Comparison of Education Reports of Behavioural Symptoms

Comparison of Education Reports of Behavioural Symptoms Running Head: Teacher, children, and parents reports of behavioral symptoms Comparison between teacher, children, and parents reports of behavioral symptoms associated with disruptive behaviors. Karelyn M. Gonzà ¡lez-Cruz, M.S., Josà © J. Cabiya., Ph.D., Lymaries Padilla, Ph.D. Jovette Sà ¡nchez, M.S. (The project/study described was supported by Grant Number 1 R24 MD00152-01, from the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institutes of Health. It’s contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.) Key Words: School age children, aggressive behavior, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, impulsiveness depression. Abstract The goal of the present pilot study was to compare the teacher, children, and parents reports of behavioral symptoms associated with disruptive behaviors using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule of Children-Parent version (DISC-P), the Diagnostic Interview Schedule of Children-Youth (DISC-Y) and the Bauermeister School Behavior Inventory (BSBI). The parents of 52 children consented to participate in the DISC-P and DISC-Y interviews. The results showed that parents and children had a moderate degree of agreement in answering symptoms of major depressive episode, symptoms of traumatic stress disorder, and symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder. The results also showed that teachers had a high degree of agreement with children in their report of disruptive symptoms while no agreement was found between teachers and parents reports. Teachers’ reports of disruptive behaviors such as irritability, hostility, distraction, and low motivation had a moderate correlation with children re ports of symptoms related to conduct disorders and ODD. These results might suggest that parents identify more efficiently affective disorders than teachers. On the contrary, teachers appear to identify more efficiently disruptive behaviors than parents do. Comparison between teacher, children, and parents reports of behavioral symptoms associated with disruptive behaviors Assessment of child psychiatric disorders traditionally relies on information obtained from multiple informants, usually the parent, the child, and sometimes others such as teachers and additional family members. These informants may provide different information about the presence, severity, and duration of a childs symptomatology or behavior (Achenbach, McConaughy, Howell, 1987). Several studies have compared parent and child reports of the children psychiatric symptoms in structured diagnostic interviews like the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents (DICA; Herjanic Reich, 1982; Reich, Herjanic, Welner, Gandy, 1982; Welner, Reich, Herjanic, Jung, Amado, 1987), the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC; Edelbrock, Costello, Dulcan, Calabro Conover, Kalas, 1986; Loeber, Green, Lahey, Stouthamer-Loeber, 1989; Weissman et al., 1987), and the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-age Children (K-SADS; Chambers et al., 1985; Orvaschel , Puig-Antich, Chambers, Tabrizi, Johnson, 1982). These studies have documented low to moderate agreement between parents and children report of psychiatric symptoms. In general, these reports have found that parents report more behavior symptoms about their children than the children report about themselves, whereas children report having more affective and neurotic symptoms than their parents report about them (Edelbrock et al., 1986; Herjanic Reich, 1982). In addition, a meta-analysis of more than 200 studies examined agreement among informants, and reported moderate to poor agreement for most studies, including those in which agreement was assessed along symptom dimensions rather than by categorical diagnoses (Achenbach, McConaughy, Howell, 1987). Somewhat better agreement between parents and children has been observed in clinical samples when semistructured interviews were used by clinicians (Orvaschel, Thompson, Belanger, Prusoff, Kidd, 1982) and for externalizing as compared to internalizing symptoms (Reich, Herjanic, Welner, Gandhy, 1982). Asymmetrical reporting of certain types of symptoms has been found to be the most frequent source of disagreement. Parents tend to report externalizing behaviors or problems more often while children tend to report internalizing depressive or anxiety symptoms with greater frequency Edelbrock et al., 1986; Reich et al., 1982). In addition, a study completed by Bravo, et al. (2001) with a Puerto Rican sample found that parents were generally fair or moderately reliable informants when reporting about their children. Children (11-17 years) were excellent or moderately reliable informants on disruptive and substance-related disorders, but were unreliable when reporting about anxiety and depressive disorders. For lifetime diagnoses, they found that parents were fair reporters of their childrens conduct disorder, as well as substance-related disorders, whereas their children were excellent or moderately reliable reporting about most of these disorders. However, no study was found that have assessed the relationship between the teachers, parents and children report of clinical symptoms related to disruptive disorders. The goal of the present pilot study was to compare the teachers, children, and parents reports of behavioral symptoms associated with disruptive behaviors using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule of Children-Parent version (DISC-P), the Diagnostic Interview Schedule of Children-Youth (DISC-Y) and the Bauermeister School Behavior Inventory (BSBI). Method Participants Fifty two (26 boys and 26 girls) from ages 9 to 12 (mean age was 10) from the San Juan metropolitan area, who were referred by their teacher for disruptive behavior in the classroom, were administered a symptoms checklist based on the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria for disruptive disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Informed consent to participate in the study was then requested from the parents of these children. The socioeconomic status of all of these children was low. The mean age was 10.06 (SD = 1.07). Of the 52 referred children, 17 children (9 boys and 8 girls) were evaluated with the DISC-Y. The mean age of this group was 10.12 (SD = 1.16). Instruments Bauermeister School Behavior Inventory (BSBI). This inventory consists of six scales for male children and five for female children completed by the teachers that evaluate anxiety symptoms, social alienation, depression, irritability-hostility, distraction-motivation and activity impulsiveness. Internal consistency fluctuates between .74 and .96; test-re-test reliability (four week period fluctuated between .52 to .89. This instrument was developed, validated and standardized for Puerto Rican population (Bauermeister, 1994). Computerized Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (C-DISC) (Shafer, D. et al. 2000). The DISC is the most widely used and studied mental health interview that has been tested in both clinical and community populations. It is a comprehensive, structured interview that covers 36 mental health disorders for children adolescents, using DSM-IV criteria. The version used in this study was the most recent Spanish translation of the DISC-IV (Bravo et al., 2001), with parallel youth (DISC-Y) and parent (DISC-P) versions. The test-retest reliability of the DISC-IV has been reported in both Spanish and English-speaking clinic samples yielding comparable results (Bravo et al., 2001; Shaffer, Fisher, Lucas, Dulcan, Schwab-Stone, 2000). The disorders assessed by the DISC were: Generalized anxiety, Panic, Post-traumatic stress, Major Depression, Dysthymia, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity, Oppositional Defiant, Conduct Disorder, Alcohol Abuse / Dependence, Marijuana Abuse / Dependence, Nicot ine Dependence and other Substance Abuse / Dependence. Socio-demographic interview. The questionnaire used in the Research Scientific Institute at the Carlos Albizu University was administered. The questionnaire provides socio-demographic information about the child and his/her family. Procedures Teachers completed the BSBI after the parents consented to participate in the study. The project’s director selected advanced doctoral students in clinical psychology to be trained as interviewers. These students received two day intensive DISC workshops from trainers certified by the Columbia University original developers of the DISC. They were blind to experimental hypotheses. Interviewers contacted by phone the principal caretaker of each child to arrange for the DISC-P interview in the school. They administered first the DISC-P to the parent and afterwards they administered the DISC-Y to the child. The principal caretaker received an compensation of twenty dollars for their participation. The interviews took place in a classroom with comfortable chairs, illumination, tables, and non distractions. Quality control procedures were established to guarantee the integrity of the data gathering process. The project’s director conducted weekly meetings for the supervision of recorded practice DISC interviews according to the DISC instructions manual. The interviewers received recommendations from other trained DISC interviewers, specifically on how to deal with ambiguities, which did arise, and clearly define â€Å"do’s† and â€Å"don’ts† in various situations. Specific situations that lead to deviations from the interview were discussed in the weekly supervisions. Results The correlations between the quantity of symptoms of the different disorders on DISC-P and DISC-Y were as follows: symptoms of inattention on DISC-P and symptoms of inattention on DISC-Y was r = .57 (pr = .70 (pr = .64 (pr = .67 (pr = .75 (p The correlations between the BSBI distraction-motivation scale and ODD symptoms on DISC-Y was r = .87 (pr = .92 (pr = .64 (p Discussion The goal of the present pilot study was to compare the teacher, children, and parents reports of behavioral symptoms associated with disruptive behaviors using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule of Children-Parent version (DISC-P), the Diagnostic Interview Schedule of Children-Youth (DISC-Y) and the Bauermeister School Behavior Inventory (BSBI). Results indicated that parents reported more behavioral symptoms (such as ODD symptoms and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder symptoms) than the children reported. Also, parents reported more affective and anxiety symptoms than their children reported. Even more, the results on DISC-P and DISC-Y showed that parents and children had a moderate degree of agreement in answering symptoms of major depressive episode, symptoms of traumatic stress disorder, and symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder. The results also showed that teachers had a high degree of agreement with children in their report of disruptive symptoms while no agreement was found between teachers and parents reports. Teachers’ reports of disruptive behaviors such as irritability, hostility, distraction, and low motivation had a moderate correlation with children reports of symptoms related to conduct disorders and ODD. These results might suggest that parents identify more efficiently affective disorders than teachers. On the contrary, teachers appear to identify more efficiently disruptive behaviors than parents do. These results are consistent with previous research that documented low to moderate agreement between parents and children in their report of disruptive symptoms (DICA; Herjanic Reich, 1982; Reich, Herjanic, Welner, Gandy, 1982; Welner, Reich, Herjanic, Jung, Amado, 1987; Orvaschel, Thompson, Belanger, Prusoff, Kidd, 1982). In addition, a study with a Puerto Rican sample found similar results, in that parents were generally fair or moderately reliable informants about their children’s affective symptoms (Bravo et. al, 2001). One limitation of the present study was the small size of the study sample. The main reason for this was the fact that many parents that were contacted refused to participate in the study. One possible recommendation for future research is to develop specific strategies to engage more Puerto Ricans in order for them to participate in the phases of research with little immediate benefits that requires extended interviews or evaluations. These strategies could include increasing significantly the monetary compensation. Another strategy is to train the research assistants on specific ways of engaging the parents in a culturally sensitive manner like appealing to â€Å"familism† which Muir, et al. (2004) have found to be essential in engaging Latinos in general including Puerto Ricans in research. Nevertheless, engagement of Latinos including Puerto Ricans in research appears to be a significant challenge and future research needs to address this area by itself in a systematic and comprehensive manner. References Achenbach, T. M., McConaughy, S. H. Howell, C. T. (1987). Child/adolescent behavioral and emotional problems: implications of cross-informant correlations for situational specificity. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 213-232. Bauermeister, J. (1994). Desarrollo y utilizacià ³n del Inventario de Comportamiento Escuela (IDC-E) en la evaluacià ³n de nià ±os puertorriqueà ±os [Development and use of the Bauermeister School Behavior Inventory (BSBI) in assessing Latino children]. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Author. Biederman, J., Faraone, S. Mick, E. Moore, P. (1996). Child Behavior Checklist findings support comorbidity between ADHD and Major Depression in a referred sample. Journal of the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, 35 (6), 734-742. Bravo, M., Woodbury-Farina, M. A., Canino, G., Rubio-Stipec, M. (in press). The Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children DISC): Its translation and adaptation in Puerto Rico. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry. Bravo, M., Ribera, J., Rubio-Stipec, M., Canino, G., Shrout, P., Ramà ­rez, R. (2001). Test-retests reliability of Spanish version of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children DISC-IV. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 29(5), 433-444. Chambers, W. J., Puig-antich, J., Hirsch, M., Paez, P., Ambrosini, P. J., Tabrizi, M. A., Davies, M. (1985). The assessment of affective disorders in children and adolescents by semistructured interview. Archives of General Psychiatry, 42, 696-702 Cohen (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. (2nd.ed) Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Edelbrock, C., Costello, A. J., Dulcan, M. K., Calabro Conover, N., Kalas, R. (1986). Parent-child agreement on child psychiatric symptoms assessed via structured interviews. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 27, 181-190. Herjanic, B., Herjanic, M., Brown, F., Wheatt, T. (1975). Are children reliable reporters? Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 3, 41-48. Herjanic, B. Reich W. (1982). Development of a structured psychiatric interview for adolescent: Agreement between child and parent on individual symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 10, 307-324. Kashani, J. H., Orvaschel, H., Burke, J. P., Reid, J. C. (1985). Informant variance: The issue of parent-child disagreement. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 24, 437-441. Loeber, R., Green, S. M., Lahey, B. B. Stouthamer-Loeber, M. (1989). Optimal informants on childhood disruptive behavior. Development and Psychopathology, 1, 317-337. Orvaschel H., Puig-antich, J., Chambers, W. J., Tabrizi, M.A., Johnson, R. (1982). Retrospective assessment of prepubertal major depression with the Kiddie-SADS-E. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 21, 392-397. Orvaschel, H., Thompson, W. D., Belanger, A., Prusoff, B. A., Kidd, K. K. (1982). Comparison of the family history method to direct interview: Factors affecting the diagnosis of depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 4, 49-59. Pliszka, S., Carlson, C. Swanson, J. (1999). ADHD with comorbid disorders: Clinical assessment and management. New York: Guilford Press. Reich, W., Earls, F. (1987). Rules for making psychiatric diagnosis in children on the basis of multiple sources of information: Preliminary strategies. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 15, 601-606. Reich, W., Herjanic, B., Welner, Z., Gandhy, P. R. (1982). Development of a structured psychiatric interview for children: Agreement on diagnosis comparing child and parent interviews. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 10, 325-336. Shaffer, D., Fisher, P., Lucas, C. P., Dulcan, M. K., Schwab-Stone, M. E. (2000). NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children Version IV (NIMH DISC-IV): Description, differences from previous versions, and reliability of some common diagnoses. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 39, 28-38. Weissman, M. M., Wickramaratne, P., Warner, V., John, K, Prusoff, B. A., Merikangas, K. R., Gammon G. D. (1987). Assessing psychiatric disorders in children. Archives of General Psychiatry, 44, 747-753.

Racial Controversy Surrounding the Assassination of Martin Luther King,

The Racial Controversy Surrounding the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. The impact of Martin Luther King, Jr. today is no doubt revered. He is commonly called the â€Å"Father of Civil Rights,† and is looked upon as a national icon, in an almost presidential-type light. His achievements have not only begat a national holiday for his birthday, but also helped lead to the creation of Black History Month. However, his accomplishments were not so regaled in his own time. In fact, most Caucasian Americans refused to even recognize any ban or barrier he and his cohorts attempted to change. African-Americans were just simply not respected by most whites in the 1950s and 1960s because they were considered â€Å"inferior.† This resonates with Baldwin’s opinions of whites’ refusals to accept that they may have made a mistake, and instead of taking responsibility for that mistake, they dump it on African-Americans and other races. A good example of this â€Å"dumping† of responsibilities occurred with the assass ination of King. It may be a possibility that the many different conspiracy theories that evolved after King’s assassination were created in a way to avoid Caucasians admitting that a single white person shot and killed the head of the Civil Rights Movement. Along with the many different conspiracy theories, there has been an uncovering of faults in the FBI’s investigation, some of which include not taking African-Americans’ eyewitness testimony seriously. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s first step into the world of civil rights occurred in Montgomery, Alabama, in December of 1951. After she refused to surrender her bus seat to a white passenger, Rosa Parks was arrested for violating the city’s segregation ... ... Luther King, Jr.: Conspiracy Theory #4†. Infoplease. 8 Apr. 2004 . Frank, Gerold. An American Death: The True Story of the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Greatest Manhunt of Our Time. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1972. â€Å"King Report—Part 2†. U.S. Department of Justice. 8 Apr. 2004 . "Martin Luther King, Jr.". Encyclopedia Britannica. 2004. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 8 Apr. 2004. Library Gateway, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. . Ripley, Anthony. â€Å"Funeral Is Ignored by Whites But Some Atlanta Stores Close.† New York Times 9 Apr. 1968: 1-2. ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times. Library Gateway, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. 11 Apr. 2004 .

Marriott Corporation Essay

While management was correct in some aspects of measuring debt capacity for Marriott Corporation, the method used to obtain the ratio of 6.64 did not include the debt from the previous repurchase, grossly overstating the ratio and leading to believe that Marriott Corporation had a large unsused portion of debt capacity. This is shown in Exhibit 5. After thorough analysis and a different approach to finding the debt capacity, it is concluded that the actual debt capacity for Marriott Corporation is 3.94 EBIT-adjusted/net interest. To come up with the actual debt capacity for Marriott Corporation, the EBIT-adjusted/net interest ratio was still used, but the numbers supporting the ratio were altered. From Exhibit 5, we get the total debt of Marriott at the end of 1979. Total debt is defined as the sum of short-term loan, current portion of long-term debt, senior debt and capital leases. The average market price of Marriott in 1979 was $14.9/share, and the interest rate for Baa corporate debt was 12%. It was assumed that Marriott repurchased stock at the price of $15/share using 12% debt financing. Using the net interest before the repurchase, which was $27.8 million, it is concluded that adjusted EBIT was $184.59 million. In 1979, additional debt from the repurchase of stock $159 million, adding this to the debt of the original figures, the new debt is totaled at $583.83 million. Using a 12% interest rate from the new debt and finding the new numbers for the ratio, the new adjusted EBIT-adjusted/net interest ratio is 3.94. This figure hits below Marriott Corporations benchmark of 5. Returning Shareholders’ Capitol A. New Debt Capacity And Repurchasing Shares If the firms stock is in a position to be affected by dilution, repurchasing shares may be a solution. This would allow Marriott Corporation to maintain its ability to make decisions utilizing all the available resources. This was previously one by Marriott in 1979 with the repurchase of 5 million shares. With the new debt capacity ratio at 3.94, a repurchase share alternative is not recommended as Marriott Corporation does not have the excess debt capacity previously thought to carry out this alternative. Performing a secondary scenario analysis, suppose Marriott had just enough debt capacity, which means new adjusted EBIT/Net interest ratio equals 5. Using this number, the repurchase price should be $7.17 so that Marriott Corporation could utilize its debt capacity fully. Using this number, only 10.6 million shares could be purchased resulting in the repurchase of stock alternative not taking place as expected. This would result in investors to believe that Marriott Corporation has hit its growth limit, as the repurchase strategy would not have enough depth to persuade investors through EPS and ROE that Marriott Corporation is still a growing company. It is concluded that repurchasing shares is not the correct alternative, even with a benchmark debt capacity of 5. B. Increasing Dividends While increasing dividends would be a good alternative to satisfy investors, it is not without its repercussions as well. If dividends were to be paid out, a gradual steady increase over many years would be the best alternative, as one lump sum payment does not resolve the debt capacity issue, as well as signify to investors negative signs if Marriot Corporation were to one year pay a high divided and the next decrease that same dividend. Typically, when a firm increases dividends, that level of dividends must be maintained to satisfy shareholders, as well as institutional investors and prospect investors. Another factor to consider when analyzing this alternative, is that although Marriott Corporation has had high growth is recent years, compared to competitors, the stock price, return on equity, as well as earnings per share are low, as seen in Exhibit 11 and Exhibit 12. Although paying dividends in conjunction with a more value creating alternative could be used, solely paying out dividends is not recommended. Promote Growth A. Diversify Through Acquisition Marriott also has the alternative to invest in a new firm. Marriott  Corporation has a competitive advantage that could be passed along if they were to acquire existing companies. This competitive advantage is obtained through their competitive expertise of the industry, as well as proven higher occupancy rate than their competition. The company’s assets are mainly real-estate based which means that they should put a premium on the land that they can get by acquiring a new firm. There is relatively little risk in acquiring another firm as well, because their sales can be seen and analyzed before Marriott Corporation makes an offer. According to Exhibit 10 there is a very high price to be paid for a new hotel. Prices paid for hotels, however, did not rise at all from 1975-1978 and number of offers stayed relatively reasonable. From 1977-1978 acquiring another hotel chain actually became a better deal at several data points. Market price/book value dropped considerably meaning that hotels became a much better value for the amount of assets they had. Market price/cash flow is lower as well, with average return on equity rising as well. One caveat is that buying hotel chains in the market value of $25-$250 million had a much higher tender offer/ market value in 1978 up from 39.64% to 60.05%, while hotel chains over 250 million dropped by almost as much. Although there is a risk involved with buying any company or hotel, hotels which are thoroughly analyzed beforehand could be excellent ways to promote growth in the Marriott Corporation. Hotels that would be purchased would be proven to succeed in their respective locations. B. Accerlerate Expansion of Existing Business Marriot has two options about the operation of hotel chains. First, it can own the hotel and enjoy the profit margin. Second, it can sell the hotel but retain management contracts so it controls the operation of such units. Following is the detailed decomposition of costs associated with two options. According to Exhibit 9, in 1978 the typical cost for a hotel room consists of improvement cost, furniture, fixtures and equipment cost, land cost, pre-opening cost and operating cost. For an owned hotel, Marriot had to pay the total cost for running the property, but if it is managed, Marriot only had operating cost because the buyer was responsible for the maintenance. In an attempt to emphasize more on return on invested capital rather than margins, Marriot sold some of their existing hotels and retained  management contract to free up capital. Managed hotels had operating margin of 8%-10%, while owned had 15%. We assume 10% margin for managed hotels and 15% for owned hotels. To deci de when to sell the property, we analyze the remaining present value of future cash flow of a hotel at different point of time in its life cycle. We further assume that when the hotel is sold, the selling price is set so that present value of future cash flow equals the 10% margin. We assume $50 revenue per room night of a typical 150-room hotel, and one year has 360 days. Sales level for each year in the life cycle connects to the occupancy rate. From the graph in Exhibit 9, we get different occupancy rate for the whole life cycle. It reaches the peak 100% at year 8, and after year 10, it declines almost linearly to 10% in year 30. We can see that if Marriot sells the hotel before opening, the selling price would be $1.63 million at time 0. After the peak, assuming year 9, the selling price would be $ 1.55 million. The max value of PV is at year 4, which has $2.85 million in PV at 15% margin. Marriot Corporation would free up more capital if it sells the hotel before opening, but instead it would lose more operating profit. If Marriot is short of capital, it could sell the hotel up-front so that the freed up capital can be invested in other profitable projects. Selling after the peak is a good choice if Marriot wants to enjoy the increasing operating profit before the peak. Shareholder value can be added if the return on freed-up capital exceeds the profit loss from selling the property. Recommendation After the analysis of the different alternatives, and correctly measuring debt capacity, it is concluded that Marriott Corporation does not return shareholder capital but instead promotes growth of the existing company. This provides benefits in a couple of ways. By promoting growth, Marriott Corporation can signal to investors that the firm is still growing, providing incentives for institutional investors as well as individual investors, resulting in a positive market outlook for Marriott Corporation. Also, with the actual debt capacity measured, it is shown that Marriott Corporation does not have the additional capacity to undertake those alternatives, resulting in even more negatives in the future. By promoting the existing business, Marriott Corporation has more control over their financial prospects, through the possibilities of merging or opening or  building more hotels. This would provide positive NPV for Marriott Corporation, and perhaps in the future when cash flows continue to be positive as well as debt continues to shrink, Marriott Corporation can look into returning shareholders’ capital.

Seven Great Virtues Benjamin Franklin Presentation Essay

Presentation 9/24/12 Essay #6 Jessica Brooks Pd. 2 The essay Citizen Ben: A worldly American’s Seven Great Virtues by Walter Isaacson is an essay begins talking about Benjamin Franklin. When we think of Benjamin Franklin our minds automatically turn to the story about him flying a kite in a lightening storm with a rod on to prove that lightening was electricity. This is one thing that Franklin did but he did many more as well, in fact it says that he was an inventor diplomat, writer and business strategist. He helped bring the country that we live in today about. There are many views on him that show him in a good light and some that show him in a bad light. There are some that saw that he was shallow and didn’t show great†¦show more content†¦Franklin saw that using humor was the best way to make political points. He also saw that â€Å"America would always be strongest when it was confident enough and self-aware enough, to laugh at itself.† In this essay it also talked about Franklins views on humility and how he found humility to be very useful throughout his life. He believes that one can never have too much humility because if you have too much than that can cause you to be proud of the humility you have and will cause you to start all over in your need to be more humble. I believe that this is true. Having humility can help in all aspects of life, if you aren’t going on about your own accomplishments in life and let the person you are talking to tell you all about their accomplishments it will make them feel like you are a great friend and in turn will want to do more for you. Franklin used this tactic when he wanted to launch the first subscription lending library in America. 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This is a good time to be reading a book about project management. Business leaders and experts have proclaimed that project management is a strategic imperativeRead MoreInstructor’s Manual Fundamentals of Financial Management60779 Words   |  244 Pagesthrough your Prentice Hall sales representative. In addition, Professor Kuhlemeyer has done a wonderful job in preparing an extensive collection of Microsoft PowerPoint slides as outlines (with examples) to go along with the text. The PowerPoint presentation graphics are available for downloading through the following Pearson Education Website: http://www.booksites.net/wachowicz All text figures and tables are available as transparency masters through the same web site listed above. Finally, computer

The Night and Fugitive Two Impressive Books - 1266 Words

At the beginning of 19th century, the form of anti-Semitism becomes more serious. Germanys seems to isolate and eliminate Jews. When the Nazi Party, led by Adolf Hitler, comes to power in Germany in 1933, it wants to set up the Perfect Nazi state. The Nazi wants to stamp out any opposition to their rule, so they set up a system of camps, for instance, concentration camps, death camps for holding people that they see as â€Å"undesirable†. Lots of those â€Å"undesirable† people are Jews. From 1933 to 1945, about six million Jews are murdered and it is called the Holocaust. The Holocaust is the greatest single case of mass murder in history and is difficult to ignore. After World War II, survivors of the Holocaust tell their†¦show more content†¦Faith is the strongest support. Life is full of ups and down, people cannot change the world but they can, hold onto their faith to be able to go through the bad times. As a young boy Elie is a devout Jew and only lives with God. He is taught that God is everywhere in the world, that nothing exists without God. After Elie experiences how Jews are exterminate inhumanly by Nazis, he losses confidence of God. â€Å"Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke†¦Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never† (Wiesel 34). This famous quote reflects that Elie’s faith is destroyed. He wants to know why the merciful God could just stand beside to look those horrible behaviors to his people. But soon he returns back to his faith. â€Å"Behind me, I heard the same man asking: Where is God now? And I heard a voice within me answer him: ... Here He is—He is hanging here on this gallows† (Wiesel 65). W hen his sick and would die in any moment, Elie prays to God. God always stays inside Elie’s heart and she forces him to go forward, to sweep a road through the thistles and thorns. In addition, religion gathers people together. Elie comes from a deeply religious JewishShow MoreRelated Survive by Love, Faith and Will1719 Words   |  7 PagesWiesel, a Noble Peace Prize winner in 1986 who wrote the novel Night based on his experience as a Holocaust survivor. Night is the record of Elie Wiesel’s memories of the Holocaust. This work of literature is about his experience with his father, Chlomo, in the Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald between 1944 and 1945. Another book that effectively describes the theme of the Holocaust by Canadian poet Anne Michaels is Fugitive Pieces, for which she received many prizes such as, OrangeRead MoreGood Night And Good Luck And Badlands Compare And Contrast970 Words   |  4 Pages Good Night and Good Luck, and Badlands are two very unique movies. Both poses very interesting narratives, with underlying messages and symbolism. But, what makes them stand out the most, is their artistic and technically driven visuals. One is full of beautiful and romanticized colors. The other uses black and white to portray depth and struggle. Two vastly different approaches, but equally powerful in their own ways. Good Night and Good Luck and Badlands, both use their visual ascetics to motivateRead MoreThe Civil War And Abolition Of Slavery2509 Words   |  11 Pagesammunition, artillery harnesses, and carts to carry ammunition. Little did Lee know that Confederate thieves would steal all the food meant for the 30,000 Confederate soldiers. Just their luck, they would go through another sleepless, starving, cold night. All he could do now was keep moving forward till he reached a town with food for his troops. Which happened to be Farmville, just 19 miles away from Amelia Court House. As Lee finds a way to feed his troops and get to the Carolinas, it is Grant sRead MoreThe Shawshank Redemption Essays3087 Words   |  13 Pages century and based on, professional horror author, Stephen King’s 1982 novella Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, features golden cinematography from Roger Deakins, a touching score from Thomas Newman and is filled with impressive acting, especially from Morgan Freeman (Red). However, possibly the most imposing character in the film, is the oppressive Shawshank State Prison itself, which looms in every scene. The Shawshank Redemption builds considerable impactRead MoreEssay on The Odyssey21353 Words   |  86 Pagesthe narrative includes many places - Olympus, Ithaca, Pylos, Pherae, Sparta, Ogygia, and Scheria. In Books 9-12, Odysseus narrates the story of his travels in the years after the fall of Troy, and this narrative includes other far-flung places, such as the island of the Cyclops. The main action of the poem takes place in Ithaca, after a disguised Odysseus reaches there in Book 13. In Books 13 to 24, Odysseus is slowly reunited with his family and takes revenge on the suitors that have beenRead MoreA Picatrix Miscellany52019 Words   |  209 Pagesthe Fashioning of Images† VI. The Picatrix: Lunar Mansions in Western Astrology VII. W. B. Yeats and â€Å"A Vision:† The Arab Mansions of the Moon On Ritual and Talismans Picatrix Astrological Magic Aphorisms Extracts on Planetary Ritual Clothing Twenty Two Benefic Astrological Talismans Astrology, Magical Talismans and the Mansions of the Moon Ritual of Jupiter An Astrological Election of Mercury in the First Face of Virgo for Wealth and Growth XIV. Invocation of Mercury On the Decans and Tarot XV. XVIRead MoreShort Story11492 Words   |  46 Pagesout was a business card with an address on it. Joel was sure he could even see a smile begin to break out upon the stony face of Jack as he handed the card to him. â€Å"Seven thirty tonight, dont be late. Mr Davi doesnt tolerate lateness.† Scene Two Unhappy Hour It was approaching dusk and business had returned to its usual dire self at OBriens Irish Fun Bar. Yesterdays events now seemed like a distant and surreal dream. 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The Outsiders Essay - 1418 Words

The Outsiders Essay – Describe an interesting theme from a text you have studied. Explain why this theme is interesting. In the novel â€Å"The Outsiders† by S.E Hinton an important theme is family and friendship. This theme is interesting because it shows us how when you’re family you come together to look after each other no matter what. The theme of friendship is also interesting because when your friends you support each other through everything and anything no matter what the consequences are. In â€Å"The Outsiders† the theme of friendship is also a main interest because despite peoples differences they can come together through a common interest or factor, which is what happens in â€Å"The Outsiders†. The Curtis boys have no parents as†¦show more content†¦The theme of family is interesting in â€Å"The Outsiders† because it shows us that family cares about each other can a family will do anything too keep it together even if that means having massive consequences and that family is forever and will always support you no matter what the circumstances are. The Greasers go to extreme lengths to help and protect their friends. When Johnny killed Bob to save Pony-Boys life it was an instinct that Johnny had. He said â€Å"They were drowning you pony, I had no choice.† Johnny saw that his friend was in trouble so on instinct his priority was to save Pony-Boy which meant killing Bob, but he did it anyway to save Pony’s life. This shows us that Johnny cares so much about Pony-Boy that he would do anything to save him even if it meant murdering someone and possibly going to jail. When Pony, Johnny and Dally went back to the church and saw that there was a fire Pony felt responsible so he went to rescue the kids then Johnny went after Pony-Boy when Pony-Boy was out and was waiting for Johnny to come out the church the roof collapsed on him and Dally went in to save Johnny even though it meant risking his life. Both of these examples show the theme of friendship. This theme was important because friends will do anything to help each other and be there for each other, and tell each other everything and anything. Friends will always be there to the end. S.E Hinton wasShow MoreRelatedOutsiders The Outsider Essay1005 Words   |  5 Pages How does it feel to be an outsider? You might not know how it feels, but Ponyboy does for sure. S.E. Hinton writes The Outsiders. The Outsiders takes place in the mid 1960’s in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In The Outsiders, the theme of the story is to not judge people based on their appearance. 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Determinants and Policy Implications

Question: Discuss about the Determinants and Policy Implications. Answer: Introduction A supermarket is a huge form of self-served shop providing diverse varieties of household commodities including food, medicines, clothes etc. The difficulty of certain factors across the food industry and its magnitude of competition lead to the insight that the link between farm and retail prices is meaningless. So between the local farming retailers these supermarket giants must co-exist to create greater diversity and allow a fair amount of competition. The Australian supermarket industry is essentially dominated by certain entities like Coles, Woolworths and ALDI with around 1000 supermarkets and other malls and retail outlets. Over few decades, though the development of the Australian agricultural sector is largely led by the supermarket industry, at the same time, one must always keep in mind that there has to exist some level of protection which would allow the operation of small agricultural businesses unaffected. This will inject competition in the agriculture market. They are diverse entities. Woolworths owns a conglomerate of retail businesses across general discount retail, groceries, electronics, hardware, liquor and hospitality. Coles also operates in the same businesses and extends in insurance products, industrial safety, coal mining, chemical and fertilizer operations. There has been substantial contribution of Coles and Woolworths on the Australian economy via huge employment and other opportunities that facilitate local farmers by providing broader access to end-customers. Australian customers have also gained substantial benefits from the growth of Coles and Woolworths because bigger range of products is accessible to them at affordable prices now. This is mainly due to large size of their operations that helps them to negotiate with manufacturers a substantial amount of production at low cost. In spite of all these advantages it is observed that the rising operation of these entities in the retail sector has resulted in some drastic negative externalities. Findings There exist immense competition between Coles and Woolworths has bipolar effects. It lowers the prices charged on consumers and promotes innovation of their product base. On the other hand, forces the suppliers to find efficient techniques of production. But it is observed that the highest-growing products in Australian grocery sector are cigarettes, pharmaceutical commodities, nicotine and certain stimulants like caffeine (IRI-Aztec research report 2014). This reflects the fact why Australians are having growing obesity and declining health due to bad non-nutritious diet. Market power means a disproportionate effect on the terms of trade. As the market share of retailers increases, their participation becomes gradually important in market supply. This comprises of expansion in manufacture, distribution etc. Both Coles and Woolworths are expanding their duopoly throughout the country. This is pressurizing smaller businesses in rural areas as they are not capable to compete with these giants. Hence there is a loss of income and employment of the family-owned businesses. In order to avoid competition, both these entities are practicing Bargain-price marketing by decreasing the prices of commodities substantially lower than the ongoing market rate. This increases their sales enormously at the expense of the livelihood of numerous small farmers. This is mainly because the favorable effects that farmers experience from larger market exposure, may not be enough to generate their expenses and re-investment in their businesses. In the long run, if the cost of advertisements of these entities increases then it may threaten complete non existence of small farming class in the agricultural sector. The Australian agri-businesses are already facing the problems of high debt levels and climate change. In addition to it, the strategies of Coles and Woolworths on the food market is imposing drastic effects on small farmers, as they realize enormous reduction in margin of profit. Lowering cost and typical manufacture demands from Coles and Woolworths, force farmers to decrease their prices. In order to survive in this market, the farmers will install economies of scale to decrease cost of production. This gives rise to centralization of food production which in turn diminishes bio-diversity among cultivated crops. This further leads to loss of food quality, water stresses, diseases etc. This makes the food supply highly prone to environmental shocks. Distributional network of supermarkets also imposes risks on the economy. Concentration of stock in certain warehouses is prone to security risks. It may also result in lack of fresh and nutritious food supply in the rural areas. All these things create an unstable food supply with increased vulnerable to price and supply shocks. Both Coles and Woolworths are using celebrity chefs to broadcast their slogan of fresh and local food to consumers which in turn increases their costs. But this cost burden is passed mostly to the cultivators thus decreasing their farm gate profits. The significant importance of Coles and Woolworths in consumer accessibility is forcing the domestic suppliers to produce some ideal commodity which matches their specifications and standards. This pressurizes them to use capital-intensive production technology. When these commodities fail to meet the particulars stated by Coles and Woolworths, it leads to substantial amount of food wastage due to its perishable nature. Predominant continuation of this process may drastically affect the economies food security in the future (Food Waste in Australia - Future Directions International, 2012). Coles and Woolworths are increasing their range of Home-brand items (RSPCA-approved chicken and eggs products), produced joint venture with certain manufacturers. Huge amount of these products are produced and sold at cheap rates. As these goods are cheaper than branded merchandise, it is making extremely critical for independent brands to obtain market exposure and compete with these home brands. These privately-labeled goods have also decreased the product range offered by the conglomerates (Deloitte Research Report, 2013). The trend in standardization is moving towards banning food supply from certain farming systems (Victorian Farmers Federation). The Australian Farm Institute argued that these strategies will kill the Australian productivity and will incur new costs in the society. All these practices actually restrict the capability of small domestic farmers to make their decisions diverse and diminish the competitiveness in the domestic food market. Recommendations In order to enrich the survival of small businesses where these imperfect market conditions, the government should step in. The courts should be assigned the power to enforce divestiture in required fields. At the same time there must be prevention of the influence of bureaucrats over the industry for bribes. This requires strict financial audits by the government. The small independent farmers should be empowered and protected financially such that market control is more evenly allocated, so that local farmers gets more space to access consumers. Though privatization is an easy ladder to technological growth and commercializing higher proportion of output and input gives higher returns but all these favours the large supermarket entities at the expense of the small farmers. It is evident that investment on agricultural research and development has given immense returns all over the world. Therefore these small farmers require more space to compete with the large players in terms of input, irrigation, technology, finance and marketing. So the Australian government authorities should emphasize more on the construction of rural roads knowledge generation and other infrastructure because sustainable agriculture growth and food security in Australia depends on the performance of small and marginal farmers. Contract farming is a crucial proponent that would help marginal cultivators to overpower the problems of finance, marketing and inputs. The agricultural sector being the most trade-exposed component of the Australian economy should be protected from currency fluctuations and volatile prices. To hedge the risks of climatic change and low soil fertility, the agricultural lands should be well irrigated. The government should launch various competition policies that would keep up the competitive nature of the market. The models of self help groups and co-operative societies can also be used as promising tools to help the marginal farmers. The gap between the consumers prices can also reduced through these processes. Conclusion Market power is the main concern in Australian domestic food market. Intense duopoly power of Coles and Woolworths possess tremendous challenges to small local farmers, which forces them to struggle hard to exist among these giant entities. Due to the persistence of deflation and higher demand for production makes the small food businesses non-sustainable and possess potential threat to domestic food security. Though in the short run, these market conditions benefits consumers but in the long run the situation may differ. Government should take actions to ensure that retail market does not crash the market power balance between the economic agents of the food chain. If the growth of these giant retailers is unrestrained, then it may destabilize the food sector and damage the food security of Australia. However, it should also see that the interests of the shareholders of these companies are also served because they are the employers to more than 400000 people in Australia. Thus the government should optimize its priorities over both the dimensions by preventing price wars in the economy and expanding the economic pie simultaneously. But in recent time we see that ALDIs growth in enormously increasing. This is even a bigger threat to the Australian economy because in either way it will offer no positive impact on the domestic farmers. This is because ALDI being a foreign (German) brand will promote its own domestic products in the market. This will lead to huge flow of profit from the Australian economy thus drastically effecting potential to invest in the future. The domestic investment will wither away and imported commodities will thrive in the market. References Ali J., Singh S.P. Ekanem E. 2009, Efficiency and productivity changes in the Indian food processing industry: Determinants and policy implications, International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, vol. 12, pp. 43-66. Chakravarty K., Sridhar V., Bhardwaj P. Bhattacharjee N., 2007, Rural Retailing The next phase in retailing, confederation of Indian industry, YES Bank, New Delhi. Farhoomand A. Choupal E., 2008, Corporate Social Responsibility: Case HKU 765, University of Hong Kong, Asia Research centre, Hong Kong. Gorton M., Sauer J. Supatpongkul P., 2009, Investigating Thai shopping behavior: Wet markets, supermarkets and the Big Middle, International Association of Agricultural Economists Conference, Beijing, August 16-22, 2009. Kearney A.T., 2010, Expanding Opportunities for Global Retailers: The 2010 A.T. Kearney Global Retail Development Index Report, A.T. Kearney, Vienna, VA. Mergenthaler M., Weinberger K. Qaim M., 2009, The food system transformation in developing countries: A disaggregate demand analysis for fruits and vegetables in Vietnam Food Policy, vol. 34, pp 426436. Minten B., Reardon T. Sutradhar R., 2010, Food prices and modern retail: The case of Delhi, World Development, vol. 38, pp 17751787. Moustier P., Phan T.G.T., Dao T.A., Vu T.B. Nguyen T.T.L., 2010, The role of farmer organizations in supplying supermarkets with quality food in Vietnam Food Policy, vol. 35, pp 6978. Reardon T., Henson S. Gulati A., 2010, Links between supermarkets and food prices, diet diversity and food safety in developing countries. Trade, Food, Diet and Health: Perspectives and Policy Options, eds Hawkes C., Blouin C., Henson S., Drager N. Dub L., WileyBlackwell, Hoboken, NJ, pp. 111130. Schipmann C. Qaim M., 2010, Spillovers from modern supply chains to traditional markets: Product innovation and adoption by smallholders, Agricultural Economics 41, pp 361371. Singh S., 2009, Spencers Retail - Inclusive Value Chains in India-Linking the Smallest Producers to Modern Markets, Harper M. World Scientific, Singapore, pp. 7688. Reardon T. Timmer C.P., 2007, The supermarket revolution with Asian characteristics. Reasserting the Rural Development Agenda: Lessons Learned and Emerging Challenges in Asia, eds Balisacan A.M. and Fuwa N., Institute of South-east Asian Studies and South-east Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, Singapore. Reardon T. Gulati A., 2008, The Rise of Supermarkets and their Development Implications: International Experience Relevant for India, IFPRI Discussion Paper 00752, International Food Policy Research Institute, New Delhi, India.