The life of Harry Truman in the context of civil Right Era Essay

The life of Harry Truman in the context of civil Right Era - Essay Example This was the true picture as well as impression depicted by Harry Trumann in the context of Civil Right Era (Gardner, 2002). It is of crucial significance to note that Harry Truman led America in gaining victory over World War II. However, tied to this are several of my major impressions relevant to his life in the Civil Right Era. Harry Truman was a leader of dignity, in-depth understanding, humanness as well as vast of wisdom. This was so conspicuous in the way he made his decisions on the context of civil rights. He championed of equality rights for all Americans, including the Whites and the Blacks. This was quite impressive since it enabled for equal consideration of people regardless of race, ethnicity as well as socio-political classes (Truman Legacy Symposium and Geselbracht, 2007). In defiance to the issue of racial discrimination, Truman employed racial integration within the USA military. This was a clear indication that Truman was considerate and wise in decision-making. He considered the pains both the Whites and Blacks underwent in the wars, thereby championing for the spirit of inclusion an d equality amongst all the American citizens (Gardner, 2002). As a leader of humane character, Truman espoused in his campaigns that he believed in the spirit of brotherhood and unity amongst all people in the face of law. He stressed the fact that any form of racial, political, social or economic discrimination could likely cause a state of political unrest as well as insecurity (Truman Legacy Symposium and Geselbracht, 2007). Such could easily disrupt peace and safety to all the citizens. This is quite impressive of Truman since he showed that as a leader, he valued peace, safety and equality amongst all the

How to Invest Like Warren Buffett Essay Example for Free

How to Invest Like Warren Buffett Essay Introduction Simplicity is the best word to describe the life of philanthropist and mega-billionaire Warren Buffett. The same single word also depicts his multi-billion worth of investment principles and strategies (Cunningham, 2008, p. 18). For more than fifty years Buffett was able to build a multi-billion investment empire with his simple investment philosophy. Like his more than 60 billion dollar fortune under his name, Buffett, who is by far the greatest philanthropist of all time for donating almost all of his wealth to the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation, is also one of the most observed and most admired personalities in business with countless of articles, books and blogs written about him. If most common people look at him as the most generous man in the world today, people in the corporate world regard him as the greatest guru— or even ‘God’— in the realm of investment. With his great fortune, he is considered ‘God’ in investment because of his ability to spot real value when everybody focuses their attention on market movements and because of his unparalleled skills and knowledge to transform simplicity into greatness. If most billionaires like Bill Gates and Lakshmi Mittal built their business empires through managing profitable technology corporations and industrial firms, Buffett made billions by simply knowing how and when to invest his money. How He Started To know more about the investing secrets of Warren Buffett, it is necessary to look at how he managed his most precious property— his life, and how he lives it (Schroeder, 2008, p.1). He learned how and when to earn money at an early age, and he filed his first income tax return when he was only 13 (Sosik, 2006, p.149). Buffett’s value investment career started when he put his money in Berkshire Hathaway, a little known and ignored holding company based in Omaha, Nebraska in the 60’s. Now everybody is startled to know that if you invested $10,000 in the company in 1965, the value of that money today would be more than $30 million (Investopedia Staff, 2007). If his close billionaire friend Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard University to focus on Microsoft Corporation, Buffett, who is known in the business world as ‘Oracle of Omaha,’ was rejected by Harvard Business School. This experience somehow taught him a great deal not only about business but also about life. To most people Harvard is one of the best, if not the best, schools in the world, but Buffett thought otherwise— his basis of choosing school was not the institution, but the people who would impart the requisite knowledge and values. So when asked about his mentors, Buffett only had three people on top of his mind— his father, Benjamin Graham, and Phil Fisher. His father— Howard Buffett— taught him the positive values he needed to live, while Graham and Fisher taught him the basic principles in investment and how to make money in this profession. His investment style is consisted in the following rubric— think outside the box. When he graduated from college, he wanted to make money in Wall Street, but his father and Graham discouraged him (Miles, 2004, p. 30). The two believed that there were great opportunities waiting for him outside Wall Street. That was the time when everybody wanted to work on Wall Street and when everybody focused their attention on the stock market. Buffett believes that stocks are more than just an asset or capital; it is business. His Philosophy It would be futile to know the secrets of his billion dollar secrets without knowing how he thinks and what he believes in. Unfortunately, most of his biographers failed miserably to look into what is in the mind of the world’s greatest investor. In fact, a review of some literatures and articles would reveal that they just focus on the extrinsic side of Warren Buffett; they failed to look at the intrinsic aspect of his life. Many believe that his philosophy is consisted in these two major Buffet rules— first, never lose capital; and second, don’t ever forget the first rule (Miles, 2004, p. 70). It would be best to say that this does not embody Buffett’s philosophy but rather his tactical investment approach. A business philosophy is something that one holds as his primary direction in life— the fountainhead of his concepts and beliefs, the beacon of his goal, and the reason for living. Buffertt’s business philosophy can be expressed by his following simple quote— â€Å"Be feaful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful† (Hagstrom, 1997, p. 52). Essentially this buffett-line expresses the inherent nature of free-market system, which he and his friend Bill Gates have in common. Under a free-market system, it is rational and ethical to be greedy, since the primary goal of a capitalist is not just to earn profit but to expand it and ensure that it creates limitless profits and opportunities. For some this statement may sound ironic or paradoxical since it contradicts the popular or media-fed persona of Warren Buffett. With this belief— that greed is good, Buffett was able to transform his meager investment into a multi-billion dollar empire that even exceeded that of Gates and Mittal. His investment experience proves that by creatively and greedily investing one’s money— one can make a good or even great fortune out of creative value investment. So what does it take to be like Warren Buffett? Definitely it takes a rational and moral philosophy, proper knowledge, and non-conventional investment point of view to follow the billion dollar investment footsteps of Buffett. But what is the role of philosophy in Warren Buffett’s billion dollar investment strategy? The problem with most people is that they tend to mainly focus on tips, secrets, or strategies. Most successful people did not achieve their status by keeping ‘success secrets’ or ‘strategies’ but by putting into action a rational philosophy that motivates and creates values. A simple look at the life and investment career of Buffett would reveal that it is his rational philosophy that continues to motivate him— that keeps on pushing him to do what he does best. As what Fridson said, budding investors must focus on â€Å"uncompromisingly rational investment philosophy† of Warren Buffett. This is because investment secrets or strategies can be absorbed or learned in a very short span of time or even overnight, but it takes an indefinite period of time to absorb and embody a rational philosophy to translate these secrets or strategies to reality. Of course, this billionaire will not exactly say what people would like to know. Contrary to the many written articles about his investment secrets or strategies, Buffett’s secret is in fact consisted only of three simple words that should be practiced everyday— â€Å"read, research, and think† (Miles, 2004, p. 70). Vague and ambiguous as it may seem but this three-pronged strategy is what Buffet practiced and embodied throughout his more than fifty years in the world of investment. That is why it is stressed in this paper that simplicity best describes the life and investment principles of Buffett. For example, this read-research-think approach of Buffett is the essential element of his cigar-butt investment method. Buffett in fact creatively applied this three-pronged approach in his early years as a value investor. Unlike most investors, Buffett put much premium on his rational judgment than on what most people see in the market. His investment style can be likened to that of a diamond prospector. He knows how to assess which diamond is real or not in just a single glance. He reads, he researches, and he thinks. His Investment Strategy Buffett’s investment strategy is governed by two rules and a number of principles. These dual rules have been mentioned above. This sets the difference between his investment philosophy and his investment strategy. Thus in this paper, Buffett’s investment strategy is composed of rules and principles. Under his primary rule, it is not sensible or moral for an investor to invest and then later on lose his money. Thus this can be avoided by paying attention to his three-pronged investment approach— read, research, and think. By following the aforementioned approach, a young investor may be able to discover several things that are essential in investment’s decision-making process. Buffett considered Graham as his investing mentor. According to Miles (2004, p. 72), it was the Graham school from which Buffett learned not just the basics but also the quantitative principles in investment. On the other hand, he learned a great deal about Fisher’s qualitative side of investment, such as brand, management skills, soft skills, and competition. Thus he said: â€Å"I am an active reader of everything Phil Fisher has to say† (Miles, 2004, p. 72). Now every promising and even established investor is eager to hear what he has to say. Despite his unparalleled success as an investor, he still gives credit to his two mentors, as he likes to say that he is 85 percent Graham and 15 percent Fisher (Hagstrom, 1997, p. 27). The reason why it is important to read, research and think is because in investment, it is highly indispensable to consider the following aspects: a) study the business; b) know well who runs it; c) put money in profits; and the most important of all d) have self-esteem. On the other hand, Buffett’s basic steps when investing are the following (Miles, 2004, p. 70): Determine how much you own Conduct research before buying Focus on business ownership not on stock ownership Simplify investments to manageable proportions Keep a single decision to hold a stock and be a continuing holder For example, before investing his money, Buffett researched first the nature and potentials of Gillette, which is still the world’s top producer of razor blade. Warren’s holding company Berkshire Hathaway invested $600 million in Gillette in 1989; four years ago it already owned 11 percent of said company. This means that from the original $600 million investment, Warren’s holding company’s investment grew up to over $3 billion. When he decided to purchase Gillette, he did not mind its value in the market but the potential profits it could muster in the long run. As a value investor, Buffett put money in securities with low prices according to their intrinsic value. In determining the value of a stock, there is no commonly acknowledged method to get the right figure. Basically, the focus of value investors is not on what the market says but on what the company’s potentials and fundamentals offer. This is because there are some companies that are undervalued by the market yet with good potentials to grow and rake in long-term profits. This is the attitude that Buffett showed to modern investors. Markets only reflect the short-term value of a company, and it takes proper knowledge, better understanding, and courage to discover which company is undervalued and has the capacity to establish a long-term profit-making success. His investment methodology Buffett’s methodology is composed of quantitative aspects in value investment. Under this process, he considers the relation between a stock’s quality and its value. Based on his method, the return on equity is equivalent to net income over shareholder’s equity (Investopedia Staff, 2007). One thing that Buffett considers is debt/equity. Before investing, he conducts research whether a company kept away from excess obligation. This is actually a basic principle in investment— do not invest in a company with huge debt. To Buffett, a debt-ridden company has a low capacity to guarantee return on equity. Debt/equity can be measured by dividing the total amount of obligations by shareholders’ equity (Investopedia Staff, 2007). If a company has more debt than equity, it is not advisable to put money in such company since it uses debt to finance its assets and operations. For instance, a company that has a higher ratio of debt vis-à  -vis equity has an unpredictable earning capacity and is prone to high interest expenses (Vick, 2000, p. 169). When one is investing in a particular company, it is advisable to look at the long-term obligation rather than the total amount of debt. Another aspect that is considered by Buffett is the profit margin. However it is not only important to know if a company’s profit margin is high, what is more important is to know whether it is growing. The capacity of a company to earn long-term profits relies not merely on having a positive profit margin but on constantly expanding this profit scope as well. The attitude of Buffett towards investment can be explained by how he managed Berkshire Hathaway. He purchases stocks to keep the same and he does not look at stocks as a commodity that can be bought and sold but as a business entity. His investment style is simple— he buys stocks and treats them as his own business, and this business makes profits not just for a short span of time but for as long as it stays profitable. He also considers the age of the company— the longer the better. Those that stay in the business for at least ten years are good investment opportunities. Since Buffett admits that he only has a limited knowledge in technology corporations he only puts money in a business which he absolutely understands. He puts much premium on longevity, and this principle brought him where he is right now. When he invested in Berkshire Hathaway, he envisioned of a long-term business that could earn a limitless amount of profit. This is what he learned from Graham, which most researchers consider as the proponent of old school in investment. Perhaps the new school in investment is the buy-and-sell style of most investors wherein profits are short-term and limited. Interestingly, Buffett also looks at the nature of business of a particular company. If most investors usually look at numerical figures, Buffett focuses on the qualitative sides of a company. For example, if a company depends on a commodity like gas and oil, he thinks that such company only offers limited returns on equity (Investopedia Staff, 2007). If the product of a company is identical from those of its market rivals, he thinks that competition would hamper the profit-making ability of such company. To understand the importance of this approach in investment, it is necessary to look at the biggest stock holdings of Berkshire Hathaway. The holding company owns 9.5 percent of Gillette, which is the leader in razor blade industry (Jubak, 2004). It also owns 9.2 percent or $10.1 billion of Coca-Cola, which is one of the biggest companies in the beverage industry. The other companies which Berkshire has shareholdings are the following: American Express, American Standard, Ameriprise Financial, Anheuser Busch, Burlington Northern, Comcast, Comdisco, Conoco Phillips, Diageo, First Data Corp., Gannett Inc., GAP, HR Block, Home Depot Inc., Ingersoll-Rd Co., Iron Mountain, Johnson Johnson, among many others (Losch Management Co., 2006). Conclusion Billionaire Warren Buffett is indeed an unconventional value investor who thinks outside the box. At a time when most people paid attention to what the stock market says, Buffett relied only on his competent judgment, on his rational philosophy, and on his self-styled investment principles and strategies. That investment philosophy— be greedy when others are fearful put him to where he is right now, with billions of dollars in his. Despite his unmatched success, he remains humble and still retains the ethical values he learned from his father (Boroson, 2002, p. 18). In business, greed is moral and good. In contrast, fear is something that must be overcome to earn limitless profits from investment. Indeed, Buffett attained his unparalleled success by being ‘greedy’ while others cowered in fear of losing their money.   Taken as a whole, his investment tactic can be summarized into three essential principles— a) make your strategy simple and understandable; b) be consistent with your operations and approaches; c) focus on positive long-standing prospects. One interesting point to take into account is that Buffett’s philosophy and investment strategies never contradict each other. When he advises new investors to be ‘greedy,’ he means profits and business. And when he tells people who would like to follow his footsteps to read, research, and think, he would like them to rely on their own judgment and not be affected by other people’s opinion and market trends. With his more than fifty years in business, Buffett introduced the importance of self-esteem in investment. That it is important to rely on one’s moral judgment. By relying on his own judgment, Buffett maximized his profit-making capacity through Berkshire Hathaway. This means that there is no difference between the work ethics and potentials of a value investor and an industrialist. If Bill Gates and Lakshmi Mittal both create technology through their colossal industrial empires, Buffett creates limitless potentials through his creative and self-inspired investment principles. REFERENCES Boroson, W. (2002). J.K. Lasser’s Pick Stock Like Warren Buffett. New York: Wiley Cunningham, L.A. (2002). How to Think Lke Benjamin Graham and Invest Like Warren Buffett. New York: McGrawhill Professional. Losch Management Co. (2006). Berkshire Hathaway Stock Holdings 2006. Retrieved December 11, 2008, from http://www.loschmanagement.com/Berkshire%20Hathaway/Berkshire%20Holdings/2006.pdf Hagstrom, R.G. (1997). The Warren Buffett Way: The Investment Strategies of the World’s Greatest Investor. New York: Wiley. Investopedia Staff (2007, September 21). Warren Buffett: How He Does It. International Business Times. Retrieved December 11, 2008, from http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20070921/how-he-does-it.htm Miles, R.P. (2004). Warren Buffett Wealth. Principles and Tactical Methods Used by the World’s Greatest Investor. London: Wiley Sosik, J.J. (2006). Leading With Character.   North Carolina: Information Age Publishing. Vick, T.P. (2000). How to Pick Stock Like Warren Buffett. New York: McGrawhill Professional.

PG Promotions Strategy Analysis

PG Promotions Strategy Analysis PG has changed its promotions strategy for Tide Introduction Procter and Gambles Tide is the most well-liked and popular detergents across the world. This product serves as a pride for PG in announcing it as a flagship brand. Company undertakes promotional strategy basically to boost the sales of the products and stimulating customers to buy the products. Tide uses different strategies in promotion which Includes online marketing, magazines and television. Reasons for the shift in promotion strategy of tide In todays changing business world, the consumers have become more dynamic and varied in their preferences as well as they are getting more knowledgeable and demanding. Therefore, the company is focusing on its customers and client in order to get huge success. These transitions have forced the PG to make the changes in the promotional strategy in order to become more customers centric (Kotler, 2002). Secondly, PG observes that in order to maintain leading position in the field of laundry it has to make a shift in the promotional strategy by employing new techniques of promotion. Findings have exposed only 8% shopping is carried out by men where as female account for 56%. The adoption of changed promotional strategy by PG has proved to be beneficial in attracting the consumers and making them loyal for the brand. Apart from this, it has helped the company in gaining competitive advantage (Penner, 2006). Changes adopted by PG in promotional strategy for tide PG underwent series of changes in promotional strategy for Tide. The promotional strategy comprises host of the activities such as advertising campaign, running public relation activities, offering of free gifts, distribution of free sample, offering temporary discounts. Earlier $5.5 billion was spent by Procter and Gamble in the year 1999 for advertising globally. Thus, making it worlds major advertisers. Procter and Gamble reaps the benefits from electronic and print media internationally. PG new promotional strategy focused on the creating an emotional appeal rather than just marketing a product. It linked the product best with the emotions of the people. As a result it changed its tag line for Tide as Tide knows fabric best. The company believed in promoting the product in such a manner that it makes an impact in the minds of customer and speaks to them in an effective manner. Therefore, the PG is putting all its efforts towards increasing the consumer feel- good for its products (Berner, 2006, May 01). As a recent change, the company is using latest technique of Information Technology as a promotion strategy for Tide. The use of these technology helps to explore the new opportunities. For Tide PG is using online marketing systems, magazines and television. For promoting the sales, PG is using the Q Interactive, which is an online marketing service. Through this technique, it interacts with the target market. The Q network promotes the clients to obtain free Tide products signing up to a Tide ad. Simultaneously they can have an access over Tides e-mail newsletter. Once the newsletter is sign up by customers, the customers gets the updates of the latest promotions or products. This technique is successful for the company as it fulfills the various goals of promotion (Promotional strategy, 2003). Apart from this, PG strategy focuses in searching women having huge social networks i.e. the women ranging from the age group of 28 to 45, who further chats with about 25 to 30 other women. On the other hand a normal mom chats to approx five. Several such connectors are present on the internet along with the banner like iVilllage.com. Vocal point moms serves as a recent new strategy adopted by the company, these are the mailed packets depicting the detergent and a cheery girl (Berner, 2006, May 29). Apart from this, to advertise Tide in TV and radio PG promotional strategy is focusing on the effective opening punch line, on the products of competitors, authentication by experts or well-known authorities and finding the weak point of competitor. In order to promote the Tide on site, the promotion strategy focuses on the content of site i.e. depth, breadth, way of presentation and time duration. Apart from this, emphasis is given on the updating the site and space for comments, suggestion and feedback. Competitive advantage Promotional strategy plays a vital role in gaining competitive advantage or edge over the competitors. The new promotional strategy adopted by the PG like online marketing and Vocal point moms will help the company in gaining the market share and getting wider access to the customer. The company will gain the competitive advantage as these strategies will help in retaining the loyal customer and getting the new ones. As a result, this will pose a threat to the competitors and make the Tide more acceptable among the customers (Ramaswamy, Namakumari, 2007). This strategy will help the company in maintaining its position as leader in the market. Through the online advertising it has personalized its services by providing the latest updates of the products and easy accessibility for the products ultimately it will help in building brand image and creating value to the customers. Thus, it will gain competitive advantage by implementing effective promotional strategies. References Berner, R. (2006, May 29) I Sold It through the Grapevine. Business Week. The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Berner, R. (2006, May 1). Detergent Can Be So Much More: PGs. Business Week. The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Kotler, P. (2002). Marketing Management (11th Edition). New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India Private Ltd. Penner, T. (2006). PG turns the tide. Brunico Communications Inc. 6 (30). Promotional strategy (2003). Procter Gamble: Annual Report. Retrieved May 19, 2008 from http://www.scribd.com/doc/281854/Procter-Gamble-2003-Annual-Report Ramaswamy, V.S. Namakumari, S. (2007). Marketing Management (3rd Revised Edition). New Delhi: Macmillan India Ltd.

Vocational and Technical Teachers in Malaysia Essay -- Education, Co

An issue arises whether the teachers in this country are ready to face and handle the challenges due to the birth of technology especially ICT in and out of school and due to the fact that the latest technology has acquired unique characteristics with lack of appropriate professional development, for these reasons it is necessary for teachers to be ready in terms of their knowledge, skills and also attitude in order to fully exploit the advantages in ICT (Rosnaini Mahmud, 2006). According to Ely (1995) the stress should not be on the technology itself but more on the teachers who will decide on the purpose in using the technology, how it is utilized and evaluates the effect of its use. Nowadays there are a lot of ICT facilities and tools provided in the school however the optimum use is very much relied on the teacher factor (Demirbilek, 2009). Due to the rapid changes and growths in the use of the computer during the past decades had an impact on the educational system, the technical and vocational teacher development becomes an important component to help the students to provide them the necessary skills to use it in the world of work (Maclean and Ordonez, 2007). As the computer technologies are experiencing brisk growth, they bear the potential to outreach vocational education to more learners in better ways, and in improving teaching effectiveness, it is best that vocational and technical teachers are stimulated to take part in professional development activities in order to familiarize them with the uses of computer technology (Buntat et al., 2010). Moreover, vocational teachers should be equipped with the knowledge to use new technologies as these technologies are constantly changing and have the knack to affect... ...cational schools to describe the factors which contribute the ICT integration among the technical and vocational teachers and the relationships between these factors. Integration of ICT into the classroom is a dynamic process that is connected with various factors and its success does not depend entirely on existence or non-existence of these factors (Afshari et al, 2009). These factors may be demographic characteristics for the teachers such as (Age, gender, and teaching experience), Educational background such as (type of training and level of qualification), supporting factors such as (ICT availability and administrative support) and readiness variables (knowledge, skills, and attitudes). The study will describe the teachers’ knowledge level and skills which used to be specifically for teachers teach engineering subjects in technical and vocational schools.

Public Speaking Essay

PUBLIC SPEAKING INTRODUCTION When we heard the word, ‘public speaking’, what came to mind is standing in front of a crowded room packed with people and talking to them. The image alone sometimes create an enormous effect on most people, causing nervousness, and maybe even fear. Before we jump to that, let’s look at the definition of the word itself. According to Merriam Webster online dictionary, the words Public Speaking has a meaning of â€Å"the act or process of making speeches in public,† or â€Å"the art of effective oral communication with an audience.† Next, what is an audience? An audience is defined as â€Å"a group of listeners or spectators.† From the definitions, we can draw a conclusion that in public speaking, there is an act of both speaking and listening. So what differentiates public speaking from a conversation? While both public speaking and conversation involves a direct and face-to-face encounter, usually public speaking is more of a ‘one-wayâ €™ talking. Although nowadays most speakers claim that they want an interactive session, but usually the audience is given a specific time to do so. Next, in terms of language, public speaking uses a formal language. Because they are speaking in front of a group of people, speakers need to adress their audience in a more formal way. Third, and most importantly, public speaking needs to be structured. They need to have a tight grasp on their topic and do their research thoroughly. The reason the topic ‘Public Speaking’ is chosen is because it is something that everyone needs to do at some point of their lives. It is also based on the In conclusion, public speaking can be defined as the act of making a speech in front of a group of listeners, and is different from conversation in terms of approach, language, and structure. TYPES OF PUBLIC SPEAKING Naomi Rockler-Gladen, a former professor at Colorado State University, wrote on the website suite101 that there are three types of public speaking; informative, persuasive, and ceremonial. These types also defines the purposes, or the reasons the speech is made. More details on the three types of public speaking will be explained below. The first type, informative. Informative has the meaning of giving information, to inform. An informative speech has a purpose to inform, or give knowlegde to its audience about  something that they probably did not know of before. The end goal of an informative speech would be to equip the audience with a brand new knowledge that they can apply to a particular aspect of their lives. The important thing to watch about giving an informative speech is to not put in too much information. Imagine an empty bucket being filled with water. If being filled with too much water then the water will leak out for sure. The same thing applies to the audience. The ‘leaking’ must be avoided at all costs, so the information has to be kept simple, yet useful. The second type is persuasive speech. A speaker giving a persuasive speech needs to be able to persuade the audience to do, or believe in something. Usually, the speaker would try to change the mindset, perception, or behavior of the audience for their own good. Giving an informative speech is not an easy thing to do. The speaker needs to be really passionate about the cause they’re giving, in order to convince and persuade the audience to follow suit. The second thing that can be done is to look for common ground with the audience, try to relate to what they might agree on. Third, try to aim for a smaller scope of issue for a start. As mentioned before, a speaker is given a time limit to deliver his or her speech, and it will not be easy to change one’s mind in such a short time. Third, and last type is a ceremonial speech. There are so many ceremonies in our li ves, starting from graduation, engagement, wedding, to funeral. Usually this kind of speech is given to congratulate, or in the case of a funeral, remembering the dearly departed. Thus, the given speech tends to be less formal and more personal than the other types of speeches. The important thing to watch about giving a ceremonial speech is to be appropriate. No matter how well you know the person you are giving speech about, try to not say bad things about them, even if it is meant to be a joke. The point here is to make them feel special, not to bring them down, especially in front of a large group of people. From the three types of speeches mentioned above, we can draw a conclusion that all kinds of speeches will have have to cause some kind of an effect for the audience. Informative speech needs to result in the audience understanding or knowing something they did not know before. Persuasive speech is aimed to change someone’s perspective about something or to ask them t o do something, and ceremonial speech should be more personal, and make someone feel special and included in a certain ceremony. PREPARING The key of perfecting anything is through practice, and public speaking is no exception. However, merely practicing will not be sufficient to have a successful public speaking. Aside from practicing, there are also several things that can be done to prepare oneself for the often-dreaded experience. The first thing is to know who the audience will be. Try to get as much information as possible regarding this particular area. Age, gender, cultural brackground, sexual orientation, and religious views are among the most crucial things that a speaker needs to know. These informations will be very helpful to the speakers to determine their style of speaking, the approach that they are going to use, and to avoid offending a particular group. There are three questions that needs to be kept in mind when working on the speech: To whom am I speaking? What do I want them to know, believe, or do as a result of my speech? What is the most effective way to composing and presenting my speech to acco mplish that aim? (Lucas, 2004). The next thing that can be identified is the venue. Knowing the ‘battlefield’ in advance will give the speakers a huge advantage. They would be able to plan beforehand, for example, where they want to stand, and if they wish to walk around, what pattern would be best so the audience will not get too distracted, and how they are going to face the audience. Every speakers need to have a tight grasp on their topics. Therefore, they need to do a thorough research before they present their topic to their audience, especially if they are giving an informative speech. Speakers can acquire their materials from many different resources, whether it be the books from the library, the internet, or even their own knowledge and experiences. At the end of every session, usually the audience are given the time to ask questions regarding the topic, and the speaker needs to be able to answer them. There are two words that most speakers always have with the m during their seminar or presentation; visual aids. They are usually in the form of a Power Point presentation, which can include texts, audios, and videos. The essence of having a visual aid, aside from making the presentation more interesing, is so that the audience can have a better understanding of the topic. Speakers can include the main points of each of their ideas instead of the whole sentence in their slides, to keep the audience from getting bored. Last, as  mentioned above, practice is necessary. Sparing some time to practice will help build confidence, which is an important thing to have in delivering a speech or presentation in public. It will also help determine the length of the presentation, whether it is too long or too short from the given time. From the explanations above, it can be concluded that there are five things that needs to be prepared in public speaking, which are; knowing the audience, identifying the venue, doing a thorough research on the topic, ha ving a visual aid, and practicing. These five elements of preparation could be the key to ensuring the success of public speaking. PRESENTING When all the preparation has been done, comes the real challege; presenting. There are a few aspects speakers need to pay attention to while giving their speech. Language is the main aspect a speaker needs to pay attention to while giving a speech. Whether their purpose is to inform or persuade, language is their tool, their weapon. Therefore, how the use the language is crucial to the success of their speech. Language needs to be used clearly. Words are not limited to a universal meaning, which means that not everyone interprets a word in the same meaning or understanding. A speaker needs to choose their words carefully and make it clear to the audience what they mean of it. Language also needs to be used appropriately. When giving a speech, audience looks up to the speaker to give them something new, something useful. Thus, the speaker needs to know how to deliver their speech to fulfill the audiences’ expectation. Audience tends to prefer if their speaker can deliver their speech without any form of notes or texts. Speaking from the memory shows a great deal of confidence, and that will gain more respect from the audience. However, there is no harm from getting help from notes or flashcards. This can help the speaker remember and focus on their main points, and also keep their speech organized. Language and delivery alone will not be sufficient if the speaker does not have the right body language. Body language includes personal appearance, movement, gesture, and eye contact. The phrase â€Å"don’t judge a book by its cover† is often heard but rarely practiced. First impression will always matter in the way one person looks at another, so a speaker needs to dress appropriately. The movement and gesture of a speaker also affects the audience, for  example, if the speaker keeps pacing around the room, it willl distract the audience from the topic and confuses them. Sometimes, when a speaker is feeling nervous, he or she will tend to make move their hands around or play with their hair, etc. This should be avoided at all costs, as mentioned above, to avoid making the audience feels distracted. Eye contact needs to be maintained to hold the audience. Lucas explained in his book that when speaking in front of a small audience, you can look briefly from one person to another, but in a larger audience, it is better to just scan through the audience rather than look at each person directly. It has been mentioned above that it is best if the speaker could prepare visual aids beforehand. While presenting a visual aid, the speaker needs to be clear, but by doing so, they also need to still be connected to the audience, and not be too immersed in their own visual aids. The visual aid itself should be made as large and as intersting as possible. While closing the speech or presentation, speakers can restate their main points, just to remind the audience of the important things that has been said. They can also end it with a s pecial message and encourage the audience to ask questions. Speaking in public is all about confidence. Wearing the right clothes, movements, gesture, maintaining eye contact, and having visual aids can enhance the speakers’ confidence, and in return, will gain the respect and trust from the audience. BBIBLIOGRAPHY Lucas, Stephen. The Art of Public Speaking. 8th ed. Boston, MA: McGraw Hill, 2004. Print. Osborn, Michael, and Suzanne Osborn. Public Speaking. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. Print. Rockler-Gladen, Naomi. â€Å"Public Speaking Class Tips: Writing Great Speeches for Your Speech Course | Suite101.com.† Naomi Rockler-Gladen | Suite101.com. 13 Jan. 2007. Web. 10 Oct. 2011. .

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buy custom Educational Data essay Information is very important in holding academic institutions accountable for enhanced yearly performance among the student group. The best management instrument in any institutions is the data. This is because data help in identifying the problem and the peoples who are affected by this problem and a solution is then identified. For instance, teachers or tutors can amend their lessons plans while the management can assess the curricula. Thus data can enlighten decision making (LaFee, 2002). The requirement for improved decision making has increased in the academic institutions with an increase in standards-based transformation and accountability systems for performance. Following years of persuasion and exhorting academic institutions to enhance, the policymakers have made a decision to be tough. For example, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation requires that all district schools in the U.S. to assess students, gather performance data that will then be used to identify weakn esses and strengths in the institution educational system. Any institution that does not show sufficient progress each year will be asked to improve and be subjected to immediate intercession. Many times instructors speak about corrective utilization of data to enhance instruction (Mathews, 2002). From the time when the NCLB legislation was passed, Washington States instructors have constantly heard that low score on the national or state tests equate to failure, and constant failure equates to intercession. Few instructors appear to be in a position to articulate on how they may utilize data effectively in order to improve learning and teaching. The utilization of the data in the academic environment remains an indefinable skill and concept. However, the manner in which data should be used in decision making is not difficult to execute (American Association of School Administrators, 2002). Therefore, this paper will discuss the relationship of educational data and decision making i n the academic environment. Understanding Data Possibility Comprehending and utilizing data in academic institutions and in student performance are crucial to enhancing the schools; however, schools do not often use the data they have in decision making. For many years, the leaders of the schools decided on the instructional leadership through the influence of shooting from the hip and intuition. In addition, many times they do not include data gathering and data assessment or analysis in their decision-making process (Mathews, 2002). If the school does not analyze and discuss the data, they are not likely to recognize and find solutions to the issues that require attention, and identify suitable intercessions to resolve those issues. Without utilization of the data to direct them towards their objectives, many times school leaders base their decisions on speculation. The decisions made on speculation may result to a random acts of improvement. The leaders may make wrong decisions, which may affect the performance of the students negatively (National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education, 2002). Policy Positioning Schools gather data to assist them establish whether they are achieving their objectives and function if their decision-making is driven by data. Academic leaders must not only comprehend he importance of consistency tests as well as other formal evaluations, but they should also assist their institution execute multiple performance measures of the students and more significantly, build a culture in the school by using these data. The school leaders today are very keen to avoid making mistakes that will affect childrens education performance as a result of superior stakes environment (Armstrong and Anthes, 2001). Instructors cannot wait for years or months to make a decision on what need to be done. For example, to have a loan from industry and business, institutional leaders require enhancing just-in-time advances by utilizing data to assist them make crucial decisions impacting on the students learning as well as attainment. Academic institutions leaders should also construe and co mmunicate the significance of data to the teachers, constituents-students, the members of the board, and the parent-making decisions based on fact and credibility (Armstrong and Anthes, 2001). Amount of Data Schools regularly collect data in large amounts, and in actual fact, they normally collect data in huge amounts than they need. However, they often not come up to scratch to make use of all the data they have collected (Creighton, 2001). In many situations, present data about the educational contributions, like the teachers qualifications and curricula rigor, are missing, and in many states, data on the educational results continue to confuse, to be unclear, and not evidently connected to the learning of the student (American Association of School Administrators, 2002). Policymakers and instructors lack access to quality data and they are not able to comprehend, analyze and utilize data that currently exist. This is as a result of lack of training in data assessment on the side of the teachers and the school leaders and they also lack support and tools (Creighton, 2001). Support In the State of Washington, from a few schools, leaders from several districts, it seems that the utilization of and willingness to execute decisions driven by data in practice mirrors the situation in the country. It is difficult to identify traditions around the utilization of the data in the institutions (American Association of School Administrators, 2002). Innovative utilization of the decision making driven by data was frequently recognized as remote incidents of personal lone teacher or school leader. Although, there exist a number of indications of organized utilization and data support in districts, real utilization and data support could simply be misleading (Glasman, 1994). For instance, a number of huge school districts, and principals frequently noted that staff members from the district office who offer the explanation of the student as well as the school data, with no input from the school employees. In addition, school heads obtain data reports printed at the district office rather than on their desktop. This is frequently the situation because the districts lack online databases that would allow principals to assess data flexibility as well as in real-time. However, it put a ceiling on the data the principal need and the decisions making time. In a small school at the district level, the principal are left with the data analysis with no support from the district (American Association of School Administrators, 2002). Programs Preparation It is advisable that programs prepared by the administration reports that the curricula does not sufficiently address decision making driven by data. Students operating in these programs get an important fraction of education through the use of internships with principals on the ground. Therefore, students experiences with decision making driven by data may be established by internship placement (Doyle, 2003). Recommendations The leaders of the schools require resources and tools that assist them to see clearly and that offer significant information promptly and dependably for the school and also for the tutors. Some schools leaders have a strong need to better comprehend the data that is matched by dissatisfaction as a result of need for training opportunities. When instructors can draw assumptions from the data, they are able to discover the required change direction, identify students requiring intercession, and identify advances providing promising results to assist students achievement (Streifer, 2002). The utilization of the multiple, and occasionally creative, data sources that enables the leaders of the schools to make some corrections and constant enhancement toward academic achievement by learners. Interoperable data systems are the bottom line to enhanced provision of resources, superior management efficiency, and online appraisals of scholar performance that empower instructors to truly transf orm teaching and personalize instruction (Technology-alliance.com, 2011). Utilization of data efficiently should play the main role in the growth of the school developments plans as well as in decisions needed to be made daily by the educators. The utilization of data may be powerful and affirmative educational instrument. Schools that employ in decisions driven by data have information that measures the progress of the students in achieving standards and also allows them to evaluate present and the future requirements of parents, students, community and staff; establish if objectives are being achieved; enhance instruction; recognize the causes of the issues; make sure the students are not at fault; and engage in constant school enhancement as well as alternative ways to enhance student progress (Doyle, 2003). Conclusion The principals and school administrators should learn to utilize as well as believe in data based on fact when making administrative decisions. In alliance with NCLB, the amended standards for the Advanced Programs should serve as leadership training program for the school and may be utilized as keystone for professional enhancement of the existing administrators of the school. Decisions driven by data is essential to the skills of the school administrators in the leadership values of the school vision, organization, instruction, collaborative partnerships, huge-context politics and moral perspective. Therefore, it advisable that the decision makers should gather data first before making any decision, as decision without data, may result to severe consequences, whereas decision with data will result to successful decision. From the above information, it is evident that the education data and decision making with the academic has a great relationship. Buy custom Educational Data essay

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The red planet mars essays As you know Mars is the fourth planet from the sun. though we have not yet traveled there we have pictures from the satellites and the Valles Marineris. There are many mysterious things about mars like. Is there life out there? Can we travel there? Will we ever be able to live there? You get the point. Ill tell you all you need to know in this report. The storms on Mars are like huge tornados or hurricanes. They can last one day or one month they are very unpredictable. There is one tornado on Mars that has been raging on its surface for just over three months. These storms or tornados consist of dust, iron, rocks and a lot of other thing that are on Mars surface. Due to this it makes probes harder and harder to travel on its martian surface. Mars has ice caps on its surface that arent made of water but are made of almost pure carbon dioxide. This carbon dioxide ice can also be known as dry ice. This ice forms when the gas freezes in the atmosphere and falls kind of like snow here on Earth. The carbon dioxide is what gives the ice caps a bluish color. These ice caps also show that there is a possibility that water may be on its surface. We will know for sure when we explore Mars completely in the future. These ice caps come and go because of season. The warming and cooling on the planet affects the climate and the weather. Like here on Earth Mars has volcanos. Olympus Mons is the largest volcano ever. It is said to be at least fifteen miles high. Although it is not active because it is extinct. It used to erupt with great fury. There are other volcanos on Mars such as, Elysiun, and Tharsis that are still active and erupt constantly. The lava can flow for great distances and destroying everything in its path. The Mariner 4 was the first successful probe to ever land on Mars surface. The only evidence we got from it showed the Mars was a still dead planet. We sent two probes of in the 1976 suc ...

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O rubor sanguinis by Hildegarde of Bingen - Essay Example This is   another   historical love masterpiece adapted from a poem written by the same artist. The song makes use of a number of artistic features of composition to create a rhythm to the song key among which include rhymes. The artist carefully selects words that sound similar in structuring the sentences in the song. The song is thus a composition of proses that are all rhythmic. This fuses seamlessly with the scanty beats of the time and even though the quality of production is low, the song remains a French masterpiece among lovers of music and history. Love is the oldest topic on which artists have composed lyrics and this old song attest to the same allusions (Langol, Lee, Thomas and Floyd 41).Ave Maria,† Josquin Desprez (France, 1455-1521) By the time of its production, many artists had taken to the trade and music was fast evolving. Josqui Desprez thus used a number of features in the song to ensure that it remained relevant to the society thousands of years after his death. The poor spelling and the different pronunciation of some of the French words portray just how old the song is. The song further employs the common features of the arts to develop rhymes and other forms of rhythms (Burgess 12). The artist uses beats sparingly which implies that the lyrics had an effective flow of rhythm. Furthermore, the artist had an advanced production skills and archiving tools, this retained the quality of his songs despite his long journeys throughout the European continent.   Pope Marcellus Mass,† Palestrina (Italy, 1525-1594)

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Mechanism Description - Essay Example ï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½#7 ###ï ¿ ½#ï ¿ ½###############B#####bjbjU#U################### ###"###7|##7|##B ###ï ¿ ½#######n######## ##ï ¿ ½###ï ¿ ½#######ï ¿ ½#######ï ¿ ½#######ï ¿ ½#######ï ¿ ½#######ï ¿ ½#######ï ¿ ½#######ï ¿ ½#######ï ¿ ½#######ï ¿ ½#######ï ¿ ½#######ï ¿ ½#######ï ¿ ½#######ï ¿ ½#######ï ¿ ½###$###ï ¿ ½ ## ###ï ¿ ½###T###ï ¿ ½#######################Z#######ï ¿ ½#######################ï ¿ ½#######ï ¿ ½#######ï ¿ ½#######ï ¿ ½#######ï ¿ ½#######:#######Z#######Z#######ï ¿ ½###############ï ¿ ½#######ï ¿ ½#######:#######:#######:#######ï ¿ ½###j###Z#######ï ¿ ½#######Z#######ï ¿ ½#######ï ¿ ½###############:#######################################################ï ¿ ½#######ï ¿ ½#######:###P###:###############ï ¿ ½#######Z#######Z###############################################################ï ¿ ½#######ï ¿ ½#######ï ¿ ½### ######ï ¿ ½#######:#######n#######n#######Z#######Z#######Z#######Z#########ï ¿ ½### MECHANISM At this time I was caught by a bug called Ipod as it has become a style status apart from being a media and communication tool, I was so desperate for this gadget so much so that I was ready to do anything to get hold of it. By virtue of luck or fate I was selected as a freelance writer for a website. After a fortnight I received my first salary up to a

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Ogallala aquifer - Essay Example A lot of our water supply comes from water wells that are drilled deep down into the aquifers. We need these aquifers to stay unpolluted in order to continue to enjoy them. The Ogallala aquifer is one of the worlds largest and is located beneath the Great Plains area of the United States. It is fairly shallow but because of its surface area contains an enormous amount of water. This aquifer is vital for the future of the United States, and yet it is not doing very well. The water in it is running low. As one researcher recently framed the issue: Many people assume that large groundwater formations may temporarily run low, but will fill again when rainfall is plentiful – as do lakes, rivers, and reservoirs. However, unless the areas impacted are unaffected by the factors that contribute to high evaporation – such as minimal rainfall, abundant sunshine, low humidity, and periodic strong winds – this assumption is not even remotely correct. Therefore, it is imperative that we find solutions through research to water problems and maintain the aquifer as a continuing resource (Guru, 6). The problems range in severity and the length of time they will occur in. We must take action now to avoid the aquifers depletion and pollution. We need to preserve its use for future generations. To lose the use of this aquifer would be a serious indictment against the United States and a blow to farmers throughout the Midwest who rely on it to irrigate and water their crops. Sadly a number of new techniques threaten the safety of aquifers. In The Whole Fracking Enchilada by Sandra Steingraber, the author discusses how natural gas is extracted from shale. The process can be very destructive to the environment. We have to be mindful of this in the future as we continue to try to meet our energy needs while preserving the quality of our environment and drinking supply. Excessive water use in the extraction of natural resources is another threat to aquifers. We need water

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Wireless and Mobile Technologies Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Wireless and Mobile Technologies - Assignment Example Basically, one can develop a mobile technology on mobile technology on a mobile device or on a computer to develop another mobile technology. For example, WAP is a mobile technology, and so are the mobile applications and SMS and mobile websites etc. These technologies are utilized by organizations in different ways so as to improve their efficiency. They are utilized by organizations so as to realize an unprecedented connectivity level between employees, customers, and/or vendors. Employees are able to download applications on their phones that enable them to connect via social media like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, or the organization may utilize web-site based applications so as to facilitate for direct communication with their customers in different ways. Real-time communication in very important in realizing business benefits, like improved customer service, efficient use of staff time, and a range of products and services delivered (Smyth, et al. 2004). Because of the interactive nature of these technologies, organizations are able to get urgent feedback on products and services from their customers through sharing of information through this medium.Rapid development and business research are some of the results of efficient wireless communication technology. Besides, it offers a competitive advantage to firms in their different industries hence increased productivity and quality of output. In this respect, consumer community is also made to have a feeling of having a direct role in the development of a company. Mobile technology introduced fresh ways of product promotion and advertisements. There are apps incorporated in the mobile phones which enhance people’s awareness on various goods and services and market trends which effectively offer companies platform to promote diverse brands. Besides, prospective customers are able to read the required information by the individual on his/her mobile phone and it

Ogallala aquifer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ogallala aquifer - Essay Example A lot of our water supply comes from water wells that are drilled deep down into the aquifers. We need these aquifers to stay unpolluted in order to continue to enjoy them. The Ogallala aquifer is one of the worlds largest and is located beneath the Great Plains area of the United States. It is fairly shallow but because of its surface area contains an enormous amount of water. This aquifer is vital for the future of the United States, and yet it is not doing very well. The water in it is running low. As one researcher recently framed the issue: Many people assume that large groundwater formations may temporarily run low, but will fill again when rainfall is plentiful – as do lakes, rivers, and reservoirs. However, unless the areas impacted are unaffected by the factors that contribute to high evaporation – such as minimal rainfall, abundant sunshine, low humidity, and periodic strong winds – this assumption is not even remotely correct. Therefore, it is imperative that we find solutions through research to water problems and maintain the aquifer as a continuing resource (Guru, 6). The problems range in severity and the length of time they will occur in. We must take action now to avoid the aquifers depletion and pollution. We need to preserve its use for future generations. To lose the use of this aquifer would be a serious indictment against the United States and a blow to farmers throughout the Midwest who rely on it to irrigate and water their crops. Sadly a number of new techniques threaten the safety of aquifers. In The Whole Fracking Enchilada by Sandra Steingraber, the author discusses how natural gas is extracted from shale. The process can be very destructive to the environment. We have to be mindful of this in the future as we continue to try to meet our energy needs while preserving the quality of our environment and drinking supply. Excessive water use in the extraction of natural resources is another threat to aquifers. We need water

Wireless and Mobile Technologies Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Wireless and Mobile Technologies - Assignment Example Basically, one can develop a mobile technology on mobile technology on a mobile device or on a computer to develop another mobile technology. For example, WAP is a mobile technology, and so are the mobile applications and SMS and mobile websites etc. These technologies are utilized by organizations in different ways so as to improve their efficiency. They are utilized by organizations so as to realize an unprecedented connectivity level between employees, customers, and/or vendors. Employees are able to download applications on their phones that enable them to connect via social media like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, or the organization may utilize web-site based applications so as to facilitate for direct communication with their customers in different ways. Real-time communication in very important in realizing business benefits, like improved customer service, efficient use of staff time, and a range of products and services delivered (Smyth, et al. 2004). Because of the interactive nature of these technologies, organizations are able to get urgent feedback on products and services from their customers through sharing of information through this medium.Rapid development and business research are some of the results of efficient wireless communication technology. Besides, it offers a competitive advantage to firms in their different industries hence increased productivity and quality of output. In this respect, consumer community is also made to have a feeling of having a direct role in the development of a company. Mobile technology introduced fresh ways of product promotion and advertisements. There are apps incorporated in the mobile phones which enhance people’s awareness on various goods and services and market trends which effectively offer companies platform to promote diverse brands. Besides, prospective customers are able to read the required information by the individual on his/her mobile phone and it

TQM in United Airlines Essay Example for Free

TQM in United Airlines Essay The notion of Total Quality Management has paved the way for many businesses to adapt to the ever changing demands of the market. Because of this principle, many large companies such as United Airlines have already involved TQM to back up their goals in maintaining superior customer satisfaction by providing the best product packages and services.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Why does an organization need to implement a customer targeted quality principle? Basically, the answer to this question will only divert in a single approach, to increase profitability. Of course, a business entity needs to strengthen its capacity to maintain a high level of business function. In order to do this, it should have at least a permanent group of client parameters which will support its operations for a long time. For a company, every aspect of its operations in the business primarily depends on how the customers influence its performance in the market share. That is why maintaining a group of customers longer than expected will sustain stability for the organization.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the aspect of maintaining a customer base, the company should know that it needs to involve the direct approach in satisfying the requests of the customers. It should be able to support the needs of the clients as well as to satisfy their demands for a good service. Apparently, an excellent form of customer satisfaction predicts the level of customer retention a company may achieve (Kotelnikov, 2008). If the customers get quality products and services, then most likely they will have a good relationship with the brand. Thus, the company will get credit for such attention and will be able to strengthen its grip in the market.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Essentially, TQM has long been implemented by companies which are involved in the service sectors. The main reason for this is that business owners know that customer satisfaction can help produce larger profit generations when they are fulfilled with the services they need. Of course, this does not only involve the delivery of services but the functional rendering of quality service. For United Airlines, the value of quality has a direct contribution on the perception of the customers towards how the company projects its image to the commercial market. This ideal has let the air company to implement certain measures that will help it achieve the overall client-based satisfaction for many years of its operations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For United Airlines, the company has implemented a strategic TQM principle to make way for full customer satisfaction for its services. Since the organization is involved in the service sector, it has delegated its approach to sustain a better condition of flights to all of its passengers. This goal intends to keep the airline company operate at the maximum levels of quality while capturing a large share of margins in the airline industry segment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In order to help the company structure its TQM aspect, it has defined a 12-point customer satisfaction system. This format was established to help the organization be reminded of what their primary goal is aside from profitability (United Airlines, 2008). The list contains the most significant approaches that United Airlines can complete for customer satisfaction principles. Lowest Airline Rate – United Airlines’ quality service does not come only in the aspect of direct physical interactions. It also provides an economic fundamental to achieve customer satisfaction. The company offers some of the lowest air fare rates to various destinations. This approach in quality management helps boost the company sales in terms of satisfying the clients about financial considerations. There are also special discounts and privileges for passengers who are going to buy airline tickets in bulk or during holiday seasons. This extends customer service in economical ways. Customer Information – As part of the TQM principle of UA, one very good approach of the company is to send important messages and info about the status of flight schedules. Of course, if something is predicted to become a delaying factor of the operations, then the passengers should be made aware of it in order for them to adjust personal schedules. This will give the clients a perception of reliability and become more confident of the airline’s operations. Baggage Delivery – United Airlines employ the service fundamentals of on time delivery of baggage for optimum customer satisfaction. The airline employs responsible and efficient staffs in order to take care of the passenger’s baggage for scheduled delivery per flight. Baggage Limit – in addition to baggage delivery, the company also provides a fair structure when it comes to identifying baggage limitation principles for each of its passengers. Reservations – The Company provides the option for the customers to have a seat reserved to them or to cancel it. This helps the customer to involve a thorough decision making approach about his trips. Ticket – In cases when seats are requested to be cancelled, the company also provides an option for its passengers to have a ticket refund. This can optimize the trust of the clients to the company as part of the customer satisfaction program. Special Passengers – One of the distinct quality management of United Airlines is its capability to accommodate passengers with varying needs. It is very likely that flight operations will attend to passengers with disabilities. In this aspect, the company has designated facilities and personnel who will cater to the needs of these special clients. Customer Needs – On the part of basic customer needs, the company also employs a service commitment to help passengers get the things they need. A refreshing on flight drink or a very good TV program on board are just some of the customer satisfaction service offerings. Customer Treatment – United Airlines also instructed its personnel to treat denied passengers with optimum respect. They are also provided with the information of the case why such acts are necessary based on the situation. Current Flight Info – The staff of the airline also makes it a point to disclose information about other flight concerns such as cancellation policies, itineraries and technical aircraft configurations. Coordination – The Company also employs the use of coordination techniques for regional operations so that it can easily manage customer service needs in very efficient ways. Since the company is involved in cross-continent operations, it is advantageous for it to have an open communications with airports and air facilities in different countries. This makes it possible for the company to customize its services based on passenger nationalities. Customer Inquiries – One last customer service principle of United Airlines is its direct, simple and timely response to customer questions and inquiries about the operations of the airline. As a matter of fact, it is one of the pioneers in the airline industry which enable their clients to ask questions using different channels such as telephone, internet and mobile phones.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For a company to maintain its optimal business operations, it should have the necessary capability to address the organization’s needs both internally and externally. In the internal matters, it would be appropriate to select a leadership who can inject principles towards quality management. This does not only involve schemes of profitability immediately in the market scope but should also address the long term possibility of growth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For United Airlines, the leadership principles employed by its administration has provided so many advantages for the organization. Because of the formulation of the 12-point customer satisfaction system, the admin was able to capture the true needs of the passengers when it comes to reliable and efficient airline operations. The leaders very well know that having a business in the service sector demands a direct approach towards the impressions of the clients. If they will receive a very good service with all the aspects of quality, then most likely they will get the worth of their money. And if they experience these benefits, then it is not impossible for them to stick with the company as their major airline service provider. In the light of economic recession, Airline customer satisfaction falls while one of the reasons can be attributed to customer satisfaction (Boston, 2008). However, with United Airline’s TQM principle, it is less likely to experience client related dilemmas.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Increasing the capability of the business towards economic strengthening goes beyond effective investment processes. Although it may be important to allocate the funds in the most diversified and profitable ways, the creation of TQM principles will ultimately predict how the organization will sustain long term market presence. In order for the business to flourish exponentially, it should always look at how its major clients will be affected with the use of business principles related to quality. References Boston. 2007. Airline customer satisfaction falls. Bsoton.com-Business. Retrieved January 23, 2008 from http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2007/05/15/airline_customer_satisfaction_falls/?rss_id=Boston+Globe++Business+News. Kotelnikov, V. 2008. Customer Satisfaction. Ten-3 Business E-coach. Retrieved January 23, 2008 from http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/customer_satisfaction.html. United Airlines. 2008. Customer Commitment. United Airlines Inc. Retrieved January 23, 2008 from http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,1506,00.html.

The Effect of AFTA on Malaysian Agriculture

The Effect of AFTA on Malaysian Agriculture The agriculture sector is the sector that would be adversely affected due to the implementation of AFTA. AFTA will also lead to agricultural country facing greater competition from other countries manufacturers that have excess production costs.  American food imports has increased every year from the effects of increasing the number and standard of living.  In 1996, imports of food (including animal feed) and agricultural inputs was RM10.5 billion compared with RM4.6 billion in 1990.  In 1997 (January to October) the import is RM9.1 billion.  Malaysia experienced a trade deficit in food (including pet food) and agricultural inputs.  This means that there is an outflow of surplus state funds to finance imports. In 1996 exports amounted to RM4.2 billion, and in 1997 (January-October 1997) was RM4.5 billion.  This means that the trade deficit in food and agricultural inputs in 1996 were RM6.3 billion and RM4.6 billion in 1997. Although, agriculture Malaysia at this time still dominates the market, there are concerns that performance will not last after the AFTA implementation.  Malaysia agricultural products can only compete at this juncture because the aid of subsidies and taxes imposed on the protected agricultural neighbours.  So too, some agricultural products from Thailand and Indonesia still cheaper than products in the country.  Furthermore, the output of vegetables such as from Cameron Highlands will rising prices due to rising prices of fertilizers and pesticides.   Thailand agricultural products are available for sale at half price until two or three times cheaper than our country. For example tomatoes from Thailand were sold at wholesale at a price of RM14-RM20 for 20 kilograms while tomatoes in Cameron Highlands can reaching up to RM40 for the same quantity of tomatoes.  Meanwhile, Indonesian products such as cabbage are sold cheaper than double the output of cabbage Cameron Highlands.  Indeed, Indonesia is the quality of vegetables grown in the highlands of Sumatra is not so good. However, if no taxes are high, prices will be very cheap to buy the buyer gets a big advantage. Although forced to remove the damaged portion of vegetables, this is definitely not a problem.   Effects of AFTA can be clearly seen on the rice/paddy sector.  Before the end of 2004, the government has raised taxes rice from 0% to 40%.  The purpose of the import tariff is to protect the domestic price of imported rice to be higher than the price of local rice.  AFTA law requires a maximum of 40% imposed in 2005 and will be reduced to 20% by 2010.   According to the local rice industry, the rate of 20% of rice imports in 2010 will not be able to protect the local rice industry.   As a result farmers are ruined to excessive paddy supply and low prices. Our farmers also unable to compete in the open market without the subsidies provided by the government, as the production cost in neighbouring countries is much lower. Market supply of fish, especially for the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia such as Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and the time is increasingly dominated by catches of southern Thailand.  After the implementation AFTA, the fish are expected to dominate the market throughout the country. This is because fish caught by fishermen Malaysia is higher due to rising diesel prices, rising hot spares, and transportation of fish to market high.  Perhaps the most affected industries are the automobile, even though Malaysia postpone the opening of the domestic market to foreign products until 2005.   AFTA also affects more than 300,000 families of rice planters, more than 80,000 fishermen families, more than 400,000 smallholder families, more than 250,000 rubber and oil palm smallholder families.  This is because industrial crops such as palm oil, rubber and cocoa will be dominated by the estate and corporate. International agricultural companies large and small farmers would be competing with the cause of small farmers increasingly marginalized. This is due to AFTA is in favour of big traders but not the farmers and small entrepreneurs.  At the same time, priority is given to corporations to develop the agricultural sector.  Thus, large corporations dominated the entire process of agricultural production such as production and stocks of seeds, processing, packaging, transportation and marketing.  Farmers do not have the authority to determine and only employee of large agricultural companies. Farmers also do not have the power in the production of agriculture product. No t only that, small farmers also have only two options if they cannot compete which are selling the land or work as labourers. Furthermore, implementation of AFTA has also affected the agricultural labourers.  This is because the opening in the trade competitiveness of the company causing the transfer of labour-intensive to technology-intensive companies to reduce production costs.  Thus, unskilled workers were adversely affected because the big businessmen looking for sites to operate in low-cost labour.  The transfer also resulted in the employment opportunities of local workers and the diminishing power of employee consultation will also become more vulnerable. As a conclusion, the implementation of AFTA will affect the farmers adversely. A reduction in the import duty will make foreign rice cheaper and this will crowd out domestic rice production. This crowding effect may potentially result in the unemployment of some 150,000 rice farming households putting additional burden on the government.

The Judicial Process and Batson Case Essay -- Jury Duty Bias Voir Dire

The Judicial Process and Batson Case Despite the efforts of lawyers and judges to eliminate racial discrimination in the courts, does racial bias play a part in today’s jury selection? Positive steps have been taken in past court cases to ensure fair and unbiased juries. Unfortunately, a popular strategy among lawyers is to incorporate racial bias without directing attention to their actions. They are taught to look for the unseen and to notice the unnoticed. The Supreme Court in its precedent setting decision on the case of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), is the first step to limiting racial discrimination in the court room. The process of selecting jurors begins with prospective jurors being brought into the courtroom, then separating them into smaller groups to be seated in the jury box. The judge and or attorneys ask questions with intent to determine if any juror is biased or cannot deal with the issues fairly. The question process is referred to as voir dire, a French word meaning, â€Å"to see to speak†. During voir dire, attorneys have the right to excuse a juror in peremptory challenges. Peremptory challenges are based on the potential juror admitting bias, acquaintanceship with one of the parties, personal knowledge of the facts, or the attorney believing he/she might not be impartial. In the case of Batson v. Kentucky, James Batson, a black man, was indicted for second-degree burglary and receipt of stolen goods. During the selection of the jury the prosecutor used his peremptory challenges to strike out all of the four black potential jurors, leaving an all white jury. Batson’s attorney moved to discharge the venire, the list from which jurors may be selected, on the grounds that the prosecutor’s peremptory challenges violated his client’s Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights to have a jury derived from a â€Å"cross-section of the community†(People v. Wheeler, 583 P.3d 748 [Calif. 1978]). The circuit court ruled in favor of the prose cutor and convicted Batson on both counts. This case went through the courts and finalized in the U.S. Supreme Court. In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Batson. The Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment forbids the prosecutor from challenging potential jurors solely on account of their race or on the assumption that black jurors as a group will be unable to consider the state’s case ag... ...Philip (1986) â€Å"Court’s term marked by blows to race bias; justices ok affirmative action, ease challenges to discrimination in voting, pay, jury selection† Los Angeles Times, July 4: Part 1; pg 1; Column 2. Lewis, Peter (1992) â€Å"Judge Kills Bid To Study Race Bias In Jury Pools† The Seattle Times, May 30: pg A9. Marcus, Ruth (1991) â€Å"High Court Bars Race Bias In Selection of Civil Juries; Ruling Says Skin Color No Test of Impartiality† The Washington Post, June 4: pg A1. Riccardi, Michael (1998) â€Å"Dennis: Get Rid Of Challenges Without Cause† The Legal Intelligencer, Oct. 14: pg 1. Smith, William (1997) â€Å"Useful or Just Plain Unfair? The Debate Over Peremptories; Lawyers, Judges Spllit Over the Value of Jury Selection Method† The Legal Intelligencer, April 23: pg 1. Smith, William (1997) â€Å"McMahon Plays Opposite Side of Batson Fence† The Legal Intelligencer, April 9: pg 1. Stewart, David (1986) â€Å"Court rules against jury selection based on race† ABA Journal, July 1: 72 ABAJ 68. Zwillman, Blair and Albin, Barry (1999) â€Å"Legislature Sould Defeat Proposal To Reduce Peremptory Challenges† Nov. 29: pg 23. Batson v. Kentucky 476 U.S. 79 (1986). WWW.dictionary.law.com

A Modest Proposal For Making Driving More Entertaining, While Creating

A Modest Proposal For Making Driving More Entertaining, While Creating The Same Risks For Everyone On The Road It was suggested to me that we â€Å"†¦kill all [the] dumbasses [who choose to drink and drive],† but I felt this too harsh (Holzbach). Why not let them kill themselves? The nation, as a whole, would be more pleasant, happier and more carefree. It is a melancholy object to those who often frequent the bars in this great country to see those who do not currently share in their fortunate state of being. They are usually alone, observing those around them with great envy, holding the car keys, but worst of all, sober. It is the inopportune being who is unluckily chosen to be the designated driver for the evening. It is always an enjoyable experience to spend hour upon hour pounding back the drinks in a bar. Why limit the fun? Why choose someone to be a designated driver and make his or her night miserable? Why not take the fun onto the road? I think that it is agreed by all parties that the prodigious number of sober drivers in our neighborhoods, city streets, and country roads is at present deplorable to the state of our great nation. Currently, a whopping ninety-eight percent of Americans of driving age feel threatened by those who drive under the influence of alcohol, which means that only two percent of Americans are able to fully relax and enjoy themselves while on the road, and with the growing awareness, this number could be on the rise (MADD Online: General Statistics 1). What a travesty! All drivers, and passengers alike, should be put at the same risk for danger, be it damage, injury, or death. But my intention is very far from being confined to provide only for those driving the cars: it is of a much ... ...ed American FactFinder. U.S. Census Bureau. 18 September 2002 . Brown, Meg. Personal interview. 18 September 2002. Holzbach, Wyatt. E-mail interview. 18 September 2002. Licensed Drivers – Our Nation’s Highways – 2000. 26 April 2002. U.S. Department of Transportation. 18 September 2002 MADD Online: General Statistics. MADD Online. 18 September 2002 . MADD Online: Government Survey Shows Troubling News On Drunk Driving, Underage Drinking. 5 September 2002. MADD Online. 15 September 2002 . Reed, Kim. E-mail interview. 18 September 2002. Santo, Beth. E-mail interview. 18 September 2002.

‘That doom abided, / but in time it would come’ (Beowulf, lines 83-4)

It is indeed immediately evident to the reader (or listener) of Beowulf, that the poem is heavily laden with themes of fate and destiny. I would even go as far as saying that it is partly the weight that these themes lend that gives Beowulf its rich and beautiful quality. These themes are present throughout the text, for instance the creation of Heorot comes with the prophecy of its doom, with â€Å"its gables wide and high and awaiting / a barbarous burning† (lines 82-3). We are also given the cause for such a fate, namely blood feud between in-laws. The inevitable doom associated with blood feuds, and its associated fratricide, is also present at the end of the text with the wild prediction of the war and destruction of the Geat nation at the Shylfing's hands. It is also interesting to note here that the poem is book ended by funerals, death being the inevitable conclusion of fate, and also with prophecy, particularly effective for a contemporary audience knowledgeable of the outcomes of such prognostications. However, it is in the episode of Beowulf's fight against the dragon that we see the most signposted manifestation of fate: He was sad at heart, Unsettled yet ready, sensing his death. His fate hovered near, unknowable but certain (2419-2421) From the offset, we are told that Beowulf will die in this final battle, with the effect of altering our perception of the final fight; we see it as tragic and heroic, this warrior king fighting despite sensing his fate near at hand. This gives the weight to the dragon fight, gives it its grim, poetic beauty. Here fate is expressed as a sense of foreboding, external to any value judgement. This would have a concept familiar to the Germanic tradition of wyrd, or doom. However, if this is to be considered as evidence of the Anglo-Saxon concept of doom, then in the poem we are also able to see the Christian equivalent, which can perhaps be better referred to as divine providence. In this interpretation of destiny, there is an integral component of judgement, whereby destiny is set out by God. This approach to destiny can be seen at numerous points, for example â€Å"a comfort sent / by God to that nation† (13-4). Here we can clearly see the influence of Christian beliefs in the narrative voice of the poet. The evidence of divine intervention can be found elsewhere in Beowulf, for example in his fight against Grendel's mother: It was easy for the Lord, the Ruler of Heaven, to redress the balance once Beowulf got back on his feet. (1554-6) This has the effect of showing that all outcomes are ultimately attributable to God, here reinforcing the positive characterisation of Beowulf by essentially saying that God is in support of him. The poet was here faced with a challenge when intertwining the themes of Christian providence and pagan wyrd, namely how do you tell an essentially pagan story of a warrior hero while staying true to a contrasting theological belief? In reply, we can identify several features of the Beowulf poem that allow a satisfactory reconciliation of these apparently antithetical themes. The first is an identification of Beowulf and the other Germanic pagan heroes with God through their opposition to evil. An exemplification of this is that Grendel is intimately associated with sin and hell, for example in the description of him as â€Å"a fiend out of hell† (100) and the passage: he had dwelt for a time in misery among the banished monsters, Cain's clan, whom the Creator had outlawed and condemned as outcasts. (104-7) Therefore, if Beowulf represents the purging factor that destroys the evil of Grendel and his mother, then by implication he is identified as an agent of God, an important point as it demonstrates that he is under the influence of providence whilst still subject to his doom. In a number of ways the heroic characters are distanced from the paganism that they historically must hold, in particular they adhere to characteristically Christian formulas of worship. An example of this is â€Å"They thanked God / for that easy crossing on a calm sea† (227-8), which is instantly recognisable as an un-pagan thanksgiving to the providence of a single God. Indeed, throughout Beowulf there are signs that these pagans worshiped a monotheistic precursor to Christianity, rather than the polytheistic idol worship that would be extremely difficult to excuse from a Christian viewpoint. Thomas D. Hill points out that this would allow an approach similar to later humanists, such as Dante who placed such figures as Aristotle, Cato and Rifeo (all pagan) variously in hell, limbo or heaven. This in turn has the effect of allowing the providence theme to sit alongside that of doom because the distancing of the heroic characters from paganism conversely allows their more believable association with God's fate. To further this effect, there is a selective assimilation of Christian sources into the poem. This is exampled by the numerous references to the Old Testament, in particular to the race of Giants – e.g. â€Å"and the giants too who strove with God† (113) – and to the original sin and banishment of Cain for the murder of Abel (105-114). This enables a listener from a Germanic culture to more readily accept the Christian overtones, as the Old Testament is notably closer to their own in its values than the New Testament, as well as the characters to be portrayed as what Hill refers to as â€Å"Noachites†, a people possessing the intrinsic monotheism of Noah but before the â€Å"revealed knowledge of God †¦granted to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, a tradition culminated by the revelation of Law to Moses†. Thus, although at one point the poem does iterate that they were damned as pagans because â€Å"The Almighty Judge / of good deeds and bad, the Lord God, /†¦ was unknown to them† (180-3) (which is possibly explained as an interpolation), it enables the poet to suggest that these pagan heroes could, in fact, be fated for salvation by God and in death go to heaven, such as Hrethel who â€Å"chose God's light† (2469). Thus, we can see how the poet of Beowulf reconciles these two divergent themes of fate and destiny, on one hand doom and on the other providence. In this respect the poem therefore also represents a much larger scale co-assimilation and synthesis of the Germanic and Christian traditions. The resulting fine balance struck by the poet between them is highly interesting from a literary viewpoint and also gives the poem an intense and rich atmosphere. Conclusion: Thus we can see how the poet reconciles these two different strands of fate, on one hand doom and on the other providence. In this respect the poem therefore also represents the co-assimilation of the Germanic and Christian traditions.