Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Demographics of Durango Local Coffee Houses Research Paper

Demographics of Durango Local Coffee Houses - Research Paper Example Durango is indeed a small city relative to the highly commercialized and highly populated cities in New York and California. Out of the 5492 households, 22.4% have children below 18 years old who are still living with them, 34.2% of the population are married couples that live together while those under the age of 18 compose 16.6% of the population, 26.1% of the population from 18-24, 27.2% from 25-44 years old, 19.4% aged from 45-64 and 10.7% aged 65 or older (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.). In terms of income, only 7.3% of the population live below the poverty line, the median income for Durango households $34, 892 and the median income for families $50,814, while male are recorded to have higher incomes than females by a discrepancy of almost $7000 (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.). Currently, there are five top local coffee shops in the city- Durango Joe's on College, Magpies Newsstand, Durango Coffee Company, Steaming Bean and Starbucks in Durango. I have done an individual study on these five local coffee companies to answer the queries regarding the demography of people who frequent these local coffee shops. To know their target customers is also one of the goals of the study. In addition to this, I have also observed the marketing strategies, specifically the advertising strategies that these coffee shops employ to attract their target customers, through direct observation and further research. Durango Joe's on College Starting the year with a bang was Durango Joe's, after its owner Joe Lloyd received the Entrepreneur of the year Award in January. Having a simple philosophy and goal of making each person's day alive with a cup of coffee, Durango Joe's branches are sprouting up all over the town to reach many of its customers (Durango Joe's Coffee). Durango Joe's has recently opened a branch in Farmington to add to its existing branches. Given my observations, Durango Joe's is frequented by diverse types of people specifically of females, who are at early age, particularly of 15-20, 20-25 and 25-30 age groups and with men who are at their late stage, 30-40,40-50 and 50-60 age groups. The younger women who visit the store are usually those who access the net for school or job requirements or who just want to enjoy the comfort and peace of the store. With available personal computers and internet access, these are possible for any consumer. These women are also the ones who usually bring in their books to the store and read while also enjoying a cup of coffee. This has been a habit among the young people especially the women and this explains the higher number of young women in Durango Joe's. Among the groups, older men at the age of 40-50 registered the highest frequency of Durango Joe's visit. The reason for this is that most of these middle aged men do come in groups, being friends or officemates. Durango Joe's has been the popular hub of this group of people who dine for precious chat and laughter. With the recently launched, online ordering, Durango Joe's is not just spreading market to diners but also to those who need instant coffee satisfaction away from retail locations. Magpies Newsstand What exactly makes the

Monday, October 28, 2019

Civil Enforcement Against Senior Bankers

Civil Enforcement Against Senior Bankers Civil enforcement against senior bankers for the financial failure of the institutions that employ them has been quiet in the United Kingdom before the global financial crisis in 2007. However, this unpleasant event that happened in the period between 2007 and 2009 directly displayed the weaknesses of senior management in the financial sector. Risk-taking management decisions, market misconduct and mis-selling practices are the common malpractices in the financial sector. Gradually, this problem which is caused by weak governance and misbehaviour has become more and more serious. There is a quote from an article stating this kind of problem as nothing so concentrates the mind as an urgent and complex problem.[1] However, generally, senior managers at financial institutions are typically incentivised in ways that lead them to underestimate risk-taking from the perspective of the firms other constituencies because they put the institutions profit in the first place. This can result in a failure to identify or fully appreciate in particular the correlation between low-probability risk and firm integrity.[2] Hence, it may not be best dealt with by enforcement against senior bankers.[3] As we know, a decision to be made equally for the best interest of the financial institution and the public is difficult. However, since weak governance appeared to be a problem for the fairness and transparency of the financial sector, it has to be addressed as soon as possible. Before determining whether the law is taking sufficient measures in addressing this senior management problem, we should first proceed to look at previous cases of the banks in the UK which failed in the global financial crisis. First and foremost, Northern Rock, which was a mortgage lender with a large market share, operated on a risky originate-to-distribute business model which relied on short-term money market funding to finance its extensive mortgage writing business. However, it went into trouble when the money markets dried up owing to subprime mortgage defaults in the United States. Then the Financial Services Authority (FSA) produced a report reflecting upon what went wrong at Northern Rock.[4] Certain doubts were voiced regarding the chairman of the board and the chief executive in terms of their competence and decisions made. However, neither individual has been subject to any individual liability under the law. Thus, this reflects that the law was not having a consolidate d structure to deal with individual liability in decision making. Next, the Royal Bank of Scotland teetered on the brink of failure in early 2009. It had been growing aggressively through large-scale acquisitions, such as of National Westminster Bank in the UK in 2000.[5] In May 2007, Fred Goodwin, who was the Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group between 2001 and 2009, led the bank to acquire the Dutch bank ABN-AMRO, over-bidding for it in order to edge its rival Barclays out of the race.[6] The deal was completed deal quickly without adequate due diligence carried out on ABN-AMROs assets. This action was severely questioned by the media at that time.[7] By early 2009, the bank faced significant losses due to the absorption of losses from ABN-AMROs extensive securitised assets portfolio. This acquisition was proved not a good move. However, although the Financial Services Authority criticised the senior management for poor risk decisions and governance culture in its report on the Bank, no individual has been subject to any i ndividual liability under the law again.[8] In addition, Halifax Bank of Scotland, in fact, was a casualty of the global financial crisis because the crisis crystallised the failure of an already dangerous business model.[9] The bank had been underwriting corporate loans with poor due diligence and standards in order to pursue rapid growth and expansion. The Parliamentary Commission looked into the banking standards and criticised the chairman, the chief executive and a number of board members. However, only one individual, Peter Cummings, the director of the corporate finance division who led the business into writing enormous sums of bad corporate loans, was fined and disqualified by the Financial Services Authority.[10] No other individual has been subject to any individual liability. Hence, these previous cases show that the legal structure in this area was not competent to act as a deterrence and raise awareness of the senior bankers in making careful decisions in the best interest of the public. After the global financial crisis, several conduct scandals were revealed in the financial sector. Significant banks in the UK such as Barclays were fined in significant amounts for rigging the London Inter-bank Offered Rate.[11] The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), together with other international regulators, also subjected a number of banks, including Barclays and RBS, to record fines over foreign exchange market-rigging.[12] The Salz Review[13], which revealed unhealthy sub-cultures in the large and complex structures at Barclays, also raised interesting questions. Question arises as to what extent senior management and the board should be responsible for the polluted banking culture as organisational pyramid shows the decisions are often made at the top.[14] The harms caused by malpractices in the banking sector are not only individual losses, but also damaging market confidence and integrity. Good corporate governance matters. It persuades, prompts and encourages institutions to preserve the honesty and integrity of key promises made to investors and the public.[15] In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, we can notice that many affected banks underwent senior management changes. In fact, the general consensus of all key reports is that the economy would have had stronger chances of survival had there been more professionalism among executives, better corporate governance structures and more ethical behaviour within the banking sector.[16] However, new management is unlikely to have significant effect on the current posed problem if the law is still lacking sufficient supervision in this area. In relation to this, Singapore, one of the world leading financial centres, recognises that a regulatory framework that is sound, strong and in line with the practices of leading jurisdictions is fundamental to achieving a thriving and liquid market.[17] We should now proceed to look at the development of the law in this area. In fact, the regulation of banking in the UK began with informal controls by the Bank of England and was eventually placed on a statutory basis by the Banking Act 1979. The following decades saw the passing of the Banking Act 1987 which increased the Bank of Englands regulatory and supervisory powers. As the UK did not have any special regime for dealing with banks in financial difficulties, a temporary Banking (Special Provisions) Act 2008 was passed to enable the resolution of problems. That Act was then replaced by the Banking Act 2009. After that, Financial Services Act 2010 was passed which amended Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 by strengthening the powers of the FSA and giving it a financial stability objective.[18] In July 2012, following a series of banking scandals culminating in the LIBOR findings, the UK instituted a Parliamentary Commission comprising both Houses to inquire into how banking culture could be changed for good.[19] The Parliamentary Commission was of the view that individual standards are key to enhancing banking culture and hence enhanced regulation of individuals must be introduced to change banking for good.[20] The Parliamentary Commission proposed enhanced regulatory liability for senior persons and employees performing any function that could harm the bank, as well as a special criminal liability regime for senior persons who have recklessly mismanaged a bank.[21] In relation to the above, the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 has adopted many of the Parliamentary Commission recommendations. This Act has been lauded by the Treasury as the biggest reform to the UK banking sector in a generation, which will help to increase conduct standards among bankers.[22] This Act can be seen at the heart of system-focussed reforms designed to increase overall resilience of the UK financial system to future shocks and instability, as much as it can be seen in initiatives designed to strengthen the liability of individual actors operating within the overall financial system.[23] However, the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 is also said to be a missed opportunity to increase the accountability of senior bankers for the financial failure of the institutions that employ them. In fact, individual liability is governed under Section 36 of the Act.[24] We can examine this issue by viewing it from two perspectives. We should first look at the express meaning and purpose which the Act wishes to carry out by its wordings. From the Act, we can see that Section 36 provides a jurisdiction to prosecute misconduct in the financial services sector. However, this jurisdiction is quite broad. This can be seen in Section 36(1)(a)(i) and (ii). It states that the senior manager either needs to have taken a decision or have agreed to the taking of a decision. Besides that, the senior manager has the duty to take steps he or she can in order to prevent such a decision being taken. The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards (PCBS) in its June 2013 final report concluded that mismanagement and failure of control lie at the heart of standards and culture in banking.[25] However, it seems that Section 36 is only intended to deal with the process of making reckless decision while managing the financial institution. Furthermore, the Act has a number of limitations. First, S stated in the Act must be a senior manager or an authorised person who is carrying out a senior management function, which is stated in S.19(2) of the Act.[26] In fact, many organisations have delegated authority now and so, this will narrow down the ambit of the offence. There is one problem in accessing this jurisdiction identified by the Commission is that managers of varying levels can communicate preferences that give rise to a risk without directing subordinate employees explicitly. For example, this was displayed in the London Interbank Offered Rate rigging scandal.[27] In relation to this, the law provides the provision where the senior bankers have the duty to take measures in order to prevent reckless decisions. Nevertheless, this 2013 Act still has its limitation to prosecute senior managers who are experienced and have become adept at encouraging reckless misconduct. Besides that, the Act states that S needs to be aware of a risk that the decision in question may cause the failure of the financial institution. This may be unfair to criminalise the actions of a decision-maker who did not appreciate or actually foresee a risk. The decision must actually bring the financial institution to the risk of failure, not only risk causing losses to the bank. In addition, there is no single definition of conduct risk available. There are different definitions in use, depending on the emphasis, the causes and the impact.[28] This will make the Act seem vague in this sense. The scope of the offence is limited further by the causation clause in Section 36 (1) (d) which states that the implementation of the decision causes the failure of the group institution. Failure in this context means is interpreted in three ways. First, the institution becomes insolvent. Second, any of the stabilisation options in Part 1 of the Banking Act 2009 is satisfied by the financial institution in question. Third, the financial institution is taken for the purposes of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme to be unable or likely unable to satisfy claims made against it. Practically speaking, it is very difficult to prove or to bring actions under the law. In the article titled Criminalising Bank Managers, Professors Julia Black and David Kershaw from the London School of Economics identified the difficulties faced by the drafters of the new legislation.[29] In fact, the law has to be broad enough to provide a solid deterrent to individual liability and also to satisfy public demand for accountability. However, it cannot be legislated too widely which would possibly allow senior bankers to benefit from the loopholes of the law. In fact, it can be said that the criminal sanction provided by the Act delivers an important message and acts as an alarming notice for the banking sector. Apart from that, question arises here as to whether the law achieves its purpose practically. The exact purpose of the law in this area is said to be difficult to be achieved practically. The practical problem of the Act is that Section 36 is seemed to be a legal framework on how the law and sanction will operate because the possibility of successful prosecution is quite remote. Indeed, the Commission stated in its final report that it would not be easy to secure convictions for the offence. However, the Commission felt that the provision should be created to give pause for thought to the senior officers of UK banks. There are two main reasons affecting the practicality of the law in this area. First, there is the matter of causation. In order to establish liability, the senior manager must cause or his decision results in the institutional failure. In other words, it has to be proved beyond reasonable doubt that the senior banker causes the failure of the financial institution. As we know, most of the business failures are often caused by a combination of factors. In any prosecution, as stated above, establishing that the decision of a senior manager cause the failure of a bank will be difficult. Financial institutions such as banks are often large organisations, and failure of the bank is not usually caused by only an individual, but a combination of different factors. Hence, it is quite difficult to prove that the bank failure was due to a specific decision by an individual, if not impossible.[30] In fact, the government argued that causing the banks failure should be interpreted as having significantly contributed to the failure during the Parliamentary debates on the b ill. However, this interpretation is unsupported by a plain reading of the Act. Hence, establishing causation in fact and in law successfully might be very difficult practically. Secondly, it also appears to be difficult that the senior manager is aware of the risk that the implementation of a decision may lead to bank failure as it is full of uncertainties in the financial sector. Besides that, the Act states that his or her conduct fell far below what could reasonably be expected of a person in their position. In fact, the doctrine of reasonableness can have different outcomes owing to different circumstances. For example, if there is an imminent bank failure, a senior manager is reasonably expected to take responsive but difficult decisions under pressure. This will cause proving the necessary mental element of the offence become very complicated. Besides that, misconduct or risk-taking decisions at one bank spreads across the sector, as the behaviour comes to be seen as the market norm and no bank wants to miss the extra earnings from the practices. Therefore, it is difficult to apply the reasonableness test on senior bankers since a lay person may not kn ow the actual reason behind certain decisions made in that position. The idea of how these situations will be decided can only become clear when it comes to the court. Apart from that, in determining a potential prosecution under this Act, investigations on the issues are likely to require a high degree of access to the financial institution records. This may appear to be a heavy burden for the financial institution in question. In the absence of sufficient evidence or information on what actually causes the banks failure, this will be a waste of time for the authorities and the financial institution. In addition, if the investigating authority wishes to investigate on every person involved in the senior management decision, this action requires a certain amount of time which might take months or even years. It would be even worse for a financial institution which does not have proper records of its major decisions. Besides that, it should be noted that not every decision is made at the general meeting. Therefore, an investigation may use up management time.[31] By looking at the nature of the Act, the new provision criminalises individuals actions by holding them responsible for having caused the banks failure. However, the process of decision-making in large financial institutions is usually a collaborative process with several inputs from various senior managers or people sitting at the top level of the institutional pyramid. As stated above, an investigation on this issue would possibly consume few months or years and this may disrupt the continuing management. In relation to the above, it shows that the laws must be clear and simple for people to follow. Laws that are overly vague or complex and technical do not encourage compliance as they are too difficult to interpret and comply with.[32] Practically, this new offence has its limitations in finding senior bankers liable for making risky decisions because risk-taking is the spirit of the financial sector. For example, in many capitalist societies, risk-taking is seen as a necessary part of business and it is hard to prove wrongdoing.[33] Therefore, this illustrates that Section 36 may seem to be a paper tiger which is enacted more for symbolic than actual punitive effect.[34] Apart from that, the law has another way of addressing senior bankers liability besides merely applying the 2013 Act. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) have published the final approach to improve individual accountability in the banking sector. The Senior Managers Regime will ensure that senior managers can be held accountable for any misconduct that falls within their areas of responsibilities, while the new Certification Regime and Conduct Rules aim to hold individuals working at all levels in banking to appropriate standards of conduct.[35] This has come into force on 7 March 2016. In fact, the new UK Senior Managers Regime (SMR) has the potential to rebalance these incentives. It is the product of a two year process led by a parliamentary commission tasked with addressing widespread misconduct at banks. The commission identified the lack of personal consequences for individuals as a root cause of repeated bad behaviour by institution s.[36] Under the SMR, an individual is guilty of misconduct if the regulators are able to show that there was a failure by a relevant authorized person in an area for which that individual senior manager was responsible.[37] Clearly, all centrepiece reforms of the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 can be related to culture as it is currently understood by regulators: as a set of attitudes, values, goals and practices which together determine how a firm behaves à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦[38]; and also by academic scholars: as the subsistence and transmission of behaviours and beliefs which characterise particular social or economic groupings within and beyond these groupings.[39] From the above, we can see that the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 can be seemed to act as a reminder or notification for the senior bankers not to make extremely risky decisions. And by having this legislation, senior bankers and those who are responsible for making decisions would be more cautious in future decision making. However, practically speaking, it is difficult to be accessed as the financial or banking sector are full of uncertainties. No one can foresee the potential risk hidden in every decision made a nd no one should be blamed if the decision is made in the best interest of the institution. In short, a powerful mechanism to promote desired behaviour is to ensure that senior managers of the banks and their counterparties are aware of the possibility of the systemic implications of their actions such as aware of the possibility of their failure, and therefore the need to be concerned about that risk.[40] Banks safety and soundness are key to financial stability, and the manner in which they conduct their business is central to economic health. Governance weaknesses at banks, especially but not exclusively, those which play a significant role in the financial system, can result in the transmission of problems across the banking sector and into economies in outlying jurisdictions. Thus, effective and sensible corporate governance is critical to the proper functioning of the banking sector and the global economy.[41] In conclusion, the presence of this new offence may be seemed as a political tool to comfort the public after the global financial crisis which has no real and practical impact on individual liability. However, this Act will anyhow act as a general framework for senior bankers in their financial institutions to re-examine their decision making processes and to ensure that they comply with the highest standards of transparency. Someone may argue that strict rules or legislation might stop attracting talents into the financial sector. However, if they are not prepared to be bound by the legislation, they are clearly not the people who can bring huge impact to the financial sector and consequently the national economy. BIBLIOGRAPHY Books Ellinger E. P., Lomnicka E and Hare C. V. M, Ellingers Modern Banking Law (5th edn, OUP, Oxford 2011) Articles A Minto, Misconduct in banks: approaching the issue from a systemic perspective (2016). A Salz, The Salz Review: An Independent Review of Barclays Business Practices (2013). D Arsalidou and M Kambria-Kapardis, Weak corporate governance can lead to a countrys financial catastrophe: the case of Cyprus (2015). F. Hilmer, Strictly Boardroom: Improving Governance to Enhance Company Performance (1993). FCA, FCA publishes final rules to make those in the banking sector more accountable (2015). Financial Stability Board, Peer Review Report on Risk Governance (2013). FSA, Final Notice against Peter Cummings (2012). FSA, The Failure of the Royal Bank of Scotland: Financial Services Authority Board Report (2011). FSA Board, The Failure of the Royal Bank of Scotland (2011), para.581. FSA Internal Audit Division, The Supervision of Northern Rock: A Lessons Learned Review (2008). G Wilson and S Wilson, Banking and regulation post-crisis: the significance of culture in the UK and experiences from Australia (2016). Hall and du Gay (eds), Questions of Cultural Identity (1996); and Williams, Culture and Society: 1780-1950 (2013). House of Lords and House of Commons, Changing Banking for Good (12 June2013), Vol.I, para.116 House of Lords and House of Commons, Changing Banking for Good (12 June 2013), Vol.II, paras 632-634 House of Lords and House of Commons Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, An Accident Waiting to Happen: The Failure of HBOS (2013). Iris H.-Y. Chiu, Regulatory duties for directors in the financial services sector and directors duties in company law: bifurcation and interfaces (2016). J Black and D Kershaw, Criminalising Bank Managers (2013). J. Gapper, Trading Floor Culture no longer Acceptable (2012). J Stainsby and K Anderson, Making individuals accountable: new regulatory frameworks for banking and for insurers (2015). L.A. Bebchuk, A Cohen and H Spamann, The Wages of Failure: Executive Compensation at Bear Stearns and Lehman 2000-2008 (2010). M S. Kenney, A D. Moglia and A Stein, Fraudsters at the gate: how corporate leaders confront and defeat institutional fraud: Part 1 (2016). Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, Changing Banking for Good (2013). Singapore Parliamentary Debates, Securities and Futures Bill (5 October 2001) Vol.73, cols 2127-2128. T Hallett, Symbolic Power and Organizational Culture (2003). V. K. Rajah SC, Prosecution of financial crimes and its relationship to a culture of compliance (2016). Official Published Sources J. Macey, Corporate Governance: Promises Kept, Promises Broken (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ 2008). Electronic Sources BBC News, NatWest Takeover Battle accessed 26 March 2017. BBC News, RBS Secures Takeover of ABN Amro accessed 26 March 2017. The Independent, Was ABN the worst takeover deal ever? accessed 26 March 2017 C Coltart, Banking act is a paper tiger, The Law Society Gazette accessed 26 March 2017. D Gilroy, Banking Reform Act 2013, a good idea with poor implementation accessed 27 March 2017. L Hodges, Jail bankers for failure? The new criminal offence is an unworkable paper tiger accessed 27 March 2017. Norton Rose Fulbright, Criminal liability for senior bankers accessed 27 March 2017. R Burger and M Bonnell, Individual Accountability in Banking and Finance

Friday, October 25, 2019

Crisis in Software Patents and Copyrights Essay -- Intellectual Proper

Crisis in Software Patents and Copyrights Introduction Gaining the knowledge and skills to provide computer technology products, services and software requires a significant amount investment of both time and money. The individuals who do such a work should receive financial rewards for their efforts. These rewards create an atmosphere of creativity and competitiveness that becomes a driving force of the economy of the world. The products of this creativity must therefore be protected and we call it intellectual property. Simply, intellectual property is a product of human intellect that has a commercial value. There are three major mechanisms that US law offers to protect software intellectual properties. These are trade secrets, copyrights and patents. Trade secrets have broad applicability to various subjects that can range from microprocessors to sorting algorithms. Trade secrets are valuable because they are separate from patents and copyrights, and even can be available when copyright or patent rights are not. The basic premises of trade secrets are satisfied when knowledge is kept in secret and not commonly known. Copyrights protect all types of original creative expressions that are produced by programmers. Copyright law does not protect the ideas and concepts underlying an expressive work. It only protects the literal form that the expressive work takes. Patent law gives the inventor of a new and non-obvious invention the exclusive right to use that invention for a limited term. Patent protection offers the broadest protection for technological industry. A software patent protects against unauthorized use or sale of software that is defined as an invention. In order to obtain a patent, the inventor is ... ...pers haunted by Patent madness† 5 The British philosopher who developed a duty-based ethical (deontological) theory 6 Arnold W.Bragg. Software Patents 7 National Research Council. The Digital Dilemma. References: Deborah G.Johnson and Helen Nissenbaum. Computers Ethical & Social Values Prentice-Hall, NJ, 1995 Kallman & Grillo. Ethical Decision Making and Information Technology, Mitchell McGraw-Hill, CA, 1993 National Research Council. The Digital Dilemma, National Academy Press, DC, 2000 Richard W.Severson. The principle of Information Ethics, M.E.Sharpe,Inc, 1997 IEEE Software. Karl Dakin, What if there is no software piracy? January 1997 IEEE Software. Gregory Ahoronian. Does the Patent Office respect the software community? July/August. 1999 IEEE IT Professional. Arnold W.Bragg. Software Patents. July/August 2001

Thursday, October 24, 2019

The Importance Of A Safe And Healthy School Education Essay

For more than twenty old ages, research workers and pedagogues have indicated the importance of a safe and healthy school environment in furthering academic accomplishment ( Luiselli, Putnam, Handler, & A ; Feinberg, 2005 ; Hymel, Schonert-Reichl, & A ; Miller, 2006 ) . Schools are the most important socialisation force next to the household and it is in school where kids form relationships which influence societal and academic results ( Wentzel & A ; Looney, 2007 ) . It has been suggested in assorted surveies that a supportive and caring school environment optimizes the academic results of pupils ( Nakamoto, 2008 ; Beran, 2003 ) . Caring and supportive school environments can merely happen when the socialisation experiences and relationships of pupils feature credence, tolerance, and regard from both instructors and co-students. To kids, friendly relationships are considered a important facet of development. As they mature and develop, kids are encouraged and expected to hold friends to give them a sense of credence and belonging. Without these equal dealingss, kids become vulnerable to adjustment troubles which can ensue to low self-esteem, anxiousness, solitariness, and depression. Unfortunately, non all kids are able to hold healthy equal dealingss in the class of their academic experience. The absence of equal dealingss or holding debatable equal dealingss makes kids susceptible to victimization. Children who are frequently bullied in school are those who have few friends. They are prone to Acts of the Apostless of bullying or aggression from their equals. The deficiency of equal support and a safe school environment consequences to depression, anxiousness, and in utmost instances, self-destruction ( Rigby, 2000 ) . Bullying as a serious national issue emerged after the Columbine shots in 1999. Since so, strong-arming has become a critical populace policy issue and to day of the month, 43 provinces have adopted antibullying Torahs to protect and safeguard the rights of kids from aggressive and violent Acts of the Apostless of their equals ( Anti-Defamation League [ ADL ] , 2010 ) . In the yesteryear, the job of intimidation was an unfastened secret that was seldom discussed, much less addressed by school functionaries and the community. Educators and parents by and large regarded it as a â€Å" rite of transition † which kids necessarily undergo as portion of the socialisation procedure. Public functionaries and school governments have lobbied for steps to advance safe and healthy school environments and there have been consequences from some intercessions to cut down intimidation. However, strong-arming remains a outstanding issue until today. Recently, the instance of the college freshe r Tyler Clementi who was cyberbullied until he jumped off the George Washington Bridge and high school pupil Phoebe Prince who committed self-destruction after being infinitely bullied by her equals in a Massachusetts public school has confirmed that the battle to set an terminal to victimization in schools has a long manner to travel. Bullying is a chronic job in American schools. Nine out of 10 simple pupils have been bullied by their equals, harmonizing to a simple questionnaire developed by research workers at Lucile Packard Children ‘s Hospital ( 2007 ) and the Stanford University School of Medicine ( Medical News Today, 2007 ) . In the last 15 old ages, much attending has been placed on the issue of strong-arming in schools both in the United States and in other parts of the universe. States like Norway, Sweden, Japan, and Australia have been at the centre of attending on issues related to strong-arming ( Green, 2007 ) . In the United States, many believe that intimidation is nil more than a childhood rite. School intimidation is now accepted as a type of ill will that can hold durable mental effects for pupils that are both victims and culprits ( Green, 2007 ) . Clearly, school intimidation has become a prevailing quandary that interrupts the societal dealingss between pupils, detracts from the positiv e quality of schoolroom experiences, and hinders pupils ‘ chances to larn. Bullying is a menace non merely to a safe and healthy school environment but to kids ‘s academic results every bit good. Ideally, schools provide a wider societal context for kids to develop from their early socialisation experiences within the place. As a effect, kids ‘s societal and emotional experience influences their cognitive development. Furthermore, schools allow pupils to see and larn new things which are critical to their rational development. If the school does non supply such an environment, kids may see societal and rational troubles ( Eccles et al. , 1999 ) . What raises serious concern among the educational community is the determination that intimidation may hold a negative influence in academic accomplishment of pupils. Ecological theoretical accounts of school accomplishment suggest that school results of kids are influenced by the quality of interactions they have with equals, parents, instructors, and other persons ( Broussard & A ; Garrison, 2004 ) . Hence, the chronic job of intimidation may discourage kids from experience their full rational development. Childs who are often victimized by their equals whether physically, verbally, or psychologically may endure from larning disengagement low anticipation of success, and accordingly, execute ill on school assignment and accomplishment trials. Particularly relevant to the present survey is research showing important links between school intimidation and academic public presentation ( e.g. , Buhs, Ladd, & A ; Herald, 2006 ; Juvonen, Nishina, & A ; Graham, 2000 ; Schwartz, Farver, Chang, & A ; Lee-Shin, 2002 ) . Students who are victimized by equals are likely to show hapless academic public presentation ( Buhs et al. , 2006 ; Juvonen et al. , 2000 ; Konishi & A ; Li, 2006 ; Nishina, Juvonen, & A ; Witkow, 2005 ; Schwartz et al. , 2002 ; Schwartz, Gorman, Nakamoto, & A ; Toblin, 2005 ) , as are kids who bully others ( Pereira, Mendonca, Neto, Valente, & A ; Smith, 2004 ) , consistent with statements that childrenaˆYs societal experiences at school impact their academic public presentation ( see Hymel et al. , 2006 ; Weissberg & A ; Durlak, 2005 ) . Not all surveies have demonstrated such associations, nevertheless. Hanish and Guerra ( 2002 ) failed to happen a relationship between equal victimization and accomplishment a nd Woods and Wolke ( 2004 ) found that accomplishment was significantly linked to relational but non direct signifiers of victimization. Since the 1970s, the public schools in America have been placed under the microscope and answerability in all countries has been demanded. Parents are familiar with issues of proving and installation safety, but an extra country that has been brought to the head of the state ‘s attending is that of pupil safety. One specific country of important concern has been the issue of strong-arming and the deductions that student behavior can hold on the safety and security of all pupils. Teachers understand the degrees of influence and acknowledge the power of the household, the community, and the popular civilization to act upon behaviour. What they frequently do non understand is the extent or bound of their domain of influence. When instructors are asked to place hazard factors for the development of intimidation, they by and large rank the household and cultural factors such as telecasting movies, and pop music as holding the strongest impact on kids ‘s development of strong-a rming behaviours. When instructors are asked to bespeak which factors they can act upon, they recognize for the most portion, that their influence is limited to the schoolroom and school environment. Teachers are encouraged to concentrate their energy and resources on altering the countries within their domain of influence, that is, the schoolroom and the school. A figure of factors have been identified as lending to pupils sense of safety and belonging at school, but less research has examined the grade to which these factors really impact school public presentation. The present survey examined the function of two school clime factors in footings of their consequence on pupil accomplishment in math and reading. Although enlightening, these surveies focus merely on the person or pupil degree, non taking into history the school degree bunch of pupils. There is a famine of research sing the impact of strong-arming at the school degree in relation to academic public presentation. At the school degree, both strong-arming and teacher-student dealingss are, in kernel, facets of school clime that reflect an overall degree of tolerance for negative interpersonal interactions. As such, both represent school-level factors that can impact academic public presentation. To our cognition, there are no empirical surveies analyzing relationships between school clime, as reflected in reported intimidation and teacher-student dealingss, and single studentsaˆY accomplishment. Consequently, in the present survey, we assessed the linkage between academic accomplishment and intimidation at the school degree utilizing a multilevel analysis technique that allowed us to besides see the possible buffering consequ ence of positive teacher-student dealingss. Specifically, the present survey addressed: ( a ) whether studentsaˆY academic public presentation is related to the schoolaˆYs strong-arming clime ( e.g. , Do pupils in schools that have a batch of strong-arming demonstrate poorer academic public presentation? ) , and ( B ) whether student-teacher connection influences the bullying-achievement relationship ( e.g. , Do pupils who enjoy positive connection with instructors show positive academic accomplishment despite high degrees of strong-arming in their schools? ) . Sexual activity differences were besides explored.Statement of the ProblemThe job of intimidation has existed since the beginning of clip. The issue of pupil safety in schools as it relates to school-yard intimidation, nevertheless, was brought to the head of the American populace with the calamities at Columbine, Jonesboro, Conyers, and Paducah. The job continues and has been aggravated by the coming of the cyber strong-arming possible. Young people ‘s li ves have been impacted for their full hereafter by apparently mindless childhood Acts of the Apostless. Small research exists today on the perceptual experience of public school decision makers in Missouri with respect to strong-arming being a job in their school. In order to turn to the job of the school-yard bully, we must foremost analyze the attitudes and head sets of the work forces and adult females in charge of educating and protecting our immature people during the school twenty-four hours. Before realistic stairss can be taken by decision makers in battling school toughs, one must first understand and acknowledge that intimidation is a job. Research reveals that there are so physical, psychological, and emotional jobs exhibited by the victims of strong-arming while go toing school, but old research has made a weak effort to decently link the emotions of the victims with the ability to larn while at school. ( Kumpulainen, K. , & A ; Rasanen, E. , 2000 ) Although intimidation is an age old job in America, gender besides plays a major function in the types and features of strong-arming at school ( Crick & A ; Grotpeter, 1995 ) . Female and male striplings have a inclination to move and respond otherwise under the force per unit area of a school bully. Traditional signifiers of intimidation still take topographic point throughout schoolrooms and play evidences of American public schools, but in today ‘s universe we are now threatened with an even more powerful and perchance more psychologically detrimental signifier of intimidation, which is normally referred to as â€Å" cyber intimidation † .Purpose of the StudyThis qualitative instance survey research is an scrutiny of the perceptual experiences of school staff on intimidation and its impact on academic accomplishment. The participants of this survey will include 10 simple class instructors and 5 counsel counsellors of schools belonging to the South Georgia School District. Participants wi ll be chosen through random sampling. Informant interviews will be the primary informations assemblage method to be triangulated with secondary informations beginnings such as school records, studies, accomplishment trials, and other pertinent paperss which may be used to verify and supplement the literature reappraisal for a more thorough treatment of the findings. Data will be analyzed through the qualitative content analysis method.Research QuestionsThe cardinal inquiry addressed in this survey is: How does the school staff perceive intimidation and its relationship with academic accomplishment in simple class pupils? The undermentioned research inquiries guide this thesis: Q1. How do instructors and school psychologists of a South Georgia School District define intimidation? Q2. From the point of position of school staff, what types of intimidation behaviours are prevailing in their several schools? Q3. How does strong-arming act upon the academic results of both bully and victim? Q4. What are their functions and competences in turn toing intimidation in the school environment? Q5. How can instructors and decision makers help turn to school intimidation?Restrictions and Boundary linesThis research narrowly evaluates the perceptual experiences of school staff from public simple schools within the South George School District. This research specifically addresses the factors that contribute to strong-arming inside the school premises, the type of strong-arming the instructors observed, and most significantly how intimidation affected the academic public presentation of the victims and culprits.Definition of Key FootingsSchool Achievement is a pupil ‘s comprehension of peculiar information and proficiency with specific accomplishments. Bully refers to person who uses physical or verbal aggression on something of a regular footing against other immature people. Normally, toughs are found to be stronger, bigger, and more aggressive than their equals and victims. Strong-arming refers to Acts of the Apostless which are comprised of direct behaviours such as tease, teasing, endangering, striking, and stealing that are initiated by one or more pupils against a victim. In add-on to direct onslaughts, intimidation may besides be more indirect by doing a pupil to be socially isolated through knowing exclusion. Victim of strong-arming are typically dying, insecure, cautious, and suffer from low self-pride, seldom supporting themselves or revenging when confronted by pupils who bully them. They may miss societal accomplishments and friends, and they are frequently socially isolated.VictimizationSchool StaffImportance of the StudyThe intent of this survey was to find if there was a perceptual experience that existed or did non be within the ranks of Missouri public school decision makers and pupils of Missouri public schools refering the country of strong-arming among adolescent-age kids. If is the survey revealed that strong-arming in fact existed in public schools in Missouri, what was the impact for the victims of such Acts of the Apostless on their academic accomplishment? If intimidation is determined as a job in schools, do male and female striplings prosecute in strong-arming every bit and by utilizing the same methods? Another cardinal constituent of this survey is to place what, if a ny, schools policies presently are in topographic point in public schools in Missouri and the possible demand to make and follow extra policies in order to protect the victims of strong-arming. Although this survey could be viewed as a qualitative survey, the research worker has chosen to analyse the informations and develop decisions based on the responses of perceptual experiences, academic accomplishment, and policies that are presently found in the questionnaires and studies. This was a descriptive research with the intent of puting a foundation for farther research in specific countries identified as holding possible important impact on pupil public presentation and educator-preparation plans. The end of the survey is to offer through empirical observation researched, educated suggestions and replies sing what and how to make and implement policies covering with all signifiers of intimidation. It is the purpose of the research worker that this information, one time analyzed and dissected, will be a meaningful tool to any school territory in the province of Missouri and around the United States in the country of school policies. It is the premiss of the research worker that this survey will cast new visible radiation on the issues of electronic devices, their usage at school, and the impact that those devices have on the acquisition procedure.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Business Ethics-Written Assignment for Module 2 Essay

1. Shaw and Barry distinguish two different forms of utilitarianism. What are these two forms. Briefly describe each and use examples. Act Utilitarianism and Rule Utilitarianism are the two different forms of utilitarianism that Shaw and Barry distinguish. Utilitarianism refers to the greatest happiness principle for the most amounts of people. Act utilitarianism â€Å"states that we must ask ourselves what the consequences of a particular act in a particular situation will be for all those affected. If its consequences bring more net good than those of any alternative course of action, then this action is the right one and the one we should perform† (Shaw and Barry, pg.60). I look at this as to mean when choosing between two alternative acts in a situation then the right act is the one that brings the best result or the most happiness, basically the consequences of a single act. Rule utilitarianism â€Å"maintains that the utilitarian standard should be applied not to individual actions but to moral codes as a whole. The principles that make up that code would then be the basis for distinguishing right actions from wrong actions† (Shaw and Barry, pg.77). I look at this to me at measuring the consequences of the act repeated over and over again as if it was a rule whenever there are similar situations. 2. What do economists mean by the â€Å"declining marginal utility of money†? Declining marginal utility of money stated by Shaw and Barry as â€Å"simply means that successive additions to one’s income produce, on average, less happiness or welfare that did earlier additions† (Shaw and Barry, pg.112). I look at this as with every additional dollar or good, the value and happiness declines, the additional dollar or good loses its initial feeling or worth compared to the previous additions. A good example would be someone would really enjoy a piece of chocolate cake, and if offered a second piece they may agree that they would still enjoy it, but not as much as the first piece, and finally given a third piece of chocolate cake, they would be so full from the first two pieces then they wouldn’t be as happy since eating the first piece of chocolate cake. So for every extra piece of chocolate cake there would be less happiness from the previous piece. 3. Robert Nozick presents his entitlement theory as a function of three basic principles. What are these three basic principles? Nozick’s entitlement theory is a theory of justice and how society regulates the distribution of goods, money and property. â€Å"All that matters for Noziak is how people came to have what they have, not the pattern or results of the distribution of goods.† (Shaw and Barry, pg.115) His entitlement theory comprises of three main principles which were: 1. A principle of justice in acquisition – This principle deals with the initial acquisition of holdings. It is an account of how people first come to own common property, what types of things can be held, and so forth. 2. A principle of justice in transfer – This principle explains how one person can acquire holdings from another, including voluntary exchange and gifts. 3. A principle of rectification of injustice – how to deal with holdings that are unjustly acquired or transferred, whether and how much victims can be compensated, how to deal with long past transgressions or injustices done by a government, and so on. What is principle of justice in acquisition? Our book gives us an analogy concerning basketball player, Wilt Chamberlain that was used by Nozick. The idea behind this is that Wilt Chamberlain was a very talent basketball player and people were willing to pay a certain amount of money to see him play. In Wilt Chamberlain’s contact it stated that he would get X amount for each ticket purchased, due to his talent of playing basketball. Over the course of the year he is entitled to a portion of the tickets sold. Wilt Chamberlain become very wealthy as a result of the amount of tickets sold and his contact with the team he played for since his contact stated he get X amount for each ticket purchased. He has every right to become wealthy and acquire money as a result of the free choice of people voluntarily purchasing the basketball tickets to see him play. This is an example of how the money exchanged was rightfully acquired. What is principle of justice in transfer? A good example of justice of transfer would be if a landowner justly owns twenty acres of property and he freely sells ten acres to his neighbor for a specific amount of money. This would be justice of transfer since the landlord is willing to sell the property and his neighbor is willing to purchase and they both agree on the terms. The landowner would now have ten less acres of property but he would be X amount wealthier and his neighbor will now have ten additional acres and X amount less. Both parties agreed on the terms and neither leave worse off than prior to the transaction. What is principle of rectification of injustice? Basically how to restore something to its rightful owner, in case of injustice in either acquisition or transfer. A good example we could use is back giving an example of a football quarterback. The quarterback contact stated that he would get X amount for each ticket purchased. What happens if he is injured at the beginning of the season and doesn’t play any games except for the first three games? Is he still entitlement to the X amount per ticket or just a portion of the total? The contact doesn’t state anything about if he was injured and didn’t play. So should the quarterback be entitlement to the extra money. It may feel injustice since he didn’t play the majority of the games, but since his contact stated that he gets X amount per ticket then he is entitlement to the entire amount. The team doesn’t feel that he should get the entire amount. The team only gives him a portion of the money. The quarterback has the right to rectify and claim the entire amount since his contact doesn’t have a specific clause regarding being injured. He would have legal action to go after the team to pay him the entire amount. 4. Two main features of John Rawls’s theory of distributive justice are particularly important. What are these two features? Describe them. Rawl’s theory of distributive justice have two main features that are described in the textbook (Shaw and Barry, pg.122): 1. Each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive total system of equal basic liberties compatible with a similar system of liberty for all. I see this feature as saying each individual should have the equal rights or opportunities, basically not to restrict or deny the freedom of each person involved. 2. Social and economic inequalities are to satisfy two conditions. First, they are to be attached to positions and offices open to all under conditions of fair equality of opportunity; and second, they are to be to the greatest expected benefit of the least advantaged members of society. I see this feature as saying that there is social and economic inequalities and they may not be wrong or bad. These inequalities shouldn’t benefit the least well off. It doesn’t matter where a person was born into the social ladder. 5. What is the MAXIMIN rule for making decisions? According to our textbook the MAXIMIN rule states â€Å"you should select the alternative under which the worst that could happen to you is better than the worst that could happen to you under any other alternative-that is, you should try to maximize the minimum that you will receive.† (Shaw and Barry, pg.122). Basically it is stating that the rule is if there are more than one choice, the best decision rule is to consider the one with the least worst consequence for the best possible choice. 6. What is the role of the â€Å"veil of ignorance† in Rawls’ theory of distributive justice? According to our textbook the role of the veil of ignorance in Rawl’s theory â€Å"eliminates bias and makes the original position a fair way of choosing principles.† (Shaw and Barry, pg.121). I see at the method for determining the morality of an issue no matter what social role one may play, it is only how one truly considers the morality of a certain position. 7. According to Shaw and Barry, deciding what sort of economic arrangements would best promote human happiness requires the utilitarian to consider many things. What are the five considerations mentioned by Shaw and Barry? The five considerations mentioned in our textbook (Shaw and Barry, pg.111): 1. The type of economic ownership (private, public, mixed). 2. The way of organizing production and distribution in general (pure laissez faire, markets with government planning and regulation, fully centralized planning). 3. The type of authority arrangements within the units of production (worker control versus managerial prerogative. 4. The range and character of material incentives. 5. The nature and extent of social security and welfare provisions.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

lancelot essays

lancelot essays In his philosophical novel Lancelot, Walker Percy touches upon a number of provocative issues. Although many are interesting, one topic that stands out in particular is the idea of whether or not a woman can be violated by a man. A discussion of the various positions of this ideological question would take a series of books with each volume many times thicker than this paper. However, it is certainly possible to examine how the question is treated in a specific work. Doing so then allows us to see the ramifications of holding either belief on the character. Although strictly confined to the literary world, it can be enlightening to see the differences that define each position influence a characters interactions with other characters; if only hypothetically. A passage from Percys Lancelot provides for some good ballast that can jumpstart the debate on the violability or inviolability of women. On page 251, Lancelot asks Anna, the rape victim in the adjacent cell, to accompany him in his life after the asylum. When Lancelot says that Anna has suffered the worst violation a woman can suffer, she responds angrily. Are you suggesting, she says, that I, myself, me, my person, can be violated by a man? Anna neatly delineates the subject of contention with her response. To say that a woman can be violated necessarily means that women do not have complete control over themselves. Instead, they must rely on men as a source of pleasure, and therefore, a potential source of hurt. Anna is obviously against this notion. You goddamn men, she says. Dont you know there are more important things in this world? Obviously, she does not consider men as the be all and end all of her life. Although she directly mentions it, Anna does not actually define anything else that is more important in this world. Lancelot suspects that she is lying, even to herself. Lancelot explain...

Monday, October 21, 2019

Cubism essays

Cubism essays Art before the twentieth century was recognized as an imitation of nature. Paintings and portraits were made to look as realistic and three-dimensional as possible, as if we are looking at the real object. The first cubist works were those in which objects, landscapes, and people are represented as many-sided solids. Artists were painting in a flamboyant style. Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1882-1973) and Georges Braque (French, 1882-1963) initiated the movement when they followed the advice of Paul Cezanne, who in 1904 said artists should treat nature "in terms of the cylinder, the sphere and the cone." (art) In Cubism the subject matter is broken up, analyzed, and reassembled in an abstracted form. Cubism changed the way art was represented and viewed. There were three phases in the development of Cubism: Early Cubism, Analystical Cubism and Synthetic Cubism. It brought in new ways of composing pictures and also showed new ways of representing nature. This new movement also brought in new attitudes towards the picture surface and the application of paint. The ideas of colour theory were all changed. This caused a liberation of these elements from a merely descriptive function have all featured in the development of Cubism. The main distinguishing characteristic between cubism and other styles such as impressionism is that cubism does portray nature in art. Cubist painters are not limited to painting a certain color, or form, or a certain texture. Cubism broke objects down into basic shapes of cubes, spheres, cylinders, cones and line thickness. The shapes are flattened onto canvas so th at different sides of each shape can be shown simultaneously from many angles. This resulted in strong geometric patterns and angles. The style was described as being able to show objects in multiple viewpoints. The first stage, Early Cubism, was characterized by the simplification, distortion, and emphasis of the forms of objects. It consisted of fac...