Low Income Students Barriers Free Essays

RANIA ZOUHAIR SOC 101 Children living in poverty have many home and community factors that Contribute to performing below their potential in literacy achievement. This background Knowledge and experience of low-income students begins a literacy â€Å"achievement gap† That compares their literacy knowledge to that of children who do not live in poverty. Understanding social class diversity enhances the learning of all students. We will write a custom essay sample on Low Income Students Barriers or any similar topic only for you Order Now And Class differences in child-rearing practices may sound alarming or oversimplified. Lower-class children are more likely to have unstable family situations. Their parents typically have low-wage jobs and are more frequently laid off, causing family stress and more arbitrary discipline. This paper explains how language and attitudes of low income families act as barriers to success in education. And what types of programs or interventions are most useful in overcoming those barriers. The environment where a child develops has influences on language development. Success at school depends very heavily on language for reading, writing, speaking and understanding. The children exposed to extensive vocabulary and complex grammatical structures more quickly develop language and also have a more accurate syntax than children raised in environments without complex grammar exposed to them. Low income household uses informal, simple language, sometimes ungrammatical and with limited explanation and vocabulary which is used between friends or family member. Unlike middle class household who uses formal language, when explanation and details are required and they uses a wider vocabulary They often have had fewer words spoken to them, with shorter utterances. They hear only the most commonly occurring words. By age 5, the child of a parent who is language focused has heard 50,000,000 words spoken as opposed to the child of a parent who is not language focused. That child has only heard10,000,000 words (Hart and Risley, 1995). At the same time, the fact that poor children are geographically concentrated in neighborhoods that are segregated by race and social class presents special challenges for education policy, given that children have traditionally attended neighborhood schools. Another enormous factor that affects low income student achievement is their parent’s attitude towards education. ow income parents do not value education in the same way, that middle class parents do, and their children are more likely to drop out of school early low income parents are more likely to work long hours, so it is difficult for them to visit schools, and they might also see education as of less importance because they might have found their o wn education had little relevance to their jobs. That’s why some low income students are less motivated in school and thus they have lower level of achievement Contrary to Middle class people who highly value education, and begin promoting its value to their children at a very young age. For instance, middle class people will generally teach their child to read before reaching school age. As the child progresses through school the parents will promote education to their child by encouraging reading, homework and extra-curricular activities. The effort put forth by parents has a bigger impact on their children’s educational achievement than the effort expended by either teachers or the students themselves. The content of parents’ conversations with kids matters too. While the conversations parents have with their children change as kids grow older, the effect of these exchanges on academic achievement remains strong. The â€Å"No Child Left Behind† Educational law Act of 2001 (2002) was created as a means for, student learning to close the achievement gap between low income and middle-income students, and to make sure that all students become academically proficient in their grade level. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) has stringent accountability measures and includes the Reading First initiative, which focuses on five areas of literacy for beginning readers: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Reading is fundamental to this legislation Among the programs that were set to overcome the low income student’s achievement gap, and to enforce the â€Å"No child left Behind† law, we quote the KIPP schools and the ACE program The KIPP schools the Knowledge Is Power Program, is a national network of free, open-enrollment, college-preparatory public charter schools designed for low income families, with a track record of preparing students in underserved communities for success in college and in life. They build a partnership among parents, students, and teachers that puts learning first. By providing outstanding educators, more time in school learning, and a strong culture of achievement. , KIPP is helping all students climb the mountain to and through college. The Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP). chools seek to actively engage students and parents in the educational process expand the time and effort students devote to their studies, reinforce students’ social competencies and positive behaviors, and dramatically improve their academic achievement Students in KIPP schools spend more time on learning, both in academics and extracurricular activities, each day, week, and year to improve their skills, and to decrease the achievement gap between low income students and middle class student. The KIPP schools tend to prove that low income students can also succeed since they got the attention and care they need. There is no arguing that making transition to college can be challenging for many students. The ACE program has proven to help participants face problem during the first semester The ACE program (achieving a college education) is a nationally recognized program that targets students who may not consider going to college and attaining a baccalaureate degree to be an achievable goal. Upon graduation from high school an ACE student may earn up to 24 transferable college credits The ACE Program Is designed to help students make a smooth transition from high school through the community colleges on to a university and completion of a bachelor’s degree. Recruits high school students in their sophomore year to participate in the program in their high school junior and senior years Ace students are enrolled in concurrent college courses as high school juniors and seniors Students attend college classes during the summer and on Saturdays during the fall and spring semesters Students can earn up to 24 college credits by the time they graduate from high school. The ACE program tends to first, to increase the number of students graduating from high school, second, to increase the number of students continuing on to college, and third to increase the number of students earning a degree or certificate. .Poverty impacts child development. Families have little income; are not able to afford many educational and school activities, which are vital to the development of the children’s learning skill. In addition the influence of the home environment and school environment on a child’s performance is pronounced. Family characteristics predict early reading skills, and Low-income students often have home environments with material hardships and resource-related disadvantages that affect their family dynamics. Children from low to income households are at a disadvantage. They are twice as likely to be held back and more likely not to graduate from high school. How to cite Low Income Students Barriers, Essays

Inseparability of Productive and Counterproductive †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Inseparability of Productive and Counterproductive. Answer: Introduction The report helps in understanding and analysing the problem of the employee theft in the entire hotel industry. The discussion is required to be done on analysing the problem of employee theft in different departments of the hospitality industry. The different kind of underlying motivations has to be analysed that helps the employees in indulging in such activities along with the types of employee theft in the hotels. The main aim and purpose of the report is to identify the different kind of best practices by the different international hotels as to prevent the employee theft. The recommendations have to be provided in an effectual manner as this will help in managing the employee theft effectually. The structure of the report includes the analysis of the employee theft in the hotel industry as this will help in understanding the issues and solve them in an effectual manner as well. The different recommendations are required to be analysed as this will help in solving such employee theft effectively. Employee theft is one of the age-old problem in the entire hospitality industry that has caused different kind of nuisances as well. The employee theft is the stealing of the use or the misuse of the assets of the employers without any kind of legal or formal permission. Money is one the common kind of assets that are stolen from the different kind of employers in the hotels in all over the world. As per the United States Chamber of Commerce, more than 75% of the employees steal different kind of essential materials from the workplace and they do and perform it repeatedly. The business of the entire hotel industry loses billion of dollars every year in the employee theft and there are different kind of hotels wherein there are numerous opportunities for the theft by employees from the different guests and house as well. There are different kind of reasons wherein the employee chooses to steal from the employers in the hotels. Causes of Employee Theft Employee Theft is becoming a huge issue in the different sectors of the hospitality industry. There are numerous reasons wherein the employee theft can take place and this can create huge issues for the hotels as well. however, the reasons for the employee theft has to be known wherein the hotels can take extra security measures as this will help in ensuring that the hotels need to take extra measures as to reduce the issues related to employee theft in the following manner: Lack of the internal control is one of the causes of employee theft wherein there is absence of the strong leadership skills (Lorinkova Perry, 2017). It has been determined by the study that has been performed by Association of Certified Fraud Examiners in the year 2010. The study of the Global Fraud has helped in understanding that more than 47% of the employees has been prosecuted under the employee theft cases in different hotels (Bhatti et al., 2015). The other common cause of the employee theft is the opportunity wherein it can be due to having different kind of businesses with high chance of theft or it can be either a situation wherein stealing may take a little effort. There are few kinds of businesses that runs high risk of giving the opportunity of the theft to the employees. There are few businesses wherein the theft has been huge in nature, however there are little security wherein the employees handle the different cash flows of the restaurants along with other departments of the hotel industry as well. However, there are other kind of areas of opportunity that exist when the different employees are under proper impression that the employer does not pay any kind of attention towards the practices of accounting and bookkeeping. These are the cases wherein the employees get the opportunity wherein the employee can perform the theft of the different books of the accounts. The employee theft can occur in different kind of departments in the various hotels as the employee can perform such illegal activities mainly in the marketing, financial or human resource department. The financial kind of activities that are performed by the employees are related to handling different kind of transactions wherein they can misuse the same and enjoy their personal preferences as well. However, the employers provide such kind of flexibility in the departments in the hotel as for performing the different kind of business related activities in an effectual manner. Different Motives behind Employee Theft There are different kind of employee motives behind the theft in the hotel wherein there are different kind of stealing from the employer in different kind of hotels (Soomro, Shah Ahmed, 2016). The variety of the motives can lead to the employee who are stealing from the different employers in various hotels. There are few common motives that include being addicted to alcohol or the drugs, overwhelmed financially along with addicted to gambling as well. There are different kind of instances wherein the employee suffers financially and they decide to steal from the employer in the hotel industry as well (O'Brien et al., 2017). Regardless of the different kind of instances, there are different kind of instances wherein the employees are entitled in their lives as they feel they are not getting the required promotion or the incentives that are required to be gained by them. These are the consequences wherein they feel and they are entitled towards stealing practices from their respective employers in the hotels. There are different kind of reasons wherein the employees choose to steal from their employers that may or may not be pre-mediated. For instance- There are different instances in the hotel industry wherein when the employees handle the cash department, the employees can transfer the money from register of cash into the pockets when they handle sales such as petty cash boxes and then keep the difference at sale point. The other instances of the employee theft are wherein there is loss of the inventory and the theft can take place in the distribution process of the merchandise. The employees can take different items from different warehouses and this causes huge losses in the entire market as well. Sabotage is one of the employee theft that takes place in the entire hotel industry wherein it can take different forms depending on the kind of business. In the hospitality industry, the employees try to harm the entire business of the employer rather than stealing cash as the form of the revenge (Marasi, Bennett Budden, 2018). The usual causes of the sabotage of employees include the different attempt that disrupts the company operations and damage the reputation of the company. The employees perform sabotage when they feel that the employee has done wrong with them and they want to take revenge against the employers (Hollenbeck Jamieson, 2015) The misuse of the different kind of assets in the hotels wherein this is different from embezzlement, wherein the different employees are provided with the full right to use the different resources for the office related activities. In such cases, the misuse of the different office assets is the different kind of misuse for assets for their personal usage. The employer of the hotels need to create boundaries for the different employees for using the assets for their personal usage (Tomlinson, 2016). Types of employee theft in Hotel Industry There are different kind of employee thefts that takes place in entire hospitality industry that includes the following: Intentional vs. Unintentional Employee theft is one of the kind of employee theft wherein in the intentional kind of employee theft the employees intentionally perform such illegal theft activities and practices in their workplace. The intentional kind of employee theft is done by different kind of employees in the hotels wherein they steal different kind of cash or merchandising items from their hotel in different departments (Jurkiewicz Giacalone, 2016). This kind of intentional theft is illegal in nature and this can cause huge loss to the business and this will cause issues for the employees as well as the employer of the company can take legal actions against the employees On the other hand, the unintentional kind of theft in the hotel industry takes place when the employee theft is performed in the hotel against the property of the employers without any kind of purpose or motive (Jurkiewicz Giacalone, 2016). The unintentional kind of employee theft can be ignored and it can be prevented in an easy manner by the employer of the hotel by providing training to the employees and making them understand that these are the different kind of illegal activities that has to be reduced in an effectual manner by the employees. The employees are needed to understand that such kind of activities will is illegal and these can lead to legal actions against them as well. Tangible and intangible kind of employee theft are the other kind of employee theft that can take place in the different hotels. The tangible kind of employee theft in the hotel industry includes the different activities that are performed by employees by physically removing an item from the company (Goh Kong, 2016). There can be different kind of instances wherein the employee in a company can be dismissed from the office due to wrongful dismissal and unfair dismissal as well. However, on the other hand, there can be intangible kind of thefts that includes the transfer of the different financial transactions in an electronic manner (Larkin Pierce, 2015). These are the different kind of employee thefts wherein there can be different kind of issues that can be faced by the company along with the employer of the respective company. The employee thefts have to be reduced by the hotels with the help of the employers as to reduce the employee theft in an effectual manner (Harvey et al., 2014). The tangible kind of employee theft can cause to wrongful dismissal and unfair dismissal of the employees from the different kind of hotels. In order to understand such areas, this will help in understanding the different kind of techniques and steps that will help in reducing such practices as to save the business of the entire hotel effectually. Best Practices adopted by International Hotels to prevent employee theft There are different kind of precautionary measures taken by the different international hotels as to prevent the employee theft. The employee theft can cause huge kind of issues and problems for the entire company along with the employer (Moorthy et al., 2015). The employer can be facing huge amount of losses due to the theft performed by the trustworthy employees. However, on the other hand the employees can be punished legally for performing such illegal activities. The different kind of best practices adopted by International Hotels as to prevent the employee theft are as follows: Proper employee screening is essential in nature in the hotel industry as this will help the hotel industry to hire trustworthy employees and not hire a thief (Bowie, 2017). Proper employee screening will help the employer of the hotel to understand and analyse the criminal records of the company and this will help the company in hiring proper employees for performing tasks in the company as well (Rupp et al., 2017). proper background of the employees has to be checked in such a manner that this will help the employees in the hotel to get their jobs effectively (Willison, Warkentin Johnston, 2018) The employees have to be known by the employer of the company in a proper and accurate manner and if there is anything that is not apparent in nature, the employers need to perform reference checks and understand the motives of the employees as well. the proper supervision of the employees is required to be done by the company in an effectual manner. The employer needs to keep a proper check on the different performance of the employees as this will help in controlling the purchase orders and control the cash receipts at regular intervals as well. Installation of the computer security measures is the other preventive measure that can be adopted by the company wherein this will help in track the business checks and this will help in being beware of the different kind of accounts receivable as well. Proper ways have to be provided in an effectual manner that will help the employer in solving such issues and handle the issues effectively as well Proper management of the inventory system and use the systems of security is essential in nature wherein the company can understand the different motives of the company and this will help the company in avoid such issues effectively as well. when the employer will suspect any kind of issue, this will help the company in handling the issues and solve it effectively (Kennedy Benson, 2016) Practical Recommendations to manage employee theft effectively Therefore, it can be recommended that there are different kind of steps that can be taken by the employer of the hotel as to reduce such issues in the entire hotel industry. The employer needs to understand the different kind of motives of the employees in the entire organization as this will help the hotels in managing the tasks effectively. The company needs to adopt the following strategies that will help them in overcoming such issues and handle them in an effectual and accurate manner that can reduce such issues: The hotels need to adopt proper screening of the different activities performed by the employees as this will help in understanding their real motives and judge them accordingly as well Proper tracking of the business check is essential in nature as this will help the employer of the hotel to understand the different security measures adopted by them to handle such illegal practices and reduce them overall Proper usage of the informal audits is essential in nature in the organizations as this will help the employers to understand the motives of the employees and sudden audit checks will help the company to understand the issues faced by them and reduce them with dismissing such employees who perform illegal activities Conclusion Therefore, it can be concluded that employee theft is one the crucial issues in the entire hospitality industry that has caused huge issues in the organizations. The issues have been analysed and solved with proper implementation of strategies as well. the kind of employee thefts has been described wherein the different recommendations has been suggested that can help the organizations to reduce such issues with proper implementation of different kind of strategies as well. References Bhatti, O. K., Alkahtani, A., Hassan, A., Sulaiman, M. (2015). The relationship between Islamic piety (taqwa) and workplace deviance with organizational justice as a moderator.International Journal of Business and Management,10(4), 136. Bowie, N. E. (2017).Business ethics: A Kantian perspective. Cambridge University Press. Goh, E., Kong, S. (2016). Theft in the hotel workplace: Exploring frontline employees perceptions towards hotel employee theft.Tourism and Hospitality Research, 1467358416683770. Harvey, P., Madison, K., Martinko, M., Crook, T. R., Crook, T. A. (2014). Attribution theory in the organizational sciences: The road traveled and the path ahead.The Academy of Management Perspectives,28(2), 128-146. Hollenbeck, J. R., Jamieson, B. B. (2015). Human capital, social capital, and social network analysis: Implications for strategic human resource management.The Academy of Management Perspectives,29(3), 370-385. Jurkiewicz, C. L., Giacalone, R. A. (2016). Organizational determinants of ethical dysfunctionality.Journal of business ethics,136(1), 1-12. Kennedy, J. P., Benson, M. L. (2016). Emotional reactions to employee theft and the managerial dilemmas small business owners face.Criminal Justice Review,41(3), 257-277. Larkin, I., Pierce, L. (2015). Compensation and employee misconduct: the inseparability of productive and counterproductive behavior in firms.Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK, 1-27. Lorinkova, N. M., Perry, S. J. (2017). When is empowerment effective? The role of leader-leader exchange in empowering leadership, cynicism, and time theft.Journal of Management,43(5), 1631-1654. Marasi, S., Bennett, R. J., Budden, H. (2018). The Structure of an Organization: Does It Influence Workplace Deviance and Its' Dimensions? And to What Extent?. Journal of Managerial Issues, 30(1). Moorthy, M. K., Seetharaman, A., Jaffar, N., Foong, Y. P. (2015). Employee perceptions of workplace theft behavior: A study among supermarket retail employees in Malaysia.Ethics Behavior,25(1), 61-85. O'Brien, K. E., Minjock, R. M., Colarelli, S. M., Yang, C. (2017). Kinship ties and employee theft perceptions in family-owned businesses.European Management Journal. Rupp, D. E., Shapiro, D. L., Folger, R., Skarlicki, D. P., Shao, R. (2017). A critical analysis of the conceptualization and measurement of organizational justice: Is it time for reassessment?.Academy of Management Annals,11(2), 919-959. Soomro, Z. A., Shah, M. H., Ahmed, J. (2016). Information security management needs more holistic approach: A literature review.International Journal of Information Management,36(2), 215-225. Tomlinson, E. C. (2016). The role of trust in employee theft. InCrime and Corruption in Organizations(pp. 141-162). Routledge. Willison, R., Warkentin, M., Johnston, A. C. (2018). Examining employee computer abuse intentions: Insights from justice, deterrence and neutralization perspectives.Information Systems Journal,28(2), 266-293.

The Probability for Libya to Become a Democracy

During several decades, the countries in North Africa are characterized by the prolonged transformations in relation to maintaining the democratic principles in the political and social spheres within the territories. The orientation to democracy is typical for a lot of countries around the world, but the situation in the Maghreb region is more controversial than within the other territories.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Probability for Libya to Become a Democracy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Civil wars in the countries of North Africa resulted in the necessity to change the developed political regimes. The discussion of the contemporary situation in Libya can be referred to the arguments presented in the article by John Barger in which the researcher concentrates on predicting the possibilities to build the democratic society in Libya after ceasing the rule of Qadhafi. In spite of the fact the situati on of ceasing Qadhafi’s rule provides the political opposition with a lot of opportunities to change the regime in relation to the democratic basics, there are more limits for the process than advantages because of the impossibility to overcome the social and political apathy and consequences of the previous rule immediately. Democracy in Libya could not be reached during a long period of time because of the peculiarities of Qadhafi’s regime known as Jamahiriyya. However, today the situation is changed. What obstacles can prevent the political activists from using the opportunities and building a democracy in the country? According to Barger, the process of democratization can be realized with the help of different organs of civil society used to guarantee the concentration on the people’s rights (Barger 64). These organs can be established only as a result of forming definite political parties as the symbol of the democratic society. From this point, the exiled opposition to Qadhafi can be discussed as the effective force, but the realization of the idea also depends on a lot of particular limiting features. Moreover, Barger focuses on the definite apathy and passivity of the exiled opposition forces in spite of the possibility to establish certain organizations oriented to democracy. Thus, these organizations often showed a high degree of â€Å"apathy even for the minor roles allowed them by the Libyan state.Advertising Looking for essay on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More After three decades of institutionalized passivity, it is questionable that interest groups will be capable of assuming politically active – or at least effective – roles† (Barger 66). That is why, it is possible to state that in the situation of receiving the opportunity to build a democracy, Libyan political activists can be rather helpless to mobilize their forces and establish the effective political system based on the democratic principles. However, the new approaches to the Libyan politics can be used by the Islamists who can establish the alternative regime. Barger accentuates that â€Å"any successful future political settlement in Libya will have to include the Islamists who †¦ have demonstrated their ability to disrupt any political order of which they do not approve† (Barger 71). Nevertheless, the Libyan political system requires significant transformations, and there are no opposition forces which are sufficient enough to complete the transformations in short terms. The contemporary situation in Libya and the analysis of John Barger’s arguments presented in the article allow speaking about the impossibility to establish a democracy in the country quickly. However, the orientation to the multi-party politics can be discussed as the effective strategy for the further development of Libya according to the democratic ideas and prin ciples. Works Cited Barger, John. â€Å"After Qadhafi: Prospects for Political Party Formation and Democratisation in Libya†. The Journal of North African Studies 4.1 (1999): 62-77. Print. This essay on The Probability for Libya to Become a Democracy was written and submitted by user Admiral Ackbar to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The Best ACT Vocabulary Lists on the Web

The Best ACT Vocabulary Lists on the Web SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips This could take a while. Do you need to study vocabulary for the ACT but aren’t sure where to start? We have links to free lists of ACT vocab from around the web. We also have found other vocab study resources – from videos to apps to browser plug-ins – to help you study ACT-specific vocabulary. A Few Words of Advice: Don’t Overdo Vocab Vocabulary on the ACT is far from the most important thing you can be doing to prep. You won’t be tested on obscure words or need to memorize definitions to be successful. Spending hours memorizing difficult, arcane vocab words will not help you on the ACT. This is because the ACT tests moderate-difficulty words in the context of sentences, and focuses on words with multiple meanings. For more on this, read our article on ACT vocabulary – it’s a must read before you begin to study! In short, make sure you don’t just memorize vocabulary and assume it will get you ready for ACT English and ACT Reading. You need to focus on being able to define vocabulary in context and recognize multiple-meaning words. Many prep programs over-emphasize memorizing vocabulary because it’s easy to teach. Still, learning vocabulary does matter for the ACT (we recommend using the waterfall method to study), which is why we’re including word lists and resources here. Keep in mind that you should view vocabulary as just one component of ACT Reading and English. Don’t neglect studying grammar rules or practicing for the reading section. It's important to keep your ACT studying regimen balanced. Don't spend so much time on one skill you neglect another. ACT Vocabulary Word Lists As we discussed above, the ACT is all about testing vocabulary in context, rather than strange, obscure words. Beware of any super-long word lists that claim to be for the ACT – they are likely just old SAT word lists with a different title. Focus on learning medium-difficulty words really well so you know them in context, and less on learning as many words as possible. I recommend starting with our PrepScholar list. We focus on words with multiple meanings that are likely to appear on the ACT. Our 150 ACT wordsalso includes some vocabulary to help you on the science section. If you are still struggling with vocabulary after learning our 150 words, you can also learn these 100 words from Scholastic. This is technically an ACT/SAT list, but focuses on medium-difficulty words that appeared in a Scholastic publication, so it will be helpful for the ACT. Finally, you can learn 50 more science-specific vocabulary words to help with the science section. Once you have these words under your belt, you will have the base you need to do well on ACT Reading and English. Memorizing more words will have diminishing returns, since again, obscure words aren’t tested on the ACT. And more importantly, you need to practice being able to define words in context. Doing ACT Practice sections will be just as helpful for learning that skill. Memorizing hundreds of vocab words will not. Flashcards, Games, and Other Resources Here are some additional free web resources that can be really helpful for learning ACT vocabulary, and specifically for learning words in context of larger articles or passages. The first two would be great resources for any student. The last two are helpful for students who are auditory learners or learn best by example. Quizlet This is a flashcard website which you can use to learn vocabulary words. If you make an account, you can use their website but also mobile apps for iPhone and Android – meaning you can study whenever you find yourself with a free moment. You can search through thousands of pre-existing flashcard sets on Quizlet. You can either make your own sets using the lists above or search for â€Å"ACT vocabulary† to access pre-made flashcards other users have made. Just be careful you don’t pull up a supposed â€Å"ACT Vocab† card set that is really just old SAT vocabulary. (Any lists longer than 250 words are too long.) You can also search for â€Å"ACT Science† to review more science vocabulary. I personally used this app all the time in college for my language classes and found its format very helpful. I could make flashcards on Quizlet much faster than writing them out by hand. Plus, I would pull up the app whenever I found myself with spare time (waiting in line somewhere, for example) and study a few words. ProfessorWord This is an app for your browser that pulls ACT vocabulary words from articles and pages and defines them for you. This is really cool because if you read articles online, particularly in publications like The Economist, Time, or The New Yorker, you are encountering tons of ACT vocabulary words. This app just goes through and points them out so you don’t miss them! This is an excellent way to learn words in context, which is super useful to prepare for ACT Reading and English. Even if you read just one article a day, by going though the highlighted words and testing your knowledge of them, you can improve your ability to define words in context. This is a great way to practice for ACT vocabulary, and also a fun way, if you like reading articles and blogs. "No, Mom, I'm not just reading Game of Thrones recaps for fun, this is for the ACT!" Image via Wired. Vocab Ahead If you learn better with concepts explained aloud to you, check out the videos at Vocab Ahead. Rather than just giving you a dictionary definition, they also use vocabulary words in sentences, with animations to match, to help you learn. Head to the â€Å"Study Room† tab to find the vocabulary videos. You can go through the â€Å"SAT Common 300† list, as it has a lot of words that overlap with ACT vocabulary. You can also go to the â€Å"Master† list to look up words you are having trouble with. Vocab Sushi If you like online quizzes, Vocab Sushi is a fun website that lets you test your vocab knowledge with quizzes and teaches vocab words by using them in sentences. This site is especially useful for the ACT since it emphasizes meaning in context. Vocab Sushi draws example sentences from real-life newspapers and magazines, helping you see how words are actually used in the real world. This is a great way to learn vocabulary in the way the ACT tests it – through context. What’s Next? What else do you need besides vocab to do well on the ACT? Learn 5 Critical Concepts you need to ace the ACT English section. We mentioned that the ACT focuses on vocabulary in context. Read more about that and get strategies for ACT reading. Read up on the 4 types of ACT reading passages, and learn how to stop running out of time on ACT reading. You might have heard the ACT doesn’t have a guessing penalty – but how can you use this to your advantage and guess effectively? Read about guessing strategies for the ACT. Want to improve your ACT score by 4+ points? Download our free guide to the top 5 strategies you need in your prep to improve your ACT score dramatically.

Fiscal condition of the federal government today Essay

Fiscal condition of the federal government today - Essay Example The US financial crisis threatens not only its constituent states but also the world at large. The crisis has been around for some time. It started slowly with fears of the worst since 2003. As the years progressed, the fears came to pass with the present financial status leaving more to be desired in the financial markets.The last six months have demonstrated financial volatility (not only in US but world over) that has never been witnessed may be since the great depression (O'Connor, 2001. pp.10-15). This paper seeks to evaluate the present fiscal condition of the US federal government with emphasis on the causes of the crisis and an exploration of the effects of the crisis on both the public and private domain. The federal government fiscal crisis is echoed by the serious struggle by the states and local governments through unfathomable and prolonged fiscal crisis which has since spread from the federal government to haunt them. The states', not mentioning the federal government's , revenues are declining sharply or if they are growing, then this growth is indeed very slow to be noticed. This is made worse by the federal government out spending its revenues. The crisis is likely to continue unless some quick and informed remedial measures are not taken.According to the 2002 financial year report, as at September 2003 the federal government had more than $1 trillion reported assets with slightly more than $8 trillion in liabilities leaving $7 trillion accumulated deficit with a reported $365 billion operating deficit and a $158 billion unified budget deficit. The projection by the general comptroller and CBO was that the situation was headed for worse with the unified budget deficits likely to hit $401 billion and $480 billion in 2003 and 2004 respectively. This means that there was no hope in 2002 and the situation was expected to worsen with time. 2008 was recorded the climax of the financial market redundancy and thus you can imagine the situation in 2008 i f it is worse than the figures projected for 2003 and 2004. The 2008 was marked with acute financial crisis with the financial market feared to be headed for a clash. The cause of the situation was immediately credited to the borrowers who were at the verge of insolvency and thus pulling down the lenders. These borrowers include the auto industry which has since received $15 billion bailout. Based on this insolvency, most lenders declined to lend thus affecting the mortgage industry and the stock market. Apart from the cause mentioned above, the other causes of this sticky financial crisis may be traced down to the weakening economy, the 1990's tax cut policies taken by the federal and state governments, sharp decline in stock markets, and the structural anomalies in the state and federal government tax systems among other seen and unseen causes. Focusing on policy, it is common knowledge how federal policy can impact state finances. Since the 1990's, the federal government set policies to provide subsidies to the state and local governments. The subsidies were to be provided because the federal government asked the states to reduce the cost of taxes on the taxpayers. This tax cut was later to haunt the federal government. The federal government also exempted interests on bonds from the federal taxation. Another tax policy is the fact that the federal government managed the entire estate tax and shared the tax revenues amongst the states. The 2003 Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconcili ation Act (JGTRRA) came with a counter- cyclical fiscal relief or subsidies for the states. The fiscal relief amounted to $20 billion over 2003 and 2004. The fiscal reliefs to cover the tax cuts instituted by the federal government ate significantly into the federal governments financial reserves. This together with the ever increasing demand for better Medicaid and Medicare funding thoroughly utilized the federal finances. The percentage allocation for Medicaid, Medicare and other social welfare programs increased to more than 60% raising concern

Green Politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Green Politics - Essay Example Green politics began its earliest cruise in the form of the Green Party that was formed in 1980. This party began as a third party that follows a broad political ideology of global justice and preservation of the ecology. This was followed by a worldwide spurt of similar green parties. In Australia, the same decade saw the birth of the Green Australia Party. It came from the Franklin River Dams campaign during the 1980s which proposed to address issues like peace and democracy at the grassroots level. (www.wikipedia.com) Britain soon followed suit with environmental politics high on its list of priorities. With a formal panel of 'green' advisors, Britain's green political movement has addressed issues that basically have to do with the environment more than anything else. Meanwhile, in Canada, the Green Party of Quebec took off in the 1980s to address issues like ecological preservation and other issues in the same vicinity. (www.wikipedia.com) These parties have made a point in a world where limited resources and unchallenged use of the same are coming under fire. They have managed to have a representation in governments apart from drawing attention to causes in the form of a place of priority on worldwide agendas. (www.wikipedia.com) One of the most basic features of green politics that makes it neithe... Foresight helps a green politician perform in accordance with issues that will influence the times to come for at least seven generations. Free of alignments that could tie it down in terms of leftist or right hand ideologies, green politics is that form of politics that creates the vision for furthering causes and catering to a more wholesome humanitarian purpose. By making use of foresight more than anything else, green politics helps in a global integration of goals and results. (Hawkins, 2006) Globalization Another important feature of green politics lies in its ability to combine global issues on a very global platform. Through its efforts to secure representation in national governments, green politics seek to address global issues rather than focus merely on national ones. Globalization is a real phenomenon that is fast combining the collective conditions of economic interests, peace efforts and other such endeavors that put issues on the map and help find solutions that will benefit the entire world. With an increase in the phenomenon known as globalization and the wide use of technology as a complementary feature, human society has changed and the needs have increased manifold. Changes in the political, economical and cultural arena have challenged and effected alterations within various professions. The autonomy of nation states and political parties has been under challenge because the global arena has tried to decrease it so to reduce their power and status. Also, trust has been replaced by target setting accountability as client-professional interactions have been limited in order for services and companies' profits to be increased. Finally, all these changes have affected and put under challenge international politics. This is further

Population Changes in Japan

Population Changes in Japan Mustafa Ameen Introduction Population in a country is a source of vitality, and it is involved in a variety of costs to maintain a reasonable standard of living. Particularly for resource-poor Island nation like Japan, which has a population of very large or excessively small is a serious problem. Size is not the only issue; structure of the population is also an important factor. For example, it can be severe imbalances between the sexes threaten the stability of marriage and the family in society monogamous. If the number of senior citizens is large compared with the working-age population, the latter bears a heavy burden to support, and possibly the collapse of the pension system. Issues such as these cannot be ignored by anyone who wishes to understand the political choices and social problems facing Japan or to consider the prospects for the countrys future in the near term. This case study looks at the country with a declining and aging population. Japan has a population of about 127 million people, the tenth largest in the world, but it is unusual because the population is decreasing. Only a small number of other countries (such as Italy, Germany and Russia) have low population, but none is expected to fall as fast as the population of Japan. The mortality rates also declined dramatically, and the result was that the average length of life has increased by about 30 years over the past half-century. Average life expectancy is now 82 for women and 76 for men. The percentage of people aged 65 years or more than 14% of the population in 1994, and by 2020 is expected to be the number one in the world through this procedure Japan. Japan has nearly 27 million people, the elderly and the largest proportion of over- 65S from any country (21 %, see Figure 1). It also has a smaller proportion of the population under the age of 15 (13.6 %), which will lead to great difficulties for Japan in the future, as the number of employees will not be able to support the population. These changes occur more quickly in Japan than in Europe or the United States, and can seriously affect the economy of one of the richest countries in the world. Rate of Change of population in Japan Until recently, in the 1950s, and Japan is facing a chronic problem too many mouths to feed. In the Edo period (1600-1868) held by the population and the media as a desperate infanticide and abandonment of the elderly. Japans population grew rapidly as it industrialized in the early twentieth century, an increase from 60 million in 1926 up to 100 million in 1967. Since the 1980s, however, has slowed population growth, after peaking in 2005, is now in decline. It is estimated that the population will fall to 121 million by 2025 and 100 million by 2050. What is more alarming is that the proportion of older persons will increase, and by 2030 it is estimated that one person in three will be over 65. This puts great pressure on the country. The course was a contraceptive on the main key for the decline in fertility. And practiced widely in Japan birth control; condom use on a large scale private. And the availability of abortions also undoubtedly helped unwanted pregnancy reduction. Abortion was legalized in Japan in 1948. The law allows for the termination of pregnancy is when persistence poses a serious threat to the physical health of the mothers or for economic reasons. Extended explanation of these causes physical or economic condition is the basis for most abortions. The changing demographics in the population pyramids are shown in Figure 1. Pyramid for 1950 is cone-shaped, with a wide base. However, as the decreased birth and death rates, has changed the form of a large pyramid and will continue to do so. In the pyramid for 2005 is replaced by a broad base of essential part before the bulging; in 2050, there is the upper part of a much larger, which indicates the predominance of the ability of the elderly. Vigorous pace of change in demographics cannot be reversed or even slowed down significantly. Avoid economic stagnation and social and maintain inter-generational equity may be the biggest challenges facing Japan, which grow gray by the year. Figure 1 Japan’s changing population [3] Declining of the population in Japan The main reason for the decline in numbers is that Japanese women are not having enough children. Many Japanese who choose to marry at a later age than in April 2007, on average, between 28 and 30 years old, and this means that they have children later, or not at all. Many women decide to also not to marry, choose to study or pursue a career instead of having children. Japanese culture in the upbringing of children and usually left for the mothers. Very few men take any leave to care for children ( although they are entitled to do so ) , and opinion polls reveal that more than 40 % of parents did not change a nappy or put children to sleep. This fact , and the lack of child-care facilities , which means that the small number of women returning to work after having children , and many women feel and others will have to give up a lot in order to have a family . There are also strong economic reasons why people choose not to have children or to have one or two only. Being pregnant is expensive in Japan, and pregnancy is not covered by health insurance. This means that women should pay for their own medical care during pregnancy, including hospital tests. After birth, and is provided free health care for all children up to the age of three years (or five in some areas). He added that this is the huge costs of education and higher education, and many families decide they can only afford to have one or two children at most. Child Benefit paid by the government to the families of low and barely enough to pay for diapers , not to mention other costs associated with having a family . The effect of population declination in Japan There are two types of special problems that will result from population decline. The first is the cost of caring for people as they get older, and the second is the lack of younger workers to fill the jobs. And more and more people reach retirement age, the country will need to find more money for their pensions. This means that already raising the retirement age and gets more contributions from both employers and employees, and theyll have to revisit again in the future. Already there is evidence of older workers in the shops, at airports, in the Tokyo subway or taxi driving. In the future there will be great pressure on the country as it tries to provide adequate health care to support the elderly. This inevitably means larger tax bills for people who work. The second problem and the most pressing is that companies find it difficult to hire new employees, and this will become more difficult in the future. If you cannot fill the jobs, then productivity will fall, and so the country will prosper. Box 1 World population over 65 Japan Figure 2 Map showing the worldwide distribution of people over 65 years old Figure 3 World map showing land areas The map in Figure 2 is an equal area cartogram in which each country has been sized according to the percentage of its population that is over 65. The colors used group the territories into 12 geographical regions, and allow it to be compared with other maps in the World mapper series (see web link at end of article). Figure 3 is a standard world map based on land areas and using the same colors, for comparison. In 2002, 7% of the world’s population was over 65. The map shows Japan, in purple, with a large elderly population at 21%. This contrasts with Saudi Arabia, where only 1% of the population is over 65. China has the largest elderly population in terms of numbers (92 million), but this is only 7% of the total Chinese population. Africa is home to only 6% of the world’s population aged over 65. Conclusion and future work In the long run, it is hoped that Japanese women can be persuaded to have more children, but social attitudes and trends is difficult for the government to address. Consideration is being given in the reforms, such as increasing the amount of the subsidy of the child, and the provision of tax allowances for families, and make child care more accessible, in the hope that this would lead to an increase in birth rates. However, many people do not think that an increase in birth rates that were not there are also social and cultural changes. In the short term, Japan should solve the labor shortage there. One way is clear to encourage more immigration. Currently there are only about 2 million foreigners live in Japan, and this is not anywhere near enough. There is a need for workers in the full range of functions, including dirty or dangerous jobs that Japanese people do not want to do ( such as cleaning or working in residential homes ) and functions that people need to be highly skilled and trained . Shortage in the engineering and computer programming Japan is well known. Some estimates say that Japan will need at least 500,000 immigrants each year over the next 40 years in order to keep pace. Difficulty with this, however, is that the Japanese as a nation are opposed to immigration. People born Japanese make up 98.5 % of the population, and it is difficult for foreigners to be accepted or to become citizens of Japan. In comparison with Switzerland this rate is 18% of the foreign workforce. Although the Japanese government is considering how to encourage more migrant workers, it also wants to impose controls on immigration. It would be difficult to change the views of the majority of the Japanese people, who fear that immigration threatens to what they see as the purity of Japanese culture. There is no doubt that Japans population in decline, and despite the fact that the government is aware of this problem, and many feel they have been slow to respond. It is unlikely that the elderly population is smaller and increasingly will be able to maintain the productivity and prosperity of the country, unless steps are taken to address the issues of population decline. Figure 3 current population pyramid for japan [5] References World mapper: www.sasi.group.shef.ac.uk/worldmapper/ wikipedia.org/wiki/Aging of Japan http://www.ithaca.edu/gerontology/schools/pdf/Aging%20in%20Japan.pdf http://www.worldmapper.org/articles/WW_Japan_pop.pdf http://www.indexmundi.com/japan/age_structure.html 1