating on me. I’m afraid to hit back...How can I love a man who beats me raw?† (485). Towards the end of the book here, Minny e xplains how weak and controlled she feels when she is being abused by her husband, Leroy. This is another dramatic story that portrays the intense emotion in this book. Both Aibileen and Minny experience difficult times and this fact further worsened the presence of segregation in their town. For example, the book described many examples of discrimination including Hilly’s bathroom initiative (every white family with a black maid required an outhouse for the maid, so they would not â€Å"catch diseases†), a police officer killing an innocent black man in front of his children, and not allowing colored people to use the public library among other facilities. These examples of segregation clearly depicted the conditions during that time, and the emotionally charged stories allow the readers to more easily connect with the characters, which leads them to better understand the movement and topic than with Hidden Figures. Not only was The Help more relatable through emotion , but also listed some very important figures in history. Second, The Help did a much better job of portraying the difficulties of segregation because it included more on the Civil Rights Movement, which was happening during the time of segregation. For example, the book explicitlyShow MoreRelatedHidden Figures By Margot Lee Shetterly Segregation / Civil Rights Movement1347 Words   |  6 Pagesexample: segregation. Segregation was the discrimination of colored people and being separated from the white community. This time period, the 1960’s, was shown in both Hidden Figures and The Help. The book Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly represents segregation/Civil Rights Movement as a nonfictional story about three black woman who strive to be engineers at the Langley lab in Virginia and their efforts to get there. However, The Help by Kathryn Stockett represents segregation/Civil Rights MovementRead MoreHidden Figures By Margot Lee Shetterly Segregation / Civil Rights Move ment1402 Words   |  6 Pagesexample: segregation. Segregation was the discrimination of colored people and being separated from the white community. It occurred from 1619-1954. During this time, all facilities were segregated and colored (Black, latina, Indian, etc.) people were given poorer treatment than white people, and everything was segregated, from buses to schools to water fountains/bathrooms. Segregation was portrayed in two books. The book Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly represents segregation/Civil Rights MovementRead MoreHidden Figures : The American Dream And The Untold Story Of The Black Women Mathematicians1233 Words   |  5 PagesThe film Hidden Figures is based on a true story and adapted from the book ‘Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race’ by Margot Lee Shetterly. The movie is centered around a trio of African-American women who worked for the National Aerona utics and Space Administration (NASA) and played an essential role in sending John Glenn to space amidst a burgeoning Space Race between the United States of America and Russia. Based

Should Cheating Be More Informed About Cheating Essay

Shift in Relationships Nearly everyone has deal with cheaters throughout their life. Cheating has occurred for decades in a variety of ways, for when they attended school, at a workplace, or most importantly in relationships. Cheating has converted to a norm in our society with technology making it easier to cheat. People should be more informed about cheating, for it can guide in a way to decrease infidelity. People should know how society norms have changed, who has a higher chance to cheat, why people cheat, and how to prevent cheating. In the first twenty century female and male were expected to be the â€Å"perfect family†. For instance, female would be staying at home wife’s role included to clean the house, get involved with the children, and cook dinner; the females were not allowed to work. The husband role was to arrives home they are not supposed to talk to their spouse about anything just feed the husband and they sleep. Because the husband had a hard day at work doesn’t need to get involved with the children life it’s not part of what being a husband definition. That was considered to be the perfect family. If they get cheated on they could not say anything about it since they care about with the family friends and others had to say about what had occurred. They would have to stay married until death. As the shift in society has changed so has the husband and wife definition has changed now husband and wife. womenShow MoreRelatedCheating Is Becoming More Common As The Technolog ical Age Advances872 Words   |  4 PagesCheating has almost become a regular practice in high school as â€Å"75% of students admitted to cheating at least once in high school† (ETS) according to one survey. Cheating in high school typically carries over to higher education where there is more on the line for being caught and that will eventually carry over to when these students enter the work force. Cheating for students is becoming more common as the technological age advances, are students educated on what constitutes cheatings, has cheatingRead More Cheating in Academic Institutions Essay900 Words   |  4 PagesCheating in Academic Institutions Cheating has always been a problem in the history of academics. Academic institutions continue to develop new ways to prevent cheating from happening; while at the same time cheaters come up with even better ways to cheat. This conflict brings up many moral issues as well. To settle these issues, academic institutions create honor codes that show students that cheating is unacceptable and morally wrong; however, some students come up with their own reasonsRead MoreCheating Is A Word?1496 Words   |  6 PagesCheating is a word that no one wants to have attached to their name, because it comes attached with a load of negative stigma. What exactly is the definition of cheating? According to Oxford Dictionaries, the definition of the word â€Å"cheat† is as follows: â€Å"Act dishonestly or unfairly in order to gain an advantage, especially in a game or examination.† As one can adhere through this definition, when someone cheats they are acting in a dishonest way that deprives others of the truth. There are manyRead Morewatashiwa Essay1713 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿Chapter I The Problem and Its Scope There was a time when cheating was rare in schools, but today the whole â€Å"importance of learning† aspect has been eliminated. Instead, everyone is focused on making the top ten percent of their class or being valedictorian and we seem to have forgotten school’s purpose. School exists so that we will be educated, not so everyone can cheat their way into being successful. Education, which has become vital for the survival for any civilizationRead MoreCheating Is A Hot Topic1352 Words   |  6 Pages Cheating Introduction Cheating is a hot topic these days. There is much pressure on a student or child to perform well in class. Not only does the pressure build academically, but physically on the sports field. As parents, are we encouraging this behavior because we want our student to do well and achieve the end goal of being recognized or to receive a scholarship? I see it happening and depending on who the child/parent is, I might say something, because the end result could result horriblyRead MoreEssay on The Cheating Hearts of Men1514 Words   |  7 PagesThe Cheating Hearts of Men In writing this paper, I am setting out to answer a question that has been plaguing women for many years. Why do men cheat on us? Is it something us women do that causes it? Is it something they are taught is ok somewhere along the way? Does it have to do with the fact that their genitalia are on the outside? Or is there no logical explanation in the universe for it? (I’m leaning towards the last one, but hey, that’s just me.) Men always seem to have an explanationRead MoreWhy Do Men Cheat On Us?1438 Words   |  6 Pagestowards the last one, but hey, that’s just me.) Men always seem to have an explanation for their behavior, or more likely, an excuse. These excuses have been known to range from blaming the woman they are cheating on to trying to get back at her for something. Having more than just some personal experience with being cheated on, I’m curious to find out what causes this relationship phenomenon. More importantly, is it me? I know I have sev eral friends who might also stand to benefit from my â€Å"research†,Read MoreProfessional Codes And Standards Of Practice1258 Words   |  6 Pagesanother class taught by Professor Osterman, a classmate named Scott Summers apparently used his phone to take a picture of an exam question and sent it to someone. Jean also tells Professor Xavier that she had informed Professor Osterman about Scott, and then Professor Osterman spoke to Scott about his actions. However, Scott did not face any further consequences resulting from his behavior. Given this situation, the actions of each person will be discussed using ethical theories, along with the applicationRead MoreThe Ethical Implications Of Doctor Prescribing832 Words   |  4 Pagesthe LSAT, is was done in the wrong manner. Sara’s mother being a lawyer you’d expect things to be done in an ethical manner. The third issue is that she is using the medication which is a form of cheating. Many peoples’ innate objection to any kind of synthetic enhancement is that it is in fact cheating, receiving something for nothing and possibly achieving a partial advantage. The common prototype for this objection is taking drugs to perform well on test. Taking drugs such as Ritalin, AdderallRead MoreCheating Is A Big Issue Essay1772 Words   |  8 PagesBrennan ENG 100 17 November 2016 Assignment #4 Cheating is a big issue in today’s world. Students resort to cheating for many different reasons. Whether they have a lot of work to do or just being very lazy and want to get the assignment done, students cheat in everyday life. In prestigious schools like Harvard, it was found that students have admitted to cheating on an assignment or a paper. There have been ways to block students off from cheating but there are always new ways and solutions to cheat

Characteristics of Great Strategic Leaders

Question: 1. Why are some managers only managers and not true leaders?2. Complete the leadership assessment and perform a candid self-assessment of your leadership skills. (Do not include the actual assessment in your paper)a. Explain your career goals in regards to becoming a leader.b. Do you feel that a title is required in order to be a leader? Explain.c. What are the areas that you feel you have strong leadership skills based on the assessment?d. What are the areas that you feel you need to gain more knowledge on to become a better leader?3. How will having leadership qualities, even if you do not have a leadership title, help you in your IT career?4. Discuss a CEO or CIO in a previous organization you have worked for and their leadership skills. 5. Did you find them to be an effective and good leader why or why not? (If you do not have organizational experiences write about a CEO or CIOs leadership style that you would follow. Explain why you admire that CEO). Answer: 1. The leader can be defined as someone who aims at creating more leaders put of the members whom the leader is assisting rather than keeping them as mere leaders. A leader should possess the traits like honesty, communicative and passionate about the work (Farell, 2011). A leader should be truthful in whatever work he or she is delivering. The team members should always know about the situation of the work. Finally, rather than taking the work just another work, the leader should be passionate and the passion will help in making then team members like the work that they carrying out (Hargreaves, Fink, 2012). Some of the managers remain manager and could not because they are not able to build the relationship with the leaders. It has been said the employee should want to with the leader rather than just because they have to work with the leader (JohnMaxwellCo, 2013). A leader should want to serve the company rather than just work for the company and take the salary. A person who wants to make the member follow him or her will remain a manager. A true leader is the one who would like to work with the people (Schoemaker, Krupp, Howland, 2013). 2. To become a leader, the career goal should be to make the people who are working under a person to love Mondays rather than feel disgusted of Mondays. A person might handle a small group or people, handle an entire department or run a company, but the main career goal for the person should be work with people. The members should enjoy working with the leader not juts work to be paid for the job (Ulrich, Zenger, Smallwood, 2013). A title is not necessary to become leader. At times, title means that the employees should follow the person because the hierarchy of the organizations asks the employees to do so (Cosgrove, 2016). A person can become a leader in a group who are either working together or playing a match together. Teamwork is the greatest attribute of a leader (Cosgrove, 2016). If a person working in the similar designation with the co-employees but have the capacity work in a team can become a leader as well. Based on the assessment, the strong leadership skills are based on the areas like constant communication with the team members and taking the feedback of those people on a regular basis (Liu, 2016). When the team members will see that they are being heard by the leader, they will be able to build relationship with the leader. A strong and positive relationship of the employees with the leader will help in proper delivery of work in the organization (Farell, 2011). More knowledge is required as far as developing the budget for the department (Liu, 2016). A leader should know the exact amount of expenditure required to carry out a work. If any task is going over the budget, the work needs to be controlled by the leader (Hargreaves, Fink, 2012). A leader should know when to start a work and where to control it so that the entire organization will not have to suffer for the overshoot of the budget. 3. In an IT career, the most important part is the knowledge and insight about the work. As the field of technology is always growing and full of innovation, hence, the person with a career in the field of IT should be open to ideas and keep the eyes open about any new software or technology in the field. One of the characteristics of a leader is keeping on raising the bar and aim on success (Chad Barr, 2010). Hence, a person who is working an IT company but not working in any leadership position can enhance the leadership qualities by gaining more knowledge in the field. In addition to this, software piracy is one of the moist common problems in the field of IT. Another attribute of a leader is to decide between what to do and what not to do. Thus, a person working in the IT field should get a proper knowledge regarding accessing a software and using the software in the proper manner. It is necessary to acquire the leadership qualities at an early stage because once the person will get to work in a leadership role; he or she should be able to solve the problems of the junior employees (Schoemaker, Krupp, Howland, 2013). 4. Brian Gleason, who was named the new CEO of Xaxis portray great leadership skills to manage the employees in the organization (Xaxis.com, 2016). It can be said that the appointment of Gleason is one of the best decision made by Xaxis, located in the New York City. Gleason aims at motivating the employees. In addition to this, it aims at giving hands-on training to the senior and the junior employees that will help in the growth of the business of the company. He aims to create more leaders (.linkedin.com, 2016). Gleason is strongly committed to the mission and the visions of the organization. He is well acquainted with the latest development in the field of technology and is never behind in giving the required tools and resources to the employees that will help them to carry out any work effectively in the organization. Thus, the employees never face any problems due to unavailability of resources or lack of training. They are always motivated to perform well in the organization. 5. Brian Gleason can be called an effective leader for the company, Xaxis. The best part of Brian Gleason is that he does not believe in making the employees followers of instructions and wants them to gain knowledge about the work (Ulrich, Zenger, Smallwood, 2013). He wants to create more leaders in the organization who can develop their own career. The act of Brian Gleason to create more leaders will help Xaxis in a better manner as the leaders will help the organization to fare well in the market. In addition to this, he makes sure that the employees get the resources to carry out the work well. Moreover, rather than giving and order to the employees and commanding the employees to do the work, he aims at giving training to the employees (Schoemaker, Krupp, Howland, 2013). Another good part of the leadership style of Brian Gleason is that works with the employees and makes sure that they get the required training to work properly (Hargreaves, Fink, 2012). References 8 Characteristics of Great Strategic Leaders. (2010). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37tp3dxNRE8feature=related. Cosgrove, T. (2016).Four Behaviors that Define Healthcare Leadership.linkedin.com. Retrieved 16 September 2016, from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/four-behaviors-define-healthcare-leadership-toby-cosgrove Farell, R. (2011).23 traits of good leaders.Edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 16 September 2016, from https://edition.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/08/03/good.leader.traits.cb/index.html Hargreaves, A., Fink, D. (2012).Sustainable leadership(Vol. 6). John Wiley Sons. John Maxwell The 5 Levels of Leadership. (2013). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPwXeg8ThWI. linkedin.com,. (2016).Brian Gleason.linkedin.com. Retrieved 16 September 2016, from https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-gleason-307b934 Liu, B. (2016).The One Secret to Being a Great Leader.linkedin.com. Retrieved 16 September 2016, from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/one-secret-being-great-leader-betty-liu Schoemaker, P. J., Krupp, S., Howland, S. (2013). Strategic leadership: The essential skills.Harvard business review,91(1), 131-134. Ulrich, D., Zenger, J., Smallwood, N. (2013).Results-based leadership. Harvard Business Press. Xaxis.com,. (2016).Xaxis Names Brian Gleason Managing Director, North America | Xaxis.Xaxis.com. Retrieved 16 September 2016, from https://www.xaxis.com/press/view/xaxis-names-brian-gleason-managing-director-north-america

Kate Chopin an Example of the Topic Personal Essays by

Kate Chopin by Expert Prof.Ashley | 05 Dec 2016 Kate Chopin had a difficult life, full of deprivations and adversities, which were to great extent reflected in her mainly tragic short stories and novels. In fact, fiction writing was recommended to Chopin as a remedy against nervous breakdown she endured in her thirties , so it is clear that her experiences are imprinted in the literary works. Both Desirees Baby and The Story of an Hour deal with the same problem of inequality, yet the former stresses both racism and sexism, whereas the latter focuses mainly on sexism, which, as the authors biography shows, were important to Chopin as a regionalist, who worked on depicting the Creole culture. Need essay sample on "Kate Chopin" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed Desirees baby is a narrative of love, rejection and prejudice, which begins with the description of a well-mannered, decent society and gradually turns to the depiction of worst sides of human nature. In the southern part of the United States, bloodlines were essential for determining social status and social placement, so the purity of family must be maintained. Being aware of this, Armand, a rich landowner, marries his childhood friend Desiree, whose family is well-respected by the society and takes its origin from France. Desiree is an ordinary girl, who was brought up in less noble manner, but nevertheless, she falls in love with Armand as if struck by a pistol shot(Chopin, 2005, at http://www.readbookonline.net). Of course, being mesmerized by his wifes beauty, Armand becomes even happier after the birth of his child. His character softens and he even temporarily changes his attitude towards the slaves and stops punishing them for each triviality. His pride is underlined by his surroundings: Oh, Armand is the proudest father in the parish, I believe, chiefly because it is a boy, to bear his name (Chopin, 2005). In this sense, Chopin is quite realistic in depicting the creation of a typical Southern family of the late 19th century. Our Customers Usually Tell Us: I'm don't want to write my paper. Because I want to spend time with my girlfriend Specialists propose: Buy Essay Papers And Live Free From Troubles Given that prosperous landowner families were at that time surrounded by a large army of slaves, responsible for providing for the households wealth, they felt particularly self-important because of their whiteness and nobility. Their daily life was saturated with, given that they they faced the group of opposed social background, bereft of freedom and basic civil rights. As a result, landowners necessarily asserted their authority and superiority when realizing the necessity of managing the crowd of slaves. Therefore, after noticing that his child has the physical traits of a different race, Armand becomes increasingly more isolated. His behavior is dictated exceptionally by the fear of social marginalization: He absented himself from home and when there, avoided her presence and that of the child, without excuse (Chopin, 2005). Furthermore, he accuses Desiree of her impurity and sees that fact as a crime against his precious noble family. Naturally, she obstinately denies her non-whiteness and wonders how it is possible to abandon ones child because of absolutely fantastic guesses and considerations. Finally, after being reduced to tears several times by Armands painful psychological attacks, Desiree decides to leave him and return to the parental home, but, being consumed by depressive thoughts, she commits suicide. As one can assume, the typical mother doesnt really care about skin color her child has, she is simply committed to him with unselfish and altruistic love; so did Armands mother as well, who as the story ironically reveals, was a woman cursed with the brand of slavery (Chopin, 2005). Armand makes the decision to lose his beloved wife and son for the sake of his family name: figuratively saying, Armand puts the lives of them on the altar of social respect and admiration. Interestingly, Chopin takes quite a prejudiced approach to male characters in the specified short story, probably because the most influential persons of her life were her mother and great-grandmother, two strong women, who managed to grow children without male support in the gendered society of the 19th century (Toth, 1990, p.256). In addition, Chopins own spouse was incapable of maintaining the households stability so that she left with a huge financial debt after his death (Toth, 1990, p.269). Naturally, Armand repents when he identifies the letter written by his mother of color, but also begins to blame God for the cruel injustice; He though Almighty God had dealt cruelly and unjustly with him and felt, somehow that he was paying him back in kind when he stabbed thus into his wifes soul (Chopin, 2005). Chopin presents the entire plot as a proof of mens weakness, immaturity and cowardice: strong people are able to cope with themselves and are not absolutely dependent on public opinion. Paradoxically, in the epistle from his mother Armand reads that she is praising God for having married in such discriminative society and for having given birth to a beautiful son, so the author implies that women are much more valorous and devoted especially in terms of family values. Similarly to the previous narrative, The Story of an Hour stresses gender inequality and criticizes androcentric imperative that makes a widow cry of joy immediately after learning about her spouses death. The short story begins with the appearance of a sad message in the Millards home. Mrs.Millards sister Josephine is informed that Mr.Millard has tragically died in an accident and, being aware of Mrs.Millards heart disease, conveys this message with caution. Instead of falling into grief, Mrs.Millard feels to certain degree apathetic, as the author shows : She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sisters arms (Chopin, 2003, at http://www.vcu.edu). Furthermore, the story addresses mainly the reflections of Mrs.Millard upon her own widowhood and her unexpectedly indifferent considerations of whether it is necessary to grieve in the given situation. Instead of amplifying the grief by painful remembrances of the happy past, as most newly-widowed women do, the woman begins to develop her thought is the direction of new opportunities that are about to open after she has lost her husband. Furthermore, she realizes she has been merely a property over the years of her family life and has been living another persons life: There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination (Chopin, 2003). Similarly to the protagonist, Chopin often felt emptied by the monotonous domestic work and notably considered her imprisonment amongst the three pillars of cooking, child rearing and care about her husband a true burden (Toth, 1990, p.167). Similarly to Desirees Baby, the given short story implies Chopins negative expectations concerning men, who tend to impose their power to wives through turning their own gender into a monopolist of profit-making and paid job in general. Mr.Millards death of a heart attack is therefore not surprising, as after repressing her joyful hysterics associated with the recently obtained freedom, she sees her allegedly deceased husband entering the house. The main characters heart affliction might point to Chopins own week coronary system, which determined her comparatively early death at the age of 54 (Toth, 1990, p.289). The terminal disease, in this sense, symbolizes a another point of womens vulnerability to the privilege of white male: given that 19th century females normally gave birth to 5-6 children over the course of the life, their health state substantially deteriorated and turned them into seniors at the productive age of 30-40, which made their dependence upon male breadwinners irreversible. In Desirees Baby, at the same time, the author reflects her hidden suicidal ideations and intentions, associated with the inability of widowed Kate Chopin to surround her children with worthy care due to the overall devastation of their family plantation (Toth, 1990, p. 290). Her willingness to commit suicide was also associated with the inhibition of womens social and economic activities she encountered when attempting to manage the plantation. As Toth writes, women as landowners received almost no respect in the local community and were ostracized by heir compatriots, i.e. Chopin was not able to survive and earn her living only because of gender prejudice (Toth, 1990, p.166). As for the settings of both short stories, they are to great extent similar in terms of the depiction of the families from the decent society, or the upper middle class. Desirees Baby depicts the Deep South, where slavery was eradicated only at the very end of the 19th century; the second short story was also intended as an episode from the Southern life given the depiction of relatively warm spring: She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain in the air (Chopin, 2003). In Desirees Baby, the main events also take place in spring, which symbolizes the necessity of refreshment and new interesting activities that can not be fully realized and upgraded to the fruitfulness of summer. To sum up, the authors concerns about racial and gender equality are illustrated in both short stories, which appear similar in terms of the plotline, tragic outcome and the point of conflict, which is the oppression of womans personality. The episodes from Chopins biography such as heart disease, fact of encountering mainly irresponsible and weak males throughout the life are also implied in the narratives. Works cited Chopin, K. Desirees Baby. 23 Feb 2005, at . Chopin, K. The Story of an Hour . 23 Nov 2003, at Toth, Emily. Kate Chopin. New York: Morrow, 1990.

Last Clinic Standing Essay Example

Last Clinic Standing Essay Example Last Clinic Standing Paper Last Clinic Standing Paper   Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Last Clinic Standing† is a thoughtfully written article by Amanda Robb. She discusses the only Planned Parenthood abortion clinic left in South Dakota, putting it in the larger context of the heated abortion debate in that state. Abortions not necessary to save the life of the mother were banned on March 6, 2006. Robb looks at the abortion issue from both sides – the pro-choice and the pro-life.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Robb sets the scene for her article by describing what it takes to get a doctor to perform abortions in South Dakota: the doctors must be flown in from another state, which in this case is Minnesota. The clinic itself has been built and reinforced to discourage attacks from militant pro-lifers, though these individuals do protest at the site. Abortions are performed once a week, on Mondays. Robb describes the abortion process itself, using a matter-of-fact tone. She does not gloss over the fact that a tube is inserted in the woman’s uterus and it will be connected to a machine that will suck out the fetus. The fetus will be placed – in pieces – in a glass jar and disposed of as all medical waste.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Robb transitions to the story of Nancy, who is at the clinic to get an abortion that day. She has a 6 year old child and a slightly younger boyfriend, so it is not the right time to add a new child to the family. While many would insist that Nancy take responsibility for her choice, it seems she already has: birth control simply didn’t work for her. Leslie Unruh is a staunch supporter of abstinence (and most fascinatingly, a descendent of Laura Ingalls Wilder) and she insists that there is no excuse for an unwanted pregnancy. In her opinion, â€Å"sex creates many other ills, too- cervical cancer, bad grades, and poor female self-esteem.† Robb takes offense at this, admitting that she did sleep around and doesn’t feel those negative effects. Even so, the move to promote abstinence has President Bush’s approval and a $113 million budget.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Robb approaches this article not only from the view of a writer looking for a good story, but as a woman who can relate to the plight of the abortion doctor – her uncle Bart was a doctor who performed abortions until he was assassinated in his home. Bart’s experience with abortion – and especially repeat abortion taught him that the real solution was to increase access to birth control and make it free to those who need it. This is the case in Denmark, which has had mandatory sex education/birth control programs in schools since 1970 and has a much lower abortion rate than the United States.   Before Bart’s death, he was hounded by protesters with whom he was willing to make a deal. He said if they would stop harassing him and his family (he particularly didn’t like them following his kids to school and asking them not to grow up to be â€Å"killers like daddy†), they could set up a table inside the clinic where he worked two days a week and pass out pro-life information. The pro-lifers, of course, did not accept this offer. Their bottom line was that they were only willing to teach abstinence.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Robb drives into the state capital of Pierre, where she sees Representative Roger Hunt, the prime abortion opponent and sponsor of the anti-abortion bill. After listening to a lecture on abstinence, Hunt became an active crusader against abortion and plans to continue to support legislation that â€Å"chips away at Roe v. Wade†.   He has no sympathy for incest victims as he insists that studies have been done that prove that the children of incest often prove to be the most intelligent in the family. He feels that taking a human life is worse than rape – one must wonder if he has ever consulted with a rape victim on this theory.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Robb understands his pro-life position, even though she doesn’t agree with it. It is her willingness to listen to all sides of the abortion debate that encourages even the most militant pro-lifer to open up to her about their views. While Robb inserts sardonic comments here and there (the aforementioned â€Å"I slept around and it didn’t hurt me† remark, for example), she writes about both sides of the argument fairly, without making the pro-life supporters appear uneducated or naà ¯ve.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Robb’s most prevalent complaint is that anyone would support not teaching contraception to sexually active teenagers. She ponders whether birth control education is more like a seat belt â€Å"which protects me but doesn’t make me drive crazily†, or overdraft protection – â€Å"which also protects me while occasionally enticing me to spend recklessly†.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Robb ties up the article by going back to Nancy and her boyfriend, admitting that Nancy wasn’t one of the women who needed to be protected due to rape, but just due to her own bad luck. She ponders what Nancy’s options might be if the Senate bill holds and abortion is absolutely banned. Nancy would have to choose between having an illegal abortion (which she might have to perform on herself), giving up the baby, or keeping a baby who will only bring more stress into an already strained relationship. These were the only options a woman could decide between pre-Roe v. Wade.   Ã‚  Ã‚   According to CNN.com, the anti-abortion bill failed on November 7th with 148,664 votes supporting the ban on abortion and 185,934 votes to keep abortion legal. The bill failed to pass with only 56% of the vote against the bill. It is clear that South Dakota has not seen the last of anti-abortion legislation attempts. Amanda Robb’s work is far from over.

Quotes From The Brothers Karamazov

Quotes From The Brothers Karamazov The Brothers Karamazov is one of the greatest novels of all time. The book was the final novel Fyodor Dostoyevsky wrote before his death. This important Russian novel is often praised for its complexity. Quotations From the Novel Imagine that you are creating a fabric of human destiny with the object of making men happy in the end... but that it was essential and inevitable to torture to death only one tiny creature ... And to found that edifice on its unavenged tears: would you consent to be the architect on those conditions? Tell me, and tell me the truth!Im a Karamazov... when I fall into the abyss, I go straight into it, head down and heels up, and Im even pleased that Im falling in such a humiliating position, and for me, I find it beautiful. And so in that very shame, I suddenly begin a hymn. Let me be cursed, let me be base and vile, but let me also kiss the hem of that garment in which my God is clothed; let me be following the devil at the same time, but still I am also your son, Lord, and I love you, and I feel a joy without which the world cannot stand and be.Is there in the whole world a being who would have the right to forgive and could forgive? I dont want harmony. From love for humanity, I don t want it. I would rather be left with the unavenged suffering. I would rather remain with my unavenged suffering and unsatisfied indignation, even if I were wrong. Besides, too high a price is asked for harmony; its beyond our means to pay so much to enter on it. And so I hasten to give back my entrance ticket, and if I am an honest man I am bound to give it back as soon as possible. And that I am doing. Its not God that I dont accept, Alyosha, only I most respectfully return him the ticket. Listen: if everyone must suffer, in order to buy eternal harmony with their suffering, pray tell me what have children got to do with it? It’s quite incomprehensible why they should have to suffer, and why they should buy harmony with their suffering.The stupider one is, the closer one is to reality. The stupider one is, the clearer one is. Stupidity is brief and artless, while intelligence wriggles and hides itself. Intelligence is a knave, but stupidity is honest and straightforward.Everything is permitted...All is lawful.There is only one salvation for you: take yourself up, and make yourself responsible for all the sins of men. For indeed it is so, my friend, and the moment you make yourself sincerely responsible for everything and everyone, you will see at once that it is really so, that it is you who are guilty on behalf of all and for all. Whereas by shifting your own laziness and powerlessness onto others, you will end by sharing in Satans pride and murmuring against G od. Viper will eat viper, and it would serve them both right!What is hell? I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love.People talk sometimes of a bestial cruelty, but thats a great injustice and insult to the beasts; a beast can never be so cruel as a man, so artistically cruel. The tiger only tears and gnaws, thats all he can do. He would never think of nailing people by the ears, even if he were able to do it.I think the devil doesnt exist, but man has created him, he has created him in his own image and likeness.If you were to destroy in mankind the belief in immortality, not only love but every living force maintaining the life of the world would at once be dried up. Moreover, nothing then would be immoral; everything would be lawful, even cannibalism.Beauty is a terrible and awful thing! It is terrible because it has not been fathomed, for God sets us nothing but riddles. Here the boundaries meet and all contradictions exist side by side.Hesitation, anxiety, the stru ggle between belief and disbelief- all that is sometimes such a torment for a conscientious man... that it’s better to hang oneself. In most cases, people, even the most vicious, are much more naive and simple-minded than we assume them to be. And this is true of ourselves too.Very different is the monastic way. Obedience, fasting, and prayer are laughed at, yet they alone constitute the way to real and true freedom: I cut away my superfluous and unnecessary needs, through obedience I humble and chasten my vain and proud will, and thereby, with God’s help, attain freedom of spirit, and with that, spiritual rejoicing!Even those who have renounced Christianity and attack it, in their inmost being still follow the Christian ideal, for hitherto neither their subtlety nor the ardor of their hearts has been able to create a higher ideal of man and of virtue than the ideal given by Christ.I may be wicked, but still I gave an onion.A man who lies to himself, and believes his own lies, becomes unable to recognize truth, either in himself or in anyone else, and he ends up losing respect for himself and for others. Wh en he has no respect for anyone, he can no longer love, and in him, he yields to his impulses, indulges in the lowest form of pleasure, and behaves in the end like an animal in satisfying his vices. And it all comes from lyingto others and to yourself. Men reject their prophets and slay them, but they love their martyrs and honor those they have slain.So long as man remains free he strives for nothing so incessantly and so painfully as to find someone to worship.If they drive God from the earth, we shall shelter Him underground.Even there, in the mines, underground, I may find a human heart in another convict and murderer by my side, and I may make friends with him, for even there one may live and love and suffer. One may thaw and revive a frozen heart in that convict, one may wait upon him for years, and at last bring up from the dark depths a lofty soul, a feeling, suffering creature; one may bring forth an angel, create a hero! There are so many of them, hundreds of them, and we are to blame for them.There are souls that in their narrowness blame the whole world. But overwhelm such a soul with mercy, give it love, and it will curse what it has done, for there are so many germs of good in it. The soul will expand and behold how m erciful God is, and how beautiful and just people are. He will be horrified, he will be overwhelmed with repentance and the countless debt he must henceforth repay. Psychology lures even most serious people into romancing, and quite unconsciously.It is not as a child that I believe and confess Jesus Christ. My hosanna is born of a furnace of doubt.To be in love is not the same as loving. You can be in love with a woman and still hate her.Its the great mystery of human life that old grief passes gradually into quiet tender joy.The more I detest men individually the more ardent becomes my love for humanity.

Educational Evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Educational Evaluation - Essay Example This would provide an opportunity to introduce the standards to teachers and allow them to infuse them into their curriculum and develop assessment based on their understanding of the critical/creative thinking standards. 4. Allow teachers the time to use these strategies and assessment principles in their classrooms in an attempt to help them develop their own individuality when designing and assessing instruction while at the same time providing them with innovative experimentation. 5. Reunite with teachers to dialogue about what they thought was effective and ineffective, their evaluation of the critical thinking standards, and what barriers they felt impeded their abilities to utilize this manner of instruction and assessment. Having a healthy dialogue with teachers about critical/creative thinking and then affording them the time to utilize methods and strategies for teaching and assessing thinking would allow teachers to think about and identify their own practices. Building metacognitive opportunities into the process, would allow teachers to think creatively and intellectually about their own teaching processes. This would motivate them to recognize what they thought was valuable and what they thought should be changed in their curriculum and instructional methods, along with recognizing where they might be able to learn more about critical and creative thinking and instruction. All good decisions and solutions to problems require a clear understanding of what the actual problem is. Helping students separate causes from solutions, symptoms from problems, and sub-problems from real problems is essential for teaching students to think critically. For example, defining the wrong problem can send a student down the wrong path to, at a minimum, irrelevant solutions, and ensure that she will not understand the subject matter or concepts she is examining. Helping students define problems to take what they are learning and phrase inquiry in the form of questions to be answered through research and collaboration is a goal of critical instruction. Helping students see the goals and objectives in what they are studying is essential to help them understand subject matter. Many problems with students' understanding of, for example, biology or history come with the fact that they do not know why they are studying biology or history what biologists and historians attempt to accomplish through their scholarly endeavors. By not identifying the goals contained within various disciplines, students cannot be expected to understand the discipline as a system. For example, without understanding what a biologist seeks to accomplish by studying cells, let's say, the student cannot possibly hope to identify biological problems in the area of cellular formation or development. It cannot be taken for granted that students understand what historians, biologists, mathematicians, artists, or journalists do; in fact, it should be assumed the opposite and engage students in discussions as to the purposes behind studying one subject or another. Simi larly,

History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 2

History - Essay Example The sudden and drastic increase in the number of industries provided women with another opportunity to demonstrate their independence (Women and Family History in America - The 19th Century). The result of this industrialization was an increase in the number of women employees in factories and industrial production units Women assumed new responsibilities in the teaching profession as well as in the industry. They were no longer confined to their homes and eagerly sought outside work. These factors encouraged women to be independent and to improve their self – esteem. Several new trade unions were formed, in order to address women’s difficulties at the work place, and many women became active members of these trade unions (Women and Family History in America - The 19th Century). However, many of these women were compelled to relinquish their jobs after marriage and to take care of their family and children. Nevertheless, some of them, continued in outside employment even after marriage. Moreover, many women with a heightened sense of morality had established women’s associations to help women whose condition was miserable. These associations assisted distressed women in several ways, promoted religious ideals, attempted to eradicate prostitution and poverty, and sought to enhance self – esteem (Women and Family History in America - The 19th Century). These associations conducted rallies to pressurize the government to improve conditions in prisons, asylums and hospitals. These movements culminated in the subsequent movement to procure women’s suffrage under the leadership of Susan B. Anthony and Lucretia Mott. The nineteenth century witnessed two major movements, namely female suffrage and labor (Women and Family History in America - The 19th Century). The 19th Century Industrial Revolution drastically changed the economy and life of the people.

Nokia Sustainability Report Essay Example for Free

Nokia Sustainability Report Essay Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications and information technology organization that originated and is headquartered in Finland. Its main products are mobile phones and portable information technology devices. It also offers Internet services such as games, music, media, messaging, applications, as well as free map information and navigations tools through its exclusively owned subsidiary Navteq. Nokia also has a joint venture with Siemens, and Nokia Siemens Networks, a telecommunications network equipment and services company. Nokia is a large company, with almost 100,000 employees in 120 countries, with sales in more than 150 countries; it is the world’s second largest mobile phone manufacturer, after Samsung, by 2012 unit sales. However, beginning in 2007, this organization is undergoing a major crisis that is challenging its current and future sustainability. While it was the world’s prime vendor of mobile phone from 1998 to 2012, it has suffered a declining market share over the past five years due to the outpouring popularity of smartphones from companies like Apple (iPhone) and Samsung. Therefore, Nokia’s share price has significantly lowered from a US$40 in 2007 to under US$2 in mid-2012. After this huge downfall, Nokia decided to implement a strategic partnership with Microsoft in which Nokia smartphones will have Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system within them, replacing Nokia’s previous operating system, Symbian. However, this decision did not prove to be a success nor save Nokia from its downfall, as the company reported six consecutive loss-making quarters before finally returning to a profit in its fourth quarter in 2012. So what exactly happened to Nokia that has brought it to its current financial and economic state today? Is there any way that they can bounce back from this tragedy? If so, how? In this research report, I will attempt to explain how and why Nokia is now facing a severe technological challenge, as well as why it has now become an organizational and managerial failure, a sharp contrast to how successful it once was. Next, I will explain how Nokia’s failure to outsmart the competition and its poor choice of disregarding technological trends and advancements has brought it to its economic and financial state today. I will then remark on Nokia’s current management’s actions and reactions in terms of the organization’s state and whether or not I believe these actions will lead to either sustainability or failure for the future of this company. I will then end this report by providing some suggestions on how to improve Nokia’s chance for sustainability, and hopefully, success in the near and further future. While Nokia faces sustainability, global, and technological challenges, I will focus on their technological failures which greatly attributed to their catastrophic downfall. Nokia was once one of the worlds’ leading mobile-phone producers. However, in 2012, they failed to adjust their strategy to comply with the new ways people used their phones. By looking through Nokia’s long-running history, it comes as a shock to some as to how disastrous and despairing their situation has become. Nokia started as a riverside paper mill in south-western Finland in the year 1865. It then evolved to produce rubber products such as rubber boots and tires. It was not until 1912 that Nokia began its cable and electronics business. Nokia’s first electronic device was a pulse analyzer for use in nuclear power plants, produced in 1962. The company’s first endeavour into telecommunications was made in 1963 when it developed radio telephones for military and emergency services. Nokia’s hugely successful period began in the 1979, beginning with the creation of a radio telephone company, and launching the Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) service, the â€Å"world’s first international cellular network†¦to allow international roaming (Nokia. com). In 1987, Nokia introduced its first handheld phone for NMT Networks and became a classic. The Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications was also implemented as the European standard for digital mobile technology. International roaming, text messaging, and high-quality voice calls were all easily available on GSM, providing Nokia with a starting point for further innovation. Nokia manufactured its first GSM phone, the Nokia 1011, in 1992. In the same year, new Nokia President and CEO Jorma Ollila made a crucial and game-changing decision to solely focus on mobile-phone manufacturing. In 1994, Nokia began producing the 2100 series of mobile phones and by 1998, it is the world leader in mobile phones; the company’s strategic decision to focus solely on telecommunications definitely paid off. Innovation and continued success did not end there; in 1999, Nokia launched the Nokia 7110, a phone equipped with web-based capabilities such as email and web browsing, the first of its kind. They also produced a phone that included a built in camera and video capture in the early 2000s. However, Nokia’s biggest success was in 2002, when the introduction of 3G technologies allowed them to create phones with a wide range of functions including downloading music, watching TV on the go, and so much more. In 2005, due its huge success and impact on the mobile technology industry, Nokia was named the 5th most valuable brand internationally. Things began to take a turn for the worst in 2010 when Nokia met its competitors, namely Apple and Android-based devices. The smartphone era was surging in popularity leaving Nokia behind with its â€Å"candy-bar style† phones and outdated operating system. This downfall for this once highly successful company called for some serious changes, including the assigning of new President and CEO, Stephen Elop, a former head of Microsoft’s business division. Elop has â€Å"a strong software background and proven record change management (Nokia. com). † It may come as no surprise then that Nokia announces its partnership with Microsoft; Nokia mobile phones will be adopting the Windows 7 operating system in order to compete with the Apple iOS and Android. Nokia launched its first Windows phone in 2011. Since the introduction of Apple and Android devices, Nokia’s economic state has never been the same; and it is quite difficult to say whether they will ever reach that same success in the future again. There are several reasons that can be credited to Nokia’s downward spiral. Firstly, Nokia failed to respond to the changing consumer trend in technology; while consumers were moving on to smartphones with newer, faster operating systems within the likes of Apple and Samsung, Nokia’s Symbian operating platform remained the same and struggled to compete with these new â€Å"pocket-sized mini-computers. In summary, Nokia did not react quickly enough to changing consumer demand, and therefore, were aggressively crushed by the competition in terms of capturing market share. Their late response with the introduction of the Windows phone did not occur until 2011, while Apple and Samsung have been continuously improving their devices and operating systems since 2007. With technology improving so quickly nowadays, four years is a long period for Nokia to, with any luck, catch up. The integration of Microsoft’s Windows 7 as Nokia’s mobile operating system has yet to reap rewards for the organization either. This may be due to the fact that Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android platforms have gained popularity since their early introduction and remain the leaders of mobile operating systems. Another problem that Nokia encountered is due to its late strategic change; many people associate its classic ‘candy-bar style’, brick phone with outdated technology, just like cassette tape players, and VHS players. Today’s consumers are also very technologically savvy; they need to have the best and newest device as soon as they can get their hands on it. Nokia also did not market itself as an innovative brand as it stuck by its brick-style phone and operating system for almost a decade before considering any major changes. While Nokia and Microsoft are both huge and strong companies, they will have to go through some rough patches before, and if, they can reach success again. As of now, they are in a financial struggle, cutting many jobs and other financial expenditures. Nokia is indeed focusing on attempting to reinvent the company, and to, hopefully, bring it back to where it once was: a leader in mobile technology. While there are many opinions floating around the media, it is hard to say what will happen to Nokia in the near future. While they have not done anything drastic, such as file for bankruptcy, they are going through some major, rough changes right now, including cutting thousands of jobs worldwide, and the closure of several factories. In 2012, Nokia announced their plans to cut 10,000 jobs internationally by the end of 2013 as well as the closure of research and development facilities in Finland, Germany, and Canada as stock prices continue to fall. Nokia’s market value today is below $10 billion. At the end of 2013, it is estimated that about 25,000 employees will be laid off at Nokia; this number of job cuts totals to about 36% of Nokia’s workforce. Things continue to look dim for this organization as Moody’s Investor Services downgraded Nokia’s rating to ‘junk’, further proving its dire state. Nokia’s human resource management did not play a part in its recent downfall as it was due to a technological failure, not a human resource issue. Nokia was a large, multinational company for quite some time, and its long-run success proves that their human resources teams are nothing short of competent, effective, and diligent. The goal of their human resources management is to satisfy their customers, motivate employees, and increase the dexterity and flexibility of management to address specific HR needs. Nokia’s HR team is also responsible for creating customer satisfaction through the manufacture and delivery of products and services in order to fulfill customer needs. They were able to do this by providing leading and innovative technology, in the past, to a wide range of clients around the world. Nokia’s intangible services, such as telephone helplines, are available 365 days a year, exemplifying dedicated and excellent customer service. Nokia also treats its employees very well. This organization works together with its employees in order to create a healthy, efficient, and successful environment so everyone can achieve their full potential. Encouragement, motivation, and keeping employees happy are vital for Nokia to perform productively. Because Nokia is a goods manufacturer, the free flow and exchange of ideas among employees at any level is strongly encouraged. In order to encourage and motivate employees, Nokia has compensation plan consisting of an annual base salary and bonuses. Short-term incentives for both individual and group projects also exist. Overtime pay and call-out pay are also implemented, and employees are able to purchase stock or performance shares. Finally, employee health and pension benefits are compensated to Nokia’s employees to form a healthy and productive work environment. While the HR strategy and structure at Nokia seem sustainable, some may argue that Nokia’s current and most recent President and CEO, Stephen Elop, has contributed to its present dismal state. Before working for Nokia, Elop worked for Microsoft from 2008 to 2010, and was responsible for Microsoft Office products as a member of the organization’s senior leadership team. The controversy surrounding Elop when he first joined Nokia was the release of his internal company memo titled â€Å"Burning Platform† which was immediately leaked to the media. The memo compared Nokia’s current situation, failing within the flourishing smartphone industry, to a person on a burning oil platform. The reception received from the media was mixed, some stating that Nokia needed that harsh wake-up call to make some drastic changes in strategy, while others called it â€Å"the costliest management memo ever written (Ahonen, 2011),† believing he should be fired due to Nokia’s severe and rapid disasters since his arrival. In 2011, Elop made the decision for Nokia to discontinue their in-house mobile operating systems and replace it with Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system. The plan was to be carried out gradually in the next few years, with Elop expecting a full discontinuation of the previous Symbian platform by 2016. Technology writers have criticised Elop for this decision by stating that it was done in bad timing and with a lack of communication; later, Elop himself admitted to the damaging effects of his Burning Platform memo. Ahonen has also stated that, because of this memo and Elop’s lack of communication to Nokia employees, the organization â€Å"is doing the most rapid death in the shortest period of time ever, for a global market leader Fortune 500 company. So what’s next for Nokia? Throughout all the journals, newspaper articles, blogs, and interviews, it is quite obvious what the main message for Nokia is: do something, and fast. While it is apparent that Nokia faces all three challenges of sustainability, technology, and global endurance, technology is and will remain to be their biggest challenge. Unless Nokia succeeds thr ough technology, being a mobile phone manufacturer, they will not be able to overcome or accomplish the other two challenges of global endurance and sustainability. It is quite unfortunate that Nokia, once a world leader in its field, failed to meet the technology challenge of keeping up with the current, fast-moving trends of technology and consumers. Nokia’s slow reaction to the shifting trends and the reactions they have made to support themselves have negatively impacted the company’s current economic state, as well as the state of their human resources. Elop’s poor strategic decisions in the hopes of saving Nokia have yet to bear fruit; instead, Nokia has been forced to cut thousands of jobs, and close some of their facilities worldwide. While these decisions are crucial for Nokia’s short-term survival, serious changes need to be implemented to obtain long-term sustainability, besides partnering with Microsoft. Nokia is a huge, well-known company, and its brand is something everyone knows of; their challenge is to change the way people think about and look at the company: not as an old, obsolete form of mobile technology, but a new, state-of-the-art organization that can adjust to the ever-changing technological tendencies. Elop still has some time to redeem himself as the President and CEO of Nokia, but unless he makes some rastic, positive changes to Nokia, other forms of recovery should be considered. One suggestion for Nokia would be to change its operating system from Microsoft’s Windows Phone to Google’s Android. One of Nokia’s mistakes leading to failure was making the unpopular choice of using Windows as its operating system; they should have realized that choosing Android as their platform would have reaped huge benefits for them as its surging popularity and success have made brands such as Samsung and LG skyrocket to economic prosperity. Technology experts, such as one engineering executive has even stated that they â€Å"don’t understand why Nokia couldn’t develop Android phones—even in parallel with Microsoft’s Windows phones. † Choosing Windows instead of Android as their new operating system is a huge opportunity Nokia definitely missed out on. Another recommendation would be to sell the company to a successful brand, such as Samsung, who has now redeemed themselves to become Apple’s leading, and closest rival. By putting themselves under Samsung’s wing, Nokia will gain Samsung’s competitive advantage of being a visionary and innovator, and a fast mover in capturing modern technological trends. While it is never an easy task to admit defeat, selling Nokia to a prosperous company just may be what this organization needs to save itself from further fiascos. A merger with a strong, competitive company, with massive market share and organizational resources may just be what Nokia needs to bring itself back up to what it used to be: an innovative, mobile communications giant with shareholder value, technological advancement, and worldwide success.

No Child Left Behind Act Essay -- School Education Learning Essays Pap

No Child Left Behind Act The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, President George W. Bush's education reform bill, was signed into law on Jan. 8, 2002. The No Child Left Behind Act says that states will develop and apply challenging academic standards in reading and math. It will also set annual progress objectives to make sure that all groups of students reach proficiency within 12 years. And the act also says that children will be tested annually in grades 3 through 8, in reading and math to measure their progress. The test results will be made public in annual report cards on how schools and states are progressing toward their objectives. States will have until the 2005-06 school year to develop and apply their tests. Once the tests are in place, schools will be required to show "adequate yearly progress" toward their statewide objectives. This means that they must demonstrate through their test scores that they are on track to reach 100 percent proficiency for all groups of students within 12 years. The schools that fall behind may tend to have school improvement, corrective action, or restructuring measures forced by the state. The No Child Left Behind Act has many positive and negative aspects. Many school teachers and community members are starting to challenge many of the features of the No Child Left Behind Act. Many people feel that the law was developed too quickly and that it was pushed through Congress. For many years, both Democrats and Republicans h...

AT&T Case study Essay

1. Review AT&T’s past financial policies and financing choices. Were these appropriate for the nature of the business? AT&T Corp., one of the largest companies in the United States, has had a long and storied history. Initially, AT&T operated as a monopoly, but in 1982, Justice Department, broke up the company into individual companies. Prior to divesture (in 1981), AT&T was the largest private company in the world and despite many challenges, AT&T remained an archetypical â€Å"widow-and-orphans† stock for a long time. The term â€Å"widows and orphans† was used to describe stocks with a relatively high degree of safety and dividend income and numbers from exhibit 1speak for themselves. By 1982 the company increased all its key financial indicators. Revenues and operating earnings increased 12% and 6% respectively comparing to year 1981. In ten years, the company raised its revenues, net income, cash and assets more than 2 times. It`s worth to mention that AT&T was able to reduce its total outstanding debt by $ 725 mil and at year-end, the company`s debt ratio stood 42.3% down from 46.7% in 1980. In addition, AT&T neither cancelled nor lowered dividends, and only increased dividend per share by 10% annually. Aforementioned facts suggest that company`s financial policies and financing choices were appropriate for the nature of the business and that AT&T was one stable, reliable and profitable companies in the world by 1982. 2. In what fundamental ways will AT&T’s business change in the near future? Throughout most of the 20th century, AT&T held a monopoly on phone service in the United States. In 1982, through an agreement between AT&T and the U.S. Department of Justice, AT&T agreed to divest itself of its local telephone operations but retain some of its businesses. The principal provision of the antitrust settlement was that the corporation would be split into seven completely independent regional corporations. Each regional company would continue to provide local telephone and other telecommunication services in addition to ability to sell telephone equipment. The remaining or new AT&T would focus on long distance, R&D and manufacturing arms. 3. In view of AT&T’s changing strategic and economic environment, what debt policy would you recommend? What other financial policies are appropriate for the â€Å"new† AT&T? What are likely to be the consequences of these financial policies? The new â€Å"AT&T† was no more monopoly and the company`s management group faced new challenges. First of all, I think that when AT&T was monopoly, managers were averse to risk and led more financially conservative policy. After divestiture, it was clear that the external environment changed and effective actions needed to be taken to beat off intense competition. Moreover, there were several serious questions about future profitability of the new AT&T divisions (especially Western Electric) and it was not clear whether they would be able finance their operations in competitive markets. Taking into consideration above stated facts, at that phase I would recommend to shift gears from debt financing and switch toward equity financing. In addition to the change in financial policy, I would also recommend considering a new acquisition strategy to reach more diversified portfolio and to broaden the company’s scope in other areas.

Prior Knowledge Deficit Essay

Prior knowledge comes from visual experiences, seeing those mental pictures of a subject. Prior knowledge comes before understanding what readers read, or understanding the subject. A deficit in prior knowledge inhibits student learning by taking away their educational experiences and replacing them with standardized testing. To begin with, prior knowledge plays an important role in enabling students to learn to read, and to read to learn. First, learning to read starts in kindergarten and continues through third grade, where teachers use books called primers. Primers teach students how to read because they tell stories about subjects that students already have visual experience with, such as family, friends, food, pets, or games. Since students know the basic information about such subjects, when they are being taught how to read, they understand the primers. Finally, when students enter fourth grade, they begin reading textbooks to learn about science and social studies. These students developed prior knowledge of science and social studies from kindergarten through third grade, when they attended field trips to zoos and museums, watched educational films, and completed science projects. If they learned this basic information about the natural world of science, and about the human world of social studie s, students are able to understand their textbooks. As a result, they can add new knowledge to further their education. Additionally, many students struggle with the prior knowledge deficit because of standardized testing. First of all, standardized testing takes time away from educational experience by using all the time and money on the tests. Teachers use the time on teaching students how to become test takers, instead of educating them in different experiences of the world. In the past, schools would take students on field trips to teach them mostly about science, and social studies. However, such field trips cost a lot of money; money that is currently being used on standardized tests. On one hand, traditional education consisted of students reading and writing to understand and explain the knowledge of the world. On the other hand, now day’s students are test takers, and they use their reading and writing skills for the test, just like knowledge is used to memorize all the information without understanding it. Teachers need to focus on this method because they are evaluated by the student s test scores. To summarize, prior knowledge deficit hinders students learning by taking away their educational experiences and focusing their time on standardized testing. A solution to the prior knowledge deficit is for teachers to dedicate more time on teaching students about subjects that will be used later on in further education, rather than teaching students how to become test takers.

A Separate Peace by John Knowles chapter summaries

A Separate Peace by John Knowles chapter summaries Chapter 1: The narrator (Gene) returns to the Devon School in New Hampshire, that he graduated from 15 years earlier. He goes to a certain tree and switches back to the past. Phineas dares everyone to jump from a branch in the tree into the river. Phineas, and Gene both jump. On the way back Phineas and Gene play fight so that they are late for dinner.Chapter 2:Mr. Prud'homme, a master, stops by the boys' room to scold them for missing dinner again for the ninth time in two weeks. Phineas explains that they were late because they were jumping out of the tree to toughen up for the war. Mr Prud'homme, accepts the explanation because, he, and everyone else, feel sorry for the boys that will soon have to go to war.Chapter 3: The boys join The Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session. The club meets every night.Gene-XPhineas and Gene open each night by jumping out of the tree. They make a new kind of war game called blitzball, in which everyone is everyone elses enemy. Phineas breaks t he schools swimming record, but tells Gene not to tell anyone, he just wanted to do it for himself. Gene and Phineas of campus to the ocean to swim. They have a drink at the bar, the spend the night on the beach, and Phineas tells Gene he is his best pal. Gene is not sure if he feels the same.Chapter 4: Gene and Finny (Phineas) wake up and head back to Devon. Gene fails his trigonometry examination for the first time. Finny tells Gene that he studies too much. Gene thinks Finny is jealous. Gene wants to earn the Scholastic Achievement Citation to get even with Finny. Gene knows that Finny must be best and...

How the First Impressionist Exhibition Came to Be

How the First Impressionist Exhibition Came to Be The first Impressionist exhibition took place from April 15 to May 15, 1874. Led by the French artists Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, and Berthe Morisot, they called themselves the Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, Engravers, etc. Thirty artists displayed 165 works at the photographer Nadars former studio at 35 Boulevard des Capucines. The building was modern and the paintings were modern: pictures of contemporary life painted in a technique that looked unfinished to the art critics and the general public. And, the works were on sale! Right there. (Although they had to remain on view for the duration of the show.) Louis Leroy, a critic for Le Charivari, entitled his nasty, satirical review Exhibition of Impressionists which was inspired by Claude Monets painting Impression: Sunrise, 1873. Leroy meant to discredit their work. Instead, he invented their identity. However, the group did not call themselves Impressionists until their third show in 1877. They were also called the Independents and the Intransigents, which implied political activism. Pissarro was the only avowed anarchist. Participants in the First Impressionist Exhibition Zacharie AstrucAntoine-Ferdinand AttenduÉdouard Bà ©liardEugà ¨ne BoudinFà ©lix BraquemondÉdouard BrandonPierre-Isidore BureauAdolphe-Fà ©lix CalsPaul Cà ©zanneGustave ColinLouis DebrasEdgar DegasJean-Baptiste Armand GuillauminLouis LaToucheLudovic-Napolà ©on LepicStanislas LepineJean-Baptiste-Là ©opold LevertAlfred MeyerAuguste De MolinsClaude MonetMademoiselle Berthe MorisotMulot-DurivageJoseph DeNittisAuguste-Louis-Marie OttinLà ©on-Auguste OttinCamille PissarroPierre-Auguste RenoirStanislas-Henri RouartLà ©opold RobertAlfred Sisley

Should Students Have to Wear Uniforms Research Paper

Should Students Have to Wear Uniforms - Research Paper Example School uniforms convey the message that a school is a place for learning. Many schools in the United States and in other parts of the world are at odds over school uniforms. In many cases, it has been reported that students feel that their right of self-expression has been taken away with the rule of mandatory school uniforms. Although students feel that their right of self-expression is taken away from them, there are several benefits of school uniforms. I believe that the advantages of school uniforms outweigh the disadvantages. One of the many advantages of school uniforms is that they minimize the stress for students and their families. For example, parents and students do not have to worry about buying new clothes frequently for schools (Walsh pp. 38). Students are very sensitive about their image and self-esteem when they are in schools. For example, if one of the students starts wearing branded clothes, his or her peers would feel inferior and their self-esteem would decrease (Brunsma pp. 50). The supportive arguments regarding school uniforms also claim that students feel equal when they wear school uniforms. I would support this argument with further explanation. The standard of living is different among different families. There are some families, which are in a better financial position than others. A school is a place where students from different economic and cultural background come and learn. By wearing school uniforms, students do not get feel inferior to others. However, if students are allowed to choose their dresses for schools, they would be influenced by students from different cultures and different economic background. This would result in an increase in problems for parents and teachers. The rule of mandatory school uniforms would make all students look equal regardless of their financial position and cultural background.  

Fanshawe Gate Farm Vegetation Monitoring Strategy Essay

Fanshawe Gate Farm Vegetation Monitoring Strategy - Essay Example A phase one survey has been undertaken and information obtained from this will be useful to understand the current conditions of fields 2 and 6 and provide a context to carry out a phase 2 survey and a National Vegetation Classification (NVC). To successfully survey the two fields, technical and scientific approaches should be used to achieve all the needed objectives (JNCC 2010). The process starts by defining the objectives, devising a strategy o help achieve the set objectives. Once the strategy is put together, it should be tested by implementing it. The final step is to review and finalize the strategy. Legal requirements should also be maintained throughout the process to ensure the analysis and strategy is standard and as should be. Monitoring Strategy Objectives of the survey To know what type of vegetation is found in the fields. To establish the type of soil in the fields and what vegetation would do best in the given fields. To have a clear picture of the situation in the fields: climate and all To come up with ways to help improve the fields. Increase the diversity of grassland Have more unimproved grassland Analysis or Survey of fields 2 and 6 The fields have areas with tall ruderal vegetation with certain areas characterized by thistles (cirsium ssp). The vegetation in the fields also includes nettles (Urtica dioica). Generally, the fields have semi-improved grassland. This vegetations tends to change across the two fields (some patches have tall grass while others have short grass, others are bare while others have grass, especially under trees). Besides the grass, the waxcap fungi, (Hygrocybe spp) was formed part of the vegetation in the fields. The fungi is an indicator of unimproved grassland in both fields. However, some slight differences were found in field 6. In field 6, marshy grassland was evidenced around the area where a small stream ran. This changed and the vegetation became a bit scarce where the ground rose above the water table. I n areas where the land was sloping, the vegetation cover was constituted by acid grassland, some scrub and Hygrobe calyptiformis. Monitoring Strategy A) Field 2 According to the survey, field 2 was established to have a sloping topography 2 with semi improved grassland and some species of unimproved grassland (Hydrocybe caliptiformis). The unimproved grassland was found in the lower down part of the slope in the field. To attest this, samples would be taken from across the whole field. The samples would help determine if the grassland was becoming more unimproved as one moves further down the slope. To measure the variation in plant species along the sloppy part of the field, quadrants could be studied in two parallel belt transects. The field would be split into quadrants on both belts, from where samples would be taken. To have reliable results, the belts will be divided into 25 quadrants where each will be 0.5 by o.5 m. This is highly recommended so as to get a reliable frequency of the unimproved indicator species of vegetation. All quadrants will be studied. The study would help prove right or wrong the hypothesis for the analysis that towards the bottom of the slope, the species of unimproved grassland increased. Some changes will be carried in the way the field was managed. The expected result of this is a gradual increase

The Tale of the Greatest Divine King Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Tale of the Greatest Divine King - Essay Example Charlemagne journeyed to Rome and at Easter time he accompanied Pope Hadrian I to St. Peter’s Basilica, where they avowed mutual oaths, hence validating the union of Charles’ father with the papacy. The implication of the alliance was revealed by Charlemagne in a correspondence to Pope Leo III in 796,â€Å"It is our part with the help of divine holiness to defend by armed strength the holy church of Christ everywhere from the outward onslaughts of the pagans and the ravages of the infidels and to strengthen within the knowledge of the Catholic faith. It is your part, most Holy Father, to help our armies with your hands lifted up to Gold like Moses, so that, by your intercession and by the leadership and gift of God, the Christian people may everywhere   and always have victory over the enemies of his holy name and that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified throughout the world† (Logan, 2002, 73). Through this letter, written by Charlemagne himself, it is logical to assume about his motive in forging the alliance and good relationship with the church. Here is an idea of a perfect Christian society, to whose security and prosperity both king and pope were tied together in a joint effort.Four years following the letter of Charlemagne, at Christmas in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Leo anointed and crowned Charlemagne as the new Roman emperor. Charlemagne, a king whose roots are barbaric, received the title of emperor on an occasion whose entire implication still mystifies modern scholarship. Since 487, there had been no Roman emperor in the West; the lone emperor was the woman named Irene, ruling the vestiges of the ancient Roman Empire from Constantinople.

Agricultural science and practice

Agricultural science and practice REVIEW OF LITERATURE INTERCROPPING Intercropping of cereals and grain legumes is a neglected theme in agricultural science and practice in both conventional and organic farming systems (Dahlmann, and Von Fragstein2006). The fast rising population in many tropical countries is one of the reasons for enormous growing demand for food. The increasing urbanization due to world growing population has affected food production leading to irrevocable loss of arable land. Opening up new land for cultivation can enhance the decrease of agriculture. Farmers and researchers should be conscious that cost-benefit ratio bringing new land under cultivation is smaller than that of increasing production of already cultivated land, which may lead to increase in production per unit area. Intercropping tenders farmers the opportunity to engage natures principle of diversity on their farms. Spatial arrangements of plants, planting rates, and maturity dates must be considered when planning intercrops. Intercrops can be more fruitful than growing monocropping. Many different intercrop systems have been studied, including mixed intercropping, strip cropping, and customary intercropping provisions. Pest management benefits can also be realized from intercropping due to augmented diversity. Harvesting options for intercrops include hand harvest, machine harvest for on-farm feed, and animal harvest of the standing crop. Most grain-crop mixtures with similar ripening times cannot be machine-harvested to produce a marketable commodity since few buyers purchase mixed grains. Dispite its advantages intercropping is neglected due to complex nature of intercropping systems. In intercropping systems an LER measures 1.0, it tells us that the amount of land required for crops grown together is the same as that for these grown in pure stand (i.e., neither loss nor loss due to intercropping over pure stands). LERs above 1.0 demonstrate an advantage to intercropping, while numbers below 1.0 diplay a disadvantage to intercropping. For example, an LER of 1.25 tells us that the yield produced in the total intercrop system would have required 25% more land if planted in pure stands. If the LER was 0.75, we know the intercrop yield was only 75% of that of the same amount of land that grew pure stands. Pakistan is a subtropical country having sufficient resources with high intensity of sunlight required for plant growth. Therefore, possibility of intercropping of different crops on the same piece of land in a year needs to be explored for effective and efficient utilization of these natural resources. Intercropping is being looked as an efficient utilization of these natural resources and economical production system as it increases the production per unit area and time. Presently, interest in intercropping is increasing among the small growers because of their diversified needs and meagre farm returns from the monocropping system. Planning of cropping system should be done yearly on entire catchment basis. The type of planning should lead to a proper balance between food, fiber and fodder crops. When the rainfall is between 500-700 mm with a distinct period of moisture surplus, intercropping system should be adopted for improved crop production. Even in higher rainfall areas (750- 1100 mm) intercropping facilitates growing either cereal-legume or legume-legume system of different maturity patterns. Intercropping minimize risk of crop failure in drylands. Mixed cropping (mixing seeds of two or more crops and broad casting the mixture) should be avoided as it hinders post-sowing operations. Choice of varieties with in the crops is very important to harness total intercropping advantage. Cereal-legume intercropping systems should be advocated to minimize fertilizer use,.? reduce pest and disease incidence, produce balance foods, ?provide protein rich legume fodder for cattle,? take full advantage of growing seaso n. Cereal-legume intercropping plays an important role in subsistence food production in both developed and developing countries, especially in situations of inadequate water resources (Tsubo et al., 2005). Intercropping cereals and grain legumes can be very potential for both organic and conservative farmers. The use of land equivalent ratio (LER) as a measure for calculating the cropping advantage of intercrops over sole crops is simple, ignoring weed inhibition, yield reliability, grain quality, and minimum advantageous yield are all relevant factors for farmers perspective (Prins and de Wit 2005). Intercropped legumes secure most of their nitrogen from the atmosphere and not compete with maize nitrogen resources (Adu-Gyamfi et al. ,2007). Increased diversity of the physical structure of plants and increased leaf cover in an intercropping system facilitates to reduce weed infestations once crop are established (Beet1990). Having a variety of root system in the soil reduces water loss, enhances water uptake and reduce transpiration. The increased transpiration may make the microclimate cooler, which cools the soil and decrease evaporation (Innis 1997). In this way during times of water stress, intercropped plants utilize a larger percentage of available water from the field than monocropped plants. Creating windbreaks may also modify the microclimate. Rows of maize in a field with a short stature crop would reduce wind speed above the shorter crop and thus deceasechance of desiccation (Beet1990). Intercropped legumes fix most of their nitrogen from the atmosphere and not compete with maize for nitrogen resources (Adu-Gyamfi et al. ,2007; Vesterager et al.,2008). Diversification of cropping systems, i.e. smaller fields and mixtures of crop species (intercropping) was much more in vouge Pre World War II. Intercropping, the simultaneously cultivation of more than one species in the same field, is a cropping method, which often result in a more efficient use of resources, cause more stable yields in problematic environments and a method to reduce problems with weeds, plant pathogens and nitrogen losses post grain legume harvest.In this context a greater introduction of longterm rotations, intercrops and grain legumes play an important role (Jensen 1997; Karlen1994). Intercropping of cereal and legume crops facilitates to maintain and improve soil fertility (Andrew, 1979). Intercropping of legumes with cereals has been popular in tropics (Hauggaard-Nielsen et al.,, 2001; Tsubo et al.,,2005) and rain-fed tracts of the globe (Banik et al.,, 2000; Ghosh, 2004; Agegnehu et al.,, 2006; Dhima et al.,,2007) due to its benefits for soil conservation (Anil et al., 1998), weed control (Poggio, 2005; Banik et al.,,2006), lodging resistance (Anil et al.,, 1998), yield enhancemnent (Anil et al.,, 1998; Chen et al.,, 2004), hay curing, forage preservation over pure legumes, more crude protein percentage and protein yield (Qamar et al.,, 1999; Karadag and Buyukburc, 2004), and contols legume root parasite infections (Fenandez-Aparicio et al.,,2007). Different seeding ratios or planting patterns for cereal-legume intercropping have been accomplished by many researchers (Tsubo et al.,, 2001; Karadag and Buyukburc, 2004; Banik et al.,, 2006; Dhima et al.,, 2007). Competition among mixtures is thought to be the major characteristic affecting yield as compared with monocropping of cereals. Species or cultivar selections, seeding ratios, and inter and intra specific competition among mixtures may influence the growth of the species grown in intercropping systems in rain-fed areas (Santalla et al.,, 2001; Karadag and Buyukburc, 2004; Carr et al.,, 2004; Agegnehu et al.,, 2006; Banik et al.,, 2006; Dhima et al.,, 2007). Various competition indices such as land equivalent ratio (LER), relative crowding coefficient (RCC), competitive ratio (CR), actual yield loss (AYL), monetary advantage(MI) and intercropping advantage(IA) have been anticipated to portray competition within and economic advantages of intercropping systems (Banik et al.,, 2000; Ghosh, 2004; Agegnehu et al.,, 2006; Banik et al.,, 2006; Dhima et al.,, 2007). However, such indices have not been used for maize and common bean intercropping to determine the competition among species and also economic advantages of each intercropping system in the East Mediterranean region. Higher monetary returns were obtained compared to sole cropping when bush beans intercropped with sweet maize (Santalla et al.,, 2001). Higher seed yield and net income under planting pattern with changing mix-proportions may be explained in higher total productivity under intercropping with relatively less input investment (Banik et al.,, 2006). Tsubo et al., (2005) formed a simulation model to find out the best planting methods for maize and bean intercrops in sub-arid South Africa. Based on 52 years of weather data, they compared the best planting time, optimal water saturation at planting, maize plant density, and bean plant density to receive the highest LER, energy value (EV), and monetary value (MV) from the intercropped field. For every combination of factors, a LER greater than 1.0 was found, indicating that intercropping of maize and beans increases total yield. The simulations show that initial soil water content has the greatest influence on intercropping productivity. Bean plant density had no influence on maize or bean yields, indicating that maize yield is not affected by bean intercropping, although bean yields were decreased in the intercropped system (Tsubo et al., 2005). High densities of maize maximized maize yield and calorie production, but high densities of beans maximized financial return. Decline of e xternal inputs and increases of homegrown feed together with a more efficient nutrient use from leguminous symbiotic dinitrogen (N2) fixation (SNF) can result in a decrease of nitrogen and mineral losses. Maize-legume intercropping systems are able to lessen amount of nutrients taken from the soil in comparasion to a maize monocrop. Organizing the complication of exchanges that are possible due to the physical constraints of diversity are present in the farm system is vital part of reducing the need for external inputs and moving toward sustainability (Herrera, 1974). Increasing diversity often allows better resources use efficiency in agro ecosystem because with higher diversity, there is larger microhabitat differentiation, allowing the components species and varieties of the system to grow in an environment ideally fitting to its unique requirements (Mazaheri and Oveysi, 2004; Willey and Reddy1981; and Yancey, 1994). A key and straight way of rising diversity of an agro ecosystem is intercropping system that allows interaction between the individuals of the different crops and varieties (Mazaheri, 2004; Willey, 1981 and Venkatswarlu1981). Intercropping can add temporal diversity through the sequential planting of different crops during the same season (Yancey, 1994). Importance of multiple cropping is increasing world food supplies. An LER value of 1.0, indicating no difference in yield between the intercrop and the collection of monocultures (Mazaheri and Oveysi, 2004 and Kurata 1986). Any Value greater than 1.0 indicates a yield advantage for intercrop. A LER of 1.2 for example, indicates that the area planted to monocultures would need to be 20% greater than the area planted to intercrop for the two to produce the same combined yields (Laster and Furr,1972). Intercropping in cassava was beneficial in increasing the biological yield, tuber equivalent yield and land use efficiency. Cassava tuber equivalent yield, LER, ATER and AHER were higher in cassava + cowpea combinations.(Amanullah et al., 2006). Mixed culture (or intercropping) of legumes and cereals is an old practice in tropical agriculture that dates back to ancient civilization. The main objective of intercropping has been to maximum utilization of resources such as space, light and nutrients (Willey, 1990; Morris and Garrity, 1993; Li et al.,, 2003b), as well as to improve crop quality and quantity (Nel, 1975; Izaurralde et al.,, 1990; Mpairwe et al.,, 2002). Other benefits include water quality control through least use of inorganic nitrogen fertilisers that pollute the environment (Crew and Peoples, 2004). The contemporary drift in global agriculture is to search for highly productive, sustainable and environmentally safe cropping systems (Crew and Peoples, 2004). This has resulted into renewed interest in cropping systems research (Vandermeer, 1989). When two crops are grown in association, interspecific competition or facilitation between plants may take place (Vandermeer, 1989; Zhang et al.,, 2003).Different studies have shown that mixtures of cereals and legumes produce higher grain yields than either crop grown unaccompanied (Mead and Willey, 1980; Horwith, 1984; Tariah and Wahua, 1985; Ofori and Stern, 1987a; Lawson and Kang, 1990; Watiki et al.,, 1993; Peter and Runge-Metzger, 1994; Skovgard and Pats, 1999; Rao and Mathuva, 2000; Olufemi et al.,, 2001; Mpairwe et al.,, 2002; Dapaah et al.,, 2003). In such crop mixtures, the yield increases were not only due to enhanced nitrogen nourishment of the cereal component, but also to other unexplored causes (Nel, 1975; Connolly et al.,, 2001). Many of the unknown and less research processes occur in the rhizosphere of mixtures (Connolly et al.,, 2001; Zhang et al.,, 2003, 2004). The rhizosphere soil is the narrow zone of soil neighboring the roots where soil, micro-organisms and roots jointly play key roles in the soil ecosystem. Compared with the bulk soil, the rhizosphere has diverse biological, physical and chemical soil properties. It is rich in root exudates, and, therefore, play a major role in nutrient mobilisation and microbial activities (Dakora and Phillips, 2002; Dakora, 2003). So far however, little attention has been paid to rhizosphere effects on crops grown in mixtures (Connolly et al.,, 2001; Zhang et al.,, 2003; 2004), where interaction between different organisms is high. The major management practices employed in mixed cultures to attain good yield includes the enhancement of microclimatic conditions, improved utilisation and recycling of soil nutrients, improved soil quality, provision of favourable hab itats for plants and stabilisation of soil, among others (Juma et al.,, 1997). Most of intercropping systems are intentionally made and manipulated to optimise the use of spatial, temporal, and physical resources both above-and belowground, by maximising positive interactions (facilitation) and minimizing negative ones (competition) among the components (Willey and Osiru, 1972; Willey, 1979; Mead and Willey, 1980; Horwith, 1985; Ofori and Stern, 1986, 1987a, b; Jose et al.,, 2000; Silwana and Lucas, 2002). An understanding of the biological and chemical processes and mechanisms involved in the distribution of resources in such systems is indispensable. The complex interactions in legume/cereal cropping systems such as those used by traditional farmers have received little research attention (Connolly et al.,, 2001; Zhang et al.,, 2004) because quantitative rhizosphere studies in the field involving complex mixtures are notoriously complex and cumbersome. These conditions are achieved by manipulating management practices such as planting patterns of the mixtures with the selection of appropriate cropping systems. Interactions will occur in the growth process, especially when the component species are exploiting the resources above-and below-ground (Vandermer, 1989; Willey, 1990; Ong et al.,, 1996) from the same niche or at the same time. In crop mixtures, any species utilizing the same combination of resources will be in direct competition. However, based on differences in phenological characteristics of species in asocition, the interaction among them may lead to an increased capture of a limiting growth resource (Willey and Osiru, 1972; Willey, 1979; Mead and Willey, 1980; Horwith, 1985; Ofori and Stern, 1986, 1987a,b; Silwana and Lucas, 2002) and then amassing larger total yield than the collective production of those species if they were grown separately on an equivalent land area (Mead and Ndakidemi 2527 Willey, 1980; Horwith, 1984; Tariah and Wahua, 1985; Ofori and Stern, 1987a; Lawson and Kang, 1990; Watiki et al.,, 1993; Peter and Runge-Metzger, 1994; Myaka, 1995; Asafu-Agyei et al.,, 1997; Skovgard and Pats, 1999; Rao and Mathuva, 2000; Olufemi et al.,, 2001; Dapaah et al.,, 2003). Thus, mixed cropping systems between cereals and legumes may face a complex series of inter- and intra-specific interaction (Izaurralde et al.,, 1990; Giller and Cadisch, 1995; Evans et al.,, 2001; Li et al.,, 2003c) geared by modifications and utilisation of light, water, nutrients and enzymes. Most annual crop mixtures such as those involving cereals and legumes are grown almost at the same time, and develop root systems that acquire the same soil zone for resources (Horwith, 1984; Chang and Shibles, 1985a,b; Reddy et al.,, 1994; Jensen et al.,, 2003). Under such circumstances, below-ground competition for resources such as nutrients is most likely to take place. For example, research has shown that activities in maize + cowpea intercropping take place between the top 30-45 cm of soil, and their intensity decreased with depth (Maurya and Lal, 1981; McIntyre et al.,, 1997). Because of these interactions, cowpea yields can be reduced significantly in relationto that of maize (Watiki et al.,, 1993). In contrast to some negative effects on yield, root systems in mixtures may provide some of the major favorable effects on soil and plants. These include, amongst others, carbon enrichment through higher carbon return (Ridder et al.,, 1990; Vanlauwe et al.,, 1997), discharge of phenolics, phytosiderophores and carboxylic acids as root exudates by companion plants (Dakora and Phillips, 2002; Dakora, 2003). These compounds play a major role in the mineral nutrition of plants. For instance, some studies have displayed that, in P-deficient soils, pigeon pea roots utilize piscidic, malonic, and oxalic acids to solubilise Fe-, Ca- and Al-bound P (Ae et al.,, 1990). Once mobilised, P and Fe then become available for uptake by the pigeon pea plant as well as by plant species grown in association and micro flora in the cropping system.This is due to the fact that, thus far, research efforts on mixed cultures has centered on the intra- and inter-specific competition for light and water, and re search reports on competition for nutrients in legumes and cereal mixtures (Connolly et al.,, 2001; Zhang et al.,, 2003, 2004). It is, therefore, imperative to discover how the rhizosphere systems of the associated plant species in mixtures interact under different legume-cereal cropping systems. Rhizospheric pH changes in different management systems in legume/cereal mixtures Many plants have the ability to alter the pH of their rhizosphere (Hoffland et al.,, 1989, 1992; Raven et al.,, 1990; Degenhardt et al.,, 1998; Muofhe and Dakora, 2000; Dakora and Phillips, 2002) and improve nutrient availability such as P, K, Ca, and Mg, which are otherwise fixed and not available to plants (Vandermeer, 1989; Hauggaard- Nielson and Jensen, 2005). For instance, legumes induce numerous reactions that modify the rhizosphere pH (Jarvis and Robson, 1983; McLay et al.,, 1997; Tang et al.,, 1998, 2001) and influence nutrient uptake (Brady, 1990; Vizzatto et al.,, 1999). For example, Dakora et al., (2000) have shown that due to pH changes in the rhizosphere, Cyclopia genistoides, a tea-producing legume native to South Africa, increased nutrient availability in its rhizosphere by 45 120% for P, 108 161% for K, 120 148% for Ca, 127 225% for Mg and 117 250% for boron (B) compared to bulk non-rhizosphere soil. Hence, legumes may take up higher amounts of base cations, and in the process of balancing internal charge, release H+ ions into the rhizosphere that results in soil acidification (Jarvis and Robson, 1983; McLay et al.,, 1997; Tang et al.,, 1998, 2001; Sas et al.,, 2001; Dakora and Phillips, 2002; Cheng et al.,, 2004). Other legumes such as alfalfa, chickpea, lupines, and cowpea can release considerable amounts of organic anions and lower their rhizospere pH (Liptone et al.,, 1987; Dinkelaker et al.,, 1989, 1995; Braum and Helmke, 1995; Gilbert et al.,, 1999; Neumann et al.,, 1999; Rao et al.,, 2002; Li et al.,, 2004b), a condition favorable for the hydrolysis of organic P and hence improving P2O5 nutrition for plants and micro organism in the soil. In the same context, white lupine (Lupinus albus) exuded organic acids anions and protons that lowered rhizosphere pH and recovered substantial amount of P2O5 from the soil and made them more available to wheat than when it was grown in solitary cropping system (Horst and Waschkies, 1987; Kamh et al.,, 1999). Similarly, pigeon pea increased P2O5 uptake of the intercropped sorghum by exuding piscidic acid anions that chelated Fe3+ and subsequently released P2O5 from FePO4 (Ae et al.,, 1990). In a field trial, faba bean facilitated P2O5 uptake by maize (Z hang et al.,, 2001; Li et al.,, 1999, 2003b; Zhang and Li, 2003). In another comparative study, the ability of chickpea to mobilise organic P2O5 was shown to be greater than that of maize due to greater exudation of protons and organic acids by chickpea in relation to maize (Li et al.,, 2004a). Thus, in mixed cultures, plants such as cereals, which do not have strong rhizosphere acidification capacity can benefit directly from nutrients solubilised by legume root exudates. What is, however, not clearly known is the extent of rhizosphere pH changes in mixed cultures involving nodulated legumes and cereals and their influence on other biological and chemical processes in the soil. N2 FIXATION IN LEGUMES AND THE ASSOCIATED BENEFITS TO THE CEREAL COMPONENT Biological nitrogen fixation by grain legume crops has received a lot of attention (Eaglesham et al.,, 1981; Giller et al.,, 1991; Izaurralde et al.,, 1992; Giller and Cadisch, 1995; Peoples et al.,, 2002) because it is a considerable N source in agricultural ecosystems (Heichel, 1987; Dakora and Keya, 1997). However, studies on N2 fixation in complex cereal-legume mixtures are few (Stern, 1993; Peoples et al.,, 2002). Intercropping usually includes a legume which fixes N2 that benefits the system, and a cereal component that depends heavily on nitrogen for higher yield (Ofori and Stern, 1986; Cochran and Schlentner, 1995). Controlled studies have shown a significant direct transfer of fixed-N to the associated non-legume species (Eaglesham et al.,, 1981; Giller et al.,, 1991; Frey and Schà ¼epp, 1993; Stern, 1993; Elgersma et al.,, 2000; Hà ¸gh-Jensen and Schjoerring, 2000; Chu et al.,, 2004). There was evidence that the mineralisation of decomposing legume roots in the soil can b oost N availability to the allied crop (Dubach and Russelle, 1994; Schroth et al.,, 1995; Evans et al.,, 2001). In mixed cultures, where row arrangements and the distance of the legume from the cereal are far, nitrogen transfer could decrease. Research has shown that competition between cereals and legumes for nitrogen may in turn kindle N2 fixation activity in the legumes (Fujita et al.,, 1990; Hardarson and Atkins, 2003). The cereal component effectively drains the soil of N, forcing the legume to fix more N2. Therefore it is important to manipulate and establish how the management practice in legume-cereal mixtures may influence N2 fixation and nutrition in cropping systems. The microbial biomass is influenced by biological, chemical, and physical properties of the plant-soil system. Generally, soil and plant management practices may have greater impact on the level of soil microbial C (Gupta and Germida, 1988; Dick et al.,, 1994; Dick, 1997; Alvey et al.,, 2003). For instance, soil microbial C tend to show the highest values in cropland and grassland soils and the lowest in bare cultivated soils (Brookes et al.,, 1984; Gupta and Germida, 1988).Monoculture systems are expected to contain less amounts of microbial biomass and activities in comparison to those in mixed cultures (Moore et al.,, 2000). Studies have indicated that legumes accumulated larger amounts of soil microbial C in the soil than cereals (Walker et al.,, 2003). This is attributed to lower C : N ratio of legume than that of cereal (Uriyo et al.,, 1979; Brady, 1990). Microbial biomass activities could increase after the addition of an energy source. The stimulation of soil microbial biomas s activity by organic amendments is elevated than that induced by organic fertilisers (Bolton et al.,, 1985; Goyal et al.,, 1993; Hà ¶flich et al.,, 2000). Soil organic matter content and soil microbial activities, vital for the nutrient turnover and long term productivity of soil, are enhanced by the balanced application of nutrient and/or organic matter/manure (Bolton et al.,, 1985; Guan, 1989; Goyal et al.,, 1993; Hà ¶flich et al.,, 2000; Kanchikerimath and Singh, 2001). Under conditions of adequate nutrient supply such as P2O5, the microbial biomass C will be increased due to improved plant growth and increased turnover of organic matter in the soil (Bolton et al.,, 1985). Whether the management practices in mixed cultures involving legumes and cereals may favour the stimulation of biological soil activity and, thus, result in a higher turnover of organic substrates in the soil that are utilized by micro-organisms is a good subject to be investigated. Although there is a lot o f information that show the relationship between soil management and soil microbial activity, little is known about these effects under mixed cropping systems as practised by farmers in the tropical/ subtropical environments (Dick, 1984; Dick et al.,, 1988; Deng and Tabatabai, 1996). In this context, the measurement of their activities could provide useful information concerning soil health, and also serve as a good index of biological status in different crop production systems. PHOSPHATASE ACTIVITY IN LEGUME/CEREAL MIXTURES Plants have evolved many morphological and enzymatic adaptations to bear low phosphate availability. This includes transcription activity of acid phosphatases, which tends to increase under P2O5 starvation (Tarafdar and Jungk, 1987; Goldstein, 1992; Duff et al.,, 1994; del Pozo et al.,, 1999; Haran et al.,, 2000; Baldwin et al.,, 2001; Miller et al.,, 2001; Li et al.,, 2002). Phosphatase enzymes in the soil serve several important functions, and are good indicators of soil fertility (Dick and Tabatai, 1992; Eivazi and Tabatabai, 1997; Dick et al.,, 2000). Under conditions of P2O5 deficiency, acid phosphatase secreted from roots is greater than before (Nakas et al.,, 1987; Chrost, 1991;Hayes et al.,, 1999; Li et al.,, 1997). Gilbert et al., (1999) found that white lupin roots from P-deficient plants had significantly superior acid phosphatase activity in both the root extracts and the root exudates than comparable samples from P-sufficient plants. At various starvation levels, these e nzymes release phosphate from both cellular (Bariola et al.,, 1994) and extra cellular (Duff et al.,, Ndakidemi 2529 1994) organic compounds. The transcripts and activity of phosphate transporters are increased to optimise uptake and remobilisation of phosphate in P-deficient plants (Muchhal et al.,, 1996; Daram et al.,, 1999; Kai et al.,, 2002; Karthikeyan et al.,, 2002; Mudge et al.,, 2002; Versaw and Harrison, 2002). It is thought that these morphological and enzymatic responses to P starvation are coordinated by both general stress-related and P-specific signaling systems. The amount of acid phosphatase secreted by plants is genetically controlled, and differs with crop species and varieties (Izaguirre-Mayoral and Carballo, 2002) as well as crop management practices (Patra et al.,, 1990; Staddon et al.,, 1998; Wright and Reddy, 2001). Some studies have shown that the amount of enzymes secreted by legumes were 72 % higher than those from cereals (Yadav and Tarafdar, 2001). Li et al., (2004a) found that, chickpea roots were also able to secrete greater amounts of acid phosphatase than maize. The activity of acid phosphatases is expected to be higher in biologically managed systems because of higher quantity of organic C content found in those systems. In fact, the activity of acid and alkaline phosphatase was found to correlate with organic matter in various studies (Guan, 1989; Jordan and Kremer, 1994; Aon and Colaneri, 2001). It is, therefore, anticipated that management practices in mixed cultures that induce P stress in the rhizosphere, may also affect the secretion of these enzymes. To date, there have been few studies examining the influence of cropping system on the phosphatase activity in the rhizosphere of most legumes and cereals grown in Pakistan. Understanding the dynamics of enzyme activities in these systems is crucial for their assessment their interactions as in turn their activities may regulate nutrient uptake and plant growth in the ecosystem. EFFECT OF ORGANIC, BIOLOGICAL ANDCHEIMCAL FERTLIZERS ON CROPS AND SOIL Application of organic manures has various advantages such as increasing soil physical properties, water holding capacity, and organic carbon content apart from supplying good quality of nutrients. The addition of organic sources could increase the yield through improving soil productivity and higher fertilizer use efficiency (Santhi, and Selvakumari, 2000). High and sustained yield could be obtained with judicious and balanced fertilization combined with organic manures (Kang, B.T. and V. Balasubramanian, 1990). Protecting long-term soil fertility by maintaining soil organic matter levels to certain extent, sustaining soil biological activity and careful mechanical intervention, providing crop nutrient directly by using relatively insoluble nutrient sources which are made available to the plants by the action of soil micro-organisms, nitrogen self sufficiency through the biological nitrogen fixation (Hossain et al.,,2004) as well as effective recycling of organic materials including livestock wastes organic manuring (Safdar, 2002).Soil degradation which is brought about by loss of organic matter accompanying continuous cropping becomes aggravated when inorganic fertilizers are applied repeatedly. This is because crop response to applied fertilizer depends on soil organic matter (Agboola and Omueti, 1982). Among differnret manues poultry manure is highly nutrient enriched organic manure since solid and liquid excreta are excreted simultaneously resulting in no urine loss. In fresh poultry excreta uric acid or urate is the most plentiful nitrogen compound (40-70 % of total N) while urea and ammonium are present in petite amounts (Krogdahl, and Dahlsgard. 1981). Cooperband et al., (2002) assessed phosphorus value of different- age poultry litter composts and raw poultry litter. Available soil P was the highest in plots amended with 15-month old compost, followed by raw poultry litter amended plots. Poultry manure is an excellent organic fertilizer, as it contains high nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and other essential nutrients. In contrast to mineral fertilizer, it adds organic matter to soil which improves soil structures, nutrient retention, aeration, soil moisture holding capacity, and water infiltration (Deksissa et al.,, 2008). It was also indicated that poultry manure more readil y supplies P to plants than other organic manure sources (Garg and Bahla, 2008). As the use of poultry manure becomes an integral part of sustainable agriculture, demand for poultry products increases and pasturelands as well as croplands become nutrient saturated, which has ultimately increased water quality and public health concerns. In addition to high N and P content, raw poultry manure has a potential source of pathogen or E .coli (Jamieson et al.,, 2002; Bustamante et al.,, 2007) and endocrine disruptors (Deksissa et al.,, 2007). High and sustained crop yield can be obtained with judicious and balanced NPK fertilization combined with organic matter amendment (Kang and Balasubramanian, 1990).The benefits