Jamie Oliver and Leadership in the Food Industry

Jamie Oliver and Leadership in the Food Industry Introduction Leadership can be defined as the ability of an individual to influence a certain course of events. Various characteristics of a person are figured out as the person champions for a given course. General leadership abilities or traits often guide a person towards achieving what he or she is championing.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Jamie Oliver and Leadership in the Food Industry specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More We have witnessed different people in different industries who have been termed as outstanding leaders because of the excellent work they have accomplished, and the manner in which they have been able to do it. An example of such leaders is Jamie Oliver who has brought about many changes in the industry (Gogerly, 2010). Jamie Oliver was born in the year 1975 in United Kingdom. He has become extremely phenomenal in the global food industry. His passion for the food industry began in the early stages of his life, aping from his parents who were running several restaurants. He ended up taking catering courses in college in UK. He began by helping the chefs in the restaurants of his parents. He was so passionate about food and eating habits (Gogerly, 2010). While Oliver was in college, he underwent an apprenticeship program which gave him a perfect opportunity to interact with all time’s renowned chefs who continued to inspire him. This guided him in working towards promoting the food industry in the world. Oliver has managed to combine different characters in building the food industry in the world. Oliver has been combined different professions and integrated them in developing the food industry. Oliver has had outstanding achievements, which have led him to be recognized and rewarded by different agencies. Many people argue that Oliver is an accomplished leader and an icon in as far as the food industry is concerned. Therefore, this paper discusses the lead ership qualities of Jamie Oliver (Gogerly, 2010). The paper looks into the activities and initiatives of Oliver in the food and catering industry. Through an incisive look into his activities and initiatives, the paper derives qualities of leadership which can be attributed to Oliver. Jamie Oliver as a social entrepreneur It is no doubt that Jamie Oliver is a successful leader within the hospitality and catering industry. Oliver had entrepreneurship skills during his youth age. However, these skills alone cannot be a basis on which a person can be termed as a good leader. Oliver had a solid grasp of entrepreneurship skills having learnt them from a young age because his parents were entrepreneurs.Advertising Looking for research paper on biography? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Being a young entrepreneur, Oliver has been a manager to up 15 restaurants in the United States and the United Kingdom. The restaurants hav e picked up well and are performing excellently, courtesy of the plans and products. This portrays him as very sound economic entrepreneur and a robust business leader. In this case, he can plan well on a venture before putting it up and later making it sustainable. Moreover, the pace at which he has put businesses in more than one country leaves entrepreneurs who have been in the field for long with shock. He has a strong mastery of the market and the exact requirements of the customers to be his businesses end up matching the needs of the customers (Joanne Steve, 2010). Succeeding in business will often need a dependable mastery of the environment under which one is operating his businesses. One must interact well with the society, and this requires a person to understand essential social entrepreneurship skills. This is one area in which Oliver has been remarkably outstanding. Indeed, Oliver is not only an economic entrepreneur but also a social entrepreneur. Social entrepreneur ship is explained on the basis on which a person can use his business skills in reaching different people and performing different activities. The activities must agree with the objectives, and this must end up benefiting a greater audience in society. Oliver is well known in US and UK for his tremendous efforts to improve the quality of food that is served in these two countries. This has been a move to address the problem of unhealthy diets, which has become a matter of concern for most of people residing in these countries. These countries record the highest number of maladies which result from unhealthy diets and unhealthy eating habits. He had been able to move in different places within the two countries, including schools and colleges, speaking about healthy diets. He has been convincing these institutions to change or adjust their diets. He has even taken the step of drafting diet for the institutions. This is a true picture of a leader; that is, not just being an economic c hampion, but also caring for the society by taking an active part in crafting solutions to societal problems using one’s own means. It is worthwhile saying that Oliver is a true social entrepreneur (Joanne Steve, 2010).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Jamie Oliver and Leadership in the Food Industry specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Responsibility and creativity in leadership Leaders are people who figure out problems that are affecting people in the industry in which they are occupied. After noting the problems, they then go ahead to think of the contribution they can make in eliminating or mitigating these problems. Being an investor and a leading advocate of hospitality and catering industry, Oliver saw a bright future for the industry. However, he noted that many people were being negatively affected because of the loopholes in the industry. He noted that he always takes matters to do with food a nd diet with the seriousness it deserves. This is because food and diet are things that have a direct effect on human lives. The problems in the hotel and catering industry have become a crucial concern for him and his business. He has chosen to dedicate most of his time in addressing the challenges. The most notable problems in the industry are the diseases related to diet, which are highly prevalent in the developed nations. Jamie has visited a number of countries among them Australia, United States, UK, Netherlands and Germany. Obesity levels in these countries are on the rise. His investigation has revealed that the cause of this is food and diet, that is, poor cooking skills, cheap and poorly processed food among others (Oliver, 2010). He believes that these problems can be addressed by the stakeholders in the industry. Being one of the stakeholders in the food industry, he has taken the initiative and responsibility to disburse skills and knowledge which is one sure way of com bating the problem. He has a strong belief in this course. Having initiated this course, he has been calling for support from what he believes are the main participants in the industry including the government, consumers and even food retailers. He believes that collective efforts will lead to the elimination of the dangers and the dilemma in the food industry. He emphasizes on setting a foundation in dealing with the challenge, that is, food education for children, as well as adults. Through this discussion, we can note a number of characters or qualities of leadership which is responsibility, creativity and initiative (Oliver, 2010).Advertising Looking for research paper on biography? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Going out of way in initiating The other aspect of leadership that is attributed to Jamie Oliver, and which any person who is talking about the revolution in the food industry cannot afford to ignore is the street kitchen. The idea behind this was something that many people thought would not work. He strongly believed in the idea and forged ahead to put it into practice. He availed everything and launched the street kitchen which came as a surprise to many people. The kitchen was situated in the open air and at the center of the street where he had many chefs offering training of food and catering. He is a person who believes that everything can be possible so long as it is worked. The street kitchen came to get a lot of publicity, thus drawing attention from many publics. People visited the place and were trained on preparing healthy food. The street kitchen was another significant milestone for Oliver in the training program series, which he had initiated. Thousands of people were trained through the street kitchen program (Oliver, 2010). How Jamie Engaged Audiences Another trait of Jamie Oliver is that he is a natural and instinctive person, which is what a leader has to be. Leaders need to engage audiences and make them attentive to what they are saying or advocating. While many leaders find it extremely challenging to gain the attention of audiences, this is what Oliver finds very easy to do. He is particularly energetic especially when addressing and audience. He is always exciting to watch when he is in action. For Oliver, he considers leadership to be an activity and not just a position as many people would take it. This stands to justify his energy and activeness when he is doing his work. People will always want to see the people who are leading being fully dedicated to the work they are overseeing. This is one of the aspects which Oliver has mastered exceptionally well, and this helps him in drawing many people closer to him. His kitchen and trainin g series always attract bigger crowds, thanks to his ability to attract the learners. Leaders must attract people to them, and this cannot be achieved by virtue of being in an influential position and posing to be a boss, but reaching out to people through activity and interaction. The audiences are engaged by the inspiration which they get from the leader (Joanne Steve, 2010). Determination and vision in leadership The current business environment is immensely challenging which calls for determination. One needs to have a lot of determination in order to overcome these challenges. Determination is the ability to be resilient and being quick to develop options for dealing with a given drawback and keeping a course on track. Challenges are the true taste of the leadership abilities of a person. It is what gets to define determination and commitment of a given person in what he or she is doing (Joanne Steve, 2010). A leader has to have a bigger vision by not only focusing on the cur rent performance of his or her ventures but also being able to see the bigger picture. The leader must see the opportunities of using his ventures to develop other sectors in the economy. While Oliver has managed to make a lot of wealth from his restaurant business as an entrepreneur, he has not concentrated on developing his business. He has devoted a considerable amount of time to invest in other opportunities, which are transforming the lives of other people through his training lessons and many other activities. He has published and distributed many cook books. These books have training lessons, which are particularly helpful to the users. He also has Television shows, which help him in imparting food and cooking knowledge on a larger audience (Stephen, 2010). Leadership and charity Oliver is charitable, and he has been listed among the group of the most charitable people in the United Kingdom. He has a personal fortune of approximately 65 million pounds. Of this, Oliver has giv en away with about 2.7 million pounds, which represents about 4.2 per cent of his total fortune. He has invested a lot of time, energy and effort in doing charity work. He has been offering training lessons in different countries. He has formed many charity networks. As such, he works with one of the largest food chains in the United Kingdom known as Sainsbury’s in supporting the improvement of the quality of food being offered in restaurants. He also uses the opportunity in enhancing consumer education. His tireless efforts and dedication have been noticed. He has received a number of rewards, including the MBE, which he was awarded in the year 2003. This is one of the top prices or awards in the United Kingdom. He was given this award for being a key contributor in the food and hospitality industry in the whole world. Being discovered and awarded such a significant price at such a tender age is a rare phenomenon. He decided to include and make charity work part of his great er business plan in the early stages of his entrepreneurship from the year 2001. Since then, he has been a leading supporter of charity work. Charity work, on the other hand, works to enhance his business (Peggy, 2011). One of the greatest charitable works of Oliver is his social program whose main aim has been to transform the lives of the poor young people. He has been working to ensure that the young people engulfed in poverty get education and employment. These are aspects that are critical building blocks in eliminating poverty. Through the program, he built a restaurant called â€Å"Fifteen†. This is a restaurant that has been dedicated to young people. The young people are trained here in courses like catering and food handling. The training gives them an opportunity to be absorbed in the food industry. The profits that are realized from the operation of the restaurant are used in the Fifteen Foundation. This foundation has moved outside the United Kingdom and is now e stablished in several other countries like Netherlands and Australia (Peggy, 2011). Through the Fifteen Foundation and its related programs and projects, Oliver has managed to expand his social course. His utmost passion, which is love for food, has been realized through the program. He now uses the program in transforming the lives of many people using his passion for food (Clifton Ahmad, 2009). As his charity work continues to take root in different destinations, Oliver has become a lobbyist. He confronts authorities and urges them to support positive initiatives. He challenges the political classes to know and begin backing schemes whose objectives are improving health and the general wellbeing of the population. Through his lobbying activities, he formed a campaign which has come to be known as Jamie’s School Dinners. He used this campaign for inspiring school kids to enjoy taking healthy meals rather than taking processed food, which is unhealthy. This campaign involves offering training lessons to chefs and dinner ladies on how to prepare healthy meals and budgeting for such meals. This campaign has been preceded with many other campaigns for instance the Jamie’s Ministry Food. Under this campaign, he introduced healthy eating habits to the working class population in UK cities. Food policy had not been a highly topical issue in the Kingdom until the later years of the 20th century. This is when most of conditions related to food stated to become prevalent. Attention began being paid to the food policy in order to control the cases. This led to a focus on diet and food safety. Oliver came in at this point with his campaigns, which had best suited solutions to the turmoil that was being experienced in the food industry. Through his lobbyist activities and continued campaign, the government recognized the School Dinners and incorporated them in the food policy (Butler, 2011). It is worth saying that all the given campaigns, which were starte d and run by Oliver, have been successful. Their objectives were fulfilled because they managed to educate the population, and pressurized the political class and the monopolistic entrepreneurs in the food and catering industry to make substantial changes. These changes have been tremendously helpful in improving the health of the population. Its impacts have been more visible with the stepping up of the public and backing the campaign through changing eating habits and lifestyles. This is what is expressed in the eating values that inform Jamie’s campaigns. At the pick of the school dinner campaign, Oliver managed to lobby for about a quarter a million signatures. These signatures helped in petitioning the government forcing it to release 280 million pounds, which has been used for enhancing the quality of meals that are served in schools. The Ministry campaign has become the main driver in reducing cases of obesity. It has encouraged healthy recipes in family diets. Oliver was a thought leader, who did not only come up with ideas but also coded these ideas into activities and programs for easy execution (Butler, 2011). Averting situations A leader must be ready to do outstanding things. Jamie has identified with disabilities in society. As a corporate person, he rolled out the programs for people with physical disabilities in his restaurants. Under this program, he identifies and selects people with disabilities who undergo training after which they are absorbed in his restaurants. This has been one of his most successful programs which have attracted unusually many people to his restaurant. Many people have applauded this program. Oliver has found a lot of favor with a significant number of customers. This is because of this program, which is likely to continue being a success factor for his business. A leader must be a person who can see potential in trouble. Many leaders have been witnessed, but it is rare to come across a leader like Oliver. Olive r has had a gift in articulating between different problem setups and yet he manages to craft a solution to nearly all using a single motivation – his passion. He also does not take advantage of situations as many leaders who are entrepreneurs do. He keeps focus so long as his main objectives are being achieved (Asmita, 2008, Hellmich, 2011). Good leadership entails a superb mastery of communication. A leader must be an excellent master of communication skills, which are useful in driving activities. Oliver uses communication to reach a large number of people. His television show has drawn lots of audiences. He uses his television shows to speak and critique the ills in the food industry. He is remarkably open in discussing issues of a healthy lifestyle (Lisa, 2008). Leaders can only be leaders when other people can identify and recognize their work or efforts. Jamie Oliver is such a person. His work was extremely outstanding making even the government recognizes it. His camp aigns were fruitful. Therefore, the government requested him to come forth and help in advancing the food manifesto in the UK. The government borrowed a lot from his manifesto and used it in crafting good food policy for schools in the UK. Most of the recommendations made in the manifesto were big milestones in the food policy. The secretary of state for education invited Oliver to help in shedding light on the way forward for the school diet programs (Hellmich, 2011). Good communication in leadership Oliver has ensured that he clearly leads his team of employees. He guides the team on what the expectations are, and he articulates well with employees. He communicates his vision to the group and leads the team in implementing the objectives in relation to the vision. He is always exemplary to his staffs, and he always leads the way in implementing programs. He exercises a high level of responsibility by leading and demonstrating all the initiatives. Leadership is tested when a person is placed within a group context. Jamie has always been working with groups. He has been so efficient in managing teams to bring about change which he desired. He initiated and developed good working relations with different schools and school children who came to like him. This led to their support for a healthy diet as was being proposed by him (Tania, 2010). Conclusion From the discussion above, it is quite evident that Jamie Oliver has been a successful leader. Oliver acquired catering skills from his parents, and has applied the skills in creating an empire. He has been a major driver in bringing the desired change in the catering and food industry in the world. Through what he has been doing, a number of character traits of Oliver have been highlighted. These include determination, responsibility, creativity, initiative among many other management skills. These characteristics have brought Oliver out as a true leader. References Asmita, N. (2008). Did Jamie Oliver Really Put School Dinners on the Agenda? An Examination of the Role of the Media in Policy Making. Political Quarterly, 79(3), 426-433. Butler, G. (2011). Think Write Grow: How to Become a Thought Leader and Build Your Business by Creating Exceptional Articles, Blogs, Speeches, Books and More. London. John Wiley Sons. Clifton, R. Ahmad, S. (2009). Brands and branding. New York: Bloomberg Press. Gogerly, L. (2010). Jamie Oliver: Campaigning chef. London: Wayland. Hellmich, N. (2011). Jamie Oliver in a food fight a fattening-food fight. USA Today. Joanne, H., Steve, J. (2010). At least hes doing something: Moral entrepreneurship and individual responsibility in Jamies Ministry of Food. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 13(3), 307-322. Lisa, E. A. (2008). Jamie Oliver: Turning up the Heat. Library Journal, 133(2), 91-92. Oliver, J. (2010). The World in 2036: Jamie Oliver on what we will eat. Economist; p. 111-112. Peggy, R. (2011). Jamie Olivers Food Revolution. Journal of Appalachian Stud ies, 17(1/2), 283-285. Stephen, M. (2010). Is Jamie Oliver the Biggest Loser of All? Esquire, 155(1), 48-49. Tania, L. (2010). Branding, Celebritization and the Lifestyle Expert. Cultural Studies, 24(4), 580-598.

Quotations with Colons

Quotations with Colons Quotations with Colons Quotations with Colons By Mark Nichol Colons frequently crop up as transitional punctuation preceding a quotation, but that particular punctuation mark is usually not a good choice, as explained in the discussions that follow the sentences below; a revision follows each discussion. 1. The graffiti included the words: â€Å"Black lives matter.† This simple declarative statement requires no punctuation between the descriptive opening phrase and the quotation: â€Å"The graffiti included the words ‘Black lives matter.’† (There is an unlikely exception: The words have been previously alluded to, and now they are being explicitly stated. In that case, the colon is appropriate.) 2. Smith planned to head to the region immediately and promised people in the area: â€Å"No individual, no family, no community will be left behind.† In journalism, a colon is often used to signal that a quotation is about to follow an attribution, but a comma is much more appropriate, because whereas colons generally punctuate with the halting force of a period, a comma is more smoothly transitional: â€Å"Smith planned to head to the region later Wednesday and promised people in the area, ‘No individual, no family, no community will be left behind.’† (If the attribution constitutes a complete thought, a colon is correct, as in this revision: â€Å"Smith planned to head to the region later Wednesday, and his promise to the people in the area was emphatic: ‘No individual, no family, no community will be left behind.’†) 3. The question is: â€Å"How did the outcome of World War I contribute to the advent of World War II?† This sentence presumably refers to a written question on an examination of some kind, as in a high school history test, but whether it is a quotation or simply part of a narrative, a colon is obstructive (as explained in the previous item), and, just as a comma generally follows an attribution (such as â€Å"she said†) that introduces a quotation- again, see above- a comma is appropriate to separate the setup phrase here and the quotation: â€Å"The question is, ‘How did the outcome of World War I contribute to the advent of World War II?’† (If the question is merely posed in a narrative, rather than a reproduction of a written question, the quotation marks- and the capitalization of the first word- aren’t necessary: â€Å"The question is, how did the outcome of World War I contribute to the advent of World War II?† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Creative Writing 101Empathy "With" or Empathy "For"?Apostrophe with Plural Possessive Nouns

Aviation Security & its Impact on Airports Term Paper

Aviation Security & its Impact on Airports - Term Paper Example This particular fact is even less arguable than the first two, and has in fact become common knowledge. It is precisely because of this that every airport, without exception, will have more than a few shops and establishments operating there, hoping to make money off the many inbound and outbound passengers – so much so that some airports could easily be mistaken for full-blown shopping malls. Fastfood chains are also omnipresent in airports for those who wish to grab a bite before or after a long flight, not to mention travel agents for those who wish to avail of tours and other travel packages. However, there are also those who would use such knowledge to achieve much more sinister ends, such as al-Qaeda who precipitated 9/11 by slamming airliners into the World Trade Center as well as the Pentagon. An even more recent example is what happened in August 2006, where airports all over the United States, United Kingdom and Canada had to beef up security due to imminent bomb thr eats – especially notable for being the first time the US Terror Alert Level had ever been raised to ‘red’ (Barrot, 2006). Without a doubt, then, airport management has the responsibility of ensuring the safety of their arriving as well as departing passengers. It was in fact the aforementioned incident that led to airports the world over stepping up their security measures permanently. While airport security could hardly have been called lax since 9/11 (Transport Security Administration, 2011), the most recent update to airport security has included a more thorough body check that includes the crotch – an addition that has seen fierce debate on whether to prioritize safety or privacy of passengers. This being the case, this paper aims to examine the very concept of airport security, from the simplest possible definition to the currently existing security measures. All in all, the intent is to reflect whether the current security measures are adequate, whe ther they are lacking, or whether they are a bit excessive, and then from there, to make suggestions on what can still be improved. Airport Security – An Overview Belger (2001) of the US Federal Aviation Administration defines airport and aviation security as a set of techniques and methods employed to safeguard aircrafts and airport, passengers and crew against crime, as well as to support national security and counterterrorism policies. Inbound and outbound passengers, regardless of reputation or stature, are subject to a thorough search for weapons, drugs, explosives and other contraband in order to make flights as safe as possible (Schneier, 2004). Not even well-known public figures are exempt from this SOP, as evidenced from how even Senator Al Gore himself went through such a stringent inspection. As detailed on the website of the Transportation Security Administration (2011), over 700 security checkpoints and over 7,000 baggage checking areas exist all over Americaâ₠¬â„¢s checkpoints today. Each day, in cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security Technology Research Lab (TSA, 2011) new technologies and procedures are being tried and tested in order to maximize the efficiency of security checks with the intent of ensuring utmost safety and security for traveling passengers. An estimated 43,000 Transportation Se

Government Impact on Economy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Government Impact on Economy - Research Paper Example Some economists, such as William McChesney Martin, view the economy as inherently unstable while others, such as Milton Friedman, argue that it is naturally stable (Mankiw, 1997). Due to this argument, policymakers view economic stabilization as one of their primary responsibilities. So they make laws that will try to stabilize the economy. These lawmakers, together with many economists, believed that in the absence of an active government role in the economy, events like the Great Depression could occur regularly (Mankiw, 1997). Recessions are periods wherein the economy experiences high unemployment rate, as a result, there will be lower income and reduced economic well-being. Monetary and fiscal policies can prevent recessions by responding to the shocks in the aggregate demand and supply. Economists also view it wasteful if the policy instruments were not used to stabilize the economy. However, the economic stabilization would be easy if the impacts of both monetary and fiscal po licies were immediate because sometimes the lags between the implementation and effects of policies make stabilizing the economy more difficult. Then, the need for automatic stabilizers comes in. These are the policies designed to reduce the lags associated with stabilization policy. It is very clear that the government should and must take a hands-on approach to macroeconomic policy to affect the employment environment. They should take full control over the policies that would have impacts on the economy, especially in the employment environment.  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Early Language and Development Essay Example for Free

Early Language and Development Essay Language is a complex and abstract endeavor, wonderfully creative at the same time governed by a multitude of rules. Before the age of 1 year, babies communicate with intent, primarily through the use of body orientation, facial expressions, gestures, and nonsymbolic vocalizations that mimic the intonations of their native language. At the end of the first year, however, many babies are beginning to use word approximations, consistent combinations of sounds as a transition to language, a symbolic system of communication. During the toddler years, language development is focused on semantics, or the meaning of words, and on syntax the rules of grammar for the language. (Slentz, et al. , 2001) Early language developments are crucial stage to one’s life. Baby’s language are through actions, and it could mean various meaning. Babies can’t speak yet, but they have their own ways to let us know how they feel. From the beginning, a mother and baby can be seen attuning to each other. They copy each other’s movements and expressions with mutual relaxed smiles, and later with laughing delight. (Clulow, et al. , 1993) Attunement is an essential factor for speech and language in general. According to John Bowlby (1980) early month – infant bonding and attachment are crucial to early language and development, thus it should be given importance by the mother to her baby as soon the baby was born. It is also noted that our feelings are easier to convey or communicated with infants. For an instance, baby cries when he hears another baby crying or when a mother the mother is angry while holding the baby, the baby becomes fussy. (Klein, 1987) Moreover, at an early stage, the mother’s speech affirms and responds to the infant’s eagerness to become involved in â€Å"proto-conversation†, a non – verbal form of discourse. Speech engages attention, communicates feelings, and facilitates social interaction as well as facilitating language acquisition. (Clulow, et al. , 1993) If a mother cannot attune to her baby’s rhythm then, as a result the baby will become distressed. This in turn stresses his mother, usually upsetting more, so that a vicious circle is likely. From birth onwards, children can be regarded as active participants in interaction. As for intentionality, young children develop along a continuum, in which they gradually learn to use more sophisticated and conventional means to communicate and also demonstrate increasing competence in intentionally conveying meanings to their interactive partners. The most common communicative functions of early intentional communicative acts have been found to be requests for objects/actions and comments on objects/actions (Paavola et al. ,2005) A mother’s ability to monitor her child’s visual attention and exhibition of a vocal or an exploratory act and then to respond promptly, contingently and appropriately is usually referred to as responsiveness. There is a lot of evidence for the supporting role of maternal responsiveness in child language development However; the efficacy of maternal responsiveness may not be global. Instead, it has been suggested that certain aspects of responsiveness are more predictive than others to particular language outcomes in the child. Furthermore, it is possible that children differ in their needs to be guided and supported by their mothers, which leads to differences in maternal role in early interactions (Paavola et al. , 2005) According to Harris (1992) the relationship between the cognitive/perceptual processes involved in development and the childs linguistic experiences. The first steps in language development and the role of adult-child interaction (both verbal and nonverbal) are very important. The focus is on the way parentsmothers in particularstructure the childs language-learning experiences so that they are conducive to the steps the child must take to master the first stages of language acquisition. Moreover, Harris (1992) concludes that early lexical development (the learning of an initial vocabulary) may be more sensitive to individual differences in parental interaction styles than has been demonstrated to be the case for syntactic development. Hence, the emphasis of the monograph is on the period and processes of parent interaction and child language development from the pre-verbal phases, from 6 month of age, through to the appearance of word combinations, around 2 years of age; that is, roughly Browns (1973) Stage I and early Stage 2. There are 3 major theoretical controversies about the nature and process of language development; the research into the influence of adult speech on childrens learning language; the role of the social interactional context in assisting language development; the childs use of the immediate referential context in progressing through the first steps in language development; and what constitutes appropriate evidence with which to address these issues. (Harris, 1992) In the early weeks of life, pragmatic skills (responding to verbal and non-verbal aspects of language) develop as babies interact with their carers through crying, blinking and smiling. First words appear between 12 and 18 months. (http://www. literacytrust. org. uk/Research/earlylanguage. html) ? 12-month-olds can distinguish between words, mouth sounds and object noises. They have linguistically specific knowledge of the privileged status of language. (Pruden, et al. , (2006) ? Children aged 18 to 35 months demonstrate learning through integration of earlier instruction with subsequent problem-solving experience. Toddlers are not passive learners. (Chen and Siegler, 2000) Furthermore, according to the website http://www. literacytrust. org. uk, Mother-child dynamic in language learning has been central to early year’s research. Mothers are often the predominant influences in childrens early years. The concentration on maternal speech input implies that mothers share a unique relationship with their children as they learn language, that mothers are programmed to respond to childrens sounds in a way that reinforces early language development and, in turn, that the child has an innate capacity for learning language. Early studies in this area found that mothers speech facilitates, and, in some cases, hinders the language development of young children. Social contact between parents and infants are considered to be a contributing factor in language development. It is also noted that social interaction with other people can either impede or development the babies language. Environment and culture can influence one’s speech as well. A baby whose parents are Asian and American and living in Europe could somehow impede his speech especially when there are different languages at home. Being specific at an early age could help the baby understand more and becomes attuned to his surroundings. Additionally, when the child verbally establishes complex connections and relations between perceived phenomena with the help of an adult, the child introduces at each moment essential qualitative changes in the receptivity and interpretation of sensory input to his brain. When a child acquires a word which isolates a particular thing and serves as a signal for a particular action, the child carries out an adult’s verbal instruction is connected to this word. (Eveloff, 1971) Toddlers build vocabulary based on unique experiences, and new words are acquired at an average rate of one word per week until children are 18 months old. Some toddlers focus on primary words that refer to objects and people, and developing strategies such as asking â€Å"what’s that† to elicit noun labels in response from adults. Other youngsters had vocabularies with more words for affect, motion or location, expressive language. Language is considered to be the most significant adaptive measure available to developing human. Language is highly related to developmental hierarchies such as neurophysiologic, cognitive, and affective. .(Slentz, et al. , 2001) Overall, early language and development starts with parents or the babies caregiver, it is an essential factor for parents to be educated properly on what are their roles in developing their babies language. Babies’ language development can impede or progress, depending on the ability of the parents and how they interact with their babies. I personally believe that education is the best tool in order to achieve great results for communicating well. Language, speech, and emotions can be linked together. Emotions are greatly expressed through words, and thus this will lead to how we can influence the child’s language and development. Parents are foremost educators on developing the characteristic and personality of the child. Language factor is another contributing aspect on how the child will become in the future. References: Bowlby, J. (1980) Loss: Sadness Depression [Vol. 3 of Attachment and Loss]. London: Hogarth Press; New York: Basic Books; Harmondsworth: Penguin (1981). Brown, R. W. (1973) A First Language: the Early Stages. Cambridge, Harvard University Press Chen, Z. , Siegler, R. S. (2000). Across the great divide: bridging the gap between understanding of toddlers’ and older children’s thinking. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 65 No. 2 Clulow, C. (1993) Human Development: An Introduction to the Psychodynamics of Growth, Maturity and Ageing. Psychology Press UK Eveloff, H (1971) Some Cognitive and Affective Aspects of Early Language Development Child Development, Dec71, Vol. 42 Issue 6, p1895-1907, 13p; Harris, M (1992) Language Experience and Early Language Development: from input to Uptake Hove, UK: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Paavola, et al. , (2005) Maternal responsiveness and infant intentional communication: implications for the early communicative and linguistic development.. Child: Care, Health Development, Nov2005, Vol. 31 Issue 6, p727-735, 9p; Pruden, et al. , (2006) The Birth of Words: Ten-Month-Olds Learn Words Through Perceptual Salience Child Development 77 (2), 266–280. Slentz, K. , Krogh (2001) Early Childhood Development and Its Variations. Mahwah, N. J. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. â€Å"Early language development: a review of the evidence for birth to age three† can be accessed at http://www. literacytrust. org. uk/Research/earlylanguage. html (accessed February 22, 2007)

Affirmative Action: A Means to End Inequality Essay -- Equality Rights

Affirmative Action: A Means to End Inequality Throughout the United States, many types of inequality can be identified. What exactly does this statement mean? First, defining inequality would help one best approach this matter. The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines inequality as â€Å"the quality of being unequal or uneven† through† a lack of evenness b: social disparity c: disparity of distribution or opportunity d: the condition of being variable† (Merriam Webster). Now the question is clearer, as identifying types of inequality is equivalent to recognizing the different groups that exist within the boundaries of the U.S. For instance, people can be grouped based on income, the level of education, or their position in their workplace. Inequality shown as such is easy to identify and falls nicely into categories. However, understanding such inequalities in the context of race and gender is not so simple. The median income of a white male full time worker in 2002 was near 41,000 dollars, a black male full time worker under 32,000, and a Hispanic male full time worker around 25,000 (Race: Fact File). These numbers also drop significantly for women in each category (Race: Fact File). Unemployment rates, home ownership rates, high school and college graduation rates, and even health care coverage all show inequality in America, especially in the context of race and gender (Race: Fact File). The government has taken steps to try to eliminate these inequalities through the implementation of affirmative action programs. This leads to an important issue, namely, is affirmative action a fair and an effective method of eradicating inequality? To understand and answer this question, the origins of affirmative action... ...ted States, and South Africa (in SICA Silver Jubilee).† Public Administration Review, Vol. 59, No. 6. (Nov. - Dec., 1999), pp. 495-508. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0033-3352%28199911%2F12%2959%3A6%3C495%3APOPLFI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P {scholarly primary source, print via the internet, authoritative } Wilcher, Shirley J. â€Å"The History of Affirmative Action.† Americans for a Fair Chance, Motion Magazine. Washington DC, October 12, 2003. {popular news, print via internet, apparently credible} Winter, Greg. â€Å"After Ruling Three Universities MainTain Diversity in Admissions.† The New York Times: April 13, 2004. Section A; Page 22; Column 3 {distinguished news, print via the internet, authoritative } Yetman, Norman R. â€Å"Race and Ethnicity†. Sociology: Social Foundations of Public Issues. McGraw Hill 2003. p. 348 {secondary scholarly; print; authoritative}

Philippine Party-List System: A Failure or a Success? Essay

The country’s population is about 90 million; about 70 percent of which is in poverty. It is not farfetched to say that majority of the country’s population is underserved and marginalized ― our farmers, fisher folks, the youth and the women among others ―and are in need of government’s attention. In a developing country like the Philippines, decision-making or policy-making must gear towards development of these underserved sectors of the Philippine society. The population elects its legislators ― congressional and party-list representatives, senators and the rest of the elective members of the bureaucracy. But what assurance do the Filipino people get that the underserved are represented in the policy-making body of the country? It is the party-list system. As defined by Republic Act No. 7941 also known as the Philippine Party-list Act, â€Å"the party-list system is a mechanism of proportional representation in the election of representat ives to the House of Representatives from national, regional and sectoral parties or organizations or coalitions thereof registered with the Commission on Elections (COMELEC).† The rationale behind the emergence of the Philippine party-list system in the Philippine party politics is to provide representation to the marginalized and underrepresented sectors of the society ― a ‘democratizing agent’ to the elite-oriented Congress. Nonetheless, it attempts to challenge the status quo and truly serve the underserved masses (Rivera, 2007). The emergence of the party-list system is not an event which transpired â€Å"out of the blue† rather an attempt to redress an insufficiently undemocratic growing elite party politics in the country. Tracing history backwards, the domination of the elite-oriented party politics can clearly be seen since its beginning up to its continuing ascendancy in the Philippine politics today. When the American rule in the Philippines instigated, they were faced with Filipino armed resistance. To resist such â€Å"insurgencies† and to install its complete control over the Philippines, the Americans painsta kingly deceived the Filipinos thru the Filipinization it proposed ― a venue for Filipino participation in the realm of governance and politics. To achieve such purpose, they â€Å"recruited† the elites to join the Filipinization (Gealogo, 2007). Why the elites? For one, they have their own interest to protect. They have much and more to lose than to gain if they won’t yield and collaborate with the colonizers. And they do not trust their fellow Filipinos for they themselves have branded their fellowmen as ‘thieves’. Simply put, they try to maintain political power. And political power resides in property: in their wealth. It is interesting to note, they have collaborated not with the Americans only but with all the other colonizers who came to our land and they successfully maintained a stronghold in the political arena ― in the arena of influence and the influential ― and so begins the reign of the elites. Dante Simbulan (2005) sites that â€Å"the political parties or factions that developed [today] had one common beginning: the principalia group which . . . was composed of the native ruling elites under the Spaniards [emphasis added].† The elites of today are in fact the elites of the colonial Phi lippines. Surprisingly, the entire Philippine party system in today’s time is dominated only by less than a hundred to a hundred wealthy families, and they exist as political clans and dynasties (Simbulan, R., 2007). Does one expect an elite-oriented Congress to legislate against its own interests and genuinely serve the greater masses ― the marginalized and the underrepresented? Prior to the party-list system, minority parties that represent the interest of the same sectors that the party-lists represent today have existed. They tried to forward the interest of the underserved and the marginalized, but eventually, â€Å"no working class (or counter elite) political group or party was able to prosper [emphasis added] (Simbulan, D., 2005).† Former minority parties did not thrive. Now that the Philippine Party-list Act provides the establishment of the party-list system, the question is: Will it, too, vanish like the minority parties which used to assume the same role it does today? This paper seeks to assess the efficacy of the party-list system while pointing out loopholes and lapses in the system. As Section 2 of Republic Act No 7941 or the â€Å"Party-list System Act† states, the Party-list System has three basic elements: (1) to include the â€Å"marginalized† and â€Å"underrepresented† sectors of the country in the legislative processes of the House of Representatives ― democratize the Congress; (2) to pluralize the party system by encouraging multi-parties and (3) to simplify the electoral system. Let us examine the first element of the party-list system by finding out whether it complies with its most basic purpose or not ― that is to democratize the Congress. Based on RA 7941 and the 1987 Constitution, the party-list (originally) has the following basic features: 1. Twenty percent allocation. The party-list representatives constitute 20% of the total number of representatives including those under the party-list. 2. Two percent threshold. A party or organization must obtain at least two percent of the total votes obtained by the party-list system in order to get one seat. 3. Three-seat limit. Section 11 of RA 7941 specifies that a qualified party would be entitled to a maximum of three seats. 4. Proportional representation. The additional seats that the party is entitled to are computed in proportion to its total number of votes. Over the years, there have been debates on these basic features of the party-list system― the structure per se is said to be a â€Å"counter-productive† structure and is in contrast to the very purpose of the party-list system. To show this, let us take a look at the 14 years of the party-list system. The first ever party-list election in 1998 was accepted with enthusiasm. A total of 123 parties participated in the election. The first party-list election was not free of controversies. Right after the election, a certain party-list (PAG-ASA) filed a petition wanting the filling up of the complete 20 percent membership of the party-list to the House of Representatives― they argued it is mandatory. This petition gathered support from nine other organizations which also filed. Eventually, the COMELEC declared all the other 38 organizations in addition to the already declared 14 winners. In declaring the other 38 organizations the COMELEC clearly disregarded the 2 percent threshold and it reasoned out that their decision was based on the following justifications: (1) ‘the marginalized and the underrepresented sectors must be represented in the House of Representatives, (2) the party-list system must represent the broadest sectors of the society and; (3) it would encourage multi-party system.’ However, 12 of the parties which were initially declared by the COMELEC objected to the proclamation of the other 38 organizations arguing that only them (the 14 initially declared winners) are entitled to the seat in the lower house because the other 38 organizations failed to attain the 2 percent vote threshold. Eventually, the dispute was resolved in the Supreme Court. In an en banc session of the Supreme Court in October 1998 it ruled that the 20 percent seat allocation as prescribed by Section 5 (2) of the Constitution is not mandatory. Furthermore, it ruled that the 2 percent threshold is constitutional thus required to obtain a seat in the House of Representatives. So the COMELEC had to recall the proclamation of the other 38 organizations. Given the basic features of the party-list system, one important question needs to be answered: â€Å"How does the party-list system enhance the chances of marginalized or underrepresented parties of winning seats in the House of Representatives?† The COMELEC says that with the three- seat cap for the party-lists, major political parties or the bigger parties which usually dominates the elections will not have the chance to â€Å"corner all the seats† in the House of Representatives and â€Å"crowd out† minority parties. This, th ey argue, will encourage the party-lists to win seat in the House of Representatives. Granted this to be true and the desired or expected consequence to be existent, the party-list is indeed a potential counter-foil to the elite-dominated Congress. However, given this features, particularly the three-seat cap, Felix Muga (2007c) argues―in contrast with what the COMELEC declares―that this features of the party-list system particularly the three-seat cap is a â€Å"counter-productive† structure for â€Å"it promotes the break-up of a strong party into smaller ones and discourages parties to form bigger coalitions† (Para. 4). To illustrate this, let us consider the events after the 2001 Party-list Elections. After the Supreme Court disqualified some parties during the 2001 Elections, Bayan Muna’s percentage share of total party-list votes reached 26.82 percent (Party-List Canvass Report Number 26 as September 7, 2001). Sadly, they were just given three seats. Consequently, in the 2004 party-list election, Bayan Muna broke up into smalle r parties and obtained 6 seats in the House of Representatives. Note that not only Bayan Muna resorted to this break up; there are also several of other party-lists like the Sanlakas. Thus, Muga further claims that â€Å"it [3-seat cap] does not pave the way for smaller parties to win seats in the House of Representatives. Together with the 2% informal threshold in the simplified Comelec Formula or with the first party-rule of the Panganiban Formula, it cannot fill up the available number of party-list seats and causes the Formula used to contradict the principle of proportional representation [emphasis added].† The party-list as defined is a ‘mechanism for proportional representation’ (RA 7941). Thus, for instance, if a party gets 50 percent of the total party-list votes, it shall get the 50 percent of the total number of seats allocated for the party-lists (principle of proportionality). RA 7941 requires a vote threshold. The two (2) percent vote threshold means that the party which obtained at least 2 percent of the party-list votes will be allotted the seat. Mathematically, this can be represented by total number of votes of all parties divided by the total number of available seats (Hare Quota). In the 2007 Party-list election, the total number of party-list votes reached 8,416,421; the 20 percent seat allocation for that particular Party-List Election translated to 55 seats. Therefore, following the above-mentioned formula, we arrive at â€Å"8,416,421 divided by 55 seats, equals 153,025† (Hare Quota). Following the principle of proportionality, we now compute the ideal seat for BUHAY party-list, the top-notch party-list group in the 2007 Party-List Election. BUHAY attained a total number of votes of 1,169,234; we divide it with the Hare Quota for the 2007 Party-list Election computed earlier which is 153,025 (1,169,234/153,025). Thus, the ideal seat for BUHAY is 7.64. However, the ideal seat is not the actual seat given to the winning party-list groups. Muga (2005) came up with the idea of â€Å"seat allocation error† to illustrate the difference between the ideal seat and the actual seat given (ideal seat – actual seat given). BUHAY party-list’s ideal seat is 7.64, but it was granted with only 3 seats. Thus, the â€Å"seat allocation error† is 4.64 seats. They were deprived of 4 more seats in the Congress and were only given 3. Muga also provided a formula in computing the disenfranchised votes which can be expressed as: Degree of Negation X Hare Quota = Number of votes disenfranchised To a certain extent, the basic features ― the three-seat cap, the 2 percent vote threshold and the First Party Rule ― of the party-list system’s structure caused the negation of proportional representation. This structure is indeed â€Å"counter-productive† on the part of the party-lists and most of all, the entire marginalized sector they represent. The party-list system seeks to democratize the Congress. Ironically, the structure itself does not provide any clear means for a genuine â€Å"democratization† of the Congress. Given this restrictions, ‘no party can really grow in the Congress.’ In the latter part of this paper, performance of the party-lists (in terms of legislation) shall be assessed and we will found out if the current party-list structure has something to do with the party-lists’ performance. Also, major concerns of the party-list system are issues on accreditation, membership and legislation. The accreditation p rocess employed by the Commission on Elections is very loose ― there is lack of prohibition against party-lists with links to the government (irrespective whether direct or indirect), lack of strict imposition of prohibition on party-lists receiving foreign support, lack of strictness in following the rules set by the law on who shall become the party-list’s nominee among others. To illustrate this, let us consider the party-list Aksyon Sambayanan or AKSA. It is very clear in the Supreme Court ruling that a party-list shall be disqualified if â€Å"It is receiving foreign support from any foreign government, foreign political party, foundation, organization, whether directly or through any of its officers or members, or indirectly through third parties for partisan election purposes† (Ang Bagong Bayani-OFW Labor Party vs. COMELEC, G.R. No. 147589, June 26, 2001, En Banc). Despite that, after known to be supported by Socialist International, AKSA still was accredited, allowed to join the election and was given seat in the House of Representatives (Manalansan, 2007). It may be safe to say that the Supreme Court ruling has not been proven insurmountable because such lapses occur. Also is the nominee Catalina Bagasina ― a provincial board member and a business woman ― of the Pilipino Association for Country or Urban Poor Youth Advancement Wel fare (Pacyaw). The Ang Galing Pinoy party-list is a group representing the security guards. Its representative to the Congress is the former first son―the son of the former President now Pampanga Representative Gloria Arroyo― Rep. Juan Miguel â€Å"Mikey† Arroyo. What is troubling about this is that Rep. Arroyo is not and has never been a security guard. In short, he doesn’t belong to the sector he represents. Logically, how can he truly understand the plight of the security guards if he himself is not one of them? The Supreme Court ruling states that â€Å"not only the candidate party or organization must represent marginalized and underrepresented sectors, so also must its nominees. The nominees must be Filipino citizen ‘who belong to marginalized and underrepresented sectors, organizations and parties [he/she represents]’† (Ang Bagong Bayani-OFW Labor Party vs. COMELEC, G.R. No. 147589, June 26, 2001, En Banc, para. 8). Surprisingly, Ang Galing Pin oy which is in clear defiance to this rule is still in position in Congress. Still surprisingly, there are other party-lists in defiance to this. 1-UTAK party-list ― a group representing PUV drivers, operators and commuters ― had the late former Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes as its representative. It is interesting to note that former Sec. Reyes is a stalwart defender of the oil deregulation law, which this group he tried to represent, strongly opposes. Another point the Supreme Court ruling raised was that â€Å"the political party, sector, organization or coalition must represent the marginalized and underrepresented groups identified in Section 5 or R.A. 7941† (Ang Bagong Bayani-OFW Labor Party vs. COMELEC, G.R. No. 147589, June 26, 2001, En Banc). However, APEC or the Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives is not a marginalized group yet it is granted the chance to join the election and win seats. Manalansan (2007) further points out other party-lists which are not considered marginalized. They are BUHAY, Veterans Federation of the Philippines and Cooperative-National Confederation of Cooperat ives (Coop-NATCCO) among others. Moreover, the Supreme Court ruled that â€Å"the party or organization must not be an adjunct of, or a project organized or entry funded or assisted by, the government. . . . The participation of the government or its official in the affairs of a party-list candidate is not only illegal and unfair to other parties, but also deleterious to the objective of the law† (Ang Bagong Bayani-OFW Labor Party vs. COMELEC, G.R. No. 147589, June 26, 2001, En Banc). However, the Veterans Federation of the Philippines (VFP) is a government-funded group. It is in fact a creation of R.A. 2640 (Manalansan, 2007). Clearly, there are lots of loopholes in the current party-list system ― not only the structure which makes it ineffective but also the very process of filtrating or accrediting the party-lists-to-be and the nominees. In its 14 years of existence, how well did the party-lists performed in the Philippine legislature? In the 11th Congress, the party-list representatives filed a total of 3, 698 bills and resolutions. Only 20 bills reached Second Reading. In the 12th and 13th Congress, party-lists representatives filed a total of 5, 706 bills and resolutio ns, but majority of which are still pending (Manalansan, 2007). In the 14th Congress, there were 19 bills which reached the Third Reading but disappointingly, none became a law. One may remember the approval of the 125 pesos daily minimum wage increase in the 13th Congress. It was filed by Bayan Muna Rep. Crispin Beltran (12th Congress) and refilled by him again in the 13th Congress (this time as Anakpawis representative). It was approved by the House of Representatives and the Senate. However, it was later on recalled. At the brighter side, laws on Abolition of the Death Penalty, Protection to Children in Conflict with the Law, Anti-Trafficking in Persons, Anti-Violence against Women and Overseas Absentee Voting have been passed with party-list representatives as forwarders and/or consultants. The progressive party-list representatives are diligent enough to file and re-file bills and resolutions that would serve the greater mass. These are bills to amend the Labor Code, to repeal the Automatic Appropriations law, Mining Act, National Government Center Land Utilization Act and Oil Deregulation Act among others. On the contrary, a number of bills have been passed within a short period of deliberations only. These bills are alleged as â€Å"Malacaňang-certified† legislations. Examples of this are the Expanded Value Added Tax, Lateral Attrition Law and the infamous Anti-terrorism bill or the Human Security Act of 2007. Since the beginning of the party-list system there were assumptions that the party-list, originating from elite politics, shall only prolong elite politics in the country (Simbulan, 2007). Some believe that this is just a make-believe measure to make it appear that the Philippine society is well-represented in the legislature. At this point, we will try to assess whether this assumption is true or not. It is a fact that the Philippine congress is a congress of the elite or the wealthy oligarchs of the nation. As a matter of fact, in a study conducted by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), it found out that ‘60 to 100 wealthy families (political clans) â€Å"dominate† and â€Å"determine† the entire Philippine legislature or politics’ (Simbulan, 2007). The PCIJ studied political clans from 2001 to 2004 and found out that political parties in the country are really â€Å"clan alliances†. In a Congress like this ―dominated by traditional parties and wealthy political clans, where number matters ― what can the very few party-list representatives do to forward the interest of the masses when it conflicts with the elites? Proponents of the party-list system admit that the party-lists have been absorbed by the traditional parties in the Congress. In news article from GMA News TV on April 6, 2010, former Marikina Rep. Romeo Candazo ― one of the main authors of the RA 7941 ― said that ‘majority of the party-list representatives have been co-opted by traditional politics. As such, it is very difficult for this minority party-list to resist the domination of these ruling elites. These political clans coalesce with other clans or political parties to uphold and protect the status quo and to maintain a stronghold on the legislature. This sufficiently explains why the party-lists get co-opted by these traditional parties. Clearly, the party-list is to the disadvantage as compared to the traditional parties in the Congress. First, the party-list lacks the number or a stronghold in the Congress due to the seat allocation restrictions of the Party-List System Act. Also, the party-list lacks the machinery during elections. The very low voters’ turnout on party-list election testifies to the ignorance of the people on this system. This may be attributed to the lack of machinery of the party-lists system. The party-lists lack the financial prowess to air political ads on televisions and other media of information. In a Pulse Asia Survey (March 27 to April 4, 2004), television is the leading primary source of election-related information (71%), followed by radio at 20 percent and newspapers by 4 percent (Arao, 2007). As such, how would the people know about the party-list if these media of information is not maximized by the party-list? However, we cannot deny the fact that the party-list has two faces: the rich and the poor. Some party-list representatives are found at the bottom 10 percent poorest Representatives, but there are party-list representatives who are millionaires. In the 12th Congress, APEC representatives were all multi-millionaires. There are many other millionaire party-list representatives like Alagad’s Rodante Macoleto, AVE’s Eulogio Magsaysay, and Coop-NATCCO’s Guillermo Cua among others. Note that in the 13th Congress, the richest party-list representative was VFP’s Gidaya with a net worth of 34.66 million pesos and the poorest was Anakpawis’ Rep. Rafael Mariano with a net worth of 18,000 pesos (Manalansan, 2007). It is not farfetched that one day the party-list is no longer of difference with the traditional parties in the Congress. What future awaits the Party-List System? Will it too vanish or survive the test of traditional politics? In conclusion, this paper does not undermine the potential of the party-list system for it has forwarded a significant number of bills and resolutions since 1998 up to this present Congress. It is a clear sign that the party-lists system, somehow, is working in the Philippines. They have provided the underserved and the marginalized a voice in the congress. They tried to strike a balance in an elite Congress. The party-list per se is a great chance for the masses to be represented. But it is undeniable that the party-li st system is failing. It might just be a matter of less than a decade that the â€Å"narrow alley constitutionally reserved for the representation of marginal sectors in Congress† be permanently closed by traditional politics (Tuazon, 2007). It is quite not hard to conclude that the Philippine party-list system is more of a failure than a success. First and for most, its goal to democratize the Philippine Congress is at the onset defeated for the structure itself limits the growth of this party-list groups in the Congress and even encouraged break ups among the party-lists. Secondly, the issue of accreditation weakens the chance of the party-list system to genuinely fulfill its promising purpose ― to serve the marginalized and the underrepresented sectors of the society. Moreover, the party-lists are co-opted by traditional politics. The party-list legislation has not resulted to any concrete law that would directly benefit the underserved sectors of the Philippine society. Nonetheless, the future for the party-list system is still bright despite such failures. As Dr. Florangel Rosario Braid of the Justice Cecilia Munoz Palma Foundation said: Those who argue that it [the party-list system] should be retained, and in fact strengthened, point to how it has been able to balance our â€Å"elite† democracy by providing representation to sectors which otherwise would have been excluded under our present political system. But how do we deal with blatant abuses like having individuals who had never been a part of the group that they are expected to represent? . . . It is about time that the system should be examined by groups from various sectors of society [emphasis added]. The party-list system as the sole legal or constitutional means by which the underrepresented and the marginalized sectors of the Philippine society assert their rights and be part of the Philippine legislature, despite its failure, should be braced and strengthened so as to serve its purpose truly.

Trifles Review

â€Å"Trifles† by Susan Glaspell observes the different reactions characters have due to a murder case. Each of the characters emotions are captivated within the dialog and fundamentally an understanding of the state of mind that lies beneath the scene. The play explains the psyche of the suspect who feels justified due to their past experiences, the sympathy shown from a friend who wasn’t always there, the difference in thought process amongst genders, and the empathetic struggle between law and justice. Glaspell explores how the understanding of a situation depends on the character’s personal relations with the suspect, and in turn how this affects their judgment of a person’s actions. Mrs. Hale’s reaction to the situation is empathetic to Mrs. Wright based off of her own personal experience of knowing her. Mrs. Hale remembers Mrs. Wright as a delightful person but years with Mr. Wright she had become cold and dark to the outside world. The only light for Mrs. Wright was her pet bird. Mrs. Hale finds the bird’s neck snapped and realizes that after all the abuse Mrs. Wright had taken; the bird’s death was the final straw for her (Glaspell 1035-1036). Glaspell shows both Mrs. Hale’s empathy and realization in the following lines, â€Å"I wonder how it would seem never to have any children around. No, Wright wouldn’t like the bird- a thing that sang. She used to sing. He killed that, too† (1036). Glaspell use Mrs. Hale’s re action to not only explore her bias empathy but also to show reason in Mrs. Wright killing her husband. Mrs. Hale’s empathetic reaction also comes from her own guilt. Mrs. Hale was feeling guilty because she hadn’t come by to see Mrs. Wright. Her regret is indicated in these lines, â€Å"Oh, I wish I’d come over here once in a while! That was a crime! That was a crime! Who’s going to punish that† (Glaspell 1036). After Mrs. Hale understood Mrs. Wright was trapped and slowly abused without any outside help, she knew she had taken justice into her own hands. Mrs. Hale, in this situation, is the only one who can see Mrs. Wright disparity and the only one who felt she could have prevented the murder from happening. Mrs. Hale’s understanding of the situation also comes from the insight she had on Mr. and Mrs. Wright’s relationship. Her understanding allows her to more easily see a motive than Mrs. Peters or the men. Glaspell shows Mrs. Peters’ ignorance in the following lines, â€Å"Not to know him; I’ve seen him in town. They say he was a good man† (1035), and follows that with Mrs. Hale’s understanding of Mr. Wright â€Å"Yes-good; he didn’t drink, and kept his word as well as most†¦ But he was a hard man, Mrs. Peters. Just to pass the time of day with him-[Shivers]† (1035). With this personal experience of knowing both Mr. and Mrs. Wright; Mrs. Hale has a different perspective of what has happened than the reader or the rest of the characters. With this knowledge Mrs. Hale can share Mrs. and Mr. Wright’s relationship with not only Mrs. Peters but also the reader, and allow both audiences a chance to make their own judgment of the situation. Mrs. Wright’s reaction is somewhat nonchalant to the situation and creates a sense of justification toward her actions. When Mr. Hale describes the encounter with Mrs. Wright there is a sense of uneasiness. Mrs. Wright laughs when Hale asks if he can see Mr. Wright and is nonchalant when telling him that he is dead. The strangest thing about the situation is Mrs. Wright is worried about very trivial things while she is being held for murder. Glaspell uses Mrs. Wright’s distracted behavior to show her feelings toward the whole incident in the following lines, â€Å"Mrs. Peters: ‘Oh her fruit; it did freeze. She worried about that when it turned so cold. She said the fire’d go out and her jars would break. ’ Sheriff: ‘Well, can you beat the women! Held for murder and worryin’ about her preserves’† (1031). Mrs. Wright more worried about her fruit than being held for murder tells a lot about what is going through her mind. She might be crazy or she could feel that her actions were justified. It could be seen as revenge because of her killing her husband in the same way her husband killed the bird. It also could have been she was abused for most of her life and felt it was self defense. Maybe she felt the law would not properly punish Mr. Wright for slowly sucking the life out of her. Nobody understood the situation better than Mrs. Wright and only knowing her past experiences would lead anybody to a motive. Glaspell uses Mrs. Peter’s reaction to connect with the reader because she is as ignorant to the situation as the reader. When Mrs. Hale finds out Mrs. Peter’s didn’t know who Mrs. Wright was she begins to tell her. She explains Mrs. Wright as delightful person as can be. Mrs. Peters also didn’t know Mr. Wright and with the understanding that he is a â€Å"hard man† (Glaspell 1035) she can better connect with the situation. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale begin to uncover evidence and they start to realize a possible motive for Mrs. Wright killing her husband. Mrs. Peters is flustered by the situation but Mrs. Hale in a sense is pleading with her to sympathize with Mrs. Wright situation. Mrs. Peters understands Mrs. Wright’s predicament and helps Mrs. Hale hide key evidence even though she is married to the law. The mixed feelings of Mrs. Peters are shown in the following lines â€Å"I know what stillness is. The law has got to punish crime, Mrs. Hale†¦ My, it’s a good thing the men couldn’t hear us. Wouldn’t they just laugh! Getting all stirred up over a little thing like a – dead canary† (Glaspell 1036-1037). These changes of feelings may follow similar feelings of the reader. Initially Mrs. Wright can be seen as almost maniacal when being nonchalant about her husband’s death. However after seeing the abuse and stillness of Mrs. Wright’s life; allows both Mrs. Peters and the reader to empathize with her. She doesn’t come to this conclusion herself but when Mrs. Hale explains Mr. and Mrs. Wright’s relationship, she understands that Mrs. Wright felt that there was no other way out of the situation. The main focus of the play is to show how someone’s past experience effects their understanding of a situation. While the men are going in and out of rooms looking for evidence the women are in the kitchen digesting the essence of Mrs. Wright. The women, due to the fact Mrs. Hale knows both Mr. and Mrs. Wright, are identifying with the situation more emotionally. The men are doing things more by the book, going room to room looking for something to stand out to them. This approach make the men seem ignorant or just not able to connect with Mrs. Wright or Mr. Wright on a personal level. Suzy Holstein in â€Å"Silent Justice in a Different Key: Glaspell’s ‘Trifles’† says in the following lines â€Å"The county attorney, Mr. Peters, and Mr. Hale never attempt to identify with John Wright†¦Instead, they view him as they do his wife, and abstraction†(286). However the men’s approach to investigating the murder doesn’t have the same insight as Mrs. Hale has. Mrs. Hale knew Mrs. Wright on a personal level, and can involve the emotions that come along with the crime scene. The men could only look at situation objectively without the same knowledge that Mrs. Hale possesses. So instead of the men’s ignorance being made by the difference in gender, it is the fact that Mrs. Hale knew both Mr. and Mrs. Wright. Glaspell uses these character’s relationships to explain two sides of a story. On the surface Mrs. Wright has killed her husband and is facing murder charges. The three men in the play are only looking at the surface. They look at the scene objectively and doing the investigation by the book, are not able to uncover a motive. However, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are dissecting Mrs. Wright’s state of mind and actually uncovering the true story. Mrs. Wright obviously understands her situation because she kn ows the abuse Mr. Wright put her through. With the women uncovering Mrs. Wright’s motive, Mrs. Peters is left with a decision to judge whether her actions are justified. Glaspell sets up this situation to explore how someone’s personal experience and knowledge change the understanding of a situation. With Mrs. Hale knowing the relationship between Mrs. Wright and her husband she is able to uncover a motive the other characters are blind to. She could convince Mrs. Peters that Mrs. Wright was the victim even more so than Mr. Wright by explaining the stillness of their relationship. Looking at the situation without the knowledge Mrs. Hale has and only the evidence both of the women uncovered, Mr. Wright’s death looks like an act of revenge.

Financial Outcomes Paper Essays (1249 words) - Dividends, Dividend

Financial Outcomes Paper Essays (1249 words) - Dividends, Dividend Financial Outcomes Paper FIN/419 October 26, 2015 Sarah Newton Introduction Dividends Dividends are meant to be a great thing for shareholders because this is when companies give out returns on the profit that was made throughout that year. There are three important things to consider with dividend such as dividend dates, the distribution date, record date, and the ex-distribution date. These dates tell shareholders when dividends will be distributed (distribution date), list of when shareholders that will receive a payout (record date), and a date for pending transactions to be completed (InvestorGuide, 2013). Apple is paying their shareholders a quarterly dividend but in comparison to other companies it is not nearly the amount as they should. In 2012 Apple made its first dividend payback in almost 17 years. Apple gave out 2.5 billion to shareholders quarterly and has been taken in 10 billion in cash flow quarterly. Now for the shareholder when trying to figure out whether or not to invest one must consider the product and the growth of the company. Jared Cummans fr om Dividend.com wrote an article in which he compared Apple to other companies. It should be to no surprise that Apple gave the least back to its shareholders while Intel paid 30-40% of its free cash flow and Microsoft paid out 20%. What does that say about Apples growth? Apple doesnt offer a low cost phone and companies like Samsung and Microsoft are killing the competition. How many ways can Apple reinvent the iPhone? Companies are appealing to the consumer when Samsung is creating an android phone that is lower in cost and does the same thing. We believe that profits Apple is buying back from its shareholders should be reinvested in creating a new, low cost products to consumers. This will increase Apples cash flow which will in return allow for larger payouts for shareholders. Beats- Positive or Negative Outcome? In todays financial market for a business to have continued growth and remain profitable they have to provide consumers with products and services that benefit their lifestyles. Many consumers have become attached to music services such as iTunes, Spotify, and Beats, Apple has seen that the market for this product and service has had a dramatic increase in the last ten years. By paying attention to global consumer trends they were able to acquire a company that related the music to the users choice, not only providing a service but products that enhanced their experience. When Apple decided to purchase Beats Music and Beats Electronics for three billion dollars, they attracted a large amount of attention from the technological industry. The co-founders of Beats, Dr. Dre and Iovine, had a small following of users for their live streaming service and a larger audience for their electronics that are satisfy both fashion and function. There is a problem however, with the acquisition of Beats they expected an increase in market share and that has not been the case. While their overall company shows The tremendous customer demand for our products and services in the March quarter drove revenue growth of 27 percent and EPS growth of 40 percent, ("Apple Reports Record Second Quarter Results", 2015). While many analysts say that they made a purchase unworthy of the sale price the group feels that the numbers agree with the prediction. This is a 19 billion dollar industry and digital music sales in iTunes were down even more nearly 14% worldwide in 2014 (Neiger, 2015). Its sales of books, music, movies, and TV shows in the iTunes Store actually declined by 4% for the third consecutive quarter, and 5% in the first six months of fiscal year 2015 (Neiger, 2015). The outcome of this decision has not led to extra profits for the company, but an overpriced acquisition that has yet to prove that it can increase their market share. Overall, this financial investment was overpriced and unwarranted as the revenue could be used toward research and development. This company has taken many risks financially, but since they have a new president his choices have limited the financial growth of the company and saddled it with companies that are not conducive to their growth. Capital Return- Apple Owned When a company returns capital it

Average ACT Score for 2018, 2017, 2016, and Earlier Years

Average ACT Score for 2018, 2017, 2016, and Earlier Years SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips In recent years, more and more students have been taking the ACT than ever before. But what does this change in participation rate mean for the average ACT score? As you'll learn in this article, while ACT scores have been fairly stable in the last few years, there have been some dips and peaks in scores in the last 25 years. Let’s take a look at what’s happening. Average ACT Scores for Past Years Let's look at some charts for average ACT scores over the past couple of decades. These will show us some trends in the ACT world that have led to recent changes in the test. Average ACT Scores 1992-1996 Year # of Test Takers English Math Reading Science Composite 1992-1993 875,603 20.3 20.1 21.2 20.8 20.7 1994 891,714 20.3 20.2 21.2 20.9 20.8 1995 945,369 20.3 20.2 21.3 21 20.8 1996 924,663 20.3 20.2 21.3 21.1 20.9 Source: NCES Average ACT Scores 1970-1998 In the 1992-1996 ACT scores, there was a general increase in Math, Reading, and Science scores. Average ACT Scores 1997-2001 Year # of Test Takers English Math Reading Science Composite 1997 959,301 20.3 20.6 21.3 21.1 21 1998 995,039 20.4 20.8 21.4 21.1 21 1999 1,019,053 20.5 20.7 21.4 21 21 2000 1,065,138 20.5 20.7 21.4 21 21 2001 1,069,772 20.5 20.7 21.3 21 21 Source: NCES Average ACT Scores 1970-2001 In the 1997-2001 ACT scores, there was an increase in English and Math and a decline in Science and Reading. Also, in 1999, theACT broke the one million test-taker ceiling for the first time. Average ACT Scores 2002-2005 Year # of Test Takers English Math Reading Science Composite 2002 1,6,082 20.2 20.6 21.1 20.8 20.8 2003 1,175,059 20.3 20.6 21.2 20.8 20.8 2004 1,171,460 20.4 20.6 21.3 20.9 20.9 2005 1,186,251 20.4 20.7 21.3 20.9 20.9 Source: NCES Average ACT Scores 1995-2010 From 2002 to 2005, we see a slight but steady rise in all scores across the board. Average ACT Scores 2006-20 Year # of Test Takers English Math Reading Science Writing Composite 2006 1,206,455 20.6 20.7 21.4 20.9 7.7 21.1 2007 1,300,599 20.7 20.8 21.5 21 7.6 21.2 2008 1,421,941 20.6 21 21.4 20.8 7.3 21.1 2009 1,480,469 20.6 21 21.4 20.9 7.2 21.1 2010 1,568,835 20.5 21 21.3 20.9 7.1 21 20 1,623,2 20.6 21 21.3 20.9 7.1 21.1 Source: NCES Average ACT Scores 1995-2010, 20 Profile Report As you can see, ACT scores kept increasing until 2007, when there was an all-time composite score high of 21.2. After that, however, all subscores except English and Science consistently declined. Average ACT Scores 2012-2018 Year # of Test Takers English Math Reading Science Writing Composite 2012 1,666,017 20.5 21.1 21.3 20.9 7.1 21.1 2013 1,799,243 20.2 20.9 21.1 20.7 7 20.9 2014 1,845,787 20.3 20.9 21.3 20.8 7.1 21.0 2015 1,924,436 20.4 20.8 21.4 20.9 6.9 21.0 2016 2,090,342 20.1 20.6 21.3 20.8 19.3* 20.8 2017 2,030,038 20.3 20.7 21.4 21.0 6.5 21.0 2018 1,914,817 20.2 20.5 21.3 20.8 - ** 20.8 Sources: 2012 Profile Report, 2013 Profile Report, 2014 Profile Report, 2015 Profile Report, 2016 Profile Report,2017 Profile Report, 2018 Profile Report*2016 Writing results are based on ACT Writing from September 2015 to August 2016, when the test was scored on a scale of 1-36. **As of 2018 ACT seems to have opted to no longer provide information about Writing score averages (except indirectly through ELA scores). After 2007's peak, there is a general decline in scores across the board for nearly a decade. In 2013, ACT, Inc. instituted changes to the ACT to better reflect national curricula, which is possibly reflected in the general stability of composites and subscores from 2013 onwards (with the exception of Math, which has steadily decreased since then). Average ACT Score Trends: What Do the Numbers Mean? As the charts above indicate, there wasa moderate and gradual increase in average ACT scores until they peaked in 2007. After,average scores began to decline until 2014 when they increased slightly before settling to the same level they are at as of 2018. There has been discussion that the downward trend in average ACT scores could be a result of the No Child Left Behind Act and the test-based teaching style in US schools. This slight increase in ACT scores in 2014 could be attributed to the changes ACT, Inc. made to the ACT so that it could better align with high school curricula.Overall, though, average ACT scores have remained relatively stable. For a long while it was predominantly students in the Midwest that took the ACT, but lately the test has begun to spread to the rest of the US as more and more states are requiring students to take it. Consequently, more students have been taking the ACT each year over the past decade. Even with more students taking the ACT, however, the data shows that students generally do better on the ACT than they do on the SAT- for which there has been a steady, stronger decline in scores. (However, the long-term results of the 2016 SAT redesign aren't yet known.) One thing to note, though, is that just like with the SAT, the ACT shows a disparity in scores based on ethnicity and, very likely, income level. The following chart clarifies these differences between average ACT scores based on ethnicity from 1997 to 2018: 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2016 2017 2018 Black or African American 17.9 16.9 17 16.9 17 17 17.1 16.9 American Indian or Alaska Native 20.4 18.8 18.7 18.9 18 17.7 17.5 17.3 White 22.8 21.8 21.9 22.2 22.1 22.2 22.4 22.2 Hispanic or Latinx 19.9 18.5 18.4 18.7 18.8 18.7 18.9 18.8 Asian 22.5* 21.7 22.1 23.2 23.6 24 24.3 24.5 Pacific Islander - - - - 19.4 18.6 18.4** 18.2 Two or More Races - - - - 21.1 21 21.2 21.1 No Responses - - - - 20.8 20.1 20.3 19.8 Sources: NCES Average ACT Scores 1995-2014, 2016 Profile Report, 2017 Profile Report, 2018 Profile Report *Averages for Asian and Pacific Islander students were combined until 20**Averages for Native Hawaiian students folded into averages for Pacific Islander students starting 2017 Overall, the white, Asian, and two or more races subgroups have the highest ACT score averages,with Asian scores consistently increasing. By contrast, African American and Native American subgroups have the lowest ACT averages, likely because they are typically the most disenfranchised groups. What’s Next? Now that you know about the average ACT scores, it's time to figure out what a good ACT score is for you specifically. If you're definitely decided on the ACT,read our in-depth guides to prepping for the ACT. If you don't have a lot of time left, use ourlast-minute ACT cramming tips. Got time? Then learnhow to come up with your own ACT study schedule. Not sure whether you should take the ACT or SAT?Take a look at our article onthe differences between the ACT and SAT to help you determine which test is right for you. Want to improve your ACT score by 4+ points? Download our free guide to the top 5 strategies you need in your prep to improve your ACT score dramatically.

What Are the Economic Reasons for the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and Essay

What Are the Economic Reasons for the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and Its Abolition - Essay Example The event was supported by the change in moral, religious and humanitarian reasons observed among the citizens. The triangle of trade consisted of three journeys: the outward passage from Europe to Africa with the manufactured goods, the middle passage from Africa to the Americas or the Caribbean’s which carried African captives and commodities and lastly, the homeward passage which carried goods back to Europe (National Maritime Museum). The slave trade made the bulk of the labor force of the New World. They comprise of the bulk of workers in the sugar plantation which is the most labor intensive crop, while some also work in harvesting coffee, cotton and tobacco and some also helped in mining (Wikimedia Foundations Inc.). The cheap labor has been Europe’s power, shipping around 6000-8000 African slaves every year (National Musuems Liverpool). The trafficiking of Africans has been the business of the rich and powerful where both the monarchy and the church has benefitted much so that it comprised 80% of the total British trade, helping in the development of banking and insurance, ship building and several manufacturing industries (Adi). Eric Williams, the showed that the profit from the trafficking has financed England’s industrialization process, that it has become a very essential element to the Industrial Revolution and has brought much wealth to Europe (Wikimedia Foundations Inc.). There has been much speculation as to the abolition of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Humanitarian reasons were cited such as of morality and religion. The humanitarian reason is largely a work of William Wilberforce, who was a British politican and philantrophist who led the movement to abolish slave trade, however, the economic reasons for the abolition cannot be discarded. Many believe that the slave trade was abolished mainly for economic reasons such as argued by Eric Williams. The simple reason was slavery as a form of labor has become unviable