Essay on The Department of Homeland security Essay

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was established by this act of parliament: Homeland security Act of 2002. It was created to consolidate the US executive branch agencies linked to the security of the homeland, into a one cabinet department. It resulted into partnership of 22 agencies into one new and autonomous department. After the investigations of 9/11, the republican government under the presidency of George W. Bush came up with measures to solve the shortcomings of national security. Within a fort night after the terrorist attacks, George W. Bush announced the formation of the office of Homeland security developed to protect US territories from terrorist attacks and offer efficient and effective emergency and intelligence response to potential future natural disasters. The President signed Executive Order 13228 on October 8, 2001 setting up this office with the mission of developing and coordinating the implementation of a detailed national security strategy to prevent the United States from suffering another terrorist attacks The U.S. PATRIOT Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism) is the most important law passed after the 9/11 attack. It is so essential because of the fact that it improves inter-agency cooperation for the collection of intelligence andit’s sharing. This barrier being broken down has contributed to a very large extent the protection of the US. Additionally, it appreciates the fact that the advent of technologyensures that our laws are updated and has encouraged better prosecution of suspected terrorists. Lastly, it has strengthened the existing terrorism legislations, reflecting some specific situations that did not exactly exist previously. These are the things that make the PATRIOT Act a great addition to law enforcement. The Homeland Security Act is the other important piece of legislation. The most vital element was the fact that the multi-crisis management agencies were clustered under one command structure and then given the mandate to work with law enforcement agencies with a nation-wide outlook, as specified in section 101 of the Homeland Security Act (2002). The Homeland Security presidential directives are powers exercised by the president to form a de facto order. While the general vision for homeland security is firmly etched with the Executive branch, the more the details that will fall to the legislative branch. In the period after 9/11, several key legislations were passed. The most important being the U.S. PATRIOT Act,  and the Homeland Security Act of 2002. Executive Orders have for a long time been a technique for a President to de facto come up with a law & further give the details on powers of the E xecutive branch. The 1st Presidential proclamation issued because of an internal issue was the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus by President Lincoln in 1861. This influential order would pave the way for subsequent Presidential actions with regard to terrorists, enemy combatants and saboteurs. The DHS was put under the leadership of Mr. Tom Ridge. Boarder-line security, antiterrorism, disaster preparedness, Immigration, response and recovery are some of the key areas DHS influences. The Department of Homeland Security brought in 22 law enforcement, security and intelligence agencies under one command. Immigration issues are core to the US internal security. In 2003, therefore the department took up the Immigration and Naturalization Service automatically assuming its duties. This action led to the separation of the service and information functions into 2 distinct agencies: Citizenship and Immigration and Immigration and Custom Enforcement services. United States. Homeland security strategy and policy from 2004 until now is marked by the establishment of strategiesformulated correct deficiencies on the general security position of the country. In total 5 new strategies were developed, they are: 1.The Strategy for Homeland Defense and Civil Support, June 2005 2.The National Strategy for Maritime Security, September 2005 3.The National Intelligence Strategy, October 2005 4.The National Counterintelligence Strategy, March 2007 5.The National Strategy for Aviation Security, March 2007 (2010) Each strategy lists objectives that can weigh the effectiveness of the purpose of existing weaknesses in each distinctivearea. As these are strategies, they have to beimplemented with success over the scope of the past 3 years. Two other bills were passed into law in this time period: The Intelligence Community and the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA) and The Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act. The IRPTA matured into a law on December 17, 2004. Most of the recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission were included into this law, dropping the head of the Intelligence Community (IC) from the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) to the Director of National Intelligence. The National Counter Terrorism  Center was founded. As a foundation for a counter terrorism activities, it brings together all intelligence gathered on terrorist activities & serves as a cleaning house for these matters. As one entity, it has made significant contributions to the successful defense of the nation.

American Violet Movie Review

The movie â€Å"American Violet set in Hearne County Texas, depicts the victimization of innocent second class citizens who are subject to racial bias and police corruption. Hearne county, a small town run by a corrupt D. A. was conducting military type drug raids on low income housing units that targeted the African American population, and this was no coincidence. Shockingly, this all took place not many years ago, just in the year 2000. The culture in the south was still apparently highly prejudice and racists, even in the criminal justice system, causing much harm to innocent people.Due to the type of people they were targeting, the working class, the trickle down effect of who was being affected by these arrests was everlasting. Dee Brown, in the movie, a single mother of four, is a prime example who was the only source of income for her children and was only a waitress at that. The victimization process in this movie is incredible, and seems almost unreal how insensitive the D . A. was to these people, using them and manipulating them the way he did without any sign of guilt.This relates directly to our victimization class in how these people are victimized. First, falsely accused and arrested on charges by a single conformant, then forced into a plea bargain or almost a certain conviction. Victimization within the criminal justice system is still a big problem today, as the majority of cases are never sent to trial and almost always settled in a plea bargain. This is corruption within the system and needs to be fixed, but still nothing is done.And in order to save time and money judges push for public defenders to push the plea bargain upon uneducated clients who cannot afford their own attorney. Thus, in order for the public defenders to make any money they must hear many cases, and in order to do this they cannot waste their time taking cases to trial. Even if their client may in fact be not guilty, they cannot run the risk of losing, and also more imp ortantly angering the judge. Therefore the reason to the never-ending vicious cycle of corruption within our criminal justice system which all comes down to power and money.Which was apparently a major reason to why these drug raids were happening in Texas. Federal money was going to the counties with the most drug convictions, and having someone in charge of the D. E. A. with racial bias to the African American community made these projects easy pickings. In a small town in Texas, going against the D. A. was simply asking for a lawsuit to brought up against yourself, and to the reason why these raids went on for years, without anyone speaking up for these poor people being served injustice.I believe we are far from an uncorrupt criminal justice system, but are working in the right the direction. The sad thing is, that behind all the corruption within the system, their will always be victims, and when dealing with corruption many times it is innocent people being victimized. Racial factors also will always be an issue no matter what era we are in, and would be naive to overlook it as the nation did so for so long in Texas, not believing that such racial discrimination could still exist in the 21st century.

Manistique Inc.

Manistique Inc. devised a safety compliance program within the organization whose aim is to train and monitor employees inducing low injury rates and higher safety compliance standards. Manistique offers rewards to employees with lower injury rates. The program was implemented on a large-scale throughout the organization amongst 83 plants. Without any statistical analysis it would be impossible to reach a conclusion as to whether the program has improvised the injury rates or not; however, individuals remark that there has been a slide in the injury rates depicting a favorable influence of the training program. The objective at Manistique is to standardize the program across the board so that there is ample saving on administrative costs incurred due to workplace injuries. Before this can be done so, the terms of the program have to be decided which will come in handy in convincing the management of the worthiness of this program. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship between the terms of the safety program and the most two important measures of safety rates: 1. Safety attitudes 2. Time lost due to injuries. Making use of historical information as well as data available from the last quarter, this paper will use statistical techniques to reach a conclusion as to whether the safety program has been successful in lowering injury rates. Analysis The report is attached with the original dataset provided for the analysis of this report. We shall begin by analyzing the correlations between the different variables in the dataset to ascertain a conclusion as to whether the program has really improved safety attitudes and improved the time lost in injuries or whether the change is statistically insignificant Correlation between safe training attitude (safetrain) & i) Total number of injuries (tinjuries) Using the CORREL function in Excel, the value for the correlation co-efficient was: The low positive value of the correlation co-efficient suggests that there is no significant relationship between the safety attitude and the actual number of workplace injuries i. e. the attitude has not helped the practical level of injuries incurred at Manistique. For a significant cause-and-effect relationship the value of the correlation coefficient should have been positively larger. i) Total number of deaths (tfatalities) Using the CORREL function in Excel, the value for the correlation co-efficient was: The correlation co-efficient is negative (as should not have been the case). The value is not significantly high (very close to 0), which suggests that safety standards have hardly any influence in lowering the number of deaths at Manistique. On the other hand it has slightly increased the number of injuries (correlation co-efficient is slightly positive). Thus, safety attitudes have not at all been effective in reducing the number of injuries. iii) Disability days (disabdays) Using the CORREL function in Excel, the value for the correlation co-efficient was: Again the negative value suggests that there is a negative relationship between safety attitude and disability days (the lower the attitude, the lower the disability days). However, the value of the correlation co-efficient is very small which negates any strong relationship between the two variables. Correlation between safety support from co-workers (safesupport) & i) Total number of injuries (tinjuries) Using the CORREL function in Excel, the value for the correlation co-efficient was: The correlation coefficient is positive. This suggests that the increased safety support from co-workers actually has a positivee influence as it results in a drop in number of injuries at Manistique. However the low value of the coefficient suggests no strong cause-and-effect relationship for the program implemented at Manistique. ii) Total number of deaths (tfatalities) Using the CORREL function in Excel, the value for the correlation co-efficient was: The correlation co-efficient is negative (as should not have been the case). This negates all possibilities of a favorable influence of the coworker safety in reducing the number of deaths at Manistique; in fact, the relationship is quite the opposite with a very small magnitude. iii) Disability days (disabdays) Using the CORREL function in Excel, the value for the correlation co-efficient was: The low negative value again brings the conclusion that there exists a negative relationship but the degree of influence is very meek. This brings about the conclusion that there is no significant influence of the co-worker support attitude on the number of disability days; it is quite the opposite. Correlation between safety support from co-workers (feelsafe) & i) Total number of injuries (tinjuries) Using the CORREL function in Excel, the value for the correlation co-efficient was: The correlation co-efficient is negative (as should have been the case). However, the highly negligible value of the co-efficient suggests no significant relationship between a feeling of safety amongst the workers and the actual injuries at Manistique. ii) Total number of deaths (tfatalities) Using the CORREL function in Excel, the value for the correlation co-efficient was: The correlation coefficient is positive (as should not have been the case). Increasing confidence held by a worker that he/she is safe does not decrease the number of injuries at Manistique; rather it increases it weakly. This is ample evidence for a lack of good relationship between the two variables. iii) Disability days (disabdays) Using the CORREL function in Excel, the value for the correlation co-efficient was: The low negative value again brings the conclusion that there exists a positive relationship but the degree of influence is very meek. This brings about the conclusion that there is no significant influence of the belief of safety held by a worker on the number of disability days. Conclusion Based on the calculations made in the above section, the conclusion that can be formed here is quite obvious and brief: the new safety compliance program at Manistique has no significant influence upon improving the number of injuries, fatalities or disability days at Manistique. The training program, co-worker support regarding the safety program or even the belief held by the workers that their safety has increased as a result of the program have no cause-and-effect relationship good enough to reduce the number of worker injuries, deaths and the number of disability days at Manistique. Moving barely above the 0. 1 correlation level, there is no need for statistical hypothesis testing methods to be employed in reaching the conclusion. At any confidence level, these values are sufficiently weak enough to conclude that the safety compliance program is of significant importance in saving administrative costs for Manistique by reducing the number of injuries, deaths or disability days at Manistique.

Carry out your own research to find a non-financial firm that changed Essay

Carry out your own research to find a non-financial firm that changed its dividend policy over the last few years. Assess the (p - Essay Example One of the key theories that explain the relationship between dividend policy and stock price is the irrelevance of dividend policy, in which Miller and Modigliani (1961) suggest that dividend policy is immaterial when it comes to determination of the shareholders’ wealth. They specifically argued that, without considering market imperfection and taxes; the shareholders’ wealth is not affected in any way. Hakansson (1982) supported the views of Miller and Modigliani by maintaining that dividend do not play any role in the value of the firm, regardless of whether they are informative or not; but this applies only when investors possess time additive utility and homogenous belief as well as when the market is fully efficient. Different empirical studies associated with dividend theory policies do not show consistent results. As such, it is not possible to give a general view as to whether the investors prefer dividend or capital gain. Brigham (2010) asserts that it is the prerogative of the management to decide the dividend policy based on industry trends and the long-term objectives of the organisation, a view that squarely explains the reasons why the management of Apple has dramatically changed its dividend policy. Even so, it is imprudent for the management to rely on any specific theory in determination of dividend policy for the corporations they head, because the best policy depends on different circumstances and times. Irrelevance theory is neutral with regard to preference of either capital gain or dividend payout (Miller and Modigliani, 1961). In this model MM concluded that capital structure does not have any effect on the value of the firm. However, MM II, argued that by introducing corporate taxes in to the first model, it gives rise to tax shields which in turn leads to optimal capital structure (Black, 2006). The paper puts into perspective the issue of dividend policy in the context of Apple Inc. The paper also gives a brief overview of the company, as well as putting into perspective the imminent change in divided policy that has been lined up, and those that have already been implemented. The analysis will also incorporate different theories that have been put across by several researchers regarding the relationship between dividend policy and share price volatility. Company Overview The Apple Company designs, manufactures and markets computers, networking solutions, software, peripherals and services. Among the many available products are portable music players, which they both design and develop. Notwithstanding, they engage in online distribution of television shows, audio books, short films, third-party music-both audio and videos. Apple Inc. (Apple) was founded by Stephen Wozniak and Steve Jobs in the latter’s garage. January 3, 1977 saw the incorporation of Apple. The Apple II computer was then later introduced by the duo later that year at a West Coast Computer Fair in San Francisco (Linzmayer, 1999). Dividend Policy Trend in the Technology Industry Distribution policy refers to Companies’ policies put in place to govern issues of dividend payout. For instance, a company can have either high or low dividend distribution policy to its both preference and ordinary

Literacy Program Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Literacy Program - Essay Example This literacy programme is scheduled for a week's time, wherein a strategy is evolved to include all components of the programme. When the reading level of the student is identified, "the objective then becomes measurable, and the teacher can collect information that will provide evidence as to whether it has been met" (Gunning, 2004). In order to improve the reading comprehension of a student, I would like to introduce a combination of materials, that would help a student understand the different kinds of written materials and also improve his overall reading skills. I would include the following components in the reading comprehension module: Reading of a newspaper, a classic novel that is pertinent to the standard of the student, reading columns or articles by eminent personalities that would interest the student, reading a text book of English language, reading comics and finally, reading a project based on the interest levels of a student of the particular standard. Each day of the week-long strategy would include one item from the list each. The list is a pretty comprehensive one, with diversity in the reading approach. ... After the course of the week's programme, a post-test in the form a summative assessment programme, to determine the effectiveness of the programme. PHONICS Teaching phonics is an especially difficult task, since the English language makes use of a combination of sounds, that are pronounced differently under different rules of stress and syllable-framework. Hence, students find it difficult to understand pronunciation under different circumstances. For examples, homonyms are difficult to teach. Hence, the literacy programme would include a strategy to help students pronounce words correctly, keeping in mind, the context. The programme would include reading lessons, wherein students would be introduced to the concept of phonetics, the symbols for each modern letter in the English alphabet, the concept of syllables, exercises based on not just synonyms and antonyms, but also homonyms. Exercises in the form of listening lessons, by encouraging a student to record his/ her reading test everyday on the tape and then asking him/her to come up with a personally assessment of the pronunciation of words. This would help the student understand and analyse words, besides marking the progress he has made in the course of the programme. DEVELOPING VOCABULARY In a literacy programme, developing the strength of the students' vocabulary is very important. For this aspect of literacy education, one cannot generalize the extent of a student's

Economic Decisions Made by Business Interests Research Proposal

Economic Decisions Made by Business Interests - Research Proposal Example However, this is a tool to help the society together. The skills of learning how to run a business and how to sell products are an asset that the women can use in any form at any time. This helps them develop skills that they never had, therefore improving the level of education already. Secondly, due to the business, the standard of life improves when women run a business. They are able to double their monthly household income, which automatically helps. Thirdly they are able to reduce child labor and keep their children in school for longer. Due to this the education level increases and this will automatically help in increasing the literacy rate. If these assets of training would only help in achieving one thing, selling than this wouldn’t be counted as a tool. However, this helps improves the standard of living and increases the literacy level. Therefore increasing the betterment of Indian life overall. Any decision made by will always affect the society if it is a helpful decision it can be referred to as a tool to better the society.

Drug Epidemics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Drug Epidemics - Research Paper Example Although parenthood brings with it an overt phase of endless concern and wellbeing of children becomes the topmost priority, the main concern is regarding bad habits and addictions that their children may succumb to under peer pressure. Abuse of prescription drugs among college students has become an increasing trend in a lot of campuses. Students use these drugs in huge volumes not only to get feelings of intoxication, but also to help them to concentrate for tests or papers, to alleviate themselves from depression or anxiety as well as to help improve their stamina for sports and athletics. A lot of people have stereotypes about who an addict or alcoholic is and how he or she would behave, however, majority of people do not connect this image with young students. Drug education has been made compulsory in the United States all through grade schools and yet the use of drugs continues to increase in college students. Once the students graduate from their high schools, they leave the safe ambit provided by their schools and enter the negatively influential atmosphere of colleges. College life is considered as a period for experimentation, and for some students certain experimentation develops into a bad addiction. When it comes to addiction, age is not a factor that stands in way, moreover, youth proves to be a greater factor that forces students to surrender themselves to bad habits, as peer pressure is more dominant among youngsters. The issues regarding the use of drugs as well as consumption of alcohol among students are significantly growing more serious. The social environment of colleges increasingly encourages the use and abuse of drugs, among which binge-drinking is the most common. Drugs and alcohol pose various threats and problems for both male and female students alike, the effect showing significant decrease in their scores during examinations. This kind of substance abuse is primarily the reason for nearly a third of dropouts in colleges. In an atmosphere where binge drinking is widespread, the number of related legal complications and offences also increase. Illegal drugs, drunk driving and underage possession of alcohol and marijuana can cost fines and also entail imprisonment. Injuries, sexual assault as well as fights are more likely to occur when one has been inebriated by alcohol or intoxicated by drugs. Nearly half of campus injuries are caused due to alcohol consumption according to various studies. Parents and youth in particular need to be well educated with reference to the dangers of the abuse and misuse of presc ription drugs. However, there is a general misperception amongst a lot of youngsters as well as parents that prescription drugs do not have as much as negative impacts when compared to illegal drugs since they are FDA approved. A lot of parents do not understand the risks related with giving prescribed medicine to youngsters or other family members for whom the medicine was not approved. On the other hand, some parents who do provide their children with prescription drugs, do not necessarily pay attention to how their children use or misuse these drugs. Teenagers and youth alike, gain access to unused prescription drugs from the medication cabinets, which their parents often leave open, not considering a situation that their children might use those drugs. â€Å"

LIBRARY RESEARCH PROCESS Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

LIBRARY PROCESS - Research Paper Example A researcher should always start from the reference desk before starting researching on his topic. At the reference desk, the researcher should describe their research interests to the reference librarian based on the research questions a researcher had formulated as a guide in the project. A good researcher is always composed and sure of what they want to research on. This gives a reference librarian confidence to direct the person on the relevant steps and sources. The reference librarian will then direct the researcher to the library catalog where a researcher gathers several relevant materials on the research topic. With all that, the researcher now explores all the available materials that will assist in gathering relevant information on the research topic (Zemliansky, 2008). The exploration starts from browsing through the materials to see whether they contain information worth investigating on. Having gotten the materials, it is also part of best practice to ensure that the ma terials remain in good condition since another person may need them on a later date. Opportunity for consultation: When using brick-and-mortar library, a researcher is in a position to get first hand assistance on their research topic from experienced and trained reference librarians as compare to online research where one relies on the information gotten first (Peters, 2010). A researcher could be tempted to take the reference librarian’s direction as final without giving it further thoughts on exploration. This is risky since it might end up changing the researcher’s original idea of the project. They are inconveniencing especially when a given source is not available in the library. Usually it takes a lot of time for an interlibrary loan since protocols and procedures have to be followed before the material is availed to the researcher. Schultz, A. (2009). Digitalization and the Library: The End of Libraries as Physical Place? Redoable Lite Dean J Robinson. Retrieved

Situational Leadership and it's Impact in Healthcare Research Paper

Situational Leadership and it's Impact in Healthcare - Research Paper Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that in situational leadership, as the employee’s level of knowledge and ability to perform tasks improves, a leader can modify the leadership style to apply. This means the roles of coaching, delegating, directing and supporting vary with maturity. Situational leadership, according to Hersey and Blanchard is important in that it values recognition of extremes. On one side of the extreme, a leader can apply positional authority while on the other side; a leader can delegate authority to enhance freedom among the junior workers. In nursing, a leader can base on two variables; the willingness of junior employees to take up assignments and the ability to post results when determining the extreme to rely on. This plays a critical role especially when a doctor wants to delegate some duties to a nurse. To do so, there must be a level of maturity in a nurse for delegation to happen. The more a senior person delegates, the less work he or she can perform. Since nursing is all about accountability and perfection, it can be easy to trace and get a nurse accountable for mistakes. However, a leader in such a position must take active participation in order to strike a balance between accountability and service delivery and reduce fear among employees. Situational leadership in nursing can help officials in establishing and improving communication and collaboration. According to American Management Association, communication is very important in sustaining and improving productivity. Since it is a flexible leadership style, it can be very easy in cultivating loyalty and improving self-reliance. Nursing requires self-discipline and loyalty since it is a profession that deals with a range of health complications. In order to administer effective medication, there must be communication between doctors and relevant offices and through loyalty; nurses can perform their duties while observing all instruction to the later. It can al so be useful should anything strange happen to patients since communication channels will ensure quick responses to problems at hand.

Fundamentals of Macroeconomics Essay Example for Free

Fundamentals of Macroeconomics Essay Some of the terms that are frequently used in economics are; gross domestic product (GDP), real GDP, nominal GDP, unemployment rate, inflation rate, and interest rates. Gross domestic product is the money value of the nation’s productivity. GDP is the value of all finished goods and services produced within the country’s border. Real GDP is the market value of the final goods and services produced in a year. Real GDP means that it was adjusted for inflation so it will show a more accurate figure. Without real GDP our market values would look a lot higher than they really were and this helps us when trying to see what our productivity was. Nominal GDP is also known as the current dollar amount. It is the gross domestic product that has not been adjusted for inflation. Nominal GDP can be misleading because it does not adjust the inflation amount. For example if the nominal GDP figure showed that it shot up 10% but inflation has been 5% the real GDP has really only increased 5%. The unemployment rate is a percent of people who are not currently working but are willing and able to work or currently seeking. There are three different types of unemployment. The unemployment rate is figured by dividing the number of unemployed people by the number of people who are working and then multiplied by 100. Inflation rate is when prices for goods and services are on the rise. Inflation results in higher prices for the same amount goods and services one could have bought the year before for a lower price. Inflation gives high prices and lower purchasing power from consumers. The dollar amount becomes less than what it previously was. An interest rate is a percentage of the principle, which is the total amount of a loan, given by a lender for the use of an asset. The asset could either be a house or vehicle. An interest rate is usually based on an annual basis so this is also known as an annual percentage rate or APR. Somebody who has a high credit score shows that they have a good track record with other loans and monthly payments and will be given a lower interest rate. Somebody who has a low credit score is considered more high risk and will be given a higher interest rate. The three sectors; government, households, and businesses all have a circular flow between the three. The purchasing of groceries affects each one of the three sectors in different ways. It goes along with the law of demand and supply and the price level or inflation. Households decide and control what and how much to buy for consumption. The income effect has part of what consumers buy also. If there is an unexpected change of price this will affect the purchasing power of the consumer. Since households have control on what they buy and how much this will affect each business that contributes to the grocery stores. The competition in the grocery stores will affect the price of each item will affect what the household buys. Distribution also plays an important role in the economy by getting goods where people want them. If goods are in high demand this may affect the price level which may affect what consumers will buy. The government in turn will make some of their money on sales tax from the groceries. This tax will be used for expenditures that will go back into the economy. A decrease in taxes could affect the three sectors in a positive way. If there is a decrease in taxes there is a chance that more tax revenue is generated. The reason is because if people are bringing in more money into their households they will likely spend more money which will help businesses. If businesses are busy and making more money they will be more likely to hire more people who in turn will also be taxed which will help the government. A massive layoff of employees would hurt the economy and the three sectors. If people are out of work they are bringing in less money for their household. Since they will not have as much money as they are used to they are less likely to spend money which will hurt businesses. If businesses are not making a profit they may be forced to lay more people off. Because there are so many people laid off they will likely collect unemployment insurance which will cost the government more money.

Human Trafficking Human Smuggling

Human Trafficking Human Smuggling Nearly all countries in the world face the challenge of human trafficking and human smuggling whether as a country of transit, origin or destinations for the victims (Jac-Kucharski, 2012). Human trafficking and human smuggling have become a global problem of recent. The investigative agencies within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) approximated that 600000 to 800000 people are trafficked and smuggled annually across the international borders (Department of State, 2006). Additionally; the estimation shows that a significant number of people are trafficked and smuggled within the boundaries of their country. The United States is the final destination country for the trafficked, according to the US Department of State (Department of State, 2006). There are various reasons why people carry out human trafficking and human smuggling. Some of the reasons include labor and sexual exploitation among others (Tena, 2010). Most of the victims are enticed with false promises from their homes and instead enforced into activities such as prostitution, forced labor and domestic servitude to name but a few (Jac- Kucharski, 2012). Additionally, politicians have become part and parcel in the discussion of such activities as a result of the nature of the phenomenon (Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 2013). The non-profit organization and government agencies have had the responsibility to deal with the victims of such actions. Due to the similarities between the two crimes, both have been confused by the public. What are the differences between human trafficking and human smuggling? What are the measures taken by DHS to stop or mitigate both crimes? Differences between human trafficking and human smuggling Human trafficking and human smuggling are different activities in the United States, and these terms cannot be interchanged. Human trafficking is a grave human rights violation and a serious crime that revolves around exploitation of people. Human trafficking can be defined as sex trafficking in the sense that commercial sex activities are forcefully induced, coercion, fraud or rather a state in which the victims who are forcibly persuaded in such acts are below 18-years old (Jakobsson Kotsadam, 2013). Additionally, it can be defined as harboring, recruiting, transporting, providing or obtaining an individual for hard labor activities forcefully, or through fraud or coercion for objection to involuntary slavery, debt bondage or peonage (Tripp Mcmahon, 2016). On the other hand, human smuggling revolves around the transportation of people and can be defined as the act of importing individuals into a country through careful avoidance of immigration laws (Jac-Kucharski, 2012). Such activities include importing illegal aliens into the country and harboring unlawful aliens illegally in the country. Moreover, in some situations, smuggling may involve rape, murder or assault either sexually of physically (Department of State, 2006). Measures established by the Department of Homeland Security to stop or mitigate both crimes The investigative agencies in the Department of Homeland Security in the United States which are responsible for curbing human smuggling and human trafficking include the Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Immigration (Tena, 2010). The ICE cooperates within its law implementation partners in fighting the global infrastructure that is involved in human trafficking and smuggling (ICE, 2013). The ICE achieves this mission by using its experts and authorities, disrobing away profit incentives and assets, cooperating with foreign partners and the United States for the purpose of attacking worldwide network as well as working with global non-governmental organizations for the identification, rescuing and providing assistance to the smuggling victims. The ICE agency has embarked on the determined strategy in fighting human smuggling and trafficking. For instance, the ICE is pursuing investigations which are intelligence-driven for the purpose of targeting large-scale human smuggling organizations irrespective of their location of operations (ICE, 2013). There is specifically located emphasis on the smuggling rings that helps in posing the risk of the national security, threaten lives and engage in violence, extortion, hostage-taking, and abuse. Additionally, there is proper coordination between the ICE and partners at U.S. Customs and Border Protection for the purpose of ensuring hostile investigations and prosecution of the smuggling cases along the country borders. Moreover, the ICE is targeting all the links that are associated with smuggling activities past the direct smugglers (ICE, 2014). Precisely, the ICE aims at targeting the foreign organizers and recruiters, the fake document dealers and transportation, and employment networks who gain from the alien smuggling in the United States. Besides, the ICE aims at pursuing the legislation to raise the penalties beside organized smugglers and offer further criminal offenses to ensure enhancement of discoursing spotters who help criminals in smuggling aliens and contraband (ICE, 2014). The ICE discovered that for successful investigations and prosecuting traffickers, the victims must be steady and free from intimidation and fear to be real witnesses (Tena, 2010). There is equality in the placement of value on the identification and the salvage of victims and the traffickers prosecution. The ICE has many security duty victims or witnesss coordinators who cooperate with the NGOs for the purpose of providing victim services (Tripp Mcmahon, 2016). Moreover, the short-term immigration relief is given to the certified trafficking victims in continued presence status form. The ICE has developed practical initiatives that aim at criticizing the infrastructure that provides support to the smuggling organizations and the assets acquired from the criminal activities. Such activities include snatching vehicles, goods, currency and armaments among others (ICE, 2014). This initiative has played a significant role in fighting human trafficking and smuggling. The ICE has issued the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act, which is one of the tools used in fighting human trafficking and smuggling, a notice to the owners of properties that have been recognized to be used in facilitating the human trafficking and smuggling aliens (Jac-Kucharski, 2012). This tool is very significant in the sense that various managers do not take into account the acceleration of criminal acts on their personal properties or the companys resources. The secretary of the Department of Homeland Security made an announcement about the proposals to the Customs Enforcement and immigration during the annual meeting. The annual meeting was held at the White House by the Presidents Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Human Trafficking (ICE, 2013). Some of the proposals made included the extension of the period of the significant immigration description for the people who are not citizens of the United States. Additionally, they would give vital constancy as well as better support to the victims of human trafficking and smuggling as they carry out further investigations of the traffickers. This is part of the victim-centered approach of the department in fighting against human trafficking. In 2010, The Department Homeland Security came up with the Blue Campaign to act as the voice of the unified Department in fighting human trafficking and smuggling (DHS, n.d). The Blue Campaign came up with a resolution that there be human trafficking awareness training in cooperated into the major training courses at the institutions such as the Federal Law Enforcing Training Centers (DHS, n.d). This could be substantial because a greater percentage of federal law enforcement agencies who participate in Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) acquire skills and tools that help in curbing the human trafficking and smuggling and respond accordingly (DHS, n.d). On a daily basis, the employees of the DHS search for the pointers and causes of human trafficking during their line of duty. Also, the employees of the ICE carry out investigations on human trafficking cases as well as providing support to the victims through the victim awareness programs (Jac-Kucharski, 2012). Besides, the employees in the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency cooperate with the airline workers to curb human trafficking through the use of the Blue Lightning Initiative (CBP, n.d). Additionally, the airline personnel together with the support of the agencies make sure that products and properties acquired through forced labor from foreign countries do not find their way in the United States supply chain. The citizenship and the Immigration agencies perform their duty of ensuring that the qualified victims of trafficking who are not citizens of the United States have accessibility to needed immigration qualifications for the trafficking victims (Jac-Kucharski, 2012). Moreover, the Blue Campaign ensures there is the empowerment of communities for the purpose of curbing human trafficking and smuggling through the formation of partnerships, coming up with public awareness, creation, and dissemination of resources and free tool which are used countrywide in curbing human trafficking and smuggling (DHS, n.d). In conclusion, human trafficking, and human smuggling is a global issue which calls for every country to participate in the fighting process. The countries should come up with more measures that can be used to do away with human trafficking and smuggling completely. For that reason, different agencies and tools should be put in place worldwide to be used in fighting human trafficking and smuggling. References Jac-Kucharski, A. (2012). The Determinants of Human Trafficking: A US Case Study. International Migration, 50(6), 150-165. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2435.2012.00777.x Jakobsson, N., Kotsadam, A. (2013). The law and economics of international sex slavery: Prostitution laws and trafficking for sexual exploitation. European Journal of Law and Economics, 35(1), 87-107. doi:10.1007/s10657-011-9232-0 United States Customs Border Protection Agency, (n.d). Blue Lightning Initiative. Retrieved January 24, 2017, from https://www.cbp.gov/border-security/human-trafficking/blue-lightning United States Department of Homeland Security. (n.d.). Blue Campaign. Retrieved January 18, 2017, from https://www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign United States Department of State, (2006). Factsheet: Distinctions between human smuggling and human trafficking. Retrieved December 16, 2016, from http://www.state.gov/m/ds/hstcenter/90434.htm United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, (2013). Human trafficking and smuggling. Retrieved January 16, 2017, from https://www.ice.gov/factsheets/human-trafficking United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, (2014). ERO Annual Report: FY 2013 ICE immigration removals. Retrieved January 23, 2017, from https://www.ice.gov/doclib/about/offices/ero/pdf/2013-ice-immigration-removals.pdf Tena, M. (2010, September 30). Modern day slavery in the U.S.-Mexican territory: Human trafficking at the border. Retrieved January 18, 2017, from http://catcher.sandiego.edu/items/peacestudies/Border_Brief_FINAL_BW_oct4_10.pdf Tripp, T. M., Mcmahon-howard, J. (2016). Perception vs. reality: The relationship between organized crime and human trafficking in metropolitan Atlanta. American Journal of Criminal Justice: AJCJ, 41(4), 732-764. doi:10.1007/s12103-015-9315-5

Top Glove Corporation Berhad Analysis

Top Glove Corporation Berhad Analysis Globalization opens new opportunities to every one of us. At the same time, it intensifies the challenges before us. This report begins by introducing globalization and the rise of the multinational corporation. Subsequently, it would discuss the benefits and indentify the challenges that the selected company (Top Glove Corporation Ltd) encountered when doing business internationally. This multinational company is the worlds largest rubber glove manufacturer operates in three principal geographical areas of the world. It will conclude by presenting a brief consideration for a multinational corporation in operating business abroad. A multinational corporation is refers to any business that has productive activities in two or more countries. Typically, a multinational corporation develops new products in its home country and manufacturers them abroad. An international trade is refers to an exchange of goods and services with foreign countries. The falling barriers to cross-border trade made it easier for todays firms to sell internationally. Still, foreign direct investment (FDI) is when a firm making a physical investment into building a new factory to produce or market a product in another country. During the 1920s and 30s, various trade barriers raised by worlds nation government have contributed to the Great Depression of the 1930s (Hill, 2009, p.11). However, the emergence of global institutions such as GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) and WTO (World Trade Organization) has successfully lowering the trade and investment barriers between countries and enabled more companies involved in international trade and investment. Besides, technological, market, cost and competitive factors had contributed to the growth of globalization. Many opportunities had produced in an international business. A multinational company can expand its revenues by selling products and services worldwide by producing in nations where key operation costs such as labor, are cheap. As markets globalize, organizations increasingly engage in cross-broader trade and investments indicating that managers need to recognize that the task of managing an international business is differs from that of managing a purely domestic business in many ways. In international settings, manager in a multinational company is confronted with a range of issues that the manager in pure domestic business that would never confronts. Countries differences in political systems, economic systems, culture, legal systems pose a challenge to the manager because these differences require the manager to vary its practices country by country. Corporate Profile Top Glove was established and founded by the husband and wife team of Dr. Lim Wee Chai and Mrs. Tong Siew Bee in year 1991. Dr. Lim Wee Chai was appointed as the Chairman of Top Glove Corporation Ltd on 4 September 2000; he has more than 20 years of experience in the rubber and latex manufacturing business. Co-founder Mrs. Tong Siew Bee was appointed as an Executive Director of Top Glove on 4 September 2000, she has more than 10 years experience in the information technology field. The history of Top Glove stretches back 18 years when Dr. Lim brings a wealth of experience in the marketing of consumer products whilst he was the Sales Manager of a subsidiary company OYL Industries Ltd to set up Top Glove Pte Ltd in 1991. In spite of his first own glove manufacturing and trading business with only three production lines, the manufacture has gone through many changes in its corporate direction, the company survived through chaotic times during the Asian financial crisis in 1997 to 1998. The company was successfully listed in the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange in year 2001. In a short span of slightly more than a year, Top Glove Corporation Ltds listing has been successfully promoted from the Second Board to the Main Board of the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange on May 16, 2002. Since its inception in Malaysia in 1991, Top Glove had evoked from 1 factory in 1991 with 3 production lines to 20 factories in 3 countries and expanded this business to be the worlds largest rubber glove manufacturer. There are 14 factories in Malaysia, 2 factories in China, 2 glove manufacturing factories and 2 latex concentration plants in Thailand. With 379 glove production lines, Top Glove has a huge production capacity of over 33 billion pieces per annum. Today, Top Gloves customers consist of glove importers and distributors from all over the world, mainly from the U.S. and Europe. The company has comprehensive range of top quality products such as Latex Examination Gloves(powdered and powder-free), Latex Examination Gloves(Powder free), Colored and Flavored (Mint)Gloves, Soft Nitrile Gloves, Surgical Gloves, Vinyl Gloves, Household Gloves, Polyethylene(PE) gloves, Stretchy Vinyl Gloves, Clean room Gloves, and Polyethylene(PE) Aprons. These top quality products used in variety industry such as medical, food and services, dental, automotive, electronic and laboratory sectors. Top Glove has a market capitalization of RM3.7 billion as at 31 August 2010. The corporation posted a sales revenue of RM2.08 billion in FYE2010, it was an increase of 36% from RM1.53 billion last year while profit after tax of RM250 million rose 49% from RM168 million. (Top Glove, Annual Report 2010). The company continuous invests in RD and collaborates with Rubber Research Institute (RRI) and the Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB), Top Glove is at the forefront of new development in rubber research technology. The upgrading and collaborations of RD is to enable Top Glove to be a world class of cost effective producer with the most extensive range of premium quality glove products. Benefits As a result of the falling barriers to the free flows of goods and services, declining telecommunications and transportation costs, the volume of cross broader trade and investment has been growing rapidly indicating that there are many companies go global. All these factors made it easier for companies to invest abroad and resulted the growth of multinational companies. This section is to elaborate possible benefits that Top Glove acquires while venturing abroad. Benefits of Globalize Production According to Hill (2009, p.7), the globalization of production refers to the sourcing of goods and services from locations around the globe to take advantage of national differences in the cost and quality of factors of production (such as labor, energy, land and capital). By doing this, a multinational company would be able to lower down overall cost structure and improve the quality of its products offering. According to Mr. Lim Cheong Guan (Executive Director of Top Glove Corp), he said that foreign workers account for about 50 to 60 percent of the groups total workers. Although the cost of hiring foreign workers slightly higher, it is not significant as it can be offset by improvement productivity through the huge base of workers (Top Glove, 2010). For example, when setting up plants abroad particularly in China, the large young and literate labor force available in China provides more choices for the company to recruit the skilled labors that are inaccessible in Malaysia. Thus, with this characteristic, the production in China can be enlarged in a low cost manner. Furthermore, lower land acquisition cost coupled with lower administrative cost grants Top Glove operate its business economically and desirable in the host country. On top of that, having factories in foreign market (e.g. Top Glove (Zhangjiagang) Co. Ltd in China and Great Glove (Thailand) Co., Ltd in Thailand) would enable the company to realize location economy because the high transportation costs can be avoided and it is more preferable for the company to distribute its products within the country besides than exporting. Expand Sales and Income Globalization can provide Top Glove a new source of income. As a multinational corporation, apart from serving the local needs, the firm can also enjoy the sales from the overseas business. For example, Top Glove has more than 900 customers and its products are exported to more than 180 countries. Based on the company website, most of its products cater for export market, sales revenue mainly from Europe 33%, North America 29%, Latin America 20% and Rest of the World 18%. Therefore, the overall business profit can be multiplied through the increasing revenues outside of the home country. International Diversification As mentioned earlier, Top Gloves has a wide export markets. Thus, as the company diversifies its market, it becomes less vulnerable to the changes in local demand. In other words, it spread risk by avoiding having all eggs in a single basket. For instance, in the case of local market goes saturated or other factor such as interest rate raised by local government, when operating in such a huge market can insure Top Glove against such risks. According to Shapiro and Sarin (2009, p.19-20), the foreign cash flows generally are not perfectly correlated with those of domestic investments, the greater riskiness of individual projects overseas can well be offset by beneficial portfolio effects. This has meant that a multinational company like Top Glove would be able to reduce taxes and avoid tight currency control through foreign direct investment having relied on the existence of financial market imperfections. We have better profit, good cash flow and a very healthy balance sheet said by Chairman Dr. Lim Wee Chai in an interview (Porter and Li, 2010). This also implies that the greater cash flow would enable the corporation to acquire potential business or to pay out dividends to its shareholders. Competitive Advantages With regards to the glove industry manufacturers like Kossan Rubber Industries Berhad, Supermax Corporation Bhd, Hartalega Holdings Berhad are the major competitors in the local market. However, operate business globally can aid in minimizing such competitive risks. For example, when profits made by the export sales can be used to upgrade or strengthen the domestic business toward less vulnerable on local competition. Challenges This paper does not focus solely on the benefits of doing international business but also addresses concerns about the challenges that Top Glove have experienced when venturing abroad. These challenges are thus discussed in depth in this section. Difficulty in International Management Based on the company website, currently Top Glove has 20 factories in 3 geographical areas include Malaysia, China and Thailand with a total number of 10, 900 employees. However, its size could also work against its favour as it is more difficult for the management to keep a close eye on all its operations. Most importantly, the differences levels of economic development and legal system among countries complicated the staffing and compensation activities. According to Lane (2009), most countries have an official language, a single basic legal system, a system of government, yet these practices and relationship are often different from those in the country next door. Country is thus a very important type of culture to account for an international business. For example, the journey in the ventured countries not smooth as Top Glove had to deal with different cultures and mindsets, particularly in China with its ever-changing policies. Latex Output and Price Fluctuations For any manufacturers, raw materials are the main concerned. Based on the annual report 2010, raw material like latex is the major costs components of glove products. They were concern over high raw material cost as the latex prices remained at a high of more than RM8 per kg. The crude oil price movement and speculation are the factors that make latex price fluctuate irregularly. Moreover, the output of latex may be shrunk due to weather impact. The varying on latex output may affect the gloves production. Thus, latex price volatility will affect the corporations costs and margins, and there will be time lag on passing on the gloves to customers in different geographical areas when shortage of latex. Competitors As mentioned earlier, Top Glove is facing several major local competitors within the glove industry. In global marketplace, the company is also facing with numerous global competitors such as Kimberly-Clark Corporation (U.S.), Ansell Ltd (Australia), Allfun Enterprise Co., Ltd. (China) and many others. These manufacturers are thus geared towards increasing capacity and offering gloves at the lower prices. Therefore, the domestic competition coupled with global competition result in difficulty in securing orders from overseas markets. Environmental Issues Another challenge is where all operation decisions have some kind of environmental impact. The addition of chemicals in latex compounding, discharge of residual latex containing toxic chemicals and disposal of rejected gloves i.e. not meeting product specifications are the headstream of generating waste materials. These waste materials resulted water pollution, health-related problems for workers and local community. The environmental issues not only challenge the local operation, but also a tough issue when producing gloves in overseas such as in China and Thailand. As a result, the manufacturer is looking ways in reducing and minimizing wastes. Currency Exposure Top gloves main income came from its export sales and all its exports are denominated in U.S. dollar. The reporting currency for the company is the Malaysian Ringgit (MYR). In fact, MYR was actually strengthening against the dollar throughout the year 2010. This may put the company in an unfavourable position as the profits would be contracted when converted from U.S. dollar to RM. According to Top Gloves executive director Lim Cheong Guan, he said that the weakening US dollar hurt the company financial results; the company has incurred forex losses totaling RM21 million in FY10 (Top Glove,2010). This is such a challenge to the corporation to grow at the rate they have been growing in past few years. Moreover, currency fluctuation can impact competitive positions, product prices, payable and receivable and ultimately the value of the firm itself. Conclusion Discussion above has revealed that benefits and challenges are associated with doing business internationally. According to a research done by Foong (2010), Malaysia produces 65% of the worlds latex gloves. Top Glove is in the leading position in the industry with 23% global market share. This was the contributions from its wide range of product offering coupled with export markets. It also indicates that Top Gloves management team truly understands that most of the markets opportunities are outside of the home country, thus only doing business internationally can provide growth opportunities and allow firms to receive substantial sales and income. It can be seen that the firm mainly rely on exporting entry mode into foreign market although has few factories in overseas. Generally speaking, export may help the firm to experience economic of scale and avoid substantial costs of establishing manufacturing operations in the host country. By producing in a large volume and exporting to other national markets may enable the firm to realize substantial economies from its global sales volume. However, it is believed that its exporting has pitfall too. High transportation costs are associated when its products are exported over a long distance such as Latin America, Europe, and Africa. Additionally, abrupt trade policy such as tariffs imposed by host government may prevent international trade which is very risky to the company as well. Managers within international business must develop strategies and policies for dealing with such interventions. As stated in the annual report, Top Glove has a great cash flow. Hence, it would be good for the company to make a merger and acquisition (MA) as it gives immediate access to trained labor force, existing customers and an immediate source of revenue. This requires the international manager to conduct a detailed research otherwise a bad acquisition can be costly. In addition, it can be seen that Top Glove is confronting with quite a number of challenges. It is quite challenging when managing a large number of workforces. Managers in Top Glove have to decide how to staff key management post in the company, how to develop managers so that they are familiar with the subtle differences of when they are based in different countries, and how to compensate people as to retain highly skilled labors. After all, managing a global business is not that easy, it requires manager to see things globally, that is, see the bigger and broader picture by constantly scanning the geographical horizon to learn more about potential markets, competitors as well as technological changes. In a nutshell, a multinational company in complex international settings not only overcoming challenges; but should always prepared for market opportunities. References Foong, M. (2010). Rubber gloves. Gloving the world. Deutsche bank global market research company. Retrieved Nov 25, 2010 from the World Wide Web: http://www.google.com.my/url?sa=tsource=webcd=4ved=0CCwQFjADurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.supermax.com.my%2Fhtml%2Ffiledownload.aspx%3Ffile%3DDEUTSCHE%2520BANK%2520-20100510.PDFei=EvrxTOiPLIGwvgP5rtDJDQusg=AFQjCNGCxYKsiGoK8eHAsnwf5s0NYvRT2w Hill, C. W. (2009). International business: competing in the global marketplace (7th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Lane, Henry W.. International management behavior: leading with a global mindset. 6th ed. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley, 2009 Porter, B. and Li, S. (2010). Top Glove Targets 40% Profit Distribution This Year (Update1). Bloomberg Business Week. Retrieved Nov 24, 2010 from the World Wide Web: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-01-21/top-glove-targets-40-profit-distribution-this-year-update1-.html Shapiro, A. C., Sarin, A. (2009). Foundations of multinational financial management (6th ed.). Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley Sons. Top Glove Co, Ltd (2010). Retrieved Nov 28, 2010 from the World Wide Web: http://www.topglove.com.my/index.htm Top Glove Co. Ltd. (2010). Retrieved Nov 22, 2010 from the World Wide Web: http://www.topglove.com.my/news/2010/news_208.htm Top Glove Co. Ltd. (2010) Annual Report 2010. Retrieved Nov 27, 2010 from the World Wide Web: http://www.topglove.com.my/IR-ar.htm Top Glove expects growth to slow in 2011. (2010) TheMalaysianinsider.com Retrieved Nov 24, 2010 from the World Wide Web: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/business/article/top-glove-expects-growth-to-slow-in-2011/

An Awareness through Chaos :: Free Essays Online

An Awareness through Chaos Through careful observation the past can be drawn into proper perspective when compared to the present. By looking back at a series of events that I experienced, I see them in a complete different light than when I actually experienced them. Visions are much clearer when you are able to take a step back to view the entire picture. That is what I am now doing in my life. My education has been my main way of life for the last 14 years or so. Even though we are constantly learning and will for our lifetimes, our childhood education has a big impact on our development into mature beings. Each segment of our education process; elementary school, junior high, etc., is built on each other, building progressive knowledge, helping us forge our way into an abyss of desired wisdom. Throughout those years as I experienced my education, my vision of its purpose and meaning was distorted. I viewed the entire process of learning as one required of us by the government and our parents. I never cared to know the real reasoning. I never saw the importance of knowledge, nor the significance of the preparation for life to come in the "real world". I can remember a day in 8th grade mathematics, when my teacher paused for a brief moment during his sweatening lecture. He turned to the class and posed for us this question, "Why are we here? " Everyone immediately looked at each other, puzzled, not sure what he was asking. He elaborated, " Why are we learning mathematics? " Glancing around the room again, we finally replied, "We have no idea". We all laughed and the teacher turned back to the chalkboard. There, was an example of how as young students we never realized the importance of mathematics, nor any of our other classes. Where did our meaning of education lie? Yet among the clouds of ignorance during my high school days, there was a time that a powerful beacon shown on my life and illuminated the meaning of my education. This sudden awareness occurred when I switched schools from junior to senior high school. Before the beginning of tenth grade my family lived on Long Island. My father was layed off from his job, and we were forced to move in with my Grandmother in upstate New York due to financial circumstances.

Edgar Allan Poe :: essays research papers fc

â€Å"Quoth the Raven, Nevermore.† Excerpt from â€Å"The Raven† Grief, revenge, and unsurpassed sorrow. Few authors can replicate these feelings as well as Edgar Allan Poe. â€Å"The Raven†, â€Å"Lenore†, and â€Å"Annabel Lee† all refer to an instance where the narrator is grieving over a lost loved one. See! on yon drear and rigid bier low lies thy love, Lenore! Come! let the burial rite be read- the funeral song be sung!- An anthem for the queenliest dead that ever died so young- A dirge for her the doubly dead in that she died so young. (â€Å"Lenore†) Poe spent most of his life grieving for lost loved ones. His first wife Virginia Clemm died five years into their marriage of tuberculosis. Poe endured many tragedies and his poetry reflects his agony and torture. â€Å"Prophet!† said I, â€Å"thing of evil- prophet still, if bird or devil By that Heaven bends above us- by that God we both adore Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn, It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore Quoth the Raven, â€Å"Nevermore.†(â€Å"The Raven†) As the reading above indicates, Poe grieved continuously throughout his life for his sainted â€Å"Lenore†. He wrote numerous poems before and after the death of Virginia Clemm to her. â€Å"Annabel Lee† was actually written before the death of Virginia as a token of his undying love for her. Poe wrote over 120 poems and is known very well for his morbid and grievous writings. "Poe was born a poet, his mind is stamped with the impress of genius. He is, perhaps, the most original writer that ever existed in America. Delighting in the wild and visionary, his mind penetrates the inmost recesses of the human soul, creating vast and magnificent dreams, eloquent fancies and terrible mysteries. Again, he indulges in a felicitous vein of humor, that copies no writer in the language, and yet strikes the reader with the genuine impression of refined wit; and yet again, he constructs such works as 'Arthur Gordon Pym,' which disclose perceptive powers that rival De Foe, combined with an analytical depth of reasoning in no manner inferior to Godwin or Brockden Brown."(George Lippard, Citizen Soldier) Poe has mastered the element of manipulation. His poems and other works have manipulated the minds of his readers.

Irony Literary Analysis Essay

Tragedy is a dramatic form that was first developed in ancient Greece. A  tragedy usually has these characteristics: The main character is involved in a struggle that ends in disaster. This character, often called the tragic hero, is a person of high rank who has the respect of the community.  The tragic hero’s downfall is usually the result of some combination of fate, an error in judgment, and a personality weakness often called a tragic flaw. Once the tragedy is in motion, the downfall is usually inevitable. The tragic hero gains wisdom or insight by the play’s end. Tragedy arouses feelings of pity and fear in the audience. Spectators pity the plight of the main character and fear that a similar fate might befall them. A tragic drama may also suggest that the human spirit is capable of remarkable nobility even in the midst of great suffering. An allegory is a story with more than one layer of meaning: a literal meaning and one or more symbolic meanings. The characters, settings, and themes in an allegory are symbols of ideas and qualities that exist outside the story. The Crucible is an allegory, because Miller uses one his ­ torical period and setting (seventeenth-century New England) to comment on another (1950s America). The tragedy that occurs in Salem is an allego ­ ry for the anti-Communist hysteria that gripped the United States during the 1950s. As you read, notice how the events in Salem echo the events surrounding the McCarthy hearings to tragic effect.

Nationalism in the 19th century

Nationalism is a term used to identify two phenomena. First, it describes the attitude of individuals towards their nation which result to the rise of national identity. Second, it pertains to the action that members of a certain nation take in order to achieve the sustainability of self determination (Miscevic). During the era of industrialization and urbanization in Western societies, nationalism emerged as one of the most successful political forces. Nationalism became the foundation with which western societies were organized. Between the years of 1850 and 1914, the establishment of nation-states gained the support of all social classes. Hence, the equilibrium in the international political power arises. The masses were diverted towards governance that does not adhere to the class war socialist doctrine. In France, Napoleon III spearheaded the successful campaign for nationalism. During his mild dictatorship for nearly 20 years (1852 to 1870), Napoleon promoted the idea that national states and the programs provided by the government could appeal to all social classes such as the rich, the poor, the conservative, and the radical. Consequently, Napoleon’s political initiative became a landscape where national states became an avenue for the rapid changes in politics and economy (Lloyd). In 1860, Count Cavour, the nationalist leader of Sardinia unified majority of the areas in Italy. His initiative to promote nationalism resulted in Italy’s emergence as a single political state without the use of drastic actions in addressing economic and social matters. Two years after, Prussia hailed Otto von Bismarck as the country’s chief minister. Under his leadership, the states of Germany were unified into a single political state under the Prussian governance. This was only made possible after Bismarck fought three wars. The unification of the states of Germany strengthened the pride of nationalism. Likewise, the country attained an anti-liberal and conservative force (Lloyd). In order to attain national identity, the United States competed for national aspirations which eventually led to the civil war. A slave-based cotton industry in the south expanded rapidly right after new lands were utilized for industrialization. Thus, the south was able to generate much demand from cotton production. Due to this, a conflict emerged between the people from the south and the north’s urban culture and family farm agriculture. The triumph of north against the south marked the end of slavery. However, land reforms and racial discrimination were not totally addressed (Lloyd). Nationalism also played an important role in the lives of Russian. Right after the Crimean War, major reforms were put forward. In 1861, the freedom of the serfs was attained. Likewise, the government spearheaded the development of modern industries and railroads (Lloyd). As nationalism continued to grow, most of the politicians and national governments responded accordingly in order to strengthen and meet the demands of the people. Because of nationalism, most of the Western societies managed to promote reforms that appeal to all social classes. Works Cited Lloyd, Jim. â€Å"19th century nationalism.† Fresno Unified School District. 2008. 28 October  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2008 . Miscevic, Nenad. â€Å"Nationalism.† Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 24 September 2005. 28 October 2008 .   

Analytical Support for Decision Making Self Reflection Essay

The analytical support for decision making course is really indeed touching every aspect from my daily job as a lead optimization engineer dealing with a huge drilling real time streaming data. In the past I have worked to prepare quarter review & annual report for our center. Honestly, it was consuming a lot of time to construct a valuable presentation that will impress the upper management. As of time being ASDM is a strong aid to be creative in utilizing, analyzing, projecting & illustrating for our daily data. Here I will highlight major subjects that I got so many benefits from: Data Gathering ASDM is a real guide to perform data analysis. It learns the first steps in how to gather data & how to deal with it. The good part in the assignment is the data was real and taken from World Bank website and the challenge is to identify the best data & find out ways to get the missing data by quantitative approaches. The lesson learned here is any data has to go through cleansing process to be worth for analysis & to reach trustful results. Surveys As we are seeing many surveys floating around in every single website or newspapers in the media, the real question is how trustful the results are. Now with ASDM approaches, it is easier to now that, to dig deep in the survey process. How the survey was done, whom were the sample, location and the time it was conducted. In addition to the right guide in how to do different types surveys & analyze the results for best decisions. Regression As regression deals with trends to find out the relationship level & criteria & help a lot in projection. In my daily work I’m dealing with many drilling trends, like the drilling rig hook load (HKL), surface torque while performing the drilling operation. My job is to identify the strong relationship between many drilling parameters & do a projection. Like for HKL & torque utilizing regression to find out the regression model in a specific formation will help us in identifying the normal / upnoraml trends prior drilling operation for better optimization & savings. In addition the regression will help a lot in the projection ahead to the final drilling target depth. MCDA Multi criteria decision analysis is the decision maker best tool to identify & take in consideration all the factors with relative to their weights & influence in the subject matter. Real life is chain of continuous MCDA has to be taken but differs in size & complication. Although, VISA software is a simple & light, it is superior software to include every single step & illustrate it with a nice & simple way. Personally we are running many projects that take in consideration several factors & MCDA is the best guide came at the right time.

Of Mice and Men Controlled Assessment Draft

Of Mice and Men is an American novel written by John Steinbeck about two itinerant workers who move from place to place. One itinerant worker named George is a small, smart, caring worker. While on the contrary the other itinerant worker name Lennie is a huge, clumsy, naive character. The story is set in a remote place a few miles south of Soledad. The south is usually the best place to live due to the climate of the area. Soledad is the Spanish word for loneliness and solitary.The two itinerant workers pursue their dream of getting their own farm. During their journey George and Lennie encounter many difficulties along the way. It was not uncommon for itinerant workers to suffer from loneliness, isolation and alienation. These three terms are the terms that will be explained in my essay. Dreams are another main factor in this book. George and Lennie have a dream that is the cornerstone of this book. Their dream is that they will â€Å"live of the fatta the lan’†. This quote is a reference to the American Dream.In this case, the fat is a good thing and fat has many properties and is usually the tastiest part of food, they also said that they will live of the fat. This means that the fat is in abundance. The American dream which says you get what you deserve if you work very hard. The American Dream is almost a capitalist dream. Loneliness is defined to be someone who is sad and/or be companionless. Characters such as George, Lennie, Candy and Curley’s wife all suffer from loneliness. George is lonely mainly because he is an itinerant worker which means he doesn’t stay anywhere for long.George even confesses his loneliness by saying â€Å"Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. † This is when George talks to Lennie beside the river. Lennie is another character that is caught in the trap of loneliness because of his disability and the fact that he always getting into trouble. Candy is lonely as h e only has his dog which eventually dies. Finally, Curley’s wife is lonely as her wife Curley does not give her the attention she wants. Isolation means to separate or to force apart. â€Å"†¦ he limb is worn smooth by men who have sat on it†. Already, in the first paragraph we can see the relationship between man and nature is not the best. Man seems to be destroying nature’s work. The characters that suffer from isolation are the likes of Crooks and Curley’s wife. Alienation is term that is described to a person who is being withdrawn from the world or withdraws them self from the outside world. People often feel alienated as they are being shown disaffection by others. The favourites of Crooks and Curley’s wife suffer from alienation.Crooks suffers from alienation as he is the only black person on the ranch, while Curley’s wife suffers from alienation as she is called names like â€Å"jailbait† (from George) as she is always l ooking for a man and is unfaithful to her husband – Curley. The very first bit of knowledge we know about George is explained in this quote â€Å"The first man was small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features. The first person/people in something are always the more dominant person as explained in this quote. â€Å"†¦ restless eyes†¦ tells us that he is also a very alert man. Later in the book George also confesses his loneliness to the other ranchers. The other ranchers generally don’t like confessing their own loneliness to others. Quotes like . George is a very father like figure to Lennie, to comfort Lennie he usually says (in this case about Curley) â€Å"you keep away from Curley†. George promised Lennie’s Aunt Carla that he will look after Lennie like a father after she dies. â€Å"One side of the river the golden foothill slopes curve up to the strong †¦ Gablian Mountains. This quote explains the q ualities of the two itinerant workers. The quote is saying that George is strong mentally and physically. â€Å"God, you’re a lot of trouble †¦ I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn’t have you on my tail. † George often loses his temper with Lennie. He knows that he is mentally stronger than Lennie meaning that he can do whatever he wants by himself but Lennie always restrains him. Crooks is a character in the book that gets quite a lot of stick from the other ranch workers. The type of loneliness he suffers from alienation.The two main reasons Crooks is alienated is because he is black and he is also disabled. The other ranchers use derogative terms like â€Å"nigger† and â€Å"stable buck† as a reference to Crooks. In those times they thought that it was alright to call black people any name that they desire. The book describes Crooks’ appearance as â€Å"his body was bent to the left by his crooked spine†. Since the Abrahamic religions started, the side to your left was considered ‘dirty’ so, Steinbeck can use this for a reason for the other ranchers to hate Crooks as they will probably consider him ‘dirty’.As Crooks spends a lot of time by himself, he has the privilege of keeping more prized possessions than the other ranchers as explained in the quote â€Å"he had books, too; a tattered dictionary and a mauled copy of the California civil code for 1905†. You could say that Crooks was quite lucky as he had many possessions unlike all the ranchers as all they owned was a small apple box. Crooks is always the one being picked on; for example one Christmas when all the other ranchers where trying to pick a fight with Crooks. Candy is another character in the book that is disabled.He is also one of the loneliest characters in the book. All Candy has is an old dog. Candy’s dog is described Steinbeck uses quite a few techniques in the book. Some of the techniq ues include allegories and foreshadowing. The best example of an allegory in this book is when Lennie kills the innocent mouse, Candy’s dog is killed and then right at the end of the book Lennie is killed. This also foreshadowed what was going to happen to Lennie as he used to follow George around ‘like a dog’. When Candy had no use of his dog; he decided to dispose of him. This just like what George did to Lennie.

Employability & Personal Development Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Employability & Personal Development - Article Example Modern day leading industries like electronics and telecommunication are based on the basic principles of Quantum physics. This conference and Max Planck institute not only provides a common ground for experts all over the world to share their innovations but also created an opportunity for companies and individuals that want to choose and earn greatly in the businesses related to this field (Joas, Lehner & Renn, 2008). Content: The major content besides presenting a tribute to the rightly said father of modern physics Max Planck, were research papers regarding different innovations made by experts present all over the world. This conference was also held to raise awareness in business professionals and companies aware of the importance of modern phenomenon in physics for the progress of them as companies and individuals (Joas, Lehner, & Renn, 2008). In the attended conference experts and business professionals from all over the world were gathered at single place. Properties like in vestigation of the issue were addressed at the conference as most of the modern industry is based on the basic instinct as business professional must have. ... Dignitaries from all over the world present in the conference. It also helped understanding the concept of inter-race communication. Research papers by major scientists and people relating to industry were presented in the conference. I can feel a great enhancement in my written communication skills by reading these research papers. Modern day phenomenon of informed consent is also improved by reading the papers written by business icons (Joas, Lehner, & Renn, 2008). Personal development skills on employability: It is a common sensed argument that one can excel greatly in the business profession if he knows basics and modern innovations made by industries and individuals all over the world. Innovative steps are taken on every day basis regarding electronics and telecommunications. Knowledge of the product or service provides a great aid when talking about development of personal development skills and their impact on employability. As an example one can drive a car more safely and ef ficiently if he/she knows basic limitations of engine, brakes and suspension of the car he is driving. Other personal development skills are like one skill to work as an analyst, planner and organizer, team leader and technical knowledge regarding the business one is involved are dependent on the basic knowledge and innovations that are done in the field of that specific business. Another personal development skill required greatly by organizations and as a satisfaction of an individual as business professional is the ability to investigate. One can do critical analysis, critical thinking and profit based analysis of the product produced by its own self or company he is working for if he has basic and new ideas

Equity in legal system origin, development and significance Essay

Equity in legal system origin, development and significance - Essay Example Today equity apparently has lost its significant correlation to 'justice,' as rules of equity are settled in much the same way as the common law.2 However creations of equity such as including the rights, interests and remedies continue to be of significance in English legal system3 The paper attempts to understand the origin and development of equity as a source of law in the English legal system and analyze the significance of rules of equity and equitable doctrines and remedies in legal proceedings today. While analyzing the significance of equity, it would be imperative to understand its percepts as well as the principles and remedies of equity; hence a discussion on the same is also included. The historical origin of equity in English legal system dates back to the late 13th and 14th centuries. The English legal system of the time - the common law system developed by the judges on the basis of unwritten customary rules and precedents or past judicial decisions - were very rigid and too technical with the procedures such as the writ. The procedural compliance and the legality of the writ often surpassed the merits of the case in legal decisions. The inadequacy of the common law remedy of damages was another issue with the system. Also, the common law only recognized certain kinds of cases; for example, the common law courts did not recognize the Trust deed.4 The defects in common law obviously led to distress, as disappointed litigants directly petitioned the King for justice. The King, considered the 'Fountain of Justice,' either determined the petitions himself or referred the cases to the King's Chancellor, usually a clergyman and priest, known as "Keeper of King's conscience." The petitions were decided on the basis of principle of natural justice and "moral rightness," considering the merits of the case rather than any precedent.5 The broad principles used by the King and his Chancellor's became to be known as rules of equity. Equity was not a complete system of law and as Jacqueline Martin observes, it "merely filled the gaps in the common law and softened the strict rules of the common law." 6 As the volume of cases increased separate courts called Court of Chancery, also called Courts of Equity, were established and administered by the Chancellor. The Chancellors developed new and flexible procedures, as well as new and appropriate remedies to compensate the plaintiffs, which are applicable to this day. However, the jurisdictional overlap of the two systems - common law and equity - led to an inevitable conflict between the two, impinging the certainty of law. The conflict was finally resolved by the King in Earl of Oxford's Case (1615) it was ruled that equity should prevail in case of conflict.7 While the equity courts continued to enjoy supremacy over common law courts, with the enactment of Judicature Acts 1873-75, the common law courts and the court of equity merged together to form the Supreme Court of Judicature, which would concurrently administer common and equity. The supremacy of equity in legal decisions was affirmed in Section 25 of the Judicature Act 1873 an d continues to be followed by the Supreme Court.

Soc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Soc - Essay Example and said that Symbolic interactionism is a study of human group, life and conduct. [Lindsay Nelson, 1998) Following this definition, this theory gives rise to the importance of understanding the meaning of life and conduct that leads to gender and racial inequalities. According to the study of Corell and Ridgeway, (2004) gender inequalities can be attributed to culture beliefs that institutionalized the category of segregating men and women. This belief on category has created a bias of difference of social inequality of race and gender, and bringing into the system the various multi-faceted structures in life. This question is also related to the study of sociology of sex which is one of the branches of study of symbolic interaction. 2. Knowing what you know now about how the self is constructed, how do you think sociological counseling would work? What is "clinical sociology"? What is the current state of "clinical sociology"? Self is somebody’s personality or an aspect of somebody’s personality, especially as perceived by others. When there is a perceived problem on one’s self, the role of a clinical sociologist is to intervene in order to facilitate change. First a Clinical Sociologist assesses the situation along with the context of beliefs and practices and tries to provide a solution to improve the situation. The clinical sociologist can focus on the role of counseling, (e.g. marriage counseling or community counseling). Clinical sociology has been defined by Jan Marie Fritz as †¦Ã¢â‚¬ the application of the sociological perspective to facilitate changes. The clinical sociologist is primarily a change agent who is immersed in the client’s social world Current state of â€Å"clinical sociology†. Dr. Mark Foster, (n.d.) in an internet article, reported that many universities have incorporated sociological practice in their curriculum, and accreditation bodies have been created for this

EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENT - Essay Example Is it doing all the noise of sustainable production to create attention of the market? I begin my discussion wherein Chipotle is asked by Trilium Asset Management, a consortium of institutional investors, to submit sustainability report in its annual report to know if company follows environmental, social, and governance practices. Chipotle as of 2014 has not submitted such report, while other companies in its industry category have already obliged. (Patton, L.2015). This evasive action puts some doubts on my mind about the honesty of the company. I question also its honesty because a study comparing Chipotle and McDonalds, showed Chipotle food has more calories. (Fotrell, Q.2014). It is like fooling the people. Despite of this, people perceived Chipotle’s food as a better quality, thus company has managed to create â€Å"healthy halo† around the product. The customization (a system where they can choose their own ingredient) and preparing the food in front of customers did wonders, plus its assurance that Chipotle is constantly seeking fresh and sustainable grown food sources. To me, the â€Å"healthy halo† effect means a protective perception when Chipotle put the word â€Å"food with integrity† and organic foods, so people assume that the food is healthy. However, following evidences convinced me to believe Ells supports sustainability not only in words but in practice. According to Chipotle’s own website Ells has been buying naturally raised pork since 1999. He partners with local suppliers to be assured of the quality of its vegetables and meat are in compliance with the quality standards of Chipotle. Company is an advocate of raising animals in humane way, never given hormones and fed vegan way. Local produce of farms should only be within 560 kilometer of the restaurant to be assured of freshness (Chipotle.com) My belief is based on acts and

Dadaism and its Influence on Late Mid Twentieth Century Essay

Dadaism and its Influence on Late Mid Twentieth Century - Essay Example The essay "Dadaism and its Influence on Late Mid Twentieth Century" concerns the Dada movement and their art. Design can be shown to have benefited from the innovations that occurred through the Dadaist movement. This paper will review the way in which Dada was defined and relate its evolution to the meaning that was placed in artistic works within the culture of Dada. The discussion will turn towards the work of James Reid and Vivienne Westwoods in order to reveal how Dada has been influential in design. Through focusing on these two designers, the concepts of Dada will emerge as influential to the development of their work and its importance in the evolving topics of design. Defining Dada often leaves the one doing the describing in a perpetual negative space. The explanation is often more focused on what Dada does not represent. Dada does not represent the common, the beliefs that had come before it about what defined art. Dada is about the avant-garde, even though it is technical ly a precursor to avant-garde ideas, but it is questionable that the definition of that term would suffice to describe Dada. Dada can be described for its visual impression, defining what is seen by what is perceived. An example of this is the use of words in order to create a visual impact. What the words say is not more important than the composition of the lettering, the way in which the visual impact performs. The viewer experiences the sensation of reading, but the experience is beyond just that concept. Dada took the evolution of design and printing to a place in which visual impact was used to create communication. At the time of Dada, the explanation of it was obscure; the idea of the irony in its creation meaning that it was the antithesis of all that was art. Dada was â€Å"nothing† as described by Duchamp. According to descriptions by Blythe and Powers (2006, p. 7) â€Å"Dada directed its energies toward challenging accepted notions of art and the tradition of oil painting, most noticeably by designating pre-existing mass produced objects – so called ‘Readymades’ - art and by using the playful language of puns offering humour and simultaneous meanings†. Dada was about using art against itself by creating graphically designed pieces that could be interpreted as anti-art, which in turn made them quintessentially art. The irony of Dada was always that in trying to not be what it was it was more itself. Dada, in not being art, became essentially artistic. Dada was much more than the creation of works of art. The concept of Dada was that it was a culture, defining ways of thinking through new perspectives. Dada was a challenge to the standard, a reversal of tradition in which to be expected would be a sin. Phrases such as â€Å"

Vignette 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Vignette 1 - Essay Example This program will be a compulsory for all students in Mr Smith’s general science class which will be focused at improving their interpersonal skills. The proposed plan will revolve around one main aspect which will be to gauge the students’ interpersonal skills and also to get their views as to why they act dormant in the class so as to reason on what is the best step on improving the student-teacher relationship. In order for the selected instructional coaching program to be implemented effectively, there is need to ensure that leaders play a significant role in selecting coaches that are well trained, developing a well-structured coaching strategy and also making sure that the student performance levels will be met(Glickman, Gordon & Ross Gordon, 2010). Together with Mr Smith, will generate a proper selection and guidelines for the entire instructional coaching program. This will enable the program to start with a well-focused goal on improving the area of concern which is the minimal level of the student teacher relationship. With regards to the self-assessment process of supervision, Mr Smith will start off the process by regularly reflecting and self-analysing his teaching performance as well as incorporating supervision strategies. The strategies to be used will involve an analysis of Mr Smith’s videotaped instruction, peer observation, analysis of the students learning, implemen tation of the professional goals and participation in various self-assessment activities. To initiate the self-assessment process of supervision there is need to effectively use the coaching skills inventory and instrument. There are a lot of factors that are involved in the coaching skill inventory instrument. Such factors revolve around the incorporation of communication skills and the relevant resources. Therefore, this step will be steered up

Integrated Math and Science Unit Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Integrated Math and Science Unit Plan - Essay Example The topics of study including percentages, decimals, and fractions should be referenced by use of integrated math and science standards. This helps in the presentation of the vital information in a way that is sequential, logical, meaningful, and organised way. Instructors need to employ standards, which will help lesson planning to identify important understanding, description of intellectual skills under the definition of vital content the learners require. This framework describes in great depth the content that instructors should employ in teaching. Instructors are advised to adapt and modify the activities to satisfy needs of the learner. However, most activities are associated to elementary level; they are not aimed at adding up to the entire curriculum for percentages, decimals, and fractions at this level. Unit lesson plans Unit plans involve lessons plan that aid in the saving of time as the sequential order creates organization hence time saving. In this paper, integrated m ath and science unit plan will emphasize on the welfare of different learners, both gifted and the disabled. The activities will outline what is required of the learners and the expectations of the teacher after each lesson. Five lesson plans will be prepared on the following topics: percentages, decimals and fractions. ... al groups, formal, and informal assessment related to the set objectives, formative, authentic and summative assessments, and should allow for reflection of the student. Lesson plan 1 Objective: By the end of the lesson, the learner should know the correlation of the instructional activities to the topic being taught. Activity Give each student different coloured balls about twenty in number. Ask the students to identify the total number of each ball out of the lot you gave out. Give them time to work this out. After a while, ask them to represent the number of each ball out of the total number of balls in the classroom. As a second activity, give out about a hundred books to the students not putting into account whether it is a storybook, a diary or an exercise book. Ask the students to collect the books into portions or rather sections as per the type; storybook, textbook, diary or a notebook. Confirm with the students if it is possible to relate the total number of a given book to the whole group of books dished out at first time (our total was a hundred books). Remind the learners that, in this lesson they will use the representation of the number of each ball against the total number of balls given out first (this will demonstrate the fraction bit of the lesson). (Study the objectives again with the learners.) After completion of the second activity, ask the students to represent the number of each book type that they collected, (this activity is to be done in groups) against the total number of books given out originally. This will demonstrate the percent part of the topic being taught. (Confirm again the objective of the unit plan with the learners.) A third and final activity will include working out of the values got from the first two activities by division.