Essay about The Results of Children in Fatherless Homes

Divorce and out-of-wedlock childbearing are now epidemic in American society. Both forms of disrupted families are harmful to children and to society. The children of single parents are more likely to do poorly in school, commit crimes, and become single parents themselves. In addition, the increase in single-parent families contributes to such social problems as poverty, crime, and a decline in the quality of public education. Divorce and out-of-wedlock childbirth are transforming the lives of American children. In the postwar generation more than 80 percent of children grew up in a family with two biological parents who were married to each other. By 1980 only 50 percent could expect to spend their entire childhood in an intact†¦show more content†¦Indeed, they help to explain why family structure is such an explosive issue for Americans. The debate about it is not simply about the social-scientific evidence, although that is surely an important part of the discussion. It is also a debate over deeply held and often conflicting values. How do we begin to reconcile our long-standing belief in equality and diversity with an impressive body of evidence that suggests that not all family structures produce equal outcomes for children? How can we square traditional notions of public support for dependent women and children with a belief in womens right to pursue autonomy and independence in childbearing and child-rearing? How do we uphold the freedom of adults to pursue individual happiness in their private relationships and at the same time respond to the needs of children for stability, security, and permanence in their family lives? What do we do when the interests of adults and children conflict? These are the difficult issues at stake in the debate over family structure. Past discussions on families In the past these issues have turned out to be too difficult and too politically risky for debate. In the mid-1960s Daniel Patrick Moynihan, then an assistant secretary of labor, wasShow MoreRelatedThe Absentee Father846 Words   |  4 Pagesupholding the moral and religious values that the family would abide by. This absent figure is most commonly known as the father. Statistics show that â€Å"an estimated 24.7 million children (33%) live absent their biological father† (The Consequences of Fatherlessness). This means that approximately one in three children are fatherless. This startling fact reigns prevalent all throughout the American nation. For the father to be missing from a child’s life on a daily basis, there are various ways in whichRead MoreThe Problem Of A Single Parent Environment1265 Words   |  6 PagesChildren are now carrying more of the burden, as a result of marriages and relationships not working out. They are the ones who are suffering and payi ng for the adults bad and irresponsible decisions. We as the adults have to start making better decisions and setting better examples for our children. As parents, we are our children’s first teachers. We set the bar. Children mimic what they see, so if a positive image is being seen, then that child will think and act in a positive manner. OnRead MoreSad and Sadistic803 Words   |  4 Pagesfather is more than a hundred schoolmasters.† Absence of father, in other words, means insufficient guidance, security, and love in a young child’s life. Grievously, 36.7% of children around the world are fatherless children. Factors like divorce, disease, accident, and work act as causes of absence of a father, which affects children in areas of self-esteem, relationship, education, and crime. One of the best-known causes for absence of a father is divorce. The divorce rate of societies these days isRead MoreIs The Most Socially Consequential Family Trend Of Our Generation?990 Words   |  4 PagesStatement In the United States it is becoming more and more likely for children to grow up without their fathers. Father absence is a crucial social issue and can be linked to dozens of our most pressing social dilemmas. David Blankenhorn of the American Experiment said â€Å"this trend of fatherlessness is the most socially consequential family trend of our generation† (Blankenhorn). Father absence in the American home has a serious and negative effect on the well-being of our society. LiteratureRead MoreShould both Parents Take Equal Responsibility in Raising a Children728 Words   |  3 Pagesmother is a land and the children are the seeds and both parents should take care of these seed as they grow. In fact, there is argument in these important issue that is both parents should assume equal responsibility for raising children. However, some people believe that the mother is the first one to teach children many epacts for their life and some defend that father is prime factor in the children life. Indeed, I assume that both parents are prime factors in the children life, also there are manyRead MoreThe Anti-Divorce Movement: a Persuasion Paper1268 Words   |  6 Pagesdevastating, especially when children are involved. Everyone who has ever listened to the news has heard the dismal statistics of adolescents coming from broken homes. The statistics showing the effects of a fatherless household includes: †¢ 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes (U.S.D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census) †¢ 90% of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless home †¢ 85% of rapists motivated with displaced anger come from fatherless homes (Criminal JusticeBehavior, VolRead MoreEssay on The Impact of Absent Fathers1614 Words   |  7 Pagesvarious reasons, many children in the United States are living without their fathers in their homes or absent from their lives entirely. This is an issue all across the world and the children are having to deal with the disadvantages caused by the lack of support from their fathers. This issue has a significant effect on society and can be viewed and interpreted from the three sociological perspectives. As a result of many studies, it was found that children raised in father absent homes almost universallyRead MoreChildren Always Need Love, Compassion, Support And Empathy From Their Parents Essay1524 Words   |  7 PagesNovember 9, 2016 Fatherless Children always need love, compassion, support and empathy from their parents when growing up. They are better off without a father in certain circumstances such as abuse, but both boys and girls will suffer a negative effect as they develop into adults without a father in any situation. No one can agree that growing up fatherless is far from the worst thing other than Michele Weldon from the New York Times, and her article â€Å"When Children Are Better off Fatherless† as she states:Read More Children With Behavioral Disorders in Single Parent Homes Essay1040 Words   |  5 Pagestough. It can be a struggle for parents to adequately support children - especially if there is only one parent. According to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development about 15.9 percent of children world wide live in single-parent households. In the United states alone there are approximately 13.7 million single parents today, and those parents are responsible for raising 21.8 million children (approximately 26% of children under 21 in the U.S. today). The question we must ask is, WhatRead MoreNegative Effects of Single Parent Housholds Essay565 Words   |  3 Pagesand Divorce.) to be more specific of children living in single-parent homes has nearly doubled since 1960(LifeSiteNews) .Though single parent households that consist only of either mother or father do the best they can to support their children, there are some negative effects to not having a well rounded home life. One thing that may be negatively affected would be a child’s behavior. Living in poverty is stressful and can have many emotional effects on children, including low self-esteem, increased

The Vampire Diaries Dark Reunion Chapter Three Free Essays

string(61) " for a minute in the doorway and then lunged quickly inside\." Vickie’s screams went out of control. Bonnie could feel panic rising in her chest. â€Å"Vickie, stop it! Come on; we’ve got to get out of here!† Meredith was shouting to be heard. We will write a custom essay sample on The Vampire Diaries: Dark Reunion Chapter Three or any similar topic only for you Order Now â€Å"It’s your house, Caroline. Everybody grab hands and you lead us to the front door.† â€Å"Okay,† Caroline said. She didn’t sound as frightened as everybody else. That was the advantage to having no imagination, Bonnie thought. You couldn’t picture the terrible things that were going to happen to you. She felt better with Meredith’s narrow, cold hand grasping hers. She fumbled on the other side and caught Caroline’s, feeling the hardness of long fingernails. She could see nothing. Her eyes should be adjusting to the dark by now, but she couldn’t make out even a glimmer of light or shadow as Caroline started leading them. There was no light coming through the windows from the street; the power seemed to be out everywhere. Caroline cursed, running into some piece of furniture, and Bonnie stumbled against her. Vickie was whimpering softly from the back of the line. â€Å"Hang on,† whispered Sue. â€Å"Hang on, Vickie, we’ll make it.† They made slow, shuffling progress in the dark. Then Bonnie felt tile under her feet. â€Å"This is the front hall,† Caroline said. â€Å"Stay here a minute while I find the door.† Her fingers slipped out of Bonnie’s. â€Å"Caroline! Don’t let go-where are you? Caroline, give me your hand!† Bonnie cried, groping frantically like a blind person. Out of the darkness something large and moist closed around her fingers. It was a hand. It wasn’t Caroline’s. Bonnie screamed. Vickie immediately picked it up, shrieking wildly. The hot, moist hand was dragging Bonnie forward. She kicked out, struggling, but it made no difference. Then she felt Meredith’s arms around her waist, both arms, wrenching her back. Her hand came free of the big one. And then she was turning and running, just running, only dimly aware that Meredith was be-side her. She wasn’t at all aware that she was still screaming until she slammed into a large armchair that stopped her progress, and she heard herself. â€Å"Hush! Bonnie, hush, stop!† Meredith was shaking her. They had slid down the back of the chair to the floor. â€Å"Something had me! Something grabbed me, Meredith!† â€Å"I know. Be quiet! It’s still around,† Meredith said. Bonnie jammed her face into Meredith’s shoulder to keep from screaming again. What if it was here in the room with them? Seconds crawled past, and the silence pooled around them. No matter how Bonnie strained her ears, she could hear no sound except their own breathing and the dull thudding of her heart. Bonnie started to nod miserably, then abruptly lifted her head. â€Å"Where’s Vickie?† she whispered hoarsely. â€Å"I don’t know. I had to let go of her hand to pull you away from that thing. Let’s move.† Bonnie held her back. â€Å"But why isn’t she screaming?† A shudder went through Meredith. â€Å"I don’t know.† â€Å"Oh, God. Oh, God. We can’t leave her, Meredith.† â€Å"We have to.† â€Å"We can’t. Meredith, I made Caroline invite her. She wouldn’t be here except for me. We have to get her out.† There was a pause, and then Meredith hissed, â€Å"All right! But you pick the strangest times to turn noble, Bonnie.† A door slammed, causing both of them to jump. Then there was a crashing, like feet on stairs, Bonnie thought. And briefly, a voice was raised. â€Å"Vickie, where are you? Don’t-Vickie, no! No!† â€Å"That was Sue,† gasped Bonnie, jumping up. â€Å"From upstairs!† â€Å"Why don’t we have a flashlight?† Meredith was raging. Bonnie knew what she meant. It was too dark to go running blindly around this house; it was too frightening. There was a primitive panic hammering in her brain. She needed light, any light. She couldn’t go fumbling into that darkness again, exposed on all sides. She couldn’t do it. Nevertheless, she took one shaky step away from the chair. â€Å"Come on,† she gasped, and Meredith came with her, step by step, into the blackness. Bonnie kept expecting that moist, hot hand to reach out and grab her again. Every inch of her skin tingled in anticipation of its touch, and especially her own hand, which she had outstretched to feel her way. Then she made the mistake of remembering the dream. Instantly, the sickly sweet smell of garbage overwhelmed her. She imagined things crawling out of the ground and then remembered Elena’s face, gray and hairless, with lips shriveled back from grinning teeth. If that thing grabbed hold of her†¦ I can’t go any farther; I can’t, I can’t, she thought. I’m sorry for Vickie, but I can’t go on. Please, just let me stop here. It was a whole series of sounds, actually, but they all came so close together that they blended into one terrible swell of noise. First there was screaming, Sue’s voice screaming, â€Å"Vickie! Vickie! No!† Then a resonant crash, the sound of glass shattering, as if a hundred windows were breaking at once. And over that a sustained scream, on a note of pure, exquisite terror. Then it all stopped. â€Å"What was it? What happened, Meredith?† â€Å"Something bad.† Meredith’s voice was taut and choked. â€Å"Something very bad. Bonnie, let go. I’m going to see.† â€Å"Not alone, you’re not,† Bonnie said fiercely. They found the staircase and made their way up it. When they reached the landing, Bonnie could hear a strange and oddly sickening sound, the tinkle of glass shards falling. And then the lights went on. It was too sudden; Bonnie screamed involuntarily. Turning to Meredith she almost screamed again. Meredith’s dark hair was disheveled and her cheekbones looked too sharp; her face was pale and hollow with fear. Tinkle, tinkle. It was worse with the lights on. Meredith was walking toward the last door down the hall, where the noise was coming from. Bonnie followed, but she knew suddenly, with all her heart, that she didn’t want to see inside that room. Meredith pulled the door open. She froze for a minute in the doorway and then lunged quickly inside. You read "The Vampire Diaries: Dark Reunion Chapter Three" in category "Essay examples" Bonnie started for the door. â€Å"Oh, my God, don’t come any farther!† Bonnie didn’t even pause. She plunged into the doorway and then pulled up short. At first glance it looked as if the whole side of the house was gone. The French windows that connected the master bedroom to the balcony seemed to have exploded outward, the wood splintered, the glass shattered. Little pieces of glass were hanging precariously here and there from the remnants of the wood frame. They tinkled as they fell. Diaphanous white curtains billowed in and out of the gaping hole in the house. In front of them, in silhouette, Bonnie could see Vickie. She was standing with her hands at her sides, as motionless as a block of stone. â€Å"Vickie, are you okay?† Bonnie was so relieved to see her alive that it was painful. â€Å"Vickie?† Vickie didn’t turn, didn’t answer. Bonnie maneuvered around her cautiously, looking into her face. Vickie was staring straight ahead, her pupils pinpoints. She was sucking in little whistling breaths, chest heaving. Shuddering, Bonnie reeled away. Meredith was on the balcony. She turned as Bonnie reached the curtains and tried to block the way. â€Å"Don’t look. Don’t look down there,† she said. Down where? Suddenly Bonnie understood. She shoved past Meredith, who caught her arm to stop her on the edge of a dizzying drop. The balcony railing had been blasted out like the French windows and Bonnie could see straight down to the lighted yard below. On the ground there was a twisted figure like a broken doll, limbs askew, neck bent at a grotesque angle, blond hair fanned on the dark soil of the garden. It was Sue Carson. And throughout all the confusion that raged afterward, two thoughts kept vying for dominance in Bonnie’s mind. One was that Caroline would never have her foursome now. And the other was that it wasn’t fair for this to happen on Meredith’s birthday. It just wasn’t fair. â€Å"I’m sorry, Meredith. I don’t think she’s up to it right now.† Bonnie heard her father’s voice at the front door as she listlessly stirred sweetener into a cup of chamomile tea. She put the spoon down at once. What she wasn’t up to was sitting in this kitchen one minute longer. She needed out. â€Å"I’ll be right there, Dad.† Meredith looked almost as bad as she had last night, face peaked, eyes shadowed. Her mouth was set in a tight line. â€Å"We’ll just go out driving for a little while,† Bonnie said to her father. â€Å"Maybe see some of the kids. After all, you’re the one who said it isn’t dangerous, right?† What could he say? Mr. McCullough looked down at his petite daughter, who stuck out the stubborn chin she’d inherited from him and met his gaze squarely. He lifted his hands. â€Å"It’s almost four o’clock now. Be back before dark,† he said. â€Å"They want it both ways,† Bonnie said to Meredith on the way to Meredith’s car. Once inside, both girls immediately locked their doors. As Meredith put the car in gear she gave Bonnie a glance of grim understanding. â€Å"Your parents didn’t believe you, either.† â€Å"Oh, they believe everything I told them-except anything important. How can they be so stupid?† Meredith laughed shortly. â€Å"You’ve got to look at it from their point of view. They find one dead body without a mark on it except those caused by the fall. They find that the lights were off in the neighborhood because of a malfunction at Virginia Electric. They find us, hysterical, giving answers to their questions that must have seemed pretty weird. Who did it? Some monster with sweaty hands. How do we know? Our dead friend Elena told us through a Ouija board. Is it any wonder they have their doubts?† â€Å"They’re forgetting already,† Meredith replied softly. â€Å"You predicted it yourself. Life has gone back to normal, and everybody in Fell’s Church feels safer that way. They all feel like they’ve woken up from a bad dream, and the last thing they want is to get sucked in again.† Bonnie just shook her head. â€Å"And so it’s easier to believe that a bunch of teenage girls got riled up playing with a Ouija board, and that when the lights went out they just freaked and ran. And one of them got so scared and confused she ran right out a window.† There was a silence and then Meredith added, â€Å"I wish Alaric were here.† Normally, Bonnie would have given her a dig in the ribs and answered, â€Å"So do I,† in a lecherous voice. Alaric was one of the handsomest guys she’d ever seen, even if he was a doddering twenty-two years old. Now, she just gave Meredith’s arm a disconsolate squeeze. â€Å"Can’t you call him somehow?† â€Å"In Russia? I don’t even know where in Russia he is now.† Bonnie bit her lip. Then she sat up. Meredith was driving down Lee Street, and in the high school parking lot they could see a crowd. She and Meredith exchanged glances, and Meredith nodded. â€Å"We might as well,† she said. â€Å"Let’s see if they’re any smarter than their parents.† Bonnie could see startled faces turning as the car cruised slowly into the lot. When she and Meredith got out, people moved back, making a path for them to the center of the crowd. Caroline was there, clutching her elbows with her hands and shaking back her auburn hair distractedly. â€Å"We’re not going to sleep in that house again until it’s repaired,† she was saying, shivering in her white sweater. â€Å"Daddy says we’ll take an apartment in Heron until it’s over.† â€Å"What difference does that make? He can follow you to Heron, I’m sure,† said Meredith. Caroline turned, but her green cat’s eyes wouldn’t quite meet Meredith’s. â€Å"Who?† she said vaguely. â€Å"Oh, Caroline, not you too!† Bonnie exploded. Her eyes came up and for an instant Bonnie saw how frightened she was. â€Å"I can’t take any more.† As if she had to prove her words that minute, she pushed her way through the crowd. â€Å"Let her go, Bonnie,† Meredith said. â€Å"It’s no use.† â€Å"She’s no use,† said Bonnie furiously. If Caroline, who knew, was acting this way, what about the other kids? She saw the answer-in the faces around her. Everybody looked scared, as scared as if she and Meredith had brought some loathsome disease with them. As if she and Meredith were the problem. â€Å"I don’t believe this,† Bonnie muttered. â€Å"I don’t believe it either,† said Deanna Kennedy, a friend of Sue’s. She was in the front of the crowd, and she didn’t look as uneasy as the others. â€Å"I talked with Sue yesterday afternoon and she was so up, so happy. She can’t be dead.† Deanna began to sob. Her boyfriend put an arm around her, and several other girls began to cry. The guys in the crowd shifted, their faces rigid. Bonnie felt a little surge of hope. â€Å"And she’s not going to be the only one dead,† she added. â€Å"Elena told us that the whole town is in danger. Elena said†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Despite herself Bonnie heard her voice failing. She could see it in the way their eyes glazed up when she mentioned Elena’s name. Meredith was right; they’d put everything that had happened last winter behind them. They didn’t believe anymore. â€Å"What’s wrong with you all?† she said helplessly, wanting to hit something. â€Å"You don’t really think Sue threw herself off that balcony!† â€Å"People are saying-† Deanna’s boyfriend started and then shrugged defensively. â€Å"Well-you told the police Vickie Bennett was in the room, right? And now she’s off her head again. And just a little bit earlier you’d heard Sue shouting, ‘No, Vickie, no!’?† Bonnie felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her. â€Å"You think that Vickie- oh, God, you’re out of your mind! Listen to me. Something grabbed my hand in that house, and it wasn’t Vickie. And Vickie had nothing to do with throwing Sue off that balcony.† â€Å"She’s hardly strong enough, for one thing,† Meredith said pointedly. â€Å"She weighs about ninety-five pounds soaking wet.† Somebody from the back of the crowd muttered about insane people having superhuman strength. â€Å"Vickie has a psychiatric record-â€Å" â€Å"Elena told us it was a guy!† Bonnie almost shouted, losing her battle with self-control. The faces tilted toward her were shuttered, unyielding. Then she saw one that made her chest loosen. â€Å"Matt! Tell them you believe us.† Matt Honeycutt was standing on the fringe with his hands in his pockets and his blond head bowed. Now he looked up, and what Bonnie saw in his blue eyes made her draw in her breath. They weren’t hard and shuttered like everyone else’s, but they were full of a flat despair that was just as bad. He shrugged without taking his hands from his pockets. Bonnie, for one of the first times in her life, was speechless. Matt had been upset ever since Elena died, but this†¦ â€Å"He does believe it, though,† Meredith was saying quickly, capitalizing on the moment. â€Å"Now what have we got to do to convince the rest of you?† â€Å"Channel Elvis for us, maybe,† said a voice that immediately set Bonnie’s blood boiling. Tyler. Tyler Smallwood. Grinning like an ape in his overexpensive Perry Ellis sweater, showing a mouthful of strong white teeth. â€Å"It’s not as good as psychic e-mail from a dead Homecoming Queen, but it’s a start,† Tyler added. Matt always said that grin was asking for a punch in the nose. But Matt, the only guy in the crowd with close to Tyler’s physique, was staring dully at the ground. â€Å"Shut up, Tyler! You don’t know what happened in that house,† Bonnie said. â€Å"Well, neither do you, apparently. Maybe if you hadn’t been hiding in the living room, you’d have seen what happened. Then somebody might believe you.† Bonnie’s retort died on her tongue. She stared at Tyler, opened her mouth, and then closed it. Tyler waited. When she didn’t speak, he showed his teeth again. â€Å"For my money, Vickie did it,† he said, winking at Dick Carter, Vickie’s ex-boyfriend. â€Å"She’s a strong little babe, right, Dick? She could have done it.† He turned and added deliberately over his shoulder, â€Å"Or else that Salvatore guy is back in town.† â€Å"You creep!† shouted Bonnie. Even Meredith cried out in frustration. Because of course at the very mention of Stefan pandemonium ensued, as Tyler must have known it would. Everyone was turning to the person next to them and exclaiming in alarm, horror, excitement. It was primarily the girls who were excited. Effectively, it put an end to the gathering. People had been edging away surreptitiously before, and now they broke up into twos and threes, arguing and hastening off. Bonnie gazed after them angrily. â€Å"Supposing they did believe you. What did you want them to do, anyway?† Matt said. She hadn’t noticed him beside her. â€Å"I don’t know. Something besides just standing around waiting to be picked off.† She tried to look him in the face. â€Å"Matt, are you all right?† â€Å"I don’t know. Are you?† Bonnie thought. â€Å"No. I mean, in one way I’m surprised I’m doing as well as I am, because when Elena died, I just couldn’t deal. At all. But then I wasn’t as close to Sue, and besides†¦ I don’t know!† She wanted to hit something again. â€Å"It’s just all too much!† Bonnie thought. â€Å"No. I mean, in one way I’m surprised I’m doing as well as I am, because when Elena died, I just couldn’t deal. At all. But then I wasn’t as close to Sue, and besides†¦ I don’t know!† She wanted to hit something again. â€Å"It’s just all too much!† â€Å"Yes, I’m mad.† Suddenly Bonnie understood the feelings she’d been having all day. â€Å"Killing Sue wasn’t just wrong, it was evil. Truly evil. And whoever did it isn’t going to get away with it. That would be-if the world is like that, a place where that can happen and go unpunished†¦ if that’s the truth†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She found she didn’t have a way to finish. â€Å"Then what? You don’t want to live here anymore? What if the world is like that?† His eyes were so lost, so bitter. Bonnie was shaken. But she said staunchly, â€Å"I won’t let it be that way. And you won’t either.† He simply looked at her as if she were a kid insisting there was so a Santa Claus. Meredith spoke up. â€Å"If we expect other people to take us seriously, we’d better take ourselves seriously. Elena did communicate with us. She wanted us to do something. Now if we really believe that, we’d better figure out what it is.† Matt’s face had flexed at the mention of Elena. You poor guy, you’re still as much in love with her as ever, thought Bonnie. I wonder if anything could make you forget her? She said, â€Å"Are you going to help us, Matt?† â€Å"I’ll help,† Matt said quietly. â€Å"But I still don’t know what it is you’re doing.† â€Å"We’re going to stop that murdering creep before he kills anybody else,† said Bonnie. It was the first time she’d fully realized herself that this was what she meant to do. â€Å"Alone? Because you are alone, you know.† â€Å"We are alone,† Meredith corrected. â€Å"But that’s what Elena was trying to tell us. She said we had to do a summoning spell to call for help.† â€Å"An easy spell with only two ingredients,† Bonnie remembered from her dream. She was getting excited. â€Å"And she said she’d already told me the ingredients-but she hadn’t.† â€Å"Last night she said there were corrupting influences distorting her communication,† Meredith said. â€Å"Now to me that sounds like what was happening in the dream. Do you think it really was Elena you were drinking tea with?† â€Å"Yes,† Bonnie said positively. â€Å"I mean, I know we weren’t really having a mad tea party at Warm Springs, but I think Elena was sending that message into my brain. And then partway through something else took over and pushed her out. But she fought, and for a minute at the end she got back control.† â€Å"Okay. Then that means we have to concentrate on the beginning of the dream, when it was still Elena communicating with you. But if what she was saying was already being distorted by other influences, then maybe it came out weird. Maybe it wasn’t something she actually said, maybe it was something she did†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"What?† â€Å"Hair! I asked her who did hers, and we talked about it, and she said, ‘Hair is very important.’ And Meredith-when she was trying to tell us the ingredients last night, the first letter of one of them was H!† â€Å"That’s it!† Meredith’s dark eyes were flashing. â€Å"Now we just have to think of the other one.† â€Å"But I know that too!† Bonnie’s laughter bubbled up exuberantly. â€Å"She told me right after we talked about hair, and I thought she was just being strange. She said, ‘Blood is important too.’ â€Å" Meredith shut her eyes in realization. â€Å"And last night, the Ouija board said ‘Bloodblood-blood.’ I thought it was the other thing threatening us, but it wasn’t,† she said. She opened her eyes. â€Å"Bonnie, do you think that’s really it? Are those the ingredients, or do we have to start worrying about mud and sandwiches and mice and tea?† â€Å"Those are the ingredients,† Bonnie said firmly. â€Å"They’re the kind of ingredients that make sense for a summoning spell. I’m sure I can find a ritual to do with them in one of my Celtic magic books. We just have to figure out the person we’re supposed to summon†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Something struck her, and her voice trailed off in dismay. â€Å"I was wondering when you’d notice,† Matt said, speaking for the first time in a long while. â€Å"You don’t know who it is, do you?† How to cite The Vampire Diaries: Dark Reunion Chapter Three, Essay examples

Effects of Deforestation Essay Example For Students

Effects of Deforestation Essay Effects of Deforestation Essay The subject of deforestation and the effects that it has on the environment have been heavily debated for a long time; particularly over the last few years. Governments and large lumber companies see large profits in the mass deforestation of forests and state that their actions are having few, if any, harmful effects on the environment. Most people disagree with this and think that the environmental effects are devastating and will become irreversibly disastrous in the very near future. Whether or not the pros outweigh the cons will be hotly debated for years to come but the fact is that deforestation is harmful to the environment and leads to declining wildlife populations, drastic changes in climate and loss of soil. The loss of forests means the loss of habitats for many species. Current statistics show that as many as 100 species become extinct every day with a large portion being attributed to deforestation (Delfgaauw, 1996). Edge effects are the destruction or degradation of natural habitat that occur on the fringes of fragmented forests. The effects for the animals include greater exposure to the elements (wind, rain etc), other non-forest animals and humans (Dunbar, 1993). This unnatural extinction of species endangers the worlds food supply, threatens many human resources and has profound implications for biological diversity. Another negative environmental impact of deforestation is that it causes climate changes all over the world. As we learned in elementary school, plant life is essential to life on earth as it produces much of the oxygen that is required for humans and other organisms to breathe. The massive destruction of trees negatively effects the quantity and quality of the air we breathe which has direct repercussions on the quantity and quality of life among both humans and animals alike. With this reduced amount of vital plant life comes the increase of carbon dioxide levels in the earths atmosphere. With these increased levels of CO-2 come unnatural changes in weather patterns both locally and globally. The removal of forests would cause rainfall to decline more than 26%. The average temperature of soil will rise and a decline of 30% in the amount of moisture will evaporate into the atmosphere (Delfgaauw, 1996). This leads to the global warming phenomenon which is also directly related to the declining amounts of forest areas on the earth. Soil erosion caused by deforestation is also a major concern among even the most amateur environmentalists: When rain falls, some may sink to the ground, some may run off the surface of the land, and flowing down towards the rivers and some may evaporate. Running water is a major cause of soil erosion, and as the forests are cut down, it increases erosion (Delfgaauw, 1996). The removal of wood causes nutrient loss in the soil, especially if the period between harvests isnt long enough (Hamilton and Pearce, 1987). Some areas also become unbalanced with the removal of tree roots as this removal can cause serious mud slides and unstability which can be seen in the in the tropical rain forests of Australia (Gilmour et al., 1982; as cited in Hamilton and Pearce, 1987) and Malaysia (Peh, 1980; as cited in Hamilton and Pearce, 1987). It should be mentioned that recent logging techniques have decreased the amount of soil erosion under most circumstances but it is nearly impossible to stop erosion from happening. Whether or not you are a radical environmentalist or just a regular citizen, the consequences of deforestation affect us all. Living in BC we dont have to drive very far to see land that has been clear-cut or to see massive protests by people of all ages who want to save the forests or save the environment. It is evident that reforestation projects are underway and in many cases are quite successful. Millions of dollars are spent each year (provincially, nationally and internationally) on reforestation and many experts agree that this is helping provided that the time between harvest is long enough for the area to mature properly. The projections we hear through the media make the situation sound quite bleak but the fact is that private and public awareness have lead to a decreasing amount of deforestation activity (from what is projected) in many areas such as the Brazilian Amazon Basin (Dunbar, 1993). Forests are an important part of maintaining the earths biological and ecological diversity as well as major factors in the economic well being of many areas. The innocence of lady jane grey Essay If we can maintain a balance between the two and continue the reforestation efforts, the negative environmental affects could be greatly reduced. Regardless, .

Name Essays (365 words) - Stress, Neuroscience, Brain,

Name Professor's name Course number Year Introduction Stress is the feeling that causes mental or emotional pressure from activities, words or circumstances that result to strains. It exists amongst all of us and can be short or long term depending on the magnitude of the situation that has led to the stress. It is a normal issue in our everyday life but it becomes dangerous and problematic when it interferes with our normal activities and when it begins to over cloud our judgment (Noyan and Cohen , 13) . If the stress within us begins to creep into us, feeling of tiredness, irritability and lack iof concentration are the most obvious symptoms of stress, once we see this in us, we shous either handle the situation or know the relevant measures to be taken regarding the stress levels. What causes stress Stress can be caused by anything that does not goe the you want it to or any materialistic deprivation even emotional neglection. Generally anything that will make our mental or emotional state to have strains in adjusting or demanding circumstances is a source of stress, from a broken glass to traffic to even a simple article than one may read off something. Stress is mentally propagated and hence we can say anything can cause stress as long as it is unpleasant to the mind. Why it is not good Stress is not good for it has varying effects amongst us. While some may decide to assume it and dismiss it, others may even go to an extent of murder or even suicide in an attempt to control the stressful situation and seek solace. How to deal with stress effectively The re are numerous ways to deal with stress, from taking yoga classes for the peaceful to extreme sport activities for the hyperactive. Others opt to assume the problem and move on though it is not advisable. One needs to identify the root cause of the stress and deal with it accordingly to avoid its long term effects completely. Works Cited Noyan, Ismail C., and Jerome B. Cohen. Residual stress: measurement by diffraction and interpretation . Springer, 2013.

Understanding the War Poetry of Wilfred Owen Essays

Understanding the War Poetry of Wilfred Owen Essays Understanding the War Poetry of Wilfred Owen Essay Understanding the War Poetry of Wilfred Owen Essay Much can be learned about the historic and human impact of WI by studying the literary output from the era. Wilfred Owen (1893-1918) is considered one of the greatest war poets in the English language. He wrote out of personal experience of the physical, moral and psychological trauma FWIW in a time when most war poetry was romanticists and used as propaganda. In his poems Dulcet et Decorum est. and Anthem for Doomed Youth Owen dispels the Idea that dying for ones country Is a bole or rewarding act and recognizes the futile deaths of his young comrades and the suffering and sadness of those left behind. However, it is difficult for the reader to derive any meaning or appreciation from these poems without an understanding of the life and times of the author and text. Knowledge of Owens life and military service provide insight Into his thoughts, emotions and motivation for writing his poetry. Owen served as a 2nd lieutenant In France. One of his traumatizing experiences Included spending several days In a bomb crater trapped with the mangled corpse of a fellow officer while badly enclosed. This information gives Owens poetry credibility and evokes a horrifying realization in the reader that these graphic descriptions of warfare are not fabricated. For example, in Dulcet et Decorum Est Owen seems to look back on the events as a recurring nightmare. The poem details a gas attack on a band of exhausted soldiers, while one unfortunate man Is not swift enough to get his mask on and his companions are forced to watch him die slowly and agonizingly, unable to help. The poet masterfully uses first-person POP to bring the events to the audience n a personal level. In all my dreams, helpless before my sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. This literary technique, combined with the background information on Owens experiences, enhances the stark realism of the poem causing the reader to feel the emotions of the narrator of the poem. Owens Christian upbringing Is also evident In Anthem for Doomed Youth. Owen was raised as an Anglican of the evangelical school and was a devout believer In his youth. He also counted the Bible as one of the major influences on his poetry. This shows in Anthem in which he skillfully juxtaposes the glamour of trench warfare against the somber atmosphere of a church. These religious images: orisons, mockeries, prayers, bells, choirs, candles, holy glimmer, pall symbolism the sanctity of life. This, along with the futility of war, Is a recurring theme In Owens works. An understanding of the age in which a poem was written can reveal its purpose. For example, Owen wrote seeking to educate the populace of Britain of the tragedy and horror of war. This is because during the years of conflict, most war poetry was attrition and idealistic which heavily shaped the public perception of war as a glorious and honorable way to serve ones country.

A Look at the Hiring Procedure Used By the Police

A Look at the Hiring Procedure Used By the Police Police officers come from all walks of life, yet it takes a lot to recruit someone into becoming a police officer. Often, there are many methods, challenges, and problems that arise during recruitment. Throughout the journey, there is a strict screening process, a lot of physical training, and even some politics that many people just aren’t ready to handle. What happens during recruitment? Let’s start with the methods of the recruitment process. Essentially, thousands of people apply to be police officers, but not all make it to the final round – which is actually wearing the uniform. People choose to be police officers in order to help people, fight crime, for job security, and several other reasons, according to Lesson 2. Now, when someone decides to become a police officer, they have to go through the hurdle process. This allows the police force to scan candidates and find the strongest and most fit for the job at hand. Lesson 2 explains that it includes several tests, such as a general knowledge test, physical agility test, oral interviews, psychological assessments, a background investigation, a polygraph, and a full medical exam. Not everyone can pass each of those tests. However, if someone does pass all of those tests, they may think that they immediately have the job. This is not the case, and leads to some of the problems and challenges with the recruitment of police officers. One of the biggest problems in today’s society is obesity. This is not only a problem in the United States, but stretches into the job market when looking for new police recruits as well. This, along with, â€Å"major debt, drug use, and criminal records,† says Kenneth J. Peak, the author of Policing America: Challenges and Best Practices. This becomes a huge issue as thousands of applicants may apply, only few end up passing all of the requirements, leaving whichever agency in need of more recruits. Another issue has to do with the recruits’ privacy, as during the background check they are asked for all of their passwords to social media sites. Some people refuse this part of the process and, in turn, background investigators lose potential candidates. Along the same lines, salary has a lot to do with less of an interest from recruits. Accord to Peak, â€Å"the entry-level average salary of police officers in smaller jurisdictions averages about $26,000, and $4 9,500 in the largest jurisdictions.† Some feel that this is not enough to be putting their life on the line everyday, yet budget cuts and the competitive job market make it so. Lastly, and probably one of the biggest issues surround the recruitment and policing field, is minority and gender bias. Gender bias, in regards to men being hired over women and being promoted over women, even though said woman may have higher or better qualification for that job. It also refers to the sexual harassment that is seen in the workplace. Peak says, â€Å"†¦sexual harassment concerns prevent many women from applying and cause many female officers to leave and quickly: about 60% of female officers who leave their agency do so during their second to fifth years on the job.† At the same time, minorities are being treated the same way. Some, with lower pay, lower rate of being hired, and harassment. In order to combat this, however, the recruitment teams have taken special steps to make sure they hire underrepresented groups and expand their hiring pools. From the start of the hiring process to the end of a twenty-year career in the police force, someone is always going to remember his or her recruitment process. Many methods are in place to make sure the recruitment process goes as smoothly as possible. There are always going to be challenges and problems that people face, whether it has to do with fiscal budgets or hiring new employees, but the police force will always be there to protect and serve.

Art Tatum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Art Tatum - Essay Example In spite of his blindness, though, Art Tatum grew to become one of the great jazz musicians of his time. Tatum’s musical ability manifested itself at an early age. By the age of three, he was replicating music he had heard on the radio on the piano. His parents encouraged him in his music and eventually sent him off at the age of 16 to attend the Columbus School for the Blind. While learning how to read Braille, Tatum also studied music, both at his school and later with Overton G. Rainey, a classic pianist, at the Toledo School of Music. Tatum’s jazz talent was thus primarily self-taught but was good enough to get him his own show on the local radio station by the time he was 18. One year later and Tatum was working at Ohio’s Waiters’ and Bellmans’ Club, playing piano with singer Jon Hendricks. News of the young player began to spread and famous jazz greats such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Joe Turner and Fletcher Henderson began dropping in as they passed through town to hear him play. It wasn’t until 1932 when Tatum was 22 that singer Adelaide Hall decided to bring him to New York as her accompanist and his music began to be recorded. The earliest known recording is a 1932 test pressing of ‘Tiger Rag’, which was professionally recorded the following year. The song provides an excellent example of Tatum’s abilities as it features crashing bass notes, flowing cascades on both the left and right hands and a brutally fast tempo that showed off Tatum’s amazing dexterity. Tatum also participated in so-called ‘cutting contests’ while he was in New York, competing against other pianists such as Fats Weller and James P. Johnson for bragging rights that he never lost. Between 1933 and 1938, Tatum traveled around playing his piano visiting many of the large cities with big jazz followings including Cleveland, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and several locations in England,

Breakup of the Soviet Union Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Breakup of the Soviet Union - Essay Example There were many reasons for the disintegration of USSR. Economic collapse: The cold war between the America and USSR had created a virtual battleground for the two countries in which both tried to get an advantage over the other. It initiated the race for arms and both countries tried to acquire and produce better weapons to keep the other country in line. For the USSR, the arms race created a lot of problems. A high amount of the budget was spent on the military while the industry and other sectors received only a very small share. Such a large yearly output being devoted only for the cause of military resulted in the decline of the country’s economy which finally went into stagnation. The two countries also engaged in a ‘space race’ releasing shuttles and satellites into the space to improve their technological standings. This also caused the USSR a lot of money and caused resentment among the general public as the amount was not being used to satisfy their basi c needs. A major blow to the USSR economy was also made by the change in Saudi Arabia’s oil policies.... Also the regions within the USSR like Tajikistan that had ethnic links with the Afghans did not favor the war and hence an internal unrest was born inside the USSR (The Collapse of the Soviet Union). Gorbachev's reforms: The stagnation of the country and the obsolete political system of the country forced Gorbachev to introduce new reforms that could revitalize the economy and stabilize the existing political conditions. He introduced two famous reforms namely 'glasnost' and 'perestroika' which called for freedom of speech and political reconstruction respectively. The reforms however backfired and lead to the collapse of USSR. The transparency and the freedom of speech allowed the media to talk about corruption, alcoholism, political scandals and other issues that defamed the government. As the events like Chernobyl disaster and the Afghan war began to be showed in a negative light by the media the distrust of the general public on the Soviet government gradually increased. The stor ies of political killings and massacres in individual states like Armenia instilled the spirit of freedom and peaceful protests like The Baltic way began to be held in the entire country (Spielvogel). The democratization brought in as a result of perestroika provided more authority to the public and they openly spoke against the government. Gorbachev's reforms might have been for the good of the country but it produced radical unforeseen effects and the timing was certainly not right as his reforms ultimately resulted in the disintegration of USSR. US policies: While the above three factors played the most important role in the disintegration, the role of US cannot be denied. Ronald Regan, the president of US of that time made use of the deteriorating conditions of the USSR

One flew over the cuckoos nest Essay Example for Free

One flew over the cuckoos nest Essay Through Keseys use of literary features, his novel helped base an understanding on what society decided to believe is normal. Kesey highlights the significance of the insane and their positive energy. He uses McMurphy as a tool to highlight each patients positive side whereas society only searches for the negative. Keseys outlook on mental illness is simple; he uses his novel to point this out. His novel shows how the patients in the ward are there because society placed them there. Society labeled these people to be against the norms or conformities, which in return allowed the patients to feel inferior and out of place. This novel stresses the fact that each person should not be forced into a corner; they should be given rights to live regular lives with other people. Society should not force inferiority complexes on these patients. The fact that most of the patients were voluntary helps prove this point. It shows how society forced them into a completely different and inhumane lifestyle. Another novel that joins this rebellion against society in relation to insanity is The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. In this novel, Plath interprets insanity in her own way trying to prove practically the same point as Kesey. Plaths use of description, metaphors, and characterization help provide her main point of allowing insanity to merge with reality. The Bell Jar is a novel equipped with descriptions that allow the reader direct access to the main characters mind. Plath uses an abundant amount of physical descriptions such as the description of Esthers surroundings at all times to help give examples of how society has forced this woman to think. Esthers thoughts on life, death, and the world all seem to be reasonable and justifiable thoughts. She is capable of convincing the reader that those thoughts are not insane. Through the use of descriptions, Plath was able to highlight the unjust life of a 1950s woman. Plath also uses metaphors to highlight the suppression made by society on the women. The title of the book is the major metaphor that best represents Plaths idea on societys conformities. The entire novel revolves around the idea of the bell jar and this jar represents how society analyzes and reduces the contents provided in the jar. The jar represents insanity. Esther feels secluded and isolated from the real world when she is labeled as mad. She feels like she is an airless jar that ruins her perspective of what the real world is. It signifies a buffer that ends the connection between Esther and the real world4. These literary features were all used to highlight Esthers alienation from the real world. It shows how a young woman from the 1950s was forced to act. Esther wanted to pursue a writing career and is supported completely, but her thoughts begin to change when the fact that she cannot merge her career with being a mother come to place. Esther becomes depressed and her thoughts begin to change on the world. These individual thoughts begin to accumulate leading to actions that are condemned upon by society. Society expects a lot from Esther such as the idea of her virginity. Esther rebels against the conventional role of virginity with women at that time by embarking on a sexual experience. Esther did not become insane because she believed against the norms of society but rather insanity fell on her. The treatments in both novels are similar in many aspects. At first, the hospitals provide healthy conversations between the patient and a professional psychiatrist. In both novels, the sense of talking is important because a lot of information is released about society and what they think of it. Another treatment usually done after talk therapy is electroshock therapy. Electroshock therapy was created in 1936 in order to help patients clear their mind5. As years passed, this treatment began to evolve which therefore led to the change of its purpose. In One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, ECT was used as a form of punishment. Patients were punished for doing anything out of the ordinary. In The Bell Jar, Esther Greenwood undergoes several electroshock therapy sessions to clear her mind. She continuously states how painful the therapy is and tries to refuse treatment. Her recollections of these treatments show the inhumanity in medical treatments. Another treatment that falls into the controversial category is Lobotomy. It is shown insignificantly in The Bell Jar, one patient briefly converses about it. On the other hand, Lobotomy has a major impact in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. The main character undergoes a lobotomy at the end of the novel. This act completely criticizes the ways of society in relation to medical treatments. Many forms of medical treatments on insanity exist but whether they provide a positive outcome is the main question. Society and mental illness are very closely related in the sense that society creates the separation between sanity and insanity. That separation is miniscule and changes constantly over time. Both of these novels emphasize isolation, suppression, and seclusion forced by society. Society forces these on the ideas that are condemned or not wanted. These ideas should not force inhumane actions but rather welcome ideas as an advantage to a better society, a more open society. Mental illnesses and treatments are used as major themes in novels to help highlight the negative aspects of what society creates. Through showing the unjust actions forced by society on people, the idea of insanity should evolve from punishment to help. Word Count: 1,605 1 One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, by Ken Kesey. 2 Gale, CD-Rom, HS Library. Source 1 3 Gale, CD-Rom, HS Library. Source 1 4 Concise Dictionary of American Literary Biography, 1941-1968; Contemporary Authors, Vols. 17-20.

bob dylan Essay -- essays research papers

The Hurricane   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bob Dylan’s song, The Hurricane, brings to surface several of the themes covered in class this semester. The song explores general themes like community and responsibility, while also focusing on many of the sub-themes, such as justice and injustice, appearance and reality, and loyalty and abandonment. Throughout the song, the main characters constantly battle with the above themes in attempt to frame an innocent man. While the song brings up many of these themes, Dylan’s characters show little consistency with the texts covered, as the texts tend to try to find reconciliation in the characters, while Dylan’s characters feel no remorse in their actions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The song starts as â€Å"Pistol shots ring out in the barroom night,† and the manager arrives to see the bartender in a pool of blood. â€Å"Here comes the story of the hurricane,/ The man the authorities came to blame/ for somethin’ that he never done,† Dylan continues. The hurricane is an up-and-coming middleweight boxer by the name of Rubin Carter. The song details his wrongful imprisonment, and exposes the injustice and irresponsibility of a community in Paterson, New Jersey.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The bar’s manager, Patty Valentine, acts as an enabler for this irresponsibility, allowing it to continue although she knows it is most likely not the truth. â€Å"Three bodies lyin’ there does Patty see/ And another man named Bello movin’ around mysterious...

Dividend Policy

Stability of dividend policy. There may be three types of dividend policy (1)Strict or Conservative dividend Policy which envisages the retention of profits on the cost of dividend pay-out. It helps in strengthening the financial position of the company; (2) Lenient Dividend Policy which views the payment of dividend at the maximum rate possible taking in view the current earing of the company. Under such policy company retains the minimum possible earnings; (3)Stable Dividend Policy suggests a mid-way of the above two views. Under this policy, stable or almost stable rate of dividend is maintained.Company maintains reserves in the years of prosperity and uses them in paying dividend in lean year. If company follows stable dividend policy, the market price of tis shares shall be higher. There are reasons why investors prefer stable dividend policy. Main reasons are:- 1. Confidence Among Shareholders. A regular and stable dividend payment may serve to resolve uncertainty in the minds of shareholders. The company resorts not to cut the dividend rate even if its profits are lower. It maintains the rate of dividends by appropriating the funds from its reserves.Stable dividend presents a bright future of the company and thus gains the confidence of the shareholders an the goodwill of the company increases in the eyes of the general investors. 2. Income Conscious Investors. The second factor favoring stable dividend policy is that some investors are income conscious and favor a stable rate of dividend. They too, never favour an unstable rte of dividend. A Stable dividend policy may also satisfy such investors. 3. Stability in Market Price of Shares. Other things beings equal, the market price very with the rate of dividend the company declares on its equity shares.The value of shares of a company having a stable dividend policy fluctuates not widely even if the earnings of the company turn down. Thus, this policy buffer the market price of the stock. 4. Encouragement to Institutional Investors. A stable dividend policy attracts investments from institutional investors such institutional investors generally prepare a list of securities, mainly incorporating the securities of the companies having stable dividend policy in which they invest their surpluses or their long term funds such as pensions or provident funds etc.In this way, stability and regularity of dividends not only affects the market price of shares but also increases the general credit of the company that pays the company in the long run. Factors Affecting Dividend Policy A number of considerations affect the dividend policy of company. The major factors are 1. Stability of Earnings. The nature of business has an important bearing on the dividend policy. Industrial units having stability of earnings may formulate a more consistent dividend policy than those having an uneven flow of incomes because they can predict easily their savings and earnings.Usually, enterprises dealing in nec essities suffer less from oscillating earnings than those dealing in luxuries or fancy goods. 2. Age of corporation. Age of the corporation counts much in deciding the dividend policy. A newly established company may require much of its earnings for expansion and plant improvement and may adopt a rigid dividend policy while, on the other hand, an older company can formulate a clear cut and more consistent policy regarding dividend. 3. Liquidity of Funds.Availability of cash and sound financial position is also an important factor in dividend decisions. A dividend represents a cash outflow, the greater the funds and the liquidity of the firm the better the ability to pay dividend. The liquidity of a firm depends very much on the investment and financial decisions of the firm which in turn determines the rate of expansion and the manner of financing. If cash position is weak, stock dividend will be distributed and if cash position is good, company can distribute the cash dividend. 4. Extent of share Distribution.Nature of ownership also affects the dividend decisions. A closely held company is likely to get the assent of the shareholders for the suspension of dividend or for following a conservative dividend policy. On the other hand, a company having a good number of shareholders widely distributed and forming low or medium income group, would face a great difficulty in securing such assent because they will emphasise to distribute higher dividend. 5. Needs for Additional Capital. Companies retain a part of their profits for strengthening their financial position.The income may be conserved for meeting the increased requirements of working capital or of future expansion. Small companies usually find difficulties in raising finance for their needs of increased working capital for expansion programmes. They having no other alternative, use their ploughed back profits. Thus, such Companies distribute dividend at low rates and retain a big part of profits. 6. Trade Cycles. Business cycles also exercise influence upon dividend Policy. Dividend policy is adjusted according to the business oscillations.During the boom, prudent management creates food reserves for contingencies which follow the inflationary period. Higher rates of dividend can be used as a tool for marketing the securities in an otherwise depressed market. The financial solvency can be proved and maintained by the companies in dull years if the adequate reserves have been built up. 7. Government Policies. The earnings capacity of the enterprise is widely affected by the change in fiscal, industrial, labour, control and other government policies.Sometimes government restricts the distribution of dividend beyond a certain percentage in a particular industry or in all spheres of business activity as was done in emergency. The dividend policy has to be modified or formulated accordingly in those enterprises. 8. Taxation Policy. High taxation reduces the earnings of he companies and c onsequently the rate of dividend is lowered down. Sometimes government levies dividend-tax of distribution of dividend beyond a certain limit. It also affects the capital formation. N India, dividends beyond 10 % of aid-up capital are subject to dividend tax at 7. 5 %. 9. Legal Requirements. In deciding on the dividend, the directors take the legal requirements too into consideration. In order to protect the interests of creditors an outsiders, the companies Act 1956 prescribes certain guidelines in respect of the distribution and payment of dividend. Moreover, a company is required to provide for depreciation on its fixed and tangible assets before declaring dividend on shares. It proposes that Dividend should not be distributed out of capita, in any case.Likewise, contractual obligation should also be fulfilled, for example, payment of dividend on preference shares in priority over ordinary dividend. 10. Past dividend Rates. While formulating the Dividend Policy, the directors mus t keep in mind the dividend paid in past years. The current rate should be around the average past rat. If it has been abnormally increased the shares will be subjected to speculation. In a new concern, the company should consider the dividend policy of the rival organisation. 11. Ability to Borrow.Well established and large firms have better access to the capital market than the new Companies and may borrow funds from the external sources if there arises any need. Such Companies may have a better dividend pay-out ratio. Whereas smaller firms have to depend on their internal sources and therefore they will have to built up good reserves by reducing the dividend pay out ratio for meeting any obligation requiring heavy funds. 12. Policy of Control. Policy of control is another determining factor is so far as dividends are concerned.If the directors want to have control on company, they would not like to add new shareholders and therefore, declare a dividend at low rate. Because by add ing new shareholders they fear dilution of control and diversion of policies and programmes of the existing management. So they prefer to meet the needs through retained earing. If the directors do not bother about the control of affairs they will follow a liberal dividend policy. Thus control is an influencing factor in framing the dividend policy. 13. Repayments of Loan. A company having loan indebtedness are vowed to a igh rate of retention earnings, unless one other arrangements are made for the redemption of debt on maturity. It will naturally lower down the rate of dividend. Sometimes, the lenders (mostly institutional lenders) put restrictions on the dividend distribution still such time their loan is outstanding. Formal loan contracts generally provide a certain standard of liquidity and solvency to be maintained. Management is bound to hour such restrictions and to limit the rate of dividend payout. 14. Time for Payment of Dividend. When should the dividend be paid is anoth er consideration.Payment of dividend means outflow of cash. It is, therefore, desirable to distribute dividend at a time when is least needed by the company because there are peak times as well as lean periods of expenditure. Wise management should plan the payment of dividend in such a manner that there is no cash outflow at a time when the undertaking is already in need of urgent finances. 15. Regularity and stability in Dividend Payment. Dividends should be paid regularly because each investor is interested in the regular payment of dividend.The management should, inspite of regular payment of dividend, consider that the rate of dividend should be all the most constant. For this purpose sometimes companies maintain dividend Meaning and Types of Dividend The profits of a company when made available for the distribution among its shareholders are called dividend. The dividend may be as a fixed annual percentage of paid up capital as in the case of preference shares or it may vary a ccording to the prosperity of the company as in the case of ordinary shares.The decision for distributing or paying a dividend is taken in the meeting of Board of Directors and in confirmed generally by the annual general meeting of the shareholders. The dividend can be declared only out of divisible profits, remained after setting of all the expenses, transferring the reasonable amount of profit to reserve fund and providing for depreciation and taxation for the year. It means if in any year, there is not profits, no dividend shall be distributed that year.The shareholders cannot insist upon the company to declared the dividend. It is solely the discretion of the directors. Aunt hinted that the dividend was an income of the owners of the corporation which they received in the capacity of the owner. Distribution of dividend involves reduction of current assets (cash) but not always. Stock dividend or bonus shares is an exception to it Basic Issues Involved in Dividend Policy There a re certain basic questions which are Involved in determining the sound dividend policy. Such questions are:- 1.Cost of Capital. Cost of capital is one of the considerations for taking a decision whether to distribute dividend or not. As decision making tool, the Board calculates the ratio of rupee profits that the business expects to earn (Ra) to the rupee, profits that the shareholders can expect to earn outside (Rc) i. e. , Rs. /Rc. If the ratio is less than one, it is a signal to distribute dividend and if it is more than one, the distribution of dividend will be discontinued. 2. realisation of Objectives. The main objectives of the firm i. e. maximization of wealth for shareholders including there current rate of dividend-should also be aimed at in formulating the dividend policy. 3. Shareholders' Group. Dividend policy affects the shareholders group. It means a company with low pay-out an heavy reinvestment attracts shareholders interested in capital gains rather than n current income whereas a company with high dividend pay-out attracts those who are interested in current income. 4. Release of Corporate earnings. Dividend distribution is taking as a mens of distributing unused funds.Dividend policy affects the shareholders wealth by varying its dividend pay = out ratio. In Dividend policy, the financial manager decides whether to release Corporate earnings or not. These are certain basic issues Involved in formulating a Dividend policy. Dividend policy to a large extent affects the financial structure, the flow of funds, liquidity, stock prices and in the last shareholders' satisfaction. That is why management exercises a high degree of judgment establishing a sound dividend pattern. Dividend Policy Dividend Policy Vinod Kothari Corporations earn profits – they do not distribute all of it. Part of profit is ploughed back or held back as retained earnings. Part of the profit gets distributed to the shareholders. The part that is distributed is the dividend. The ratio of the actual distribution or dividend, and the total distributable profits, is called dividend payout ratio. How much of its profits should a corporation distribute? There are several considerations that apply in answering this question. Hence, companies have to frame and work on a definitive policy of dividend payout ratio.Of course, no corporate management can afford to stick to a fixed dividend payout ratio year after year – neither is such fixity of dividend payout ratio required or expected. However, management has to broadly decide its policy on its broad attitude towards distribution – liberal dividend payout ratio, or conservative dividend payout ratio, etc. If one were to ask this quest ion in context of debt sources of capital – for example, how much interest should a corporation pay to its bankers, the answer is straight forward. As interest paid is the cost of the borrowing, the lesser the interest a corporation pays, the better it is.Besides, companies do not have choice on paying of interest to lenders – as the rate of interest is contractually fixed. Rate of dividends may be fixed in case of preference shares too. However, in case of equity shares, there is no fixed rate of dividends. It cannot be said that the dividend paid is the cost of equity capital – if that was the case, corporations may try to minimize the dividend distribution. Hence, the following points emerge as regards the dividend distribution policy: †¢ The cost of equity is defined as the rate at which the corporation must earn on its equity to keep the market price of the equity shares constant.Let us further suppose that the market price of the shares is obtained by capitalizing the earnings of the corporation at a certain capitalization rate – the capitalization rate itself depending on the riskiness or beta of the industry. Suppose the corporation does not earn any profit. Shareholders were expecting a certain rate of return on their shareholding – hence, share prices will fall at the expected return on equity. On the other hand, if just the expected rate of return is earned by the corporation, the price of equity shares remains constant if the earnings are entirely distributed, and xactly grows by the expected rate of return if the earnings are entirely retained. The above discussion leads to the conclusion that the cost of equity is not the dividends but the return on equity – hence, a corporation cannot work on the objective of minimizing dividends. Equity shareholders are the owners of the corporation – hence, retained earnings ultimately belong to the shareholders. Supposing a company earns return on equity o f 10%, and retains the whole of it, the retained earnings increase the net asset value (NAV) of the equity shares exactly at the rate of 10%.Assuming there are no other factors affecting the equity price of the company, the market price of †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ the shares should exactly go up by 10% commensurate with the increase in the NAV of the shares. That is to say, shareholders gain by way of appreciation in market price to the extent of 10%. On the other hand, if the company distributes the entire earnings, shareholders earn a cash return of 10%, and there is no impact on the NAV of the shares, hence, the same should remain unchanged.Therefore, in both the cases, the shareholders earned a return of 10% – in the first case, by way of growth or capital appreciation, and in the second case, by way of income. In other words, merely because the corporation is not distributing profits does not mean it is depriving shareholders of the rate of return on equity. The above two points reflect the indifference, sometimes referred to as irrelevance of dividend policy (see Modigliani and Miller approach later in this Chapter) from the viewpoint of either the company or its shareholders. Supposing the corporation decides to retain the entire earning.Obviously, the corporation would earn on this retained profit at the applicable return on equity. Note that the return on equity is relevant, as retained earnings would be leveraged and would, therefore, benefit from the impact of leverage too. On the other hand, if the corporation were to distribute the entire profits, shareholders reinvest/consume the income so distributed at their own rate of return. Hence, it may be contended that whether the company retains or distributes the earnings depends on whose reinvestment rate is higher – that of the company or that of the shareholders?Quite clearly, the rate of reinvestment in the hands of the corporation is higher than that in the han ds of the shareholders, (a) because of leverage which shareholders may not be able to garner; and (b) intuitively, that is the very reason for the shareholders to invest in the company in the first place. This argument generally favors retention of profits by the company rather than distribution. [As we discuss later, this argument is the basis of the Walter formula] As a counter argument to this, it is contended that shareholders do not need growth only – they need current income too.Many investors may sustain their livelihood on dividend earnings. Of what avail is the increase in market value of shares, if I need cash to spend for my expenses? However, in the age of demat securities and liquid stock markets, growth and income are almost equivalent. For example, if I am holding equity shares worth $ 100, which appreciate in value to $ 110 due to retention, I can dispose off 10/110% of my shareholding, earn cash equal to $ 10, and still be left with stock worth $ 100, which i s exactly the same as earning cash dividend of $ 10 with no retention at all.While the above argument may point to indifference between growth and income, the reality of the marketplace is that investors do have varying preferences for growth and income. There are investors who are growth-inclined, and there are those who are income-inclined. Majority of retail investors insist on balance between growth and income, as they do not see an exact equivalence between appreciation in market value and current cashflows. Hence, the conclusion that emerges is that companies do have to strike a balance between shareholders’ need for current income, and growth opportunities by retained earnings.Hence, dividend policy still remains an important consideration. While making the above points, there are certain special points that affect particular situation that need to be borne in mind: †¢ Company’s reinvestment rate lower than that of shareholders: Sometimes, there are compani es that do not have significant reinvestment opportunities. More precisely, we say the reinvestment rate of the company is lesser than the reinvestment rate of shareholders. In such cases, obviously, it is better to pay earnings out than to retain them.As the classic theories of impact of dividends on market value of a share (see Walter’s formula below) suggest, or what is anyway intuitively understandable, retention of earnings makes sense only where the reinvestment rate of the company is higher than that of shareholders. †¢ Tax disparities between current dividends and growth: In our discussion on indifference between current dividends and share price appreciation, we have assumed that taxes do not play a spoilsport. In fact, quite often, they do.For example, if a company distributes dividends, the same may be taxed (either as income in the hands of shareholders, or by way of tax on distribution – like dividend distribution tax in India). Alternatively, if the shareholders have a capital appreciation, which they encash by partial liquidation of holdings, shareholders have a capital gain. Taxability of a capital gain may not be the same as that of dividends. Hence, taxes may differentiate between current dividends and share price appreciation. Shares with fixed returns: Needless to say, there is no relevance of dividend policy where dividends are payable as per terms of issue – for example, in case of preference shares. †¢ Entities requiring minimum distribution: There might also be situations where entities are required to do a minimum distribution under regulations. For example, in case of real estate investment trusts, a certain minimum distribution is required to attain tax transparent status. There might be other regulations or regulatory motivations for companies to distribute their profits.These regulations may impact our discussion on relevance of dividend policy on price of equity shares. †¢ Unlisted companies: Fi nally, one must also note that discussion above on the parity between distributed earnings and retained earnings – the latter leading to market price appreciation – will have relevance only in case of listed firms. Technically speaking, in case of unlisted firms too, retained earnings belong to the shareholders, as shareholders after all are the owners of the residual wealth of the company. However, that residual ownership may be a myth as companies do not istribute assets except in event of winding, and winding up is a rarity. The discussion in this chapter on dividend policy, as far is relates to market price of equity shares, is keeping in mind listed firms. In case of unlisted firms, classical models such as Walter’s model or Gordon Growth model discussed below may hold relevance than market price-based models. From dividends to market value of equity: Dividend capitalisation approach: If, for a second, we were to ignore the stock market capitalisation of a company, what is the market value of an equity share?Say, we take the case of an unlisted company. We know from our discussion on present values that the value of any asset is the value of its cashflows. What is the cashflow a shareholder gets from his equity? As long as the company is not wound up, and the shareholder does not sell the stock, the only cashflow of the shareholder is the dividends he gets. It is easy to understand that if we are not envisaging either a sale of the shares or a liquidation of the company, then the stream of dividends may be assumed to continue in perpetuity. Hence, VE = ? ? (1 + K i =1 Di E )i (1)Where VE : Value of equity K E : Cost of equity Di : dividends in paid in year i Equation (1) is easy to understand. Shareholders continue to receive dividends year after year, and these dividends are discounted by the shareholders at the cost of equity, that is, the required return of the shareholders. If the stream of dividends is constant, then Equation (1) is actually a geometric progression. We can manipulate Equation (1) either to compute the price of equity, if the constant stream of dividends is known, or to compute the cost of equity, if the dividend rate and market price of the shares is known.Applying the geographical progression formula for adding up perpetual progressions, assuming constant dividends equal to D, Equation (1) above becomes: VE = = D (1 + K E ) ? (1 ? 1 ) 1+ KE (2) D KE Example: Supposing a company the nominal value equity were $ 100, and the dividends at the rate of 10 % were $ 10, if the cost of equity is 8%, then the market price of the shares will given by 10/8%, or $ 125. Incorporating growth in dividends:In our over-simplified example above, we have taken dividends to be constant. It would be unusual to expect that dividends will be constant, particularly where the company is not distributing all its earnings. That is to say, with the retained earnings, the company has increasing profits in successive ye ars, and therefore, it continues to distribute more. If dividends grow at a certain compounded rate, say g, then, Equation (2) above becomes: VE = D (1 + g ) (1 + K E ) = ? (1 ? 1+ g ) 1+ KE (3) D (1 + g ) KE ? gNote that we have assumed here that even the first dividend will have grown at g rate, that is, the historical dividend has been D, but we are expecting the current year’s dividend to have increased at the constant rate. If we assume the current year’s dividend will not show the growth, and the growth will come from the forthcoming year, then we can remove (1+g) in the numerator above. The formula as it stands is also referred as Gordon’s dividend growth formula, discussed below. Example: Supposing a company the nominal value equity were $ 100, and the dividends at the rate of 10 % were historically $10.Going forward, we expect that the dividends will continue to grow at a rate of 5% per annum. If the cost of equity is 8%, what is the market value? We pu t the numbers in the formula and get a value of $350. Note that we can also test the valuation above on Excel. If we take sufficient number of dividends, say, 1000, successively growing at the rate of 5%, and we discount the entire stream at 8%, we will get the same value. Example: Supposing a company the nominal value equity were $ 100, and the dividends at the rate of 10 % were historically $10.Going forward, we expect that the dividends will continue to grow at a rate of 12% per annum. If the cost of equity is 8%, what is the market value? This is a case where the growth in dividends is higher than the discounting rate. The growth in dividends is a multiplier; the discounting rate is a divisor. If the multiplier is higher than the divisor, then the present value of each successive dividend will be higher than the previous one, and hence a perpetual series will have infinite value. There is yet another notable point – the growth rate g above may be also be visualised as the appreciation in the market value of the share.That is, shareholders are rewarded in form of current earnings as well as growth in the value of their investment. Dividend-based equity models: Walter Approach: The Walter formula belongs to James E Walter, and is based on a simple argument that where the reinvestment rate, that is, rate of return that the company may earn on retained earnings, is higher than cost of equity (which, as we have discussed before, the expected returns of the shareholders, or rate of return of the shareholders), then, it would be in the interest of the firm to retain the earnings.If the company’s reinvestment rate on retained earnings is the less than shareholders’ rate of return, the company should not retain earnings. If the two rates are the same, then the company should be indifferent between retaining and distributing. The Walter formula is based on a simple analysis that the market value of equity is the capitalisation of the current ear nings and growth in price (g in our formula in equation 3 above). Hence, the basis of Walter formula is: VE = D +g KE (4) Here, the growth factor occurs because the rate of return on retention done by the company is higher than the cost of equity.That is to say, the company continues to earn at r rate of return on the retained earnings, and this is what causes growth g. Hence, g= r (E-D)/ K E Inserting equations (5) into (4), we have VE = (5) D KE + r (E – D)/K E KE (6) Where r = rate of return on retained earnings of the company E = earnings rate D = dividend rate Example: Supposing a company the nominal value equity is $ 100, and the dividends at the rate of 10 % are $10. Supposing the company earns at the rate of 12% , what is the market value of equity if the the cost of equity is 8%?The market value of the share comes to $ 162. 50. This is explainable easily. As the company is earning $12, and distributing $10, it retains $ 2 every year, on which it earns at 12%. The cap italised value of 0. 24 at 8% will be the expected growth. Therefore, the sustainable earnings of the shareholders will be $ 10 +3, which, when capitalised at 8%, produces the value $ 162. 50. Of course, the key learning from Walter’s approach is not what the market value of equity is, but how the market value of equity can be maximised by following a proper distribution policy.For instance, in the present case, it is not advisable for the company to distribute any dividend at all, as the company earns more than the shareholders’ opportunity rate. If the company was not to distribute anything, the market value of the share may increase to $ 225. Gordon growth model: Gordon’s growth model is simply Equation (3) above, that is, VE = D (1 + g ) KE ? g This is, as we have seen above, derived from perpetual sum of a geometric progression, under the assumption that the growth rate is less than the cost of equity. Modigliani and Miller approach:Franco Modigliani was aw arded Nobel prize in 1985 and Merton Miller in 1990 (along with Markowitz and Sharpe). M&M have theorised on the irrelevance of the capital structure, and a corollary, irrelevance of the dividend payout ratio to the value of the firm. Like several financial theories, M&M hypothesis is based on the argument of efficient capital markets. In addition, we believe that a firm has two options: (a) It retains earnings and finances its new investment plans with such retained earnings; (b) It distributes dividends, and finances its new investment plans by issuing new shares.The intuitive background of the M&M approach is extremely simple, and in fact, almost selfexplanatory. It is based on the following propositions: †¢ Why would a company retain earnings? Only tenable reason is that the company has investment opportunities. If the company does not retain earnings, where does it finance those investment opportunities from? We may assume a debt issuance, but then as M&M otherwise propoun ded irrelevance of the capital structure, they see a parity between debt and equity, and hence, it does not make a difference whether the new investments are funded by equity or debt.So, let us assume that the new growth plans are funded by equity. Shareholders price the equity shares of the company to take into account the earnings and the retentions of the company. If the company distributes dividends, the shareholders take into account that fact in pricing of the shares; if the company does not distribute dividends, that is also reflected in the pricing of the shares. If dividends are distributed, the financing needs of the company will be funded by issuing new shares. The issue price of these shares will compensate for the fact that the dividends have been distributed.That is to say, the market price of the share will remain unaffected by whether the dividends have been distributed or not. †¢ †¢ Let us take a one year time horizon to understand the indifference argumen t of M&M. We use the following new notations: Po P1 D1 n m I X : Price of the equity share at point 0 : Price of the equity share at point 1, that is, end of period 1 : Dividend per share being paid in period 1 : existing number of issued shares : new shares to be issued : Investment needs of the company in year 1 : Profits of the firm year in 1 The relation between the price at the beginning of the year (Po), and that at he end of the year (P1) is the simple question of discounted value at the shareholders’ expected rate of return (KE). Hence, Po = (P1 +D1) / (1+(KE) (7) Equation (7) is quite easy to understand. Shareholders have got a cash return equal to D1 at the end of Year 1, and the share is still worth P1. Hence, discounted at the cost of equity, the discounted value is the price at the beginning of the period. Alternatively, it may also be stated that the P1 = (P0 )* (1+(KE) – D1 (8) That is to say, if the company declares dividends, the price the end of year 1 comes down to the effect of the distribution.Equation (7) can be manipulated. By multiplying both sides by n, and adding a self-cancelling number m, we may write (7) as follows: nPo = [(n+m)P1 -mP1 +nD1)]/(1+(KE) (9) Note that we have multiplied both sides by n, and the added number m along with m is cancelled by deducting the same outside the brackets. mP1 represents the new share capital raised by the company to finance its investment needs. How much share capital would the company need to raise? Given the investment needs I and the profits X, the new capital issued will be given by the following: mP1 = I – (X – nD1) (10)Again, this is not difficult to understand, as the total amount of profit of the company is X, and the total amount distributed as dividends is nD1. Hence, the company is left with a funding gap as shown by equation (10). If the value of mP1 is substituted in Equation (9), we have the following: nPo = [(n+m)P1 – {I – (X – nD1)} +nD1)]/(1+(KE) (11) As nD1 would cancel out, we will be left with the following: nPo = [(n+m)P1 – I + X] /(1+(KE) (12) Since nPo is total value of the stock at point 0, it is seen from Equation (12) that dividend is not a factor in that valuation at all.

Information Paper

Use Daniell Jackson CIS 207 August 1, 2012 Timothy Thacker According to (Anthony Robbins, 2010) â€Å"The way we communicate with others and with ourselves ultimately determines the quality of our lives†. It is imperative that in any organization there needs to be a detailed and efficient flow of information. Communications is the key for a business to be successful, and it provides the solid foundation needed to construct a solid business process. One other very important part of communications in a company is the flow of that information which ultimately produces the results whether good or bad.This paper will describe how information is used and how it flows at Document Logistic Agency (DLA) Document Services Jacksonville in the IT department. It will also describe any concerns with properly controlling the information flow, including keeping it safe from unauthorized use. DLA Document Services Jacksonville is a Department of Defense (DoD) command that provides a web-based solution for ordering documents. The communication flow starts from the customer level as documents such as publications, posters, retirement programs, and many more available products are ordered online.Although the Document Services Online website where most of the communications is done electronically, there is still a need for communication flow for those of us here at DLA in order to produce the customers required results. I thought it would be fitting to compare the communications that I have experienced here at DLA and my military communications experience, to show some of the differences As a 23 year retired veteran of the United States Navy, communications becomes a major part of everyday life.Military men and women are introduced to what is known as the chain of command and the structure in which it is written at each command. Communications is something that we are taught not to take for granted because it could be the difference between losing and saving a life in a give n situation. Once retired and transferred into what most military men and women call â€Å"The Civilian World,† I immediately discovered that there is a difference concerning military and civilian communications, the flow, and the concern of controlling that information.Here at DLA document services we have a variety of personnel that come together to produce products for the customer. The accountants manage and handle financial issues, machine workers print and produce the orders, information technology personnel maintain the servers, and management oversees the entire business process. Upon reporting for work here at DLA, I have been privileged to several communication issues that have caused issues, but have been addressed and changes put in place.One of the main issues I discovered was that as the network security engineer, there was no communications between the system administrators working on the servers. There was no sharing of information, which consistently resulted in changes to the system by the system administrators, but no upward communications of these changes through the IT department. The program manager was not informed of the lack of maintenance on the servers and the only concerned seem to be that the systems stay up to produce orders.This line of thinking was unfamiliar to me and I felt it would be a recipe for disaster. â€Å"Information sharing is critical to an organization’s competitiveness and requires a free flow of information among members if the organization is to remain competitive† (JP Hatala and J Lutta, 2008). Although we held a bi-weekly meeting that consisted of minutes from the last meeting and the old business to new business concept, it was clear that it served no purpose and I was determined to change that concept.I introduced the Configuration Control Board (CCB) to the Program Manager and showed her how it would make our meetings more effective by allowing communications to flow from the bottom to the top. Eventually I was able to get the SA’s to fill out a configuration change form and submit that form through the leadership, so that all parties would be aware of any major changes to our systems. We ensure that our transmission and handling of sensitive information is handled discreetly. The protection of our information is controlled on a need-to-know basis, which is the same as when I was in the military.The only concern that I had was sending and receiving emails with sensitive information such as Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and other detailed information via e-mail without encryption. We started ensure that we encrypted our emails to add that extra layer of needed security on sensitive documents. We also started the digital signature initiative that ensures all CCB documents are genuinely signed by each responsible IT department personnel, using our Common Access Cards (CAC).The DoD CAC card allows employees to have their own unique identification, authentica tion privileges, encrypting, and crypto graphical ability to sign emails and other documents. DLA Document Services Jacksonville delivers quality products to the men and women of our military. Although there were some issues with communications, the improvements have been astounding. We realized that when companies are dealing in the information technology field there is a need for excellent communications amongst team members up, and down the organization so that the best customer service can be provided.We discussed the importance of ensuring that communications is protected and secured because it is the cornerstone of maintaining that need-to-know responsibility. References Anthony Robbins (2010), Power of Giving. Retrieved on July 30, 2012 from http://www. power-of-giving. com/tony-robbins-quotes. html JP Hatala and J Lutta (2008), Managing Information Sharing Within an Organizational Setting: A Social Network Perspective. Retrieved July 30, 2012, from https://ehis. ebscohost. c om/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? vid=2&hid=3&sid=8a83ca4d-a18d-4679-b2e7-f631c1b0a62c%40sessionmgr11

The Civilization of West Europe Making Steps towards the Progress

The Civilization of West Europe Making Steps towards the Progress Because of various factors influencing the development of nations and the shaping of the specific national peculiarities, the pace of West Europe development is considerably different from the one of the other parts of the world, which predetermines the specific features of the West European countries and their unusual features that distinguish them from the rest of the world.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Civilization of West Europe: Making Steps towards the Progress specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Analyzing the specific changes that occurred to the West Europe in the course of its development, one will be able not only to come to certain conclusions concerning the peculiarities of the West European culture, but also understand what issues and circumstances predetermined the given change. Thus, the reasons for the cultural difference between various countries will be found. In addition, the prerequisites of s everal major changes in the world politics, economics, financial and cultural life can be found if analyzing the changes in the West Europe carefully, which calls for an all-embracing consideration of the West Europe in XIX and the specifics of its development. It seems that there could not have been anything more romantic than the XIX-century England Victorian epoch. Introducing a whole world of refinement and elegance, the Victorian morals, though claimed by a number of people pretentious and fake (Pionke xvi), still seem to be an attempt on introducing certain flair of romantics into the prosaic world of the ordinary. However, it is necessary to admit that the Victorian Romanism also enhanced the evolution of privacy ideas and the concept of private exchange of letters, which, in its turn, must have served as a powerful incentive for the further personal rights campaign and the development of post service secrecy. According to Pionke, the Victorian epoch neglected the privacy rul es until a certain event that served as a turning point of the Victorian mail history: Welsh observes that Victorian novels with blackmail plots often endorse not a revelation, but a reconcealing, of the truth as the proper and of ethical behavior whereas Vincent uses the Post Office scandal of 1844 – when it was discovered that the Post Office regularly opened suspicious mail, including potentially that of radical MPs – as an introduction to ways in which certain forms of information were concealed from public in the name of national security. (xvii)Advertising Looking for essay on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Therefore, the necessity to reconsider the conspiracy of private correspondence in the Victorian culture was obvious. Predetermined by the ideas of human rights and freedoms, the given situation was an obvious violation of people’s rights. However, it is quite debatable whether it was the notorious Post Office scandal of 1844 that changed the situation completely, or the advent of Romantic individualism, which â€Å"with its overwhelming valuation of the secret self and the poetic soul, as well as the pressures of political and economic instability† (Pionke xvii) speeded up the development of the mail privacy significance. One of the most tragic events in the history of the humankind, the epoch of battling with cholera, as well as the thousands of lives that cholera had taken, will always remain the darkest page of the world history – and at the same time the period when people displayed incredible courage and the willingness to survive and save the rest of the humanity. Induced by the lack – or, one had better said, complete absence – of sanitation, the disease was spreading at the increasing pace, despite the medics’ attempts to stop it. However, it is worth noting that the reaction of medics and the government towards the surge of the disease differed considerably, which was predetermined by specific financial and economical factors. Because of taking different approaches to vanquish the same problem of poverty and the anti-sanitation issue, as well as the amazing discovery made by Robert Koch, the epidemic was successfully defeated. As Oppemheimer and Susser explained, â€Å"the cholera poison, subsequently germinated in the soil, would be transmitted locally through the atmosphere, but, contrary to Koch’s assertion, never by water or person-to-person† (1239).Not being able to control the cholera dispersion, the government should have implemented certain sanitary reforms, as Oppemheimer and Susser (1239) argued. Therefore, the course of actions of the government in the time when cholera was raging concerned issuing the acts concerning the norms of sanity, while medics focused on the medicine that could serve as the protection from the cholera virus.Advertising We will writ e a custom essay sample on The Civilization of West Europe: Making Steps towards the Progress specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Because of the deplorable state of sanitation in the countries in the XIX century, the reason for the epidemic was quite complicated to spot. Hence, the ideas that Koch offered were quite novel and not really credible. However, Oppemheimer and Susser claim that as soon as the treatment offered by Koch proved efficient, the situation changed radically: â€Å"In Hamburg, he ordered interventions that von Pettenkofer regularly repudiated – isolation, quarantine, disinfection, and the boiling of water before its consumption† (1240). If it had not been for the dramatic discovery of Robert Koch, the history of the humankind must have turned out much shorter and less glorious. However, it is worth mentioning that the government also conducted the course of actions that were targeted at vanquishing the plague. Despite certain discrepancies in the policy of the government and Koch’s course of actions, cholera was finally defeated, though with huge losses. Considering the main problems of the XIX-century world, one must admit that slavery was the main scourge of the society in the distant 1810-1890ies. However, with the help of certain factors concerning the religious and economical issues, the idea of slavery as a part and parcel of the social structure and the economical model of the society started to wear off, which resulted in another stupendous change in the course of the humankind development. However, it should be acknowledged that, out of all reasons for the abolition of slavery, the economical ones were the most essential. With the advent of the new technologies and the development of machinery-based manufacturing, the need in slavery wore out, which drove to the reason for abolition. As Milwood admits, There is a falseness of the claim that Britain abolished slavery. From the concrete evidence, British and European abolition of slavery was a paper gesture only. Abolition was not on moral grounds, ethical or theological grounds. (99)Advertising Looking for essay on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Meanwhile, the role of the religion in the process of the slave abolition, in contrast to what one might have expected, was to sustain the slavery regime, supporting it by the fact that religion must offer the slaves the consolation, not the way out of their dominated position. According to Milwood, religion was used in order to persuade people in the necessity of slavery as the stronghold of the society: Reverend John Smith, when he was dispatched on his mission to Demerara in 1816, was told ‘Not a word must escape you in public or private which might dislocate or render the slaves to be displeased with their situation. You are not sent to relieve then from their servitude condition, but to offer them the consolation of religion.’ (Milwood 100) Thus, slavery was obviously being ousted by the capitalistic ideas. However, operating the religious ideas, the authorities were trying to create obstacles in the way of the abolitionist movement. Nevertheless, the social and te chnological changes were too great for the slavery regime to continue. Another peculiar phenomenon in the history of Europe, the phenomenon of charivari should also be considered thoroughly. Being one of the ways in which justice was restored in the XIX century, charivari in French, or samosud in Russian, was considered the way in which justice could be restored when the authorities could not pass the adequate judgement. As Vogler explained, Within the category of the unmediated popular justice, the strongest legacies of traditional practices lie in the unsanctioned vigilantism which erupts in even highly developed or urban communities. In the English tradition, these have been represented by ‘skimmingtons,’ ‘chivarees’ and ‘rough music’ which essentially involved community victimization and punishment of deviants [†¦]. Such anarchic practices were merely part of popular rural justice which, for example, in France took the form of the char ivari and in Russia the samosud [†¦]. Therefore, people considered it their moral authority to accept the role of vigilantes and restore the justice that has been scorned and the violated rights of the population. As Vogler explains, in most cases, the issue in question concerned the problem of property crime (225) and demonstrated the lack of efficiency that the legal justice system had on the criminals and the criminal situation in the countries (46). Thus, Vogler emphasized the fact that the justice system of the XIX century left much to be desired, which enhanced the surge of the samosud incidents. Declaring complete helplessness of the existing system of justice, samosud and charivari peaked in such climaxes as lynch mobs and Ku-Klux-Klan (Vogler 2005), which meant that charivari was not the means to fight crimes but were themselves another variation of the latter. Together with the major changes concerning the sphere of economics, politics and the social life, emancipatio n of the society took place in the XIX century. However, despite the attempts of the adepts of feminist movement to inhale certain social ideas in the emancipation of the world, these were obviously the economical reasons that spurred women’s participation in economics and obtaining jobs in department stores. It is quite peculiar, thought, that in the United States by the XIX century, women employment was no longer a problem, in contrast to the situation in Europe. As Barth marks, â€Å"throughout the second half of the nineteenth century, the absence of women in the center of London, Paris, Berlin or Vienna struck American travelers in Europe† (Barth 121). However, it is worth mentioning that, because of the emancipation ideas that came to the forth in the XIX century, the necessity to offer women certain job opportunities was obvious. Unless West Europe offered women workplace in a certain field, Europe would not have been recognized as a developed country by the Uni ted States, where the ideas of emancipation had already took the hold of the social life standards and promoted equality between men and women, touching upon the issue of employment as well. As Barth explained, â€Å"the department store made the new phenomenon of a feminine public possible† (121). Therefore, predetermined by the necessity to keep in pace with the progress, the West European countries were to offer job propositions to women. Though the job prospects were at first limited by department stores which â€Å"thrived on the concentrated urban markets and on the industrial sector of the American economy† (Barth 121) and clerk desks, later on women managed to get the access to more responsible positions. However, judging from the current state of affairs, department stores are still mostly the realm of women, mostly due to the specifics of the work (Barth 122). The last, but not the least issue concerning the development of the West European countries and the obstacles that stood in their way to the progress, the World War I must be mentioned. Although the war can be considered an inevitable step on the way of the humankind development and reaching for another stage of progress, it cannot be denied that war took away millions of lives all over Europe and is one of the most tragic events ever occurring not only in the history of Europe, but also in the history of the world. Because of constant threat of being killed and even more dreadful prospect that the Triple Alliance could capture the entire world, the soldiers’ perception of reality changed completely once they faced their first battle. In addition to the lack of physical comfort, people were suffering the change of world perception, which, in its turn, contributed to the creation of such idea as â€Å"there are no atheists in the foxholes.† However, according to Upshur et al., the given observation is not quite true, since â€Å"hardly one soldier in a hundred was in spired by religious feeling of even the crudest kind. It would have been difficult to remain religious in the trenches even if one had survived the irreligion of the training battalion at home† (756). Indeed, in the place where people have to kill the foes without thinking, religion would have been rather a nuisance. Therefore, the idea that â€Å"there are no atheists in the foxholes† is wrong. Hence, it cam be concluded that the development of West Europe was far from being integral and well-paced; moreover, it is worth mentioning that the West European progress was often introduced by the harsh changes and a variety of consequences. Hence, it is important to mark that in West Europe, several essential steps towards progress were made in the XIX century, which enhanced the development of the rest of the world, like the ideas on slavery abolition, which further on spread to the United States and enhanced a revolution in the country. Therefore, the significance of the c hanges in West Europe cannot be denied; moreover, it is obvious that the changes in the West European society triggered a number of events that contributed to the world progress. Thus, West Europe of the XIX century played a crucial role in establishing the new moral values and introducing a new way of life that was further on considered the stronghold of the civilization, which allows to suggest that the development of West Europe has enhanced the progress of the rest of the world and contributed to the history of the humankind considerably. Barth, Gunther. City People: The Rise of Modern City Culture in Nineteenth-Century  America. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1982. Print. Milwood, Robinson A. European Christianity and the Atlantic Slave Trade: A Black  Hermeneutical Study. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2007. Print. Oppenheimer, Gerald M. and Elza Susser. â€Å"Invited Commentary: The Context and Challenge of von Pettenkofer’s Contribution to Epidemiology.â₠¬  American Journal of epidemiology, 166.11, 2007: 1239-1241. Pionke, Albert D. Plots of Opportunity: Representing Conspiracy in Victorian England.  Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 2004. Print. Vogler, Richard. A World View of Criminal Justice. Farnham, UK: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2005. Print. Upshur, Jiu-Hwa, et al. World History: Advantage Edition. Stamford, CN: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.