Taking care of two kids and managing profession Essay

Taking care of two kids and managing profession - Essay Example My heart started beating fast. I had applied for a job at this firm in Jacksonville, as a Program Management Assistant, and it had been four days and I hadn’t heard for them. I eagerly checked my mail, and there it was; an email from that firm. My hands trembled as I moved the cursor and clicked on the mail. And then there it was, written clear as crystal. I had been selected and was invited to start work at the firm. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Was this really happening? I knew that it was too early to get excited, as I still had other issues to work out. I live in Hawaii, and moving to Florida was a huge and difficult step. I grew up in Hawaii and almost everyone in town knew me. Plus, I had friends and relatives here, and my children had become used to this place. My excitement was gradually waning, and I found myself lost in these thoughts.I knew that I couldn’t take this decision, without consulting my children, so I went to their bedroom and woke them up. S urprisingly, they did not react much to this news and took it quite calmly. I did emphasize that how important this job was to me, and that I was only doing it for them and to secure their future, but I didn’t put much pressure on them and asked them to take their time. After this, I ambled outside the room and waited. Not much time had passed by when the door creaked open and both my children walked out. This was one of the happiest moments of my life, and I was so thrilled to realize that how supportive my children were.

Lord Of The Flies Chapter 5 Essay Example for Free

Lord Of The Flies Chapter 5 Essay The boys life has deteriorated a lot since they first arrived on the island and from the look of the situation things can only get worse unless they change their behaviour and attitude . There is a lot of conflict between Ralph and Jack, the fear of the unknown is growing, the boys are turning into savages and becoming more uncivilised by the day, rules and taboos are being disobeyed and ignored, and bullying and rivalry is becoming more of a problem. The conflict between Ralph and Jack is causing a lot of tension in the group and is therefore affecting the boys lives. It has already divided them into separate groups with different priorities as some have followed Jack and some have followed Ralph. Jack and Ralphs different priorities is the main reason for the conflict between them as they are completely opposite. Jack wants control and started of wanting to be leader but was out done by Ralph who was voted the leader. Jack is short tempered and very big headed where as Ralph is realistic, kind hearted and organised. Ralphs main priority is to be rescued and have fun have fun on the island. Their relationship is described in the book as two continents of experience and baffled in love and hate. Their personality also clash as they are completely different. Ralph is optimistic, respectful, fair, practical and naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve, where as Jack is arrogant, boastful, power hungry, self centred, easily angered and brutal. The boys fear of the unknown is represented in different ways but is rapidly growing and could get out of hand. It started of as being a beastie, then a snake like creature, and now a beast from water or even a ghost. At first it was only the litluns that were scared of the beastie and believed it existed but now the older boys are starting to get worried and have their doubts so none of the quite knows what to believe. Even Ralph has his doubts about what the thing is and he is supposed to be leader, I dont believe in ghosts at least I dont think so. This comment from Ralph shows that he is now considering there being some type of creature on the island even though he just dismissed the idea at the beginning. Deterioration has also been caused by the boys becoming totally uncivilised and turning into savages. Although they are now looking like savages as their hair has grown, Jack is mainly responsible for them turning into savages. He was so obsessed with hunting to kill that he influenced the other boys that became his hunters. At the beginning they hunted but did not manage to kill for a ling time. Then when Jack finally did he became even more obsessed and made masks that he could hide behind while hunting, the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack lived. This made Jack a different person when he put on the mask, he was a killer with no taboos or responsibilities. Jacks passion for hunting also caused a major disagreement between him and Ralph because on the day a ship went by the fire was let out by boys that Jack made go hunting with him that day. Ralph said to Jack when he got back There was as ship, you let the fire out. There was a strong chance that they may have been rescued then but down to Jack they ended up eating their first pig. From successfully killing his first pig Jack felt very strong and had fulfilled his ambition so did not really care about the fire or Ralph. Rules have been completely ignored lately and systems of organisation disrespected. This has led to the boys becoming lazy and uncivilised. At one point things were going well and most things were well organised. There was toilet system worked out so there was not mess all over the island and water was being stored in coconut shells in the shade so hat it would be cool and fresh. Though now these systems have been ignored and the boys are going to the toilet anywhere on the island and no water is being stored. Ralph also tried to built shelters for them to sleep in which would have been practical but Simon was the only one that would help in the end so they could not be completed. This shows how disorganised the boys have become and disrespectful. They have no taboos and without adults they have forgotten the way they had to behave. Bullying has also become a problem that has led to a deterioration in the boys life. Jack consistently picks on Piggy and uses him as scapegoat for his own mistakes. He makes little of Piggy and by doing this he is trying to show that he has power over the boys as well as Ralph. The litluns are also being ignored and sometimes bullied by the elder boys. Although this might have happened a bit before they arrived on the island but there were still taboos that the older boys had. All these reasons have led to deterioration in the boys life. Their behaviour on the island has had consequences and meant that their lives have become less structured and disciplined and more savage like. Ralph described the situation by saying, we are all drifting and things are turning rotten. This shows us that the boys are drifting apart and could possibly separate into different groups completely which would also make their life deteriorate more.

The Effect Of Television On Language Development Young People Essay

The Effect Of Television On Language Development Young People Essay The effects of watching television and other media for young children are detrimental to language development. Television was invented in 1950 and since then, it has quickly evolved to occupy almost every single household in the US. Due to the explosion of many television channels and programs, there is always something to watch on TV. Children; therefore, spend an average of 3-6 hours a day watching TV instead of doing other social activities. In 1997, a mother developed video products when she felt that there was no appropriate channel for her infant daughter. Since then, there has been a great decline in children ages first time viewing the screens. In 1971, children began to watch television around 4 years old. Today it is 5 months. In a short period of time, TV products for infants became a huge industry. Current average sale for baby DVD is about 500 million dollars. The titles of these products such as Baby Einstein and Brainy Boy highly suggest that these DVD will benefit the babies during their development processes. In a survey of 1000 families, 29% of parents have their children watch TV with assumption that TV is good for their childrens brains. Despite the fact that the American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend TV watching for children under 2 year old, 90% of parents still ignore this advice. However, based on many well-supported studies, I believe that the effects of watching television and other media for young children are detrimental to language development. Many educational TV programs and DVDs are heavily advertised that they will help to promote cognitive, language and brain development in children. Even some programs have been proven to be educational benefit for children from 3 to 5, they can still cause delay in language acquisition for children under 2. During the first 2 years of life, childrens brain develops rapidly and there are external factors that can influence how the brain develops. Features of TV displaying such as flashing lights, very quick scene changes and loud noises could be over stimulating childrens brains. Children understand fewer words when they watch TV. Researchers said that for every hour spent on watching baby DVDs, infants from 8 to 16 months understand 6 to 8 fewer words than those who dont watch. Reading or telling stories to infants at least once a day was found to increase their vocabularies by only two or three words, indicating that the negative impact of the DVDs may outweigh the benefits of parental involvement. Moreover, general television offers a lot of commercial cartons, dramas, news and sports which have poor educational quality for young children. Study shows that children viewing such programs have tendency to have lower vocabulary and poorer expressive language. Poor language development is correlated to either the amount of time spent on TV or the quality of programs content. According to Jean Berko Gleason, most young children experience language while interacting with an adult such as their mother and other caregivers. When the TV is on, both parent and child interact less to each other, especially when parents use TV as a temporally babysitter. Study shows that out of 941 words that adults usually speak every hour, parents speak 770 fewer words to children while watching TV. When interactions occurred, they were much more likely to be of a passive nature on the part of the parent. For example, the parents verbally respond to the childs questions without actually looking at the child. Even when the child is not watching TV, televisions background noise can still be very distracting the childs activities such as playing with toys or spending quality time with family members. These interactions between parents and the child are a key element for language development in children. According to Baker and Holding, background noise is detrimental to complex cognitive tasks. During the interaction between parents and the child, background noise could reduce the parents attentions toward the child and; therefore, reduce the quality of that interaction. Background noise from television could also reduce the responsiveness of parents to the child. When the parents are watching a television program, it may be very hard for them to shift their attentions away from the TV to respond to their children. Research finds that children who have language delay tended to watch television too early. It is about 10 months before they could speak their first meaningful word. Children who are less than 12 months and watch more than 2 hours a day of television are 6 times more likely to develop language delay. Children may miss opportunity to do more beneficial activities when they spend a lot of time on TV. Those activities could be reading, playing music, word plays, or other social interactions with other children. Most of caregivers dont know the negative effects of television on children. About 60% of children with language delay watch TV on their own without any interaction with the caregivers. Compared to children who interact with their caregivers during TV time, the ones without interactive have 8.47 times more likely to develop language delay. This result could also suggest that development of language in young children is built on early interactions with caregivers and is strengthened later by a rich, conversational environment. TV has negative effects on childrens attention ability which is one of powerful influences in the perceptual processes. A slow process of perception can cause language and the ability to engage in conversations seriously impaired. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is among the most common diseases of childhood, affecting somewhere between 5% and 20% of children. The concern that television might play a role in the development of ADHD is founded. In 2004, we conducted a large observational study of over 1300 children and found a modest association between TV viewing before age 3 and attentional problems at age 7. In that study, parents were prospectively asked how much television their child watched when they were between 1and 2 years of age and again how much they watched whenthey were between 3 and 4 years of age. At age 7, theycompleted the Behavioural Problems Index which includesquestions related to attention and impulsivity (73). The moreTV children watched as infa nts, the more likely they wereto have attentional problems at age 7 after adjusting for anexhaustive list of co-variates. Specifically, each hour of TVwatched on average was associated with an increased risk ofbeing in the 90(th) percentile for attentional problems (OR1.09 [1.03-1.15]). A follow-up study claimed to refute thesefindings (74) but TV viewing was measured at age 5 andattention wasmeasured at age 6, placing the exposure periodoutside the first 3 critical years of life. Indeed emerging datanow suggest that the timing of exposure is a critical mediatorof effects which is consistent with the developmental theoryof early brain development .

The Hobbit :: Book Report Hobbit Essays

The Hobbit Book Report CHARACTER INTRODUCTION †¢ BILBO BAGGINS: The Hobbit who led the Dwarves to the Lonely Mountain to reclaim their treasure from the dragon Smaug. He found the One Ring in Gollum's cave †¢ GANDALF: The Wizard that accompanies Bilbo and the dwarves on their quest. He is well versed in magic spells and often calls upon them to save his comrades. †¢ THORIN OAKENSHIELD: Son of the King of Dwarves who were driven from the Lonely Mountain by Smaug. With the aid of Gandalf and Bilbo he seeks regain his treasure and the throne. When Smaug died he truly became King under the Mountain, though he was killed in combat in the battle of five Armies. †¢ SMAUG: The dragon of the Lonely Mountain who hordes the treasure he stole from the dwarves of Dale. †¢ GOLLUM: He is perfect example of the evil powers of the One Ring. He was born a Hobbit but had the ring too long. It made him into a slimy little creature that only lives to possess the ring. †¢ BARD: The archer who killed Smaug. He shot the dragon in the one spot it had no protection. The town’s people later considered him a hero. What the people didn't know it was Bilbo who discovered the weak spot in the dragon's iron scales. †¢ BEORN: An enemy of Orcs, he becomes friends with Bilbo and Gandalf. He has the ability to change forms from human to bear. It is he who determines the outcome of the battle of five Armies. STORY SUMMARY The book begins with Bilbo Baggins enjoying a pipe after breakfast. This is one of his favorite pleasures and he feels quite content in doing so. He is middle-aged, and resides in a clean warm burrow in the ground. One morning Gandalf, a wizard stops by to chat with Bilbo. He informs Bilbo that he is looking for someone to go on an adventure with him. Although Bilbo is tempted he declines, but not before inviting Gandalf for tea the next morning. The next day Bilbo hears his doorbell and he recalls inviting Gandalf for tea, but instead of the wizard at the door, there is a group of dwarves... thirteen in all. Thorin son of the dwarf king starts to outline a plan on how to regain the treasure stolen by the dragon Smaug.

Molson coors

Countries around the world has indeed shied away from its isolationist tendencies and has embraced wholeheartedly the precepts of globalization, China is not a stranger to this phenomenon. With over a billion people, it has somehow developed into a lucrative market for investment. Owing to its potential, China is considered as the largest beer market in the world. Breweries worldwide are vying to be part of this huge market, and Molson Coors is in a position to be a major player. But caution is expressed because China is a complex market and product demand would vary from region to region. So if the desire of Molson Coors is to saturate the market in a nationwide level, then they need to be extra judicious in their marketing thrusts. Part of the government’s protectionist measures is to allow foreign investors to have a manufacturing and marketing agreement with a local counterpart. In so doing, products could reach consumers in all levels of Chinese society. In line with this policy, Molson Coors in August 2001 formed the subsidiary – Coors Beer Beverages (Suzhou) Co.,Ltd., the purpose being to distribute Coors Beer products into China. A brewing agreement has also been inked with Lion Nathan Beer and Beverages (Suzhou) Co. Ltd. in October 2001. Threats: As in all potential markets there will always be threats as interested investors and companies jockey for position and share in the manufacturing and beer distribution business. And since the market is still young and so huge, there will always be room for everybody. Depending on each company’s strategy, the one that can provide consumers the most value for their money will get the lion’s share of the market. Competition has started to manifest its ugly head as major players in the beer market are now poised to increase their market share. Recently though more breweries are coming into China (50 are reported recently). This is in addition to Budweiser, the current market leader; Carlsberg; Anheuser-Busch’s; SABMiller; Harbin Brewery and Scottish & Newcastle. Even with the frantic activity now experienced in China, the local beer market remains to be controlled by domestic players. This makes it a fragmented market and totally needs infusion of massive international capital which could come in the form of joint venture agreements. As a form of encouragement, China’s per capita beer consumption remains to be low – meaning the market has still so much room for development. References: â€Å"Bear in China 2006 A Market Analysis.† Research and Markets. December 2006. Research and Markets. 24 February 2008. . â€Å"China’s Beer Market: Still Room for Investment.† AP-Foodtechnology. 6 August 2004. Decision News Media SAS. 24 February 2008. . â€Å"SABMiller ‘top China beer seller.’†BBC News UK. 6 October 2006. BBC. 24 February 2008. . Edgar Online Inc. 11 March 2005. Edgar Online, Inc. 24 February 2008. .

Vietnam War Brigadier General Robin Olds

Vietnam War Brigadier General Robin Olds Born July 14, 1922, in Honolulu, HI, Robin Olds was the son of then-Captain Robert Olds and his wife Eloise. The oldest of four, Olds spent the majority of his childhood at Langley Field in Virginia where his father was stationed as an aide to Brigadier General Billy Mitchell. While there he also associated with key officers in the US Army Air Service such as Major Carl Spaatz. In 1925, Olds accompanied his father to Mitchells famed court-martial. Dressed in a child-size air service uniform, he watched his father testify on Mitchells behalf. Five years later, Olds flew for the first time when his father took him aloft. Deciding on a military career at an early age, Olds attended Hampton High School where he became a standout in football. Declining a series of football scholarships, he elected to take a year of study at Millard Preparatory School in 1939 prior to applying to West Point. Learning of the outbreak of World War II while at Millard, he attempted to leave school and enlist in the Royal Canadian Air Force. This was blocked by his father who forced him to stay at Millard. Completing the course of study, Olds was accepted to West Point and entered the service in July 1940. A football star at West Point, he was named an All-American in 1942 and later was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame. Learning to Fly Selecting service in the US Army Air Forces, Olds completed his primary flight training in the summer of 1942 at the Spartan School of Aviation in Tulsa, OK. Returning north, he passed through advanced training at Stewart Field in New York. Receiving his wings from General Henry Hap Arnold, Olds graduated from West Point on June 1, 1943, after completing the academys accelerated wartime curriculum. Commissioned as a second lieutenant, he received an assignment to report to the West Coast for training on P-38 Lightnings. This done, Olds was posted to the 479th Fighter Groups 434th Fighter Squadron with orders for Britain. Fighting Over Europe Arriving in Britain in May 1944, Olds squadron quickly entered combat as part of the Allied air offensive prior to the invasion of Normandy. Dubbing his aircraft Scat II, Olds worked closely with his crew chief to learn about aircraft maintenance. Promoted to captain on July 24, he scored his first two kills the following month when he downed a pair of Focke Wulf Fw 190s during a bombing raid over Montmirail, France. On August 25, during an escort mission to Wismar, Germany, Olds shot down three Messerschmitt Bf 109s to become the squadrons first ace. In mid-September, the 434th began converting to the P-51 Mustang. This required some adjustment on Olds part as the single-engine Mustang handled differently than the twin-engine Lightning. After downing a Bf 109 over Berlin, Olds completed his initial combat tour in November and was given two months leave in the United States. Returning to Europe in January 1945, he was promoted to major the following month. On March 25, he received command of the 434th. Slowly increasing his score through the spring, Olds scored his final kill of the conflict on April 7 when he destroyed a Bf 109 during a B-24 Liberator a raid over LÃ ¼neburg. With the end of the war in Europe in May, Olds tally stood at 12 kills as well as 11.5 destroyed on the ground. Returning to the US, Olds was assigned to West Point to serve as an assistant football coach to Earl Red Blaik. Postwar Years Olds time at West Point proved brief as many older officers resented his rapid rise in rank during the war. In February 1946, Olds obtained a transfer to the 412th Fighter Group and trained on the P-80 Shooting Star. Through the remainder of the year, he flew as part of a jet demonstration team with Lieutenant Colonel John C. Pappy Herbst. Seen as a rising star, Olds was selected for a US Air Force-Royal Air Force exchange program in 1948. Traveling to Britain, he commanded No. 1 Squadron at RAF Tangmere and flew the Gloster Meteor. With the end of this assignment in late 1949, Olds became the operations officer for the F-86 Sabre-equipped 94th Fighter Squadron at March Field in California. Olds next was given command of the Air Defense Commands 71st Fighter Squadron based at the Greater Pittsburgh Airport. He remained in this role for much of the Korean War despite repeated requests for combat duty. Increasingly unhappy with the USAF, despite promotions to lieutenant colonel (1951) and colonel (1953), he debated retiring but was talked out of it by his friend Major General Frederic H. Smith, Jr. Shifting to Smiths Eastern Air Defense Command, Olds languished in several staff assignments until receiving an assignment to the 86th Fighter-Interceptor Wing at Landstuhl Air Base, Germany in 1955. Remaining abroad for three years, he later oversaw the Weapons Proficiency Center at Wheelus Air Base, Libya. Made Deputy Chief, Air Defense Division at the Pentagon in 1958, Olds produced as series of prophetic papers calling for improved air-to-air combat training and the increased production of conventional munitions. After assisting in generating the funding for the classified SR-71 Blackbird program, Olds attended the National War College in 1962-1963. Following graduation, he commanded the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing at RAF Bentwaters. During this time, he brought over former Tuskegee Airman Colonel Daniel Chappie James, Jr. to Britain to serve on his staff. Olds left the 81st in 1965 after forming an aerial demonstration team without command authorization. Vietnam War After brief service in South Carolina, Olds was given command of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing at Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base. As his new unit flew the F-4 Phantom II, Olds completed an accelerated training course on the aircraft before departing to take part in the Vietnam War. Appointed to instill aggressiveness into the 8th TFW, Olds immediately placed himself on the flight schedule as a rookie pilot upon arriving in Thailand. He encouraged his men to train him well so that he could be an effective leader for them. Later that year, James joined Olds with the 8th TFW and two became known among the men as Blackman and Robin. Increasing concerned about F-105 Thunderchief losses to North Vietnamese MiGs during bombing missions, Olds designed Operation Bolo in late 1966. This called for 8th TFW F-4s to mimic F-105 operations in an effort to draw enemy aircraft into combat. Implemented in January 1967, the operation saw American aircraft down seven MiG-21s, with Olds shooting down one. The MiG losses were the highest suffered in one day by the North Vietnamese during the war. A stunning success, Operation Bolo effectively eliminated the MiG threat for most of the spring of 1967. After bagging another MiG-21 on May 4, Olds shot down two MiG-17s on the 20th to raise his total to 16. Over the next few months, Olds continued to personally lead his men into combat. In an effort to raise morale in the 8th TFW, he began growing a famed handlebar mustache. Copied by his men, they referred to them as bulletproof mustaches. During this time, he avoided shooting down a fifth MiG as he had been alerted that should he become an ace over Vietnam, he would be relieved of command and brought home to conduct publicity events for the Air Force. On August 11, Olds conducted a strike on the Paul Doumer Bridge in Hanoi. For his performance, he was awarded the Air Force Cross. Later Career Leaving the 8th TFW in September 1967, Olds was made Commandant of Cadets at the US Air Force Academy. Promoted to brigadier general on June 1, 1968, he worked to restore pride in the school after a large cheating scandal had blackened its reputation. In February 1971, Olds became director of aerospace safety in the Office of the Inspector General. That fall, he was sent back to Southeast Asia to report on the combat readiness of USAF units in the region. While there, he toured bases and flew several unauthorized combat missions. Returning to the US, Olds wrote a scathing report in which he offered deep concerns in regard to a lack of air-to-air combat training. The following year, his fears were proven true when the USAF incurred a 1:1 kill-loss ratio during Operation Linebacker. In an effort to aid the situation, Olds offered to take a reduction in rank to colonel so that he could return to Vietnam. When this offer was refused, he elected to leave the service on June 1, 1973. Retiring to Steamboat Springs, CO, he was active in public affairs. Enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2001, Olds later died on June 14, 2007. Olds ashes were interred at the US Air Force Academy. Selected Sources Robin Olds: BiographyAce Pilots: Major Robin Olds in World War IIUS Air Force: Legendary Fighter Pilot Robin Olds Dies

The reality show Intervention

The reality show Intervention Introduction The â€Å"Intervention† is a reality show program that airs on AE network. In any given episode of the reality show, the program features two unsuspecting people who suffer drug addiction. Usually, this happens with the explicit permission of the family of the person being featured. Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The reality show â€Å"Intervention† specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The television cameras document whatever the family member see as problematic behaviour done by the person as a result of the drug addiction. This television show has been analysed by different academicians. Van Over is one such few researchers who analysed data as evident over a series of 15 Intervention episodes. His aim was to look at the â€Å"self as a culturally constituted linguistic resource in interventions† (1). This was analysed on the cultural practice of the intervention, whose aim was to t ell the person features that â€Å"his or her current status (under drug influence) was inappropriate, inadequate, harmful or/and illegitimate to self and others† (Van Over 8). The assumption of the Intervention is that hearing such words from the interveners would motivate him or her to take the requisite corrective actions, which would include accepting to take up treatment as the first step. Likely Outcomes At any one episode, the Intervention has four likely outcomes: first, the drug addict would question the legitimacy of the intervention and refuse to participate; secondly, the addict could accept the assertions made by the group and take up the recommended course of action; third, the addict may disagree with the assertion made by the group, but decide to take up remedial proposals; and finally, there is a possibility that an addict could accept the groups assertion but refuse to accept treatment. While acknowledging all these four possibilities, Van Over claims that in all the 15 episodes he collected data from, the fourth scenario never occurred. His hypothesis regarding this outcome is that the Intervention deliberately avoided airing shows where the intervention failed or the Intervention is such a convincing persuasion strategy that none of the people who go through cannot help but resonate with the assertions of the interveners and other participants (9). Van Over’s review concludes that the intervention brings out the elements of identity, the self and the personhood whereby the â€Å"true† and â€Å"real† self seems lost when an addiction takes over.Advertising Looking for essay on anthropology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Tough love Scheck argues that the Intervention show shows how â€Å"tough love† can work wonders in enabling people suffering from drug addiction to take up treatment (37). The author compares the television show to an era when young people would be taken to emergency rooms in hospitals where they would see some of the injuries that resulted from drug use. In a similar manner, Scheck argues that the family members in the reality show as well as the general audience serve to open an addict’s eyes to the realities of drug abuse. Scheck calls this confrontational counselling (37). Comparisons with films and documentaries Hersey compares the Intervention program with other television programs or films, which feature people recovering from addictions and conclude that the depictions have created a cultural understanding of how people suffering from addiction should look and behave (467). The author however notes that compared to Intervention and other reality shows, films such as â€Å"Clean and Sober†, â€Å"28 days† and â€Å"when a man loves a woman† are surprisingly univocal and unrealistic. The films also limit their recovery representation to â€Å"the white upper c lass† persons thus basing their addiction conceptual framework on only one group of people (468). Hersey, Curt. â€Å"Scrip (ting) treatment: representations of recovery from addiction in Hollywood Film.† Contemporary Drug problems 32.4 (2005): 467-480. Scheck, Anne. â€Å"Brief ED interventions Lower Drug and Alcohol Abuse.† Emergency medicine News 28.1 (2006): 36-37. Van Over, Brion. â€Å"The self as a culturally constituted Linguistic resource in Interventions.† Research on Language and social interactions 28.4 (2008): 1-22.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The reality show â€Å"Intervention† specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More

Priming

Priming Abstract The objective of our experiment, got a clue was to discover if we could change an individual's stereotypical perception on various items. We would try to achieve this change in perceptions by priming our subjects with positive or negative words flashed over the items for a short period of time. The first step taken to achieve our challenge was to have our subjects fill out questionnaire rating various objects from negative to positive, or negative to positive on a scale of one to five. After rating the various objects our subject then watched a slide show containing twenty of the forty items they had to rate on the questionnaire. The slide show consisted of three groups positive negative controlled. During the slide show all subjects receives the same picture in a neutral state. The positive group received Positive priming, the negative group received negative priming and the controlled group received no priming just a steady picture.An African American boy outside of Cinci nnati, Ohi...After viewing the slide show our subject then repeated the questionnaire again to see if there perception of the objects had changed due to the slide show.Got A Clue: Stereotypical Priming In our society today stereotypes are way that people are able to organize and categorized different things in our daily lives. Some stereotypes maybe positive or negative but they are all influenced by societies reaction to various things. The perceptions people may have about various things in their environment is caused by the connotations others may have put on these items. These stereotypes then shape the way we perceive and interact with these items. Our goal was to see if we could counter-stereotype peoples perception of various objects. We hoped to achieve this through the priming technique. This is a technique in which a subject is asked to classify or...

Urban planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Urban planning - Essay Example The meeting starts at 5.00 p.m. From my first impression, the meeting was going on smoothly although there are some changes that could be made to ensure that the meeting is more efficient. The chairman was commendable in his role and ensured that order was maintained throughout the meeting. People respected his calls and he was the final authority in regards to all the matters in regards to the meeting. The members of the public who attended the event had also been informed on the need of order during the meeting. One improvement I would recommend is that the meeting be held on Saturdays instead of during the agenda week. This is because of several factors. People might not want to go home late in the night and therefore the meeting can run late into the night and be adjourned. If the meeting is held on a Saturday afternoon, people will have ample time to go through the meeting and also further time to air their contributions. I was surprised to notice various prominent people in the town at the meeting. One that I did not expect was the mayor, John Lewis, who was also in attendance. Most of the time, he was silent and just took down notes, however, when it to the AOB segment he thanked the commission for assisting him in trying to fulfill his election agenda of a better Gilberts Town that would be the envy of the country. He requested that this cordial relationship continue into the future. His presence there was a sign of the importance of this meeting to the community. Initially, I thought that any attendee of the meeting could speak at the meeting but I realized this was not the case. Anyone who wants to speak at the meeting must fill a speaker card. An individual fills the agenda items he wants to speak on and filing it with the clerk before the actual meeting. There are several guidelines that determine the use of speaker cards: When a designated speaker is called to air their views, the speaker shall use the microphone set for public

Meaningful career implications Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Meaningful career implications - Essay Example Social Psychology deals with the extent at which the lives of individuals are influenced or affected by the social group they belong to (Morris & Maisto, 2005). Hence, I would use Social Psychology to understand the reason that the lives of the Military Family are influenced by the circumstances that surrounds them. Social Psychology shows the extent at which circumstances affect the life of people as it shows how the situation around people influence their lives either positively or negatively (Kagan, 2002). This would also make me understand the consequences of the circumstances that surround military officers and the effect it could likely have on their family members (Kassin, Fein, & Markus, 2008). I would use Social Psychology as a basis to understand the reasons that the family of military men is emotionally attached to each other. Social Psychology would help me understand the way these people feel and I would be able to advise them on the steps to take to fight their emotions and their apprehensions. Social psychology would help me understand the way the Military Family feel, think and behave and how their lives are influenced by the members of their family in the military.

A Task on Geotechnics Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

A Task on Geotechnics - Coursework Example Since in our case and , point L has such Figure 1. coordinates . At the same time, x coordinate of point M equals , while its z coordinate equals . Since in our case , , , and , point M has such coordinates . Points L and M are shown on Figure 1. We look for equation of the dam slope adjacent to the water reservoir in the form where and are constants. Since points L and M lie on this line, and can be found from the solution of the following system of equations (1) Solving the first equation of this system for we obtain the following . (2) Substituting the right hand side of equation (2) for in the second equation of system (1) we obtain the following . Therefore, . From equation (2) it follows that . Hence, the equation of the slope adjacent to the water reservoir has the following form:. The water level is equal to . Since and , the z coordinate of point A equals 43. Moreover, point A lies on line LM. Therefore, its x coordinate satisfies the following equation . Solving it for x we obtain that point A has such coordinates . In its turn, the difference between x coordinates of points L and A is the following:. Point F on the water surface at distance from point A has the following coordinates –. The difference between x coordinates of points F and O is the following: . ... Table 1. 0.2*H 0.4*H 0.6*H 0.8*H H x= -0,539 11,579 31,774 60,048 96,400 z= 8,600 17,200 25,800 34,400 43,000 Problem # 2 In the second problem we are supposed to correct the shape of the phreatic line in the vicinity of point A. Therefore, we draw a curve that intersects line LM at right angle and â€Å"meets the base parabola smoothly and tangentially at a convenient point say,† N (Vijayendra, 2010, p. 15). The final shape of the free surface is shown on Figure 2. Figure 2 Problem # 3 Curve KNA shown on Figure 3 is a free water surface. Hence, the pore water pressure along this line is constant and equal to the atmospheric pressure (Vijayendra, 2010, p. 11). We assume that the pore water is incompressible. The hydraulic head is given by such the expression where here and below is the water density, is the acceleration of free fall, is pressure of the pore water (Wikipedia, n. d.). Therefore, the head loss between any two points belonging to this curve is proportional to the difference in their vertical coordinates. Since curve KNA is a phreatic line, it is a flow line (Vijayendra, 2010, p. 11). Segment LO shown on Figure 3 is the interface between the soil and the impermeable boundary. Therefore, it is a flow line (Vijayendra, 2010, p. 4). We draw the equipotential lines that start at points , , , and N making smooth transitions between their â€Å"straight and curved sections† (Vijayendra, 2010, p. 5). These lines are perpendicular to flow lines LO and KNA, as it is shown on Figure 3. Segment LA shown on Figure 3 is the â€Å"soil and permeable boundary† interface. Therefore, it is an equipotential line (Vijayendra, 2010, p. 4). The toe drain is a pipe

The Evening Dress in Victorian era Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Evening Dress in Victorian era - Essay Example Also, I will discuss how this particular dress reflects issues of social, culture, class, work, lifestyle, leisure and home or more during the Victoria era. This dress was made by the Father of Haute couture, Charles Frederick Worth, during Queen Victoria reign in the year of 1882. The medium is silk. This evening dress was made elaborately and with a lot of detail. It has included a lot of important elements of Victorian style such as flounced on the cut off sleeves, neckline, bottom of the dress and the sweeper; the bow on the lower right dress and the bow design on the breast area; layers; balayeuse under the dress; cage crinoline and high waist to emphasize the shape of the women body; and no ankle showing. In addition, Charles Frederick Worth used the gauzes to created different layers and used flowers to decorate the dress to add more colors. This demonstrated that the women were conservative but still did not lose resplendent in the design. â€Å"Fashion is a language that creates itself in clothes to interpret reality.† said by one of famous designer Karl Lagerfeld. Clothes can always reflect the society in the particular period. During Queen Victoria reign, there was no war but peace and prosperity. On the other hand, it means the improvement in technology. In the early Victoria era women have to wear a larger number of petticoats underneath, but â€Å"in 1856 they were replaced by a ‘cage crinoline’ or hooped petticoat† (Laver, Haye, and Tucker 177). Because of the technology improved women can sit down easily and walk comfortable without carrying heavy petticoats underneath. The Victorian era evening gowns were made up of the same shape as the daytime gowns. Frequently, women had two tops for the one skirt as one was worn for day time, while the other one in the evening. There was also a significant difference in the necklines as they were highly trimmed, less conservative, and featured shorter sleeve

John F. Kennedy, Cuban Missile Crisis Address to the Nation delivered Personal Statement

John F. Kennedy, Cuban Missile Crisis Address to the Nation delivered 22 October 1962 - Personal Statement Example Kennedy starts out with a greeting, addressing my fellow citizens. He builds trust by assuring that the government has fulfilled its promise to protect the security of the people. He establishes government transparency by being over-detailed. He tells, for example, the day and time that the horrifying information came to him. Who can doubt it? He says that he feels obliged to report the situation to the American people, in fullest detail. From the initial greeting, Kennedy begins to work on the underlying mythology of the people. My Fellow Citizens may seem like an innocuous formal greeting, but a closer examination is warranted. Without the possessive form, connection would be denoted, but with the possessive form, the phrase assigns ownership. It is not an objectification of the people, necessarily, but implies patriarchal connection. He is President, father of the people. Fathers are strong and they are in charge. Fathers use wisdom to protect and advise, and to neutralize threats to the family. So this very first word sets people into a mental space of respecting his authority, surrendering to the superiority of his role. The second word he uses, fellow, implies his humility, his solidarity with the people. Although the father is in charge, and although he wields superior wisdom in managing and defending the family, he needs their support. While obedience can be forced, respect and loyalty cannot. A leader is more effective when people want to follow. Through the use of this single word, Kennedy implies voluntary loyalty and trust, rather than stressing his right of power and the people’s duty of obedience. Kennedy makes abundant use of quotes from the Soviets. In a sense, he is taunting them, using their quotes to show how ridiculously inconsistent and untrustworthy they are. He is polarizing their character in relation to American character. This strategy dehumanizes the Soviets so that they are uncritically accepted as The Enemy. Rather than attri buting each quote to a person, he repeatedly introduces their statements with, and I quote the Soviet Government. This makes him seem honest and accurate in his portrayal of their position. A direct quote, after all, is apparent proof that they said what he thought they said. No critical thought is needed. Yet, in truth, context is everything, and a statement out of context can be completely misleading. When a quote is attributed to a particular person, it can be more easily rationalized by assuming that the person had a bad day, overstepped his authority or is unreasonable but, after all, does not represent a national orientation. When a quote is attributed to a government, it is more total than that. It is reflective of an implacable condition. Furthermore, when quotes are attributed to a government, any inconsistencies can be presented as singular inconsistencies. For example, if the Soviet President says A and the Soviet Prime Minister says B, and the Soviet Defense Minister say s C, and if ABC are lumped together as being what the government said, then differences in opinion or context, presented as inconsistencies, will be understood lies. Kennedy presents the United States as entirely good. He presents the Soviet Union as immoral and

MGMT Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

MGMT - Term Paper Example It is their management which is primarily responsible for the formulation of strategies, assigning goals, implementation of strategies, tracking the success of these by matching them to their predetermined goals. This is done in my forms however their strategic thrusts rely heavily on feedback which they receive. The most effective feedback is by the numbers which are generated by each store. These are then forwarded to the headquarters by the use of the vast digital network. In 2007 Wal-Mart was labeled one of the most competitive and innovative companies in the world (Plambeck, 2007). Their ability to be innovative is critical for them being able to achieve sustainability through measures that positively impact and reduce strain on the environment. This they do by three ambitious goals: incorporating as much of renewable energy as they can as part of their operations, minimizing the creation of waste and continuously striving to sell products which lead to sustaining their resources as well as the environment. As far as innovation is concerned an analysis of the activities and measures taken by Wal-Mart focus on incorporating a culture which aids the organization through making efficient use of a learning culture. This can be seen in the extensive measures taken by Wal-Mart to facilitate learning of the employees and introducing frequent training sessions. From the instance an employee starts working at Wal-Mart they undergo a extensive customer service training, they also undertake on the job training and ongoing formal training as far as responsibilities of the work are concerned. Analysis suggests that initially it was customer service and the ten foot rule applied to the workforce which served as driving forces for Wal-Mart’s innovative culture. Suggestions, feedback and communication with the employees were valued and some of their suggestions were even adopted

The Evening Dress in Victorian era Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Evening Dress in Victorian era - Essay Example Also, I will discuss how this particular dress reflects issues of social, culture, class, work, lifestyle, leisure and home or more during the Victoria era. This dress was made by the Father of Haute couture, Charles Frederick Worth, during Queen Victoria reign in the year of 1882. The medium is silk. This evening dress was made elaborately and with a lot of detail. It has included a lot of important elements of Victorian style such as flounced on the cut off sleeves, neckline, bottom of the dress and the sweeper; the bow on the lower right dress and the bow design on the breast area; layers; balayeuse under the dress; cage crinoline and high waist to emphasize the shape of the women body; and no ankle showing. In addition, Charles Frederick Worth used the gauzes to created different layers and used flowers to decorate the dress to add more colors. This demonstrated that the women were conservative but still did not lose resplendent in the design. â€Å"Fashion is a language that creates itself in clothes to interpret reality.† said by one of famous designer Karl Lagerfeld. Clothes can always reflect the society in the particular period. During Queen Victoria reign, there was no war but peace and prosperity. On the other hand, it means the improvement in technology. In the early Victoria era women have to wear a larger number of petticoats underneath, but â€Å"in 1856 they were replaced by a ‘cage crinoline’ or hooped petticoat† (Laver, Haye, and Tucker 177). Because of the technology improved women can sit down easily and walk comfortable without carrying heavy petticoats underneath. The Victorian era evening gowns were made up of the same shape as the daytime gowns. Frequently, women had two tops for the one skirt as one was worn for day time, while the other one in the evening. There was also a significant difference in the necklines as they were highly trimmed, less conservative, and featured shorter sleeve

MGMT Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

MGMT - Term Paper Example It is their management which is primarily responsible for the formulation of strategies, assigning goals, implementation of strategies, tracking the success of these by matching them to their predetermined goals. This is done in my forms however their strategic thrusts rely heavily on feedback which they receive. The most effective feedback is by the numbers which are generated by each store. These are then forwarded to the headquarters by the use of the vast digital network. In 2007 Wal-Mart was labeled one of the most competitive and innovative companies in the world (Plambeck, 2007). Their ability to be innovative is critical for them being able to achieve sustainability through measures that positively impact and reduce strain on the environment. This they do by three ambitious goals: incorporating as much of renewable energy as they can as part of their operations, minimizing the creation of waste and continuously striving to sell products which lead to sustaining their resources as well as the environment. As far as innovation is concerned an analysis of the activities and measures taken by Wal-Mart focus on incorporating a culture which aids the organization through making efficient use of a learning culture. This can be seen in the extensive measures taken by Wal-Mart to facilitate learning of the employees and introducing frequent training sessions. From the instance an employee starts working at Wal-Mart they undergo a extensive customer service training, they also undertake on the job training and ongoing formal training as far as responsibilities of the work are concerned. Analysis suggests that initially it was customer service and the ten foot rule applied to the workforce which served as driving forces for Wal-Mart’s innovative culture. Suggestions, feedback and communication with the employees were valued and some of their suggestions were even adopted

Article Critique Essay Example for Free

Article Critique Essay The thought that peer exclusion is correlated with children’s classroom achievements and adjustment has been hypothesized since the 1930’s. Much research and empirical evidence for such hypotheses have since been collected, and seem to agree with the premise of the correlation. Peer acceptance is the main measurement of this study. In contrast with other types of peer relationships, peer group acceptance, or rejection, is strongly connected with academic readiness and achievement. This article focuses on peer sentiments and its effect on children’s adjustment. It differs from past studies in that its approach is to measure non-observable feelings about classmates, rather than only the observable interactions. The article begins by outlining past research, and developing a premise for the study from those previous studies. The main study that this research builds upon is that of a 2001 study by Eric S. Buhs and Gary W. Ladd, who also conduct this study along with Sarah L. Herald. The premise of the study, based on the 2001 study, is that once classmates express negative feelings and actions upon a peer, those feelings and actions act as a visible marker for further rejection by the larger peer group, and the rejected child as well; as a result, the rejected peers are flagged by their peers, and are left out of classroom interactions, and as a consequence, the rejected child’s learning is impacted ultimately leading to lower levels of achievement (Buhs, Ladd, and Herald, 2006, p. 2). The prior 2001 study found that â€Å"early peer rejection was negatively related to later achievement and that this association was partially mediated through peer maltreatment and declining classroom participation, respectively† (Buhs et al. , 2006, p. 2). The authors developed a hypothesis that built upon their previous study. Their hypothesis was stated as, â€Å"it was hypothesized that prolonged peer maltreatment increases the probability that children will disengage from classrooms (or the school context) and that increasing disengagement impairs children’s achievement. Thus, it was predicted that longer rather than shorter histories of peer maltreatment, after controlling for contemporary exclusion or abuse, would mediate the link between early peer rejection and later classroom disengagement† (Buhs et al. , 2006, p. 3). The authors further state that their purpose for conducting this study was to bridge the gap between the limitations of the previous study (it was only a one year study that attempted to predict students future outcomes) by conducting a more comprehensive longitudinal study over a six year period (kindergarten through fifth grade). Methodology The research study constructed six variables to measure the children with. They include, peer group acceptance/rejection, peer exclusion, peer abuse, classroom participation, school avoidance, and achievement. Peer group acceptance/rejection was conceptualized to mean â€Å"the extent to which individuals were liked/ disliked by classroom peers,† and operationalized by sociometric ratings that were collected from peers during kindergarten. One problem with this operationalization is the ability to comprehensively scale the true feelings of one peer toward another, especially during younger years. Scales, questionnaires, and observations might be too incomplete to capture the true meaning behind the dynamics of peer to peer interactions. Another issue is of how to evaluate separate peer groups. Many times classrooms encompass only a selection of developed peer groupings throughout the grade, and might be unfairly balanced toward one group. An example of groupings would be defined by the terms, â€Å"popular,† â€Å"punk,† or â€Å"nerds. † The research might be biased toward one group, if only because they were over represented in a class room. The variable Peer Exclusion was conceptualized as â€Å"the extent to which children were the target of peers’ nonaggressive rejecting behaviors, including behaviors such as ignoring, avoiding, or refusing to associate with them in the classroom context† (Buhs et al. , 2006, p. 3). The Variable Peer Abuse—the second form of peer mistreatment—was conceptualized to mean â€Å"the extent to which children were recipients of classmate’s aggressive and harassing behaviors† (Buhs et al. , 2006, p. 3). These two variables contained indicators to distinguish between chronic peer abuse, and situational peer abuse. Again, the issue that arises is the effectiveness of these measures. The interactions between childhood peers are complex, and can change daily. The variables Classroom Participation, and School Avoidance were used to measure disengagement from the classroom environment. A large issue with this is how to distinguish individuals who might be avoiding class as an outcome of separate circumstances. If poor participation and avoidance was only observed from the angle of peer interactions, then this view is biased toward the study. The study is seeking a correlation, and if outside factors aren’t controlled for, then they will biasly effect the results of their study. A child’s family life, neighborhood, economic status, innate ability, among other factors, could influence all of the variables that this study examines. The last variable, Achievement, was defined as â€Å"the accuracy with which children could solve progressively more advanced reading, mathematics, and spelling problems on an individualized achievement test† (Buhs et al. , 2006, p. 4). The issue that comes to mind with this variable is the way it uses tests to gauge â€Å"achievement†. Some students fare better on tests than others, while some students take time to develop adequate test taking skills. Another problem is how to control for separate curriculums in different classrooms, and the quality of what is being taught. Data (From the text) Buhs et al. , 2006, p. 5 Participants The data used in this investigation were gathered from a total sample of 380 children (190 girls These children were followed longitudinally from age 5 (kindergarten) to age 11 (fifth grade31 kindergarten class rooms across 10 schools, and by the fifth-grade data collection period, children were in 162 different classrooms across 32 schools. The sample contained nearly equal proportions of families from urban, suburban, or rural midwestern communities, and the sample’s ethnic composition was 17. 4% African American, 77. 1% Caucasian, 1. 6% Hispanic, and 3. 9% â€Å"other. † Family incomes were distributed as follows: 10. 9% of the sample reported total household incomes from $0 to $10,000, 10. 9% reported incomes from $10,000 to $20,000, 12. 6% reported incomes from $20,000 to $30,000, 12. 6% from $30,000 to $40,000, 12. 9% from $40,000 to $50,000, and 40. 3% reported incomes above $50,000. Results The study reports it’s results as, â€Å"peer group rejection is predictive of a range of chronic, negative peer behaviors that may alter both the social environment of the classroom and children’s adaptive responses within that context across the elementary school years. † (Buhs et al. , 2006, p. 11). It suggests that the facet of peer exclusion leading to reduced participation, and ultimately delayed achievements needs further study. It goes on to say that with further study, and thus more knowledge, an empirically based intervention program can be developed. Conclusion It can be argued that to have a complete understanding of the ever evolving and complex world of the social interactions in a school environment is close to impossible. The authors came into their study with a set premise, and expectations of the outcomes, and have seemed to found what they were searching for. The question becomes, how valid are the author’s findings, and can they be applied in a general manner across learning environments. I believe studies that look at complex interactions between children over several years, such as this study, might have too many outside interactionary forces that could effect the data and results. Works Cited Buhs, Eric S. , Ladd, Gary W. , and Herald, Sarah L. (2006). Peer Exclusion and Victimization: Processes That Mediate the Relation Between Peer Group Rejection and Children’s Classroom Engagement and Achievement?. journal of Educational Psychology 2006, Vol. 98, No. 1, 1–13.

Framework for Speech Enhancement and Recognition

Framework for Speech Enhancement and Recognition A Generalized Framework for Speech Enhancement and Recognition with Special Focus On Patients with Speech Disorders Literature Review Kumara Sharma et.al. have proposed Harmonics-to-Noise Ratio and Critical-Band Energy Spectrum of speech as Acoustic Indicators of Laryngeal and Voice Pathology [8]. Acoustic analysis of speech signals is a noninvasive technique that has been proved to be an effective tool for the objective support of vocal and voice disease screening. In the present study acoustic analysis of sustained vowels is considered. A simple k-means nearest neighbor classifier is designed to test the efficacy of a harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR) measure and the critical-band energy spectrum of the voiced speech signal as tools for the detection of laryngeal pathologies [12]. It groups the given voice signal sample into pathologic and normal. The voiced speech signal is decomposed into harmonic and noise components using an iterative signal extrapolation algorithm. The HNRs at four different frequency bands are estimated and used as features. Voiced speech is also filtered with 21 critical-band pass filters tha t mimic the human auditory neurons. Normalized energies of these filter outputs are used as another set of features. The HNR and the critical-band energy spectrum can be used to correlate laryngeal pathology and voice alteration, using previously classified voice samples. This method could be an additional acoustic indicator that supplements the clinical diagnostic features for voice evaluation [42]. Cepstral-based estimation is used to provide a baseline estimate of the noise level in the logarithmic spectrum for voiced speech. A theoretical description of Cepstral processing of voiced speech containing aspiration noise, together with supporting empirical data, is provided in order to illustrate the nature of the noise baseline estimation process. Taking the Fourier transform of the liftered (filtered in the Cepstral domain) cepstrum produces a noise baseline estimate. It is shown that Fourier transforming the low-pass liftered cepstrum is comparable to applying a moving average (MA) filter to the logarithmic spectrum and hence the baseline receives contributions from the glottal source excited vocal tract and the noise excited vocal tract[43]. Because the estimation process resembles the action of a MA filter, the resulting noise baseline is determined by the harmonic resolution as determined by the temporal analysis window length and the glottal source spectral tilt. On select ing an appropriate temporal analysis window length the estimated baseline is shown to lie halfway between the glottal excited vocal tract and the noise excited vocal tract. This information is employed in a new harmonics-to-noise (HNR) estimation technique, which is shown to provide accurate HNR estimates when tested on synthetically generated voice signals. HNR is defined as the ratio between the energy of the periodic component to the energy of the aperiodic component in the signal. As such it is sensitive to all forms of waveform aperiodicity [8],[12]. It only specifically reflects a signal to aspiration noise ratio when other aperiodicities in the signal are comparatively low. Validation of a HNR method requires testing the technique against synthesis data with a priori knowledge of the HNR. Time-domain methods that require individual period detection for HNR estimation can be problematic because of the difficulty in estimating the period markers for pathological voiced speech. Frequency domain methods encounter the problem of estimating noise at harmonic locations .Cepstral techniques have been introduced to supply noise estimates at all frequency locations in the spectrum (the Cepstral processing removes the harmonics from the spectrum).It is shown that the cepstrum-based noise baseline estimation process is comparable to applying a moving average MA filter to the power spectrum and hence the baseline receives contributions from the glottal source excited vocal tract and the noise excited vocal tract. Two important issues need to be considered with respect to HNR estimation for sustained vowel phonation when inferring glottal noise levels: HNR is a global indicator of voice periodicity.HNR is indirectly related to the noise level of the glottal source .HNR provides a g lobal estimate of signal periodicity. Hence a low value of HNR can arise from any form of aperiodicity, for example, from aspiration noise, jitter, shimmer, nonstationarity of the vocal tract, or other waveform anomalies [43]. Daryush Mehta has discussed about Aspiration Noise during Phonation: Synthesis, Analysis, and Pitch-Scale Modification. The current study investigates the synthesis and analysis of aspiration noise in synthesized and spoken vowels. Based on the linear source-filter model of speech production, author has implemented a vowel synthesizer in which the aspiration noise source is temporally modulated by the periodic source waveform. Modulations in the noise source waveform and their synchronism with the periodic source are shown to be salient for natural-sounding vowel synthesis. The accurate estimation of the aspiration noise component that contains energy across the frequency spectrum and temporal characteristics due to modulations in the noise source was a challenging task for the author. Spectral harmonic/noise component analysis of spoken vowels shows evidence of noise modulations with peaks in the estimated noise source component synchronous with both the open phase of the periodic s ource and with time instants of glottal closure [39]. Due to natural modulations in the aspiration noise source, author has developed an alternate approach to the speech signal processing with the aim of accurate pitch-scale modification. The proposed strategy takes a dual processing approach, in which the periodic and noise components of the speech signal are separately analyzed, modified, and re-synthesized. The periodic component is modified using our implementation of time-domain pitch-synchronous overlap-add, and the noise component is handled by modifying characteristics of its source waveform. Author has modeled an inherent coupling between the original periodic and aspiration noise sources; the modification algorithm is designed to preserve the synchronism between temporal modulations of the two sources [44]. The reconstructed modified signal is perceived to be natural-sounding and generally reduces artifacts. Arpit Mathur et.al. have discussed about the significance of parametric spectral ratio methods in detection and recognit ion of whispered speech [45]. Other References Kaladhar developed confusion matrix which is a matrix for a two-class classifier, contains information about actual and predicted classifications done by a classification system. The accuracy obtained by training the probabilistic neural network using Parkinson disease dataset got 100% as positives, predictions that an instance is positive, using WEKA 3 and Matlab v7. The data explored in this research was obtained from the Oxford Parkinsons Disease Detection Dataset. Data mining is the process of extracting patterns from data. Data mining is an important tool to transform this data into information. Authors present results with accuracy obtained by training the probabilistic neural network using the above dataset [46]. Xiao Li et.al. proposed a technique to reduce the likelihood computation in ASR systems that use continuous density HMMs. Based on the nature of dynamic features and the numerical properties of Gaussian mixture distributions, the observation likelihood computation is approximated to achieve a speedup. Although the technique does not show appreciable benefit in an isolated word task, it yields significant improvements in continuous speech recognition. For example, 50% of the computation can be saved on the TIMIT database with only a negligible degradation in system performance [47]. Authors analyze the case with only static features and their deltas and focus on achieving computational saving by partially computing the observation probability in a Gaussian component. It ignores computing the dynamic-feature part of an observation vector when its static-feature part already falls in the tail of a Gaussian. This technique doesnt require a complicated training procedure and brings almost no overhead to the decoding process. It is effective on both isolated word and connected word speech tasks, but works especially well on connected word recognition with high-dimensional dynamic features [47]. Elisabeth Ahlsà ©n has discussed different types of communication disorders. In case of Global aphasia there is nil or almost no linguistic communication. In case of Broca’s aphasia there is slow, effortful speech, telegram style, word finding problems known as anomia, relatively good comprehension. In case of Wernicke’s aphasia there is fluent verbose speech, w ord finding difficulties known as anomia, substitutions of words and sounds, impaired comprehension. In case of Anomic aphasia there are only word finding problems [49]. Kristen Jacobson explains about auditory and language processing disorders as follows. There are three general levels that speech sounds travel through while we are â€Å"listening†. The first level refers to the reception of sounds that occurs within our ears. A person who is diagnosed with a hearing impairment has difficulties perceiving sounds at this level. This problem is not referred to as a processing disorder. Central auditory processing disorders (CAPD) refer to difficulties discriminating, identifying and retaining sounds after the ears have heard the sounds. Individuals who experience difficulties attaching meaning to sound groups that form words, sentences and stories are often diagnosed with language processing disorders. They may also experience similar difficulties processing and organizing language for meaning during reading. Similar sounding words are often confused and some individuals may experience sensitivity to specific sounds. Reduced recognition of stre ss patterns and word boundaries within sentences is often present, especially during rapid speech or listening without visual cues. At times, only parts of messages are received accurately, so that messages and directions often appear incomplete. Specific language processing deficits are often reflected in delayed responses, the need to rehearse statements, and/or the need for frequent reviews while learning new information [50]. There are various types of speech disorders in children described as follows. Articulation: There is difficulty in the production of individual or sequenced sounds. The speakers exhibit substitutions, omissions, additions, and distortions of syllables or words. The Motor or Neurogenic speech disorders result into speech difficulties and affect the planning, coordination, timing, and execution of speech movements. Apraxia of speech is neurogenic motor speech disorder affecting the planning of speech. There is difficulty with the voluntary, purposeful movement of speech .The causes are stroke, tumor, head injury, and developmental disorders. The speakers can produce individual sounds but cannot produce them in longer words or sentences. Voice disorders affect pitch, duration, intensity, resonance, and vocal quality parameters. Fluency disorders produce interruptions in the flow of speaking. It is also known as stuttering. It means frequent repetition and/or prolongation of words or sounds [51]. Treatment of children with Speech Oral Placement Disorders (OPD)s needs various types of speech oral placement therapy (OPT) .Children with speech OPDs may have typical or a typical oral structures. The key to the definition of OPD lies in the child’s ability or inability to imitate auditory-visual stimuli and follow verbal oral placement instructions. Children with OPD cannot imitate targeted speech sounds using auditory and visual stimuli .They also cannot follow specific instructions to produce targeted speech sounds [52]. Thomas Dubuisson et.al. described an analysis system aiming at discriminating between normal and pathological voices. Based on the normal and pathological samples included the MEEI database, it has been found that using two features (spectral decrease and first spectral tristimuli in the Bark scale). Music Information Retrieval (MIR) aims at extracting information from music in order to build classification system of music. Temporal Domain features are Energy, mean, standard deviation. Spectral features are spectral Delta, Spectral Mean Value, Spectral Standard Deviation, Spectral Center of Gravity known as spectral centroid, Spectral Moments. The first four moments of the power spectrum M1, M2, M3, M4 . M3 is used to compute the skewness defining the orientation of the PSD around its first moment. If it is positive, the PSD is more oriented to the right and to the left if is negative. The skewness is computed as Skewness = M3/(M2)3/2 . The fourth moment is used to compute the kurtos is defining the acuity of the PSD around its first moment. A Gaussian distribution is having a kurtosis equal to 3, a distribution with a higher kurtosis is more acute than a Gaussian one while a distribution with a lower kurtosis is more flat than a Gaussian distribution. The kurtosis is computed as Kurtosis = M4/(M2)2. The Soft Phonation Index is defined for the (0–1000 Hz) and (0–8000 Hz) frequency bands [54]. Behnaz Ghoraani et.al. proposed a novel methodology for automatic pattern classification of pathological voices. The main contribution of this paper is extraction of meaningful and unique features using Adaptive time-frequency distribution (TFD) and nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF). The proposed method extracts meaningful and unique features from the joint TFD of the speech, and automatically identifies and measures the abnormality of the signal. The proposed method is applied on the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI) voice disorders database. As a matter of fact from the TFD of abnormal speech it is evident that there are more transients in the abnormal signals, and the formants in pathological speech are more spread and are less structured [55]. Corinne Fredouille et.al. have addressed voice disorder assessment. The goal of this methodology is to bring a better understanding of acoustic phenomena related to dysphonia. The automatic system was validated on dysphonic corpus (80) female voices. These observations led to a manual analysis of unvoiced plosives, which highlighted a lengthening of VOT according to the dysphonia severity validated by a preliminary statistical analysis. The feature vectors issued from this analysis, at a 10 millisecond rate, are finally normalized to fit a 0-mean and 1-variance distribution. The LFSC/MFSC computation is done by using the (GPL) SPRO toolkit. Finally, the feature vectors can be augmented by adding dynamic information representing the way these vectors vary in time. Here, first and second derivatives of static coefficients are considered (also named Δ and ΔΔ coefficients) resulting in 72 coefficients [56]. Younggwan Kim et.al. discussed the role of the statistical model-based voice activity detector (SMVAD) to detect speech regions from input signals using the statistical models of noise and noisy speech. The LRT-based decision rule may cause detection errors because of statistical properties of noise and speech signals[57]. Wiqas Ghai et.al. described automatic speech recognition system as comprised of modules Speech Signal acquisition ,Feature extraction, using MFCC is done . Acoustic Modeling is done for expected phonetics of the hypothesis word/sentence. For generating mapping between the basic speech units such as phones, tri-phones syllables, a rigorous training is carried. During training, a pattern representative for the features of a class using one or more patterns corresponding to speech sounds of the same class. Language Lexical Modeling is done with the help of Text Corpus, Pronunciation Dictionary and Language Model [59]. Lucas Leon Oller presents analysis of voice signals for the Harmonics-to-Noise crossover frequency .The harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR) has been used to assess the behavior of the vocal fold closure. The objective is to find a particular harmonics-to-noise crossover frequency (HNF) where the harmonic components of the voice drop below the noise floor, and use it as an indicator of the vocal fold insufficiency. . As the range used for the calculation of the cepstrum approaches the lowest octaves, the growth of the rahmonics should accelerate at some point, the range is going to contain harmonics that are above the noise floor level, and then the energy of the rahmonics will start to faster. That point would be the harmonics-to-noise crossover frequency [60]. Daryl Ning has developed an Isolated Word Recognition System in MATLAB. A robust speech-recognition system combines accuracy of identification with the ability to filter out noise and adapt to other acoustic conditions, such as the speaker’s speech rate and accent. It requires detailed knowledge of signal processing and statistical modeling [61]. Phonetic Concepts Daniel Jurafsky et.al. presented a case study of Star trek where robots converse with humans in natural Dialogue system with language conversational agents. Various components that make up modern conversational agents, including language input and language output dialogue ,automatic speech recognition, natural language understanding ,response planning , speech synthesis systems and the goal of machine translation which leads to automatic translation of a document from one language to another is explained here [62]. Steven Pruett describes speech as the motor act of communicating by articulating verbal expression and Language as the knowledge of a symbol system used for interpersonal communication. Mary Planchart has explained four domains of language namely Phonology, Grammar , Morphology ,Syntax , and Pragmatics [63], [64]. Eric J. Hunter has presented a case study of a 5 year old healthy male child. He has analyzed comparison of the child’s fundamental frequencies in structured elicited vocalizations versus unstructured natural vocalizations. The child also wore a National Center for Voice and Speech voice dosimeter, a device that collects voice data over the course of an entire day, during all activities for 34 hours over 4 days. It was observed that the child’s long-term F0 distribution is not normal. If this distribution is consistent in long-term, unstructured natural vocalization patterns of children, statistical mean would not be a valid measure. Author has suggested mode and median as two parameters which convey more accurate information about typical F0 usage [65].

Study Abroad :: College Admissions Essays

Learning about new cultures is my favorite thing to do. I interact well with others and enjoy networking with new people. I have found that my ability to meet new people is a trait that makes every visit I have taken to different countries an enjoyable visit. I wish to participate in this program because it has always been a goal of mine to study abroad. By participating in this program I hope to learn about another culture, make international contacts, and gain valuable international business skills. Within this program I assume that I will experience different points of views from the American professors who will be teaching. Along with these different points of views, the Italian culture and interacting with other American students will be experiences I could not otherwise have. Â  International business is becoming increasingly more important, and although I have received great education while in college, I am eager to participate in this program because the first-hand experiences I will have cannot be equaled here in America. As a sixth grader I participated in Children's International Summer Villages in Finland. While in Finland I stayed with a host family for a week and lived in a school with forty different delegates representing ten separate countries. It truly was the best time of my life.

Alice :: essays papers

Alice Do you know Alice? The character in Go Ask Alice is a fifteen years old girl who became addicted to drugs and unfortunately dies because of it. She is from a high middle class family. Her father is college professor and her mother stays home and takes care of the kids. The girl thinks she is stupid and cannot measure up with her parent’s expectations, she is not happy with herself. The way that she looks or thinks and feels She is not confident. The girl in this book suffers from low self-esteem. The girl in Go Ask Alice is very confused. In a way she knows what is right and what is wrong for her, but on the other hand, she feels that she is mixed up. When she, without her knowledge, became addicted, she was suffering from low self-esteem that is why she felt so good about using drugs She became addicted when her friends gave her some LSD laced Coca Cola at a party. She describes it as â€Å"beautiful†. Many times she decided to give it up but unfortunately there were always something like friends, family and her low self-esteem that brought her back to the drugs. There are many reasons why the girl in this story takes drugs. First of all, and most important one, is her low self-esteem. She uses drugs because by using it, she forgets who she is and what weaknesses she has. Second, her parents especially her mother is nagging constantly at her. She can’t accept her for who she is, and she always compares her with her siblings. The father is more caring but he is always busy and doesn’t have enough time to spend with her. Her siblings aren’t friendly; at least that is what she thinks. Another reason is that she tries to fit in, so when one of the girls, the one who she was wishing to be friends with invites her to the party, she jumps on the invitation and that is where she used drugs for the first time The friend was from a rich family, and during the school years didn’t pay attention to the girl in this story, but now she wants to go to that university where the girls father works, so by inviting the girl in Go Ask Alice she tries to make connection Unfortunately, today lots of kids in their early age become addicted to the drugs.

Major causes of French Revolution Essay

Introduction French Revolution was the period that stirred the imagination of Europeans, both participants and observers sensed that they were living in a pivotal age. There were many causes that led to the French Revolution, but the primary cause was the social structure and others were maladministration, financial disorder, enlightenments, and interference in the American war of independence and poverty. This essay is going to focus more on these factors. Social structure Primary cause of the French Revolution was social structure. The old Regime refers to the measures of governance based on Monarchy/king and whose powers was despotic call authority vested on the Monarchy. During despotism the French society divided into three estates, the first estate, second estate, and the third estate. The first estates were the clergy and priests, the second estate were the nobilities or nobles, and the third state were the bourgeoisie, urban labours and peasants. The first estate or the clergy were enjoying privileges and the clergy did not pay tax instead determined the amount. The second estate enjoyed some privileges, they owned between one-quarter and one third of the land. The third estate were not enjoying any privileges, however, its success depended on the support given by the rest of the third estate. There was a vast inequality which caused the problem. ENLIGHTENMENT In general, it can be said that there is no instrumental relationship between the philosophers of the Enlightenment and the outbreak of the French Revolution. Writtings of the Philosophers influenced French society. Few philosophers, if any, advocated revolution and the reason is fairly clear. No philosopher advocated the violent overthrow of the existing order of things because violence was contrary to human reason. But because the philosophes of the Enlightenment attacked the established order together with authority of any kind, their ideas helped to produce what can only be called a revolutionary mentality. Most people used the work of philosophers to Question the French society using the ideas of philosophers as to seek reforms INTERFERENCE IN AMERICAN WARS Monarchy waged wars on other European countries including America, assisting in American war of independence. These wars shattered the economy of the state. Consequently, the state was either poor or bankrupt The American war of independence cost France a lot while the country already had a huge debt. As it became bankrupt it demanded heavy taxation on peasants and peasants realized that it was time to take action MALADMINISTRATION France had no Parliament. However, the country did have an Estates General which was a semi-representative institution. The way the French administered the country was through an overstuffed bureaucracy of officials. By 1750, the bureaucracy had overgrown itself – it was large, corrupt and inefficient. Too many officials had bought and sold their offices over the years. This led to corruption and over taxation. France had no single, unified system of law. Each region determined its own laws based on the rule of the local Parliament. Most govt official were characterized by incompetency and inefficiency, There was corruption in the govt Most officials had earned their positions in the govt through bribery, no qualification or talent, or competency to provide good governance FINANCES By 1789, France was bankrupt. The country could no longer pay its debts, debts that were all the result of war. One example says a great deal about this situation. By 1789, France was still paying off debts incurred by the wars of Louis XIV, that is, wars of the late 17th and early 18th century. Furthermore, a number of social groups and institutions did not pay taxes of any kind. Many universities were exempt from taxation as were the thirteen Parliaments, cites like Paris, the Church and the clergy, aristocracy and numerous members of the bourgeoisie. POVERTY Poverty was first caused by King Louis XIV because he had entered many wars and spent most of France`s money on Versailles. Another cause was King Louis XVI who sent out troops and money to help out in their American revolution. Marry Antoinette`s lavish living also contributed to poverty. Peasants were starving. This led to bread riots and protests in Paris That led revolutionary actions of July 1789; the Tennis Court Oath and the declaration of the National Assembly/ Constituent Assembly- 1791;the Storming of the Bastille and the great march to Versailles; France declared a Republic; the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen; Reforms introduced and constituted on the ideals of the Enlightened Philosophies.

Contemporary Approaches to Management Essay

The contemporary approaches to management include: sociotechnical theory, quantitative management, organizational behavior, and systems theory. As defined in our text book, (retrieved from: https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/0077530667/pages/116411950) sociotechnical systems theory an approach to job design that attempts to redesign tasks to optimize operation of a new technology while preserving employees’ interpersonal relationships and other human aspects of the work. This idea developed in the 1950’s at London’s Tavistock Institute of Human Relations simply put means that happy employees equal productive employees. Quantitative management is a contemporary management approach that emphasizes the application of quantitative analysis to managerial decisions and problems (retrieved from: https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/0077530667/pages/116411950). Although this could be a useful approach, most managers do not implement it due to lack of understanding of the formulas required or because some of the everyday issues they deal with, cannot be put into a mathematical equation. However, it has proven to be a useful strategy in military operations and organization’s strategic planning. Our text defines organization behavior (retrieved from: https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/0077530667/pages/116411951 ) as a contemporary management approach that studies and identifies management activities that promote employee effectiveness by examining the complex and dynamic nature of individual, group, and organizational processes. Similar to the sociotechnical systems theory, this idea also emphasizes that the employee’s needs and well being can effect productivity. And the last of the approaches is systems theory defined as a theory stating that an organization is a managed system that changes inputs into outputs. (retrieved from : https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/0077530667/pages/116411951 ). This theory recognizes that are many factors that contribute to an organization’s productivity. The input being materials, labor and money are factors that can influence and affect the output (the final product a company sells). All organizations are open systems, which simply mean organizations that are affected by their environments and affect their environment. There are internal, external and competitive environments that make up a company’s macroenviroment. The internal environment refers to things (employees, materials and capital) inside the company. The external environment includes all forces outside the company’s walls, such as the economy, competitors and government. Finally, the competitive environment which is made up of competitors, suppliers and consumers. I would agree that all four approaches play a part in every organization. Depending on the type of business, one strategy may prove more effective than another but at some point the different approaches would be used for the many diverse issues organizations face. There are many similar concepts all company’s face (employees, environment, competition) and each approach has uses in all companies and within the macroenvironment. References: Title: Management (M Starts Here series–soft cover), 3rd ed. (2013) Author(s): Bateman and Snell Physical Book ISBN: 9780078029523 Publisher: McGraw Hill Digital book or physical text: Digital

A Brief Note On The Rising Water Crisis

Water Conservation and Pollution In the world today, water scarcity persists in being an unnerving issue. The world’s supply of water is diminishing and is further narrowed by pollution. Without measures taken to conserve our water, there will be a global and chronic drought. As long as water is scarce, it is imperative to develop proposals concerning water conservation and pollution. Although water is one of the most abundant resources on the planet, we are not able to utilize the majority of it†¦ excessive amount of water. I am guilty of taking this resource for granted by taking long showers, not using a stopper while washing dishes, thus leaving the hot water running for far too long, and washing less than a full load of clothing on multiple occasions. Rather than wasting all of the water that I use in the shower and while cleaning dishes in the sink, I could have been reusing it as greywater. Greywater is household wastewater that can be reused to clean household items or water the lawn and garden†¦ 1. Most of the total water withdrawals in France are used by the Industry: 24. 48 billion m3 followed by municipal water use of 5.49 billion m3 and agricultural water use 3.143 billion m3. In percentages industrial water withdrawals represent 73.93%, agricultural water withdrawals represent 9.49 % and municipal 16.58 %. http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/data/query/index.html?lang=en (Aquastat) In comparison the world water withdrawals used by industry in 2007 are 734 km3 or 19 % of the total†¦ problems: the Syrian Refugee Crisis. As millions of Syrians are displaced by the Syrian Civil War, they attempt to seek refuge in surrounding foreign nations. So far, the countries of the world have only addressed the crisis by deciding the fate of the refugees that cling to their borders. However, these individual policies are ineffective in addressing the whole problem. In fact, these unified strategies have led to creation of additional problems, expanding the crisis into new countries on an unimpeded†¦ A History To Rewrite - Syrian Refugee Crisis The United States of America is always considered as a role model country for many other countries and people of different countries. People of different countries always look at America as their final hope when their country is going through different crisis. Moreover, America always share a great history of stepping up and help protecting the rights and moral values of those people in need. This time, the innocence Syrian people are looking at the America†¦ Man-made Water Crisis Droughts have played a huge role throughout California’s history. Just as recently as two years ago, California’s record-breaking drought was declared the worst in the state’s history. However, this year, Governor Jerry Brown declared the drought emergency at an end. Many residents have referred to California’s issue as a â€Å"man made drought.† In other words, the water crisis is not from the lack of fresh water in California, but the lack of purposeful direction and use for†¦ Flint Michigan Water Crisis Many would argue that the United States is the best country on this earth. Millions of immigrants have come here for a better life because United States opened its doors to welcome those seeking political and religious freedom as well as the "adventurer, the wanderer, the persecuted, the fortune seekers, and others" (Arizaga, 2007). Immigrants built up the United States from the very beginning. This country was, and continues to be a kaleidoscope of ethnic and cultural†¦ Ariana Donini Rivera EC480 October 10, 2016 Rising Cost of Healthcare The United States of America spends more money per person on healthcare than almost any other country in the world. The total amount spent on healthcare per capita in the U.S. is around $9,000, whereas the second highest spending country is Switzerland at about $3,500 (Squires & Anderson). Increased spending on healthcare does not equate to longer lifespans or better health. The U.S. has fewer hospitals, higher obesity rates†¦ Safety is a priceless commodity. Nevertheless, Syrian migrants paying an average of 2500 euro ($2840) to be smuggled into European nations would argue otherwise. The Syrian refugee crisis continues to be an international issue as the United States and other non-European nations begin to extend asylum offers to refugees, while European nations hope the 230 million euros they have invested in researching methods to hinder illegal immigration will prove successful in combatting refugees looking to immigrate†¦ In September of 2015, the image of 3 year old Aylan Kurdi 's lifeless body being pulled from Turkish waters forced the world to shift its collective gaze towards Syria where thousands of individuals were risking their lives in order to flee their war-torn country. What began as a civil war, has resulted in the largest displacement of individuals since World War II. The Syrian refugee crisis is one of the most pressing issues that the world is facing today. The influx of refugees into neighbouring†¦

The Impossibility And Importance Of CSR Case Study

The Impossibility And Importance Of CSR - Case Study Example CSR also happens when a corporation’s business operations (as in the company’s policies and actions) are integrated with social values, specifically the stakeholders’ interests.   Usually, it focuses on three things: the social, the financial and the environmental facets of the corporation’s interactions. It actually has a triple bottom line: people, planet, and profit. CSR involves two main concepts: transparency and accountability. To be accountable is not only to become accountable in terms of the corporation. It also means to be accountable in terms of to its personnel. They have to have the right wages, incentives and working conditions. Of course, they should also be accountable in terms of protecting the culture, environment and the economy of the community. Thus, the corporations of today are expected to perform well not only in financial and management areas but also in areas like business ethics, corporate contributions, community development, diversity, human rights and other workplace issues. With CSR, every company’s environmental and social performances are proportional with their financial performance.  CSR also happens when a corporation’s business operations (as in the company’s policies and actions) are integrated with social values, specifically the stakeholders’ interests.   Usually, it focuses on three things: the social, the financial and the environmental facets of the corporation’s interactions.’s interactions. It actually has a triple bottomline: people, planet and profit. CSR involves two main concepts: transparency and accountability. To be accountable is not only to become accountable in terms of the corporation. It also means to be accountable in terms of to its personnel. They have to have the right wages, incentives and working conditions. Of course, they should also be accountable in terms of protecting the culture, environment and the economy of the comm unity. Thus, the corporations of today are expected to perform well not only in financial and management areas but also on areas like business ethics, corporate contributions, community development, diversity, human rights and other workplace issues. With CSR, every company’s environmental and social performances are proportional with their financial performance. As mentioned earlier, transparency is important. Now, corporations are expected to communicate their thrusts, projects and policies that affect their employees, as well as the community and the environment. Current global companies that show transparency are proven to be more financially successful as these factors contribute immensely for a sustainable financial growth. Currently, the investors are now making significant efforts to curb their carbon footprints to enhance their positive impact to the community. These companies are more sensitive to the fact that their company can actually have an impact to the society, and that they are/can be actually socially accountable, as well as environmentally accountable. As an incentive, the stakeholders are rewarding the companies who are indeed making efforts to contribute to the society’s well-being. However, the biggest criticism comes from Milton Friedman, saying that CSR is a paradox and a complete irony, not to mention impossible. Milton Friedman is an American economist who was a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize for Economics for â€Å"his achievements in the field of consumption analysis, monetary history, and theory†. He thinks that corporations cannot have responsibilities as CSR entails that businesses have â€Å"social responsibilities†. As corporations are only artificial entities, logically, they also have artificial responsibilities but of course, even a business cannot have a responsibility. Sure, businesses are owned by responsible people, and corporations have business executives who have values. These business executives may take part in a social movement, perhaps join a medical mission to help those in need. They may have other responsibilities that they took on their own, like their family, their church or even their country. With these responsibilities that they have taken in, they also put in their own money (which they earned from working in the corporation). Because in these respects he is not working as an agent for the company, he is acting on his