Synopses of Psychology Articles

1. Synopsis: This magazine picture displays the concept of depression. As the female blankly stares into space, she looks very stressed and depressed. This also displays prescription drug pills in which are falling as if they were raindrops, with a teddy bear, kids’ small wagon with blocks in the background, and the female holding a bottle which references as if she’s overly stressed from the pressures of parenting. This ultimately results with having to take the pills for her psychological disorder of depression. The woman also appears to be suffering from post partum depression, which could have led to her drug abuse. Moreover, common experiences of new motherhood, such as sleep disturbance, postpartum pain, psychological stress, and trauma also increase the chances of having post partum depression. Psychological Concept: Depression—Andrea, Barbalich, Moms on Drugs (2011) Parents Magazine pp. 140-1412. Synopsis: This is a poem that describes the many things tha t one does when having the sleep disorder of insomnia. The person tries many methods to go to sleep, but none seem to work, so they stay up and perform different movements and actions in hopes that they’ll eventually go to sleep. Nothing works, so they just accept the fact that sleep won’t come. Psychological Concept- Sleeping disorders- Chidi, S. (2006). Up! Education. Retrieved December 9, 2009, from http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/up-education/3. Synopsis: This was a very interesting video that speaks of the psychological effects that stem from positive and negative reinforcements a parent gives a child to change their behavior. For example, a parent may spank a child to reinforce their behavior of lying habitually. This is a type of punishment that parents gear towards in hopes to positively change their child’s behavior. Psychological Concept- punishment-Zakaria, F. (Host), & McCullough, C. (Writer). (2011, May 16). Psychology: reinforcement and punishment [ Video file]. Retrieved from http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=1uTsQLH3vNQ&feature=related4. Synopsis: This website describes the many causes of drug and alcohol addiction that one may experience. It then goes on to mention the multiple treatments and therapies that one can seek to get through this life threatening psychological disorder. It not only affects the brain, but also affects the body detrimentally as well. This website is very informative on guiding them on a road to recovery. Psychological concept- drug and alcohol  use and addiction-Archer, D. (n.d.). Treatment approaches for drug addiction. Retrieved from http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/infofacts/treatment-approaches-drug-addiction5. Synopsis: This is an article that was published in the New York Times newspaper where it speaks of the effects of helicopter parenting, and how it negatively affects the child. Hovering a child hinders them from making their own decisions and developing their own identity in this societ y. This is a very significant psychological concept because decision making is essential to have and perform in daily life. Lacking decision making skills is a cause from one being neurotic.  Psychological concept- decision making- Lewin, T. (2008, Dec 01). Going off to college for less (passport required). New York Times (1923-Current File), pp. A1. Keirsey, D(1998). Please Understand Me II: Temperament, Character, Intelligence (Prometious Nemesis Publishing Company) Toronto Canada.6. Synopsis: This is a best seller book where the author David Keirsey talks about how being temperament is very important to have in college, other schooling, work, relationships and more. As a child, one may have temper tantrums when they don’t receive what they desire. That is a personality and psychological trait where the impulses in one’s brain becomes very strong and cause the tantrums. This behavior shows during adulthood in the daily life of the person. It’s important to b e temperament because it causes less arguments and altercations between yourself and others, as David stresses in his book. Psychological concept- temperament7. Synopsis: Freud talks about the three personality traits: Id, ego and super ego, and how they work together to build personalities and the complexity of human beings. They are the different levels as to how information in the brain is structured. Freud says there’s the unconscious, mid conscious and conscious. Freud practiced many methods and has come to the conclusion that the unconscious is where everything is stored. The three  personality traits that he has come up with him consider are important in making decisions. Psychological concept- Id, ego, and super ego  Lahey, B, Psychology: An Introduction 11th edition8. Synopsis: The psychological concept that is revealed in this commercial deals with forgetting. The psychological disorder of dementia is humorously shown in this commercial by an elderly woman who f orgets that she’s eating KFC, and that she placed the chicken bucket on her head. Dementia is very common in old age, and saddens families as they watch their elder loved ones go through it, but in the commercial it brings humor to the disorder. The family that’s in the commercial find it funny that the elder woman put the bucket onto her head. Psychological concept- forgetting- Pratt, C. (Executive producer). (2008, October 5). KFC [commercial] MTV.9. Synopsis: The movie Arachnophobia is about a group of scientists, looking to discover and research many species of insects and spiders, but accidently brings home a deadly creature then increasingly multiplies and kill many people. The people of the town become paranoid of them, and do all they can to get away from them. Psychological concept- phobia- Marshall, F. (Director). (1990). Arachnophobia [Hollywood Pictures]. Available from IDP Films, 1133 Broadway, Suite 926, New York, NY 1001010. Synopsis- Ivan Pavlov was a R ussian Physiologist who researched conditioning. One of his findings was that if you present someone with a repetitive demonstration that they are to perform, they will continue to receive the anticipation of what was told for them to perform. For example, when ringing a bell for a dog to come and get a bone, the dog comes to eat it. When the bone is taken away, but the bell is still rang, the dog’s mouth began to salivate and will anticipate the reward of the bone. The animal has been controlled by being conditioned by a conditioned response. Psychological concept- conditioning- Babkin, B.P. (1949). Pavlov: A Biography. Toronto, Canada: The University of Chicago Press.11. Synopsis- This picture represents a woman on her death bed relying on oxygen as a means of life support. There are 5 stages of dying, which are denial, anger, bargain, depression and accept. This woman’s first reaction was probably denial, in which she refuses to acknowledge the inevitable, perhaps b elieving a mistake has been made. She may have even sought other medical opinions and diagnoses or pretend that this situation would simply go away on its own. As she realized that she was dying, she may have experience anger due to her life ending prematurely.She may have also attempted to bargain, probably with God or another religious figure, and she may have promised to change or make amends or atone for her wrongdoings. The woman may have also experienced depression and hopelessness. During this stage, she may mourn the loss of health that was already occurring, as well as the impending losses of her family and plans. Lastly, when nearing the end of suffering she will learn to accept the inevitable, paving the way for a smoother transition both for herself and loved ones. Psychological concept- Stages of Dying-http://www.equalitybritain.co.uk/content/news/news_June09.asp12. Synopsis- This picture represents a young lady with an eating disorder. She displays signs of disappointm ent, disgust, depression, guilt and a pale/unhealthy appearance. She may be abnormally sensitive about being perceived as fat, or have a massive fear of becoming fat. The measuring tape in her mouth shows that she is very body conscious and is constantly measuring her body. The different writing on her body represents how she feels about herself and her image. She may have psychological and emotional problems that contribute to her disorder.She may also have a low self-esteem, perfectionism, impulsive behavior and troubled relationships. Eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder include extreme emotions, attitudes, and behaviors surrounding weight and food issues in society. Peer pressure and what she may have seen in the media may have fueled her desire to be thin. The exact cause of eating disorders is unknown. Unfortunately, many people with eating disorders resist treatment and experience serious complications such as bone loss, heart failure, digesti ve problems and seizures. Psychological concept- Eating Disorders- http://iamw0manhearmer0ar.wordpress.com/category/eating-disorders/

Counter Trade

Counter Trade Counter Trade: Unquestionably, currency is the preferred payment medium for any export or import transaction—it is easy, fast, and straightforward to transact. Sometimes, though, compa ¬nies must adapt to the reality that buyers in many countries cannot do so, whether due to the fact that their home country's currency is nonconvertible, the country doesn't have enough cash, or it doesn't have sufficient lines of credit. Sometimes companies and coun ¬tries find it practically impossible to generate enough foreign exchange to pay for imports.In recourse, they devise creative ways to buy products. For example, Indonesia traded 40,000 tons of palm oil, worth about US$15 million, with Russia in exchange for Russian Sukhoi fighter aircraft. This trade, like others that fall under the umbrella term countertrade, illustrates that buyers and sellers often find creative ways of settling pay ¬ment for imports and exports. Countertrade refers to any one of several diff erent arrangements that parties negoti ¬ate so that they can trade goods and services with limited or no use of currency.Technically, countertrade can be divided into two basic types: barter, based on clearing arrangements used to avoid money-based exchange; and buybacks, offsets, and counter purchase, which are used to impose reciprocal commitments. Countertrade is an inefficient way of doing business. By default, companies prefer the straightforward efficiency of cash or credit. In the case of countertrade, rather than sim ¬ply consulting current foreign exchange rates, buyers and sellers must enter complex and time-consuming negotiations to reach a fair value on the exchange—how many gallons of palm oil for how many planes, for example.In some situations, the goods that are sent as payment may be poor quality, packaged unattractively, or difficult to sell and service. Also, there is a lot of room for price and financial distortion in countertrade deals, given that nonm arket forces set the prices of these goods. Ultimately, countertrade and its vari ¬ations threaten free market forces with protectionism and price fixing that can complicate trade relations with other countries. Still, the harsh reality of international trade means that countertrade is often unavoid ¬able for companies that want to do business in markets that have limited or no access to cash or credit.Complicating matters is the fact that as much as companies may dislike them, many emerging markets prefer forms of countertrade to preserve their limited monetary assets, generate foreign exchange, and improve the balance of trade. In addi-tion, these methods help emerging markets reduce their need to borrow working capital as well as let them access the technology and marketing expertise of MNEs. More signif ¬icantly, benefits beyond financing the immediate transaction do accrue to companies.Accepting the option to countertrade shows managers' good faith and flexibility in the face of onerous conditions. These sensitivities can position the firm to gain preferential access to emerging markets. Philosophically, the idea of countertrade fits with many countries' basic notions of business. For example, the idea of â€Å"barter and trade† is part of some African traditions that are reluctant to conform to â€Å"Euro-centric† methods of cash payment. It is difficult to gauge the size of the countertrade market. Estimates in the past have ranged from 10 to 40 percent of total global exports.This figure has proven tough to verify due to inconsistent reporting and disclosure. Countertrade generally increases in economies that are experiencing widespread economic problems. In Argentina, countertrade among common citizens has increased due to a severe shortage of cash. There are several types of countertrade. The three most common ares- (1) Barter Barter, the oldest form of countertrade, is a transaction in which goods or services are traded for goods or services of equal value without any exchange of cash or credit.Each term of the exchange is negotiated in terms of the immediate trade of goods or services. For instance, Thailand and Indonesia signed a $40 million deal in which Indonesia would supply Thailand with an agricultural aircraft, train carriages, and fertilizer in exchange for Thai rice—no monies were or would be exchanged. There are barter firms that act as an intermediary between the exporter and importer, often taking title to the goods received by the exporter for a price or selling the goods for a fee and a percentage of the sales value. (2) BuybacksBuybacks are products the exporter receives as payment that are related to or originate from the original export. Buyback arrangements are quite common in the sale of technology, licenses, and even complete â€Å"turnkey† factories. Payment is made in full or in part either by products manufactured in the new facility or by production from the new licens e or tech ¬nology. Buyback countertrade is especially popular for turnkey infrastructure projects. For example, the customer pays for the project, say a steel mill, with government-backed long-term credit.The exporting contractor first guarantees that the project will work when com ¬pleted and then agree to buy back products or services from the completed facility or to serve as a distributor for products exported from the host country. The host-country buyer uses these hard currency payments to liquidate the original long-term credit. Throughout the relationship, no cash changes hands and no credit arrangements are necessary. The buy-back contract merely states that the output from the newly constructed facility is to be applied to the original price of the exports.This sort of arrangement was worked out between PepsiCo and Russia. Pepsi provided syrup to state-owned bottling plants in Russia and received Stolichnaya vodka in return, which it then marketed in the West. (3) Offs et Trade An increasingly important form of countertrade is offset trade, a transaction that takes place when an exporter sells products for cash and then helps the importer find opportuni ¬ties to earn hard currency. Offsets are most often used for big-ticket items, such as military sales.The Czech government made offset the deciding factor, as opposed to technical and performance criteria and price, in its jet fighter procurement. Offset arrangements are usually one of two types. 1. Direct offsets include any business that relates directly to the export. Generally, the exporter seeks contractors in the importer's country to joint-venture or coproduce certain parts if applicable. For example, an aircraft exporter could partner with a company in the importer's country to manufacture components that would be used in the manufacture of the aircraft. . Indirect offsets include all business unrelated to the export. Generally, the exporter is asked by the importer's government to buy a country's goods or invest in an unre ¬lated business. Some of the most common direct offset practices in military sales include coproduction, licensed production, subcontractor production, overseas investment, and technology transfer. Examples of indirect offsets might include assisting in the export of unrelated products from the host country or generating tourist revenues for the host country.

Role of family environment in adult criminality Essay

Role of family environment in adult criminality - Essay Example Juvenile delinquency is the display of criminal attitude by youngsters in the age of transition into adulthood while adult criminality is the display of violent behaviors in adulthood. A whole range of antisocial behaviors are displayed by the juvenile delinquents that include but are not limited to drug abuse, alcohol abuse, vandalism, rape, weapon possession, bullying, school malpractices, truancy, and cultism which make them criminal as grownups. There is a growing consensus among the analysts that adult crime finds its roots in the family environment an individual spends his/her childhood in (Eitle and Turner, 2002, p. 215). There is dire need to realize the specific factors ingrained in the corrupt family environment which are responsible for enhancing a child’s tendency to land in the world of crime. This paper aims at discussing some of the ways in which children gain negative influences from the family environment. Antisocial behavior of parents increases their children’s tendency to become delinquent and antisocial. Several studies including McCord (1977) and Robins (1979) have depicted the criminality of parents as the causal factor behind the child delinquency. Family factors have been identified as strong determinants of criminality in children. We know that children who grow up in homes are characterized by lack of warmth and support, whose parents lack behavior management skills, and whose lives are characterized by conflict or maltreatment will more likely be delinquent, whereas a supportive family can protect children even in a very hostile and damaging external environment. (Smith and Stern, 1997, p. 383). In Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development, the most comprehensive research upon family offence was conducted that included 400 males of all ages in the range of 8 years to 48 years (Farrington et al., 2006). The researchers predicted a boy’s convictions due to his relationship with a convicted brother, sister, father or mother. It was found that each of these relatives had his/her own independent significance as predictor, though the level of influence was controlled by certain factors including gender and age. 63 per cent of the convicted boys had convicted fathers as compared to 30 per cent of the boys tha t had non-convicted fathers. In determining the influence of relationships upon a boy’s delinquency, same-sex relationships were found to be more influential in comparison to the opposite-sex relationships. Also, the influence of criminality of elder siblings was found to be more than that of younger siblings. Sexual abuse that girls experience at home triggers the motivation in them to run away with a view to escaping the abuse they are offered at home (Siegel and Williams, 2003, p. 71). This act of leaving the home may results into an incarceration along with different kinds of offending. In order to make their living while away from home, many girls become thieves or prostitutes. A lot of retrospective investigations have found the origin of prostitution in the childhood sexual abuse. Studies by Reich and Gutierres (1979) and Ames and Widom (1998) have shown that sexual abuse at home is a predictor of running away from home with a great statistical significance. A research directed at exploring the causes of male and female runaways determined that sexual abuse was a reason for leaving home only for females (Welsh et al., 1995). Child neglect and abuse may cause improper development of several areas of brain which may become the root-cause of impaired physical, emotional and psychological development. Certain regions of the brain may display a hyperarousal response as a result of the stress caused by the chronic abuse. Its consequences may include but are not limited to sleep disturbance, hyperactivity, and tension. Besides, it increases an individual’s vulnerability to attention deficit disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder,

Company Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Company Law - Essay Example AoA) or Memorandum of Association (MoA) (Tomasic, Bottomley and McQueen, 2002). The key legal issue identified is in the case scenario concentrates on whether the actions of Anna and Susanna were focused on yielding personal benefits or the company’s interest. Step 2: The Relevant Law A company’s management is generally administered by the provisions of Corporations Law under Section 134 which applies to companies as ‘replaceable laws’ by constitution. However, it is the sole discretion of the company’s management to decide on the number of replaceable laws to be applied which are mentioned in the Corporations Act 2001. Furthermore, Section 140(1)(b) of the Corporations Act 2001 states that replaceable and constitution laws are obliged to a contract engaging the company and its directors under which every director agrees to adhere to the rules and constitutions mentioned as per the organisational interests (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2011). In relation to Section 198 of Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) the directors of the companies possess the authority to exercise all the discretionary powers except for those which require additional approvals in accordance to the constitution. With reference to Section 198C, the directors of a company may assign a managing director and bestow the personnel with responsibilities according to their convenience and requirements. Furthermore, the management also enjoys the authority to cancel or reassign powers of the managing director, who have been assigned with the discretion of all the directors (Tomasic, Bottomley and McQueen, 2002). Under the act, if a company or its entitled directors aim to appoint a managing director it must ensure that the formalities comply with the Corporations Act 2001 as mentioned under Section 198C. The law specifies that the directors of the company should adhere to certain rules that have been decided and assigned to the managing director, irrespective of their discreti onary powers. Breaching of contracts or agreements within the directors or shareholders of a company may lead to violation of the law as stated in Section 180(1) by the Corporate Law Reform Act 1992. A similar situation have been identified in the case of Vines v ASIC (2007) 73 NSWLR 451, where the director breached the common law or contract, and consequentially, the court agreed that the judgement could amount to sue the director for the damages caused by negligence of law (Pitt and Luxton, 2011). However, statutory defences are available under Sections 180(3) of the Business Judgement Rule which states that breach of contract can be defended if the director can prove that the decision and action taken was in relevant to the business operations of the corporation (Nadeau, 2006). Step 3: Apply the Law to the Problem Leaping Lizard Coffee Emporium Pty Ltd specialises in coffee and other coffee-related accessories. It operates as a private company formed by Joan, Anna, Prafula and Su sanna who were further designated as the directors of the company with equal share capital. In addition, the company consists of three members each owning 1000 ordinary class shares. The company has been registered under the Corporations Act 2001 in the year 2012 and adopted replaceable rules under Sections 6, 33A to 39, 198A and 198C. Besides, the company has appointed a managing direct

Dream job Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Dream job - Essay Example I therefore, must admit how privileged I am to have passion for something. This is electrical engineering. I love everything about electrical engineering, and I believe that my future in electrical engineering is promising. I am driven by passion in my studies, and I believe my love for electrical engineering will continue to benefit me in many different ways, now and in future (Anderson 33). I remember my childhood period when I grew up as a curious child, wanting to know everything I had no idea of. I would watch my father repair electronics, including light bulbs, and I would get interested in knowing why the appliances had stopped working, and how they were fixed. I am thankful that my father was patient with the stubborn me, and always took delight in offering me detailed explanations of how he had fixed the appliances. This was instrumental, as almost every day; I would learn a new thing. I grew up with this curiosity and inquisitiveness, and I am glad this helped me get a lot of information about new things and concepts. When I was of considerable age, I learnt that my passion for electrical engineering was real. I remember telling my parents one evening that I would study electrical engineering when I grow up. My father did not object, he patted me on the back and affirmed that that was my thing. From that moment, I became focused on electrical engineering. ... he world, and that each day I will be looking forward to learning something new, increases the urge in me to know more, to comprehend an extra concept, and excel in electrical engineering. Therefore, my hard work, dedication, and passion for this course will ultimately take the world and me to the engineering standards that we aspire in future. All study courses are important in the world today. However, I believe that electrical engineering plays a special role and holds a special place in the global economy today. This is why I admire the prominent dedicated electrical engineers in this country. I have always stopped to think and imagine how the world would be, if electrical engineers never existed, or if they suddenly gave up their roles. Afterwards, I figure out that if all electrical engineers were to vanish from the world one day, many of the things people depend on would become non-existent or would suddenly stop working. This has always given me the pride to be an electrical engineer in the making. Thus, I am a motivated person, knowing that I am on the right track to my profession, and to a fulfilling future. Electrical engineering is responsible for shaping talented individuals to become successful electrical engineers. The electrical engineers hold a special place in society today. For instance, these influence the work of mechanics and electricians, by ensuring everything, including things such as circuits, is in place, before the mechanics and electricians start working gadgets, vehicles, among other electrical appliances. In addition, many homes, offices, malls, hospitals, schools, among others need an electrical engineer to ensure that everything runs as intended. Electrical engineers generally provide important services in society, which ensure that all

Globalization in India Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Globalization in India - Essay Example The raise in migration, pressurise the city vicinity with increase in the density of population. The need to develop more land for living drives us to eliminate the greenery or natural habitat. Many cultivable lands were been taken away by either government or private realtors for the thrust for wealth. Land acquisition in countries like India created lot of uproar as people who depend on the land has to either relocate or they were forced to relocate leaving their age old habitats, the cattle, house etc. Multi national companies like POSCO have planned huge investments in Orissa state of India. The investment has ignited people to raise lot of concerns as it requires lot of relocation and rehabilitation management at the proposed sight. According to Vijayan MJ, the state government and POSCO rolled out a billion dollar investment plan in Orissa state of India. The land required for the project is 4004 acres out of which 3566 acres is government land and the rest 438 acres is private land. In all, as per official data, 471 families would be affected from the three Gram Panchayats. However, as per the local movement against POSCO, more than 4000 families, i.e., a population of 22000 will be affected by the project in the area.

Purpose of Schooling from the Past to the Present Essay

Purpose of Schooling from the Past to the Present - Essay Example Jefferson also had a strong belief that without and educational background people would never really have any idea of what true freedom was. Jefferson is quoted as saying, "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in civilization, it expects what it never was and never will be" (Padover 1952). Therefore the belief from education to the past and currently in the present still exists to be that without an education people will only dream of what they want to be in life and what they would love to achieve. In order for great things to happen one has to have knowledge of their past and a good knowledge of their future through the gift of education. In colonial times the main structure of education was situated around learning English, Reading, Writing, History, and Arithmetic due to the fact that these five areas are and have always been considered to be the most prudent areas to have knowledge about in life. Also, there were public schools just as there are today and there existed private schools as well but in colonial times the only children that could have the possibility of attending where all white and came from very influential and prosperous families (Mapp 1991). Many studies have also found that poor children did not have the ability to attend any type of formal schooling due to the fact they did not have the clothes or supplies to be able to afford going and also due to great fear of not fitting in. Not only this but it was also in part on the fact that their parents needed them more on the farms working for monetary compensation to sustain the family than taking the time to receive a proper education. Therefore thes e children studied through apprenticeship (Pulliam & Patten 1999). Furthermore, those that did venture into elementary school only took time to learn the basics of schooling in order to function decently in society but their knowledge was very limited. Basically the learning process consisted of a lot of memorizing and those who did not study and learn where often whipped, which is similar to the style of punishment today in schools with the principal paddling students who act up in class. However, in colonial times the punishment for disruption was much harsher than it is today. The first textbook came from New England and was titled, "The New England Primer" and formed a part of America's contribution to young people's education. This text was used from 1609 all the way up until the mid 19th century to teach religion and reading (Pulliam & Patten 1999). For instance, for every letter of the alphabet that a child learned they also learned a religious scripture as well. Such as for the letter a, they learned "In Adams fall, We all sin." (Pulliam & Patten 1999). This shows that in the colonial period schools were greatly influenced by religion and when compared to today we can see a stark difference because religion in the public school system has all but been taken out of the teaching curriculum. Benjamin Franklin also had a great role in the educational process during the late colonial period as well, in fact possibly just as influential as Thomas Jefferson was to the learning process of the various time periods. As the times progressed in the learning envir onment for Americans the more the attitude grew that necessary

Appraise the proposition that the bank failures and crisis of 2007-8 Essay

Appraise the proposition that the bank failures and crisis of 2007-8 could have been foreseen from academic work published prior to 2004 - Essay Example In the United States, the Federal Government was left with no option but to initiate a bailout program to secure the financial markets and control the crisis before it spread to other parts of the world. Over a period of time the crisis became a global financial crisis and many banking institutions around the world felt the shock. As the financial system faced rapid deterioration, many causing factors came to surface. There are many factors which have been pointed out as those which contributed to the banking crisis. This paper aims to analyze the literature which was developed prior to 2004 which contained information which could have been used to avoid the current bank failures and crisis which have reshaped the economy of the world. This paper will look at some of the root causes of the banking crisis and the ways in which it could have been avoided, while looking at the literature which was available prior to 2004 which could have been used to predict the crisis. A report by the Inter American Development Bank (2004) states that in order to avoid costly banking crisis it is essential to understand what causes them in the first place. One of the prime reasons for the banking crisis was the deregulation. In the past there have been incidents where deregulation of a particular industry showed similar trends. One such example is the airline industry which did well initially following the deregulation but eventually some of the airline service providers were forced to face bankruptcy. This is one example which could have been used to determine what the outcome of unmonitored banking and mortgage lending practices could have resulted in. Secondly banks did not consider the integrity of the borrowers when lending them huge amounts of money. Even individuals who were not fit to obtain loans were approved large sums of money. A) The US boom

The Republic Book 8. According to Plato, what are the weaknesses of a Essay - 1

The Republic Book 8. According to Plato, what are the weaknesses of a democracy What do you think of Plato's argument - Essay Example ality of the individuals in the democracy creates a society with several constitutions and once the democracy is established, there is no requirement to rule or to be ruled. Sophistication is also deemed necessary among the people in the city and tolerance as another chief yet weak characteristic is only thought to be complete if it is working for the benefit of the majority. The way I see it, Plato presents a rather limited perspective of democracy, following a condition that is absolute on its own and occurs incapable of adjustments when in fact there is governing constitution to regulate freedom so as to avoid any tendency of its extreme unruly utilization. Prior to initiating propositions, despite most of his reliable philosophical thoughts, Plato could have considered extending borders for his analysis of the prevailing political system and situation in the democratic society and seek ways for democracy to maintain balance of liberty and power as well as respect for authority of the ruling

Small-Business Opportunities Available Today Essay

Small-Business Opportunities Available Today - Essay Example (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_business). There are certain types of difficulties faced by such businesses due to their small size. One of the most common reasons for bankruptcy is undercapitalization. This is mainly due to the bogus arrangement and not the financial circumstances; meaning that any business should have enough amount of money to run that business and a certain criteria is set up. If the required isn't done, then the company can suffer from bankruptcy. Along with the fact of having good amount of capital, the proprietor of the small business should have a good knowledge of gross margin, which are "sales minus variable costs." In order to work appropriately and efficiently, the business is required to achieve a standard of sales having gross margin surpass the "fixed costs." In United States, few of the important small business proprietors are in the field of "insurance costs, rising energy costs and taxes." While in United Kingdom and Australia, small business possessors are more into the field "with excessive governmental red tape." It can be a complicated task for a fresh and developing business to gain trust of customers. To overcome this complication, some associations like Better Business Bureau and the International Charter are proposing Small Business Certification, "which certifies the quality of the services and goods produced and can encourage new and larger customers." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_business). Comparing and Contrasting Two Small Business Firms The two small business companies which will be compared in this report are two different finance corporations running in United States. The first one is Southwestern Business Financing Corporation, operating in State of Arizona and Contiguous States. The second one is Chesapeake Business Finance Corporation operating in Kent and Sussex Counties. About the Firms Southwestern Business Financing Cooperation is a classified, non-profit company that gives "small businesses with long-term loans for owner-occupied fixed assets." This company is one of the two corporations of Arizona which is endorsed by the U.S Small Business Administration to create the SBA 504 loan to small businesses for construction of gigantic utensils from "$ 125,000 to $ 10,000,000." This company offers a "long-term, fixed-rate financing" with a decreased down payment. From the time when it was founded, SBFC has financed the purchase or building of over $500 million of buildings for small businesses. (http://www.swbfc.com/mission.cfmpagename=mission). Chesapeake Busines

Mosaics in Pompeii Essay Example for Free

Mosaics in Pompeii Essay Mosaic decoration was commonly used in the beautification of both private and public buildings in Pompeii and has been found in all different shapes, sizes locations and with all different purposes. Mosaics were often used as flooring in Pompeii were largely used to decorate floors and entrance walls to houses and other buildings, some representing importance, others advertisement and even propaganda. The panel depicting The Battle of Alexander housed in the Archaeological Museum in Naples and originating from the House of the Faun, is, though, one of the most important and magnificent examples. The Alexander Mosaic was found during the excavation of Pompeii in 1831 in the â€Å"Casa del Fauno† (House of the Faun), one of Pompeiis grandest residences. Today it is one of the most famous Roman mosaics. The work itse;f measures to 5.82 x 3.13 metres in size and there is debate as to what the mosaic represents, whether it was to depict the Battle of Issus between Alexander the Great and the Persian king Darius III in the year 333 BC or the battle of Gaugamela in the year 331 BC, where Alexander the Great and Darius clashed once again. There is also a belief that a Hellenistic painting was used as the model. The mosaic shows the magnificence of Greek monumental painting and four-colour painting. There is no debate however on its beauty, detail, the skill woven into each detailed plate of mosaic tiles and the time it would have taken to put such a delicate and intricate piece together. The piece is made of roughly 4 million white, yellow, red, and black tesserae. The picture shows Alexander galloping into battle with a mass of troops behind him on the left hand side, pursuing Darius into a battle. The picture also shows towards the right hand side of the mosaic, the Persians turning to flee, with a fearful loom from Darius as the only thing facing alexander and his men. Today, the original Alexander Mosaic is on display in the National Museum of Archaeology in Naples. An exact copy – identical in shape, size, colour and materials used – was created after several years of work by the Scuola Bottega del Mosaico di Ravenna and is now installed in Pompeii. The painting is described by Pliny the Elder as representing the battle of Alexander with Darius. Certain inconsistencies in the mosaic point to its derivation from another source. The patches basically show us the mosaic through the Romans eyes, and tell us what interested the ancient viewer. Although Darius is the most prominent figure in the mosaic, the Romans were much more interested in Alexander, he said. The portrait of Alexander corresponds to the so-called Lysippean type, which includes for example the Per gamon Head. Alexander is not idealised here in the otherwise frequent form: with long curls and full, soft features as the incarnation of Zeus, the sun-god Helios or Apollo [†¦]. His head appears rather more gaunt, with tautly shaped cheeks, marked by suggested or deeply-carved wrinkles and with short hair barely covering his ear. Both types, the realistic and the idealising, do admittedly show the parting of the forelock characteristic of Alexander here as short, unmanageable strands, in the deifying variation as upwardly radiating pairs of locks. A later, but unmistakeable echo of this hairstyle can be found in the consciously stylised, characteristic forelock of Augustus. Conclusuions we can draw about the spciteies of Pompeii and Herculaneum through looking at this mosaic are It is thought that this house was built shortly after the Roman conquest of Pompeii, and is likely to have been the residence of one of Pompeiis new, Roman, ruling class. The mosaic highlights the wealth and power of the occupier of the house. What is less know is the mosaics role as a floor surface in an Italian house. In this role, it has the potential to provide evidence of the tastes, interests and desires of the wealthy Romans during the late Republic, There is clear evidence of multiple ancient repairs in these damaged areas. The most recent restorations filled the gaps with mortar, while more ancient repairs used tesserae, show a keen interest in the arts and that they hold great importance to a fmailies household perhaps sudgesting status in society by their beauty and expence. http://news.discovery.com/history/how-the-alexander-mosaic-was-used.html http://alexandermosaik.de/en/interpretation_of_the_mosaic.html http://www.pompeionline.net/pompeii/mosaic.htm http://archaeology.about.com/od/archaeologicalsi3/ss/pompeii_faun_7.htm http://alexandermosaik.de/en/

Examining The Understanding Social Disorganization Theory Criminology Essay

Examining The Understanding Social Disorganization Theory Criminology Essay Social Disorganization means the disruption or breakdown of the structure of social relations and values resulting in the loss of social controls over individual and group behavior, the development of social isolation and conflict, and a sense of estrangement or alienation from the mainstream of ones culture; the  condition or state of anomie (dictionary). Social Disorganization Theory is a theory that is less than one hundred years old. The founders of this theory are Shaw and McKay. Social disorganization theory was developed in the early 1900s in Chicago, Illinois, based upon the fact that the founders of this theory had been researching juvenile court records for more than one decade (Pratt, Gau, and Franklin 43). The theory suggested that there were high rates of crime in certain neighborhoods; particularly rather poor neighborhoods. Once Shaw and Kay discovered these findings, they figured that crime was no longer based on the individual alone, but more so the structure of th e neighborhood and what the neighborhood consisted of socially; neighbors level of interaction with one another, along with their ability to regulate the youth of their community (Pratt, Gau, and Franklin 44). There are several factors that can help determine social disorganization within a community. A few of these factors include: low socioeconomic status, high rates of residential mobility, increased diversity within the community and single-parent households (Pratt et al. 44, Barton et al. 247, and Kingston et al. 54). However, one of the main factors frequently used to determine social disorganization is residential mobility. Residential mobility is the frequent Childress 2 change of residence, either in the same city or town, or between cities, states or communities (dictionary). Residential mobility has the ability to socially disorganize any community. Neighbors packing up and moving more frequently than not, puts a strain on the ability for people to bond with one another and form a friendship with other residents who also reside in their community. Another factor that is often used to determine social disorganization is the socioeconomic status of a particular neighborhood. Poor neighborhoods with low income usually contain single-parent residencies. Single-parent households with young children living in them, have a hard time controlling the youth of their households, let alone the youth of their communities. Lack of discipline to the youth and improper social skills with their peers causes them to get involved in certain activities that are not only harmful to the community but harmful to themselves as well. According to the authors of the articl e A Test of Social Disorganization Theory in High-Risk Urban Neighborhoods, Structurally disadvantaged neighborhoods that lack the resources to effectively monitor children (such as: summer camps, music lessons, sports training, home computers, and special tutoring) and provide few sanctions for inappropriate behavior are likely to have a higher number of delinquent peer groups available to youthà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Poorly monitored youth are more likely to socialize with deviant peers and to engage in misconduct (Kingston et al. 58-59). As stated before, social disorganization occurs mainly in poor neighborhoods with high residential mobility lack of socializing between the neighbors throughout the community. These factors allow the crime in these communities to grow exponentially. Social exclusion and isolation from one another has a negative effect on the community because it creates a gateway for crime to occur. With no one from the community willing to step up and organize groups like The Neighborhood Watch or etc., it creates opportunities for crime to occur at any given time throughout the community. With no control over the youth living in the community, crime tends Childress 3 to rise. With lack of control over the youth, gangs have a high risk of developing. When gangs develop, there are a number of negative things that can occur. Some of the negative activities that can stem from gangs are burglaries, vandalism, drug-dealing, and violence, just to name a few (Mares, 41). The number of gangs began to rapidly increase in America during the 20th century. Without warning, gangs began showing up and developing in suburban, rural and urban communities (Mares, 41). This could have been prevented somehow if there had been more unity within the communities and if neighbors had been more willing to socialize with one another while agreeing to keep an eye out for any suspicious behavior with their community. However, it is safe to say that gang violence and homicides has the ability to destroy neighborhoods and put fear into people while causing isolation throughout the community (Mares, 42). So, if people within a community are afraid of the area that they are living in, it makes it harder for them to call the police and report a crime; and if they do report a crime, the chances of them cooperating with the police and stepping up as a public witness is not high, because they may feel threatened by the local gang members of the community, as well as scared for their lives. When this occurs, crime increases within the community because local gang members feel as if theyre invincible and as if they can get away with any crime they commit, no matter how large or small the crime may be (Mares 43). Social Disorganization started off as a theory fit for urban, rural and suburban neighborhoods. However, throughout the years, social disorganization has progressed from slum neighborhoods to college campuses. With the Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University shootings, campus crime seems pretty evident in these areas (Barton et al. 245). According to the authors of the article Social disorganization theory and the college campus, four-year college universities reported 44 murders, 2,491 forcible rapes, 1,386 robberies, 2,130 aggravated assaults, 25,978 burglaries, and 3,410 motor vehicle thefts back in 2007 in the United States Childress 4 (Barton et al. 245). Residential mobility is an obvious factor of social disorganization on college campuses because most colleges do not require their student to live on campus. Students living in nearby towns tend to commute back and forth to school everyday. Theres also the case where students get to pick a new room during the room reservation process towards the end of every academic school year. The percentage of students remaining in the same dorm room year after year is not very high. All of these factors regarding residential mobility on college campuses make it very hard for neighboring students in the dormitories to form a lasting bond with one another, since students usually get a new neighbor at the beginning of every academic school year once they move back onto campus. Then you have the college students who decide to pledge for a Greek organization on campus. These organizations take up the majority of a students time. Those students who live on campus but are dedicated to a Greek organization are hardly ever in their dorm rooms, thus, making it that much easier for crimes, such as burglaries, to occur on the college campus, particularly in the dormitories. Despite the positive things that Greek organizations do for the community, crime is very much capable of happening at their events, particularly their parties. Certain crimes such as under-age drinking, illegal drug use and vandalism are, very much so, capable of happening at a Greek organizations college party (Barton et al. 248). However, according to authors of the article Social disorganization theory and the college campus, Stronger community organizations provide more opportunities for positive social interaction, improve formal social control by increasing the chances that neighbors will observe neighborhood activity and intervene when they see potential problems, and thereby decrease the chance of crime occurring (Barton et al. 248). The dynamics of a community determine whether or not there will be social disorganization. Of course openness and communication within the community enhances the Childress 5 chances of gaining more control over the youth residing in nearby homes of their neighbors, including the homes of their own (if they have any). Coming together and unifying to form protection groups such as The Neighborhood Watch, will give people within the community a feeling of safety and protection. So, if someone from The Neighborhood Watch witnesses a crime taking place with their community, they may feel more confident and safe about calling the police to report it, since they will have the support of the The Neighborhood Watch within the community to fall back on. Aside from unity and proper communication amongst the residents of a community, the quality of the schools within the community have a strong ability to decrease social disorganization. Schools within a community that are not overcrowded or lacking basic needs such as teaching supplies and up-to-date text books, makes the students who are attending that particular institution more guaranteed to gain a quality education (Kingston et al. 58). This will give them more of an interest in pursuing a higher education, such as college, which will give them motivation to focus more on school by getting good grades and becoming more involved with extracurricular activities, instead of getting into trouble out in the streets of their community. According to the text book Key Ideas in Criminology and Criminal Justice, the authors conclude at the end of chapter four that levels of social disorganization may affect informal control and criminal opportunity mechanism, which, in turn, directly influence neighborhood crime rates (Pratt et al. 50). Childress 6

European Union State Aid Control Economics Essay

European Union State Aid Control Economics Essay European Union Agreement signed in Maastricht in November 1993 and this agreement generated the European Union. EU aims to modernize the European economy and to be able to compete with strong players like USA in the world market by making inventions, encouraging trade investments and at the same time making the European education system suitable to meet the needs of information society. To reach these targets EU accepts using state aids if necessary. This paper aims to represent European Union State Aid practices and State Aid Control by benefiting from concepts of efficiency, equity, welfare, public interest, compatibility and market failure. State Aids expresses any aid from state resources to public enterprises and private enterprises. State Aids emerges as a kind of cohesiveness policy. Generally the main purpose of the EU state aid policies is to help the achievement of common market. In addition EU aims to correct any imbalances by helping less favoured regions and providing st ructural measures to industrial sectors which are faced with difficulties. Key words: European Union, State Aid, Competition, Trade JEL classification: K20, K21, L53, P45 Historical Process of European Union Ä °n the first middle of the 20th century, Continental Europe had become desolated by the Second World War. During the war people who against the totalitarian regimes wanted to end this hatred and decide to generate the conditions of peace. Between1945 and 1950, a group of states man including Robert Schuman and Winston Churchill traced a new structure which depends on common interest and guaranteeing equality between countries by legal regulations. Robert Schuman proposed to establish European Coal and Steel Community in 1950; the idea was firstly put forward by Jean Monnet. Nations -which have been fight once- would come together with the establishment of this community and as the raw materials of war, coal and steel become tools of peace and reconciliation in a symbolic way. The agreement proposed in 1950 and signed in 1951 in Paris. The main purpose of the agreement was making peace between the winner and looser nations of Europe and brings them together by an economic way. After that agreement in March 1957 the establisher six nations of European Coal and Steel Community (Belgium, Federal Republic of Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and Netherlands) decide to establish European Economic Community which is a more broad based common market including every goods and services. Custom procedures had been removed in July 1968 and instead there had generated common policies especially about trade and agriculture in 1960s. (Fontaine, P. (Ed.). (2010). AB Nedir? ) As a result of the success of this initiative Denmark, Ireland and United Kingdom decided to join the community in 1973. Therefore the number of member nations increased from 6 to 9. At the same time new social and environmental policies started to be implemented. The economic recession which has seen in the early 1980s make Community member to establish the Common Market. At the beginning of 1993 it has been started to implement. In addition European Union Agreement signed in Maastricht in November 1993 and this agreement generated the European Union. European Union started to present the Euro as a currency unit for non-cash financial transactions in 1999. Three years later Euro issued in 12 countries that are named as Euro Zone. Now Euro is a main currency in all over the world like American Dollars (Fontaine, P. (Ed.). (2010). AB Nedir? ). European Union adopted new Lisbon Strategy to modernize the European economy and to be able to compete with strong players like USA in the world market. Lisbon Strategy aimed to make inventions, encourage trade investments and at the same time make the European education system suitable to meet the needs of information society. A country aiming to join the European Union must have working a market economy and capacity to compete with pressure of competition in union and difficulties of the market according to Copenhagen Criteria  [1]  . European Union is a union of 27 members now. Turkey made application for membership in 1987. In 1999 accepted as candidate by member states. Then Turkeys full membership negotiations have started in 2005. Beyond being a confederation of countries European Union is a unique structure but it is not a federal government too. It is a new formation and does not enter any legal category. Negotiations are known as primary legislation and primary legislation underlies the secondary legislation which has impact on the daily lives of citizens. Basically secondary legislation consists of regulations and directives adopted by the EU institutions. In addition to the general policies these laws are the result of decisions taken by three EU institutional triangles that is consists of council of EU, European Parliament and European Commission. European Council represents national governments, European Parliament represents citizens and European Commission looks for EU benefits and is an independent organization from EU governments. Members of EU Commission are assigned for a period of 5 years with an agreement between the Member States, depends on the approval of European Parliament. The Commission is responsible to the Parliament, however uses its authority independently with a certain extent. Because its duty is to protect the common interest, the commission should not be instructed from any EU member (Fontaine, P. (Ed.). (2010). AB Nedir? ). It is the duty of commission to ensure the implementation of regulations and instruction in the member nations and if the commission finds it necessary it has the right to convey any member to the Court of Justice. The commission promulgates the decisions as is the administrative unit that was made by European Council. It has broad authority to conduct the common policies of European Union like research, development, technology, foreign investment and regional development. European Union has economic, social, financial and regulative duties in a wide range of political area. These political areas: Cooperation policies in regional, agricultural and social areas (it is known as adaptation policies) Innovation projects that are bearing the wide range of technologies like environmental protection, research, development and energy (Fontaine, P. (Ed.). (2010). AB Nedir? ). The Union reserves over 120 billion euro for these policies annually as budget. The majority of this budget is being paid by member states and this budget is a small part of common wealth of European Union. State Aids expresses any aid from state resources to public enterprises and private enterprises. State Aids emerges as a kÄ ±nd of cohesiveness policy. Generally the main purpose of the EU state aid policies is to help the achievement of common market. In addition EU aims to correct any imbalances by helping less favoured regions and providing structural measures to industrial sectors which are faced with difficulties. Regional competition and employment subjects are very important in the cohesiveness policies. The purpose is to increase the competition, employment and charm of the underdevelopment areas. The only way to accomplish is to foresee the economic and social changes and contribute innovation, entrepreneurship, protection of environment and accessibility of comprehensive labour markets, the ability to adopt and development (Fontaine, P. (Ed.). (2010). AB Nedir? ). Common Market Common market has been established in January 1993. Healthy competition policy of EU is based on the Treaty of Rome. And it is the vital rational of rules of free trade. Policies of the common market is being implemented by Commission and the Commission is responsible for the reputation these policies with the Court of Justice simultaneously. The reason of having this policy is to prevent the free competition of any agreement between the commercial activities, any aid from public authorities or any unfair monopoly in the common market. Any agreement that is not compatible with the EU agreement must be proclaimed to commission by interested parties or firms. The commission has the right to impose punishment to parties which violate the competition rules or stand without required notification. Receiving any illegal state aid or not notificating such an aid can be claimed to give back by the commission. If one firm is being dominant because of an acquisition or a merger, this situation must be notificated to the commission (Fontaine, P. (Ed.). (2010). AB Nedir? ). State Aids in the European Union The main economic target of EU is to generate a barrier free internal market between member states. The most effective equipment used by the union is competition rules to achieve this target. In addition to this the main target of competition policy of European Union is to generate a well-functioning internal market of Europe which dominated by market forces by preventing acts that are accepted as breaking competition. Competition can be broken by private enterprises and by giving incentives by member states to intervene the economy. As mentioned above, EU legislation on State Aid prohibits State Aids approves these aids as having impact on competition and incompatible with the internal market. State Aids do not have any specific description in terms of legislation of EU. However the basic provisions of state aids have been determined in Treaty of European Community (Treaty of Rome) article 87, 88, 89 and in Treaty of Lisbon article 107 and 108. The article 87 of Treaty of Rome prohi bits any aids given by member states and their resources, providing advantages to a specific firm or production of a specific good. In this way the article aims to prevent negative effects on competition, competitive area and trade between member states. The task of monitoring state aids is given to European Commission to protect competition and trade. However Treaty of Rome gives permission clearly to some exemptions of state aid if there is a benefit to European Union. It should be noted that state aid precautions can be effective tools in some situations to reach common goals of union. In general it can be said that state aids can increase competitiveness of European Union by correcting market deficiencies and improving the functioning of market. We look at State Aid Policy of EU in the Treaty of Rome. According to the article 87(1), an aid can be named as State Aid by providing the following four conditions: Transfer of Resources : There must be an intervention by the State or through State Resources Economic Advantage : It must confer an advantage on the recipient Distortion of Competition : It must distort or threaten to distort competition Effect on Trade : It must be liable to affect trade between member states. Especially third and fourth conditions are related to concept selectivity which is very important for the definition of State Aid in terms of granting an advantage to a certain company, production of specific products or development of a specific region (Friederiszick, H. W., Rà ¶ller, L. H., Verouden, V. (2006). European State Aid Control: an economic framework.) Economic parties which receiving aid must be in an economic activity and must operate in a trade market between member states. It is not important for recipient to be in a profit seeking activity or not. The important thing here is being in an economic activity. Compatibility Criteria We look at Compatibility Criteria about State Aid Policy of EU in the Treaty of Rome. Despite the negative presumption of Article 87(1) , state aid can be taken into account as compatible with the common market if one or more exemptions of Article 87(2) and 87(3) are fulfilled. The following may be considered to be compatible with the common market: Aid to promote the economic development of areas where the standard of living is abnormally low or where there is serious unemployment Aid to promote the execution of an important project of common European interest or to remedy a serious disturbance in the economy of a Member State Aid to facilitate the development of certain economic activities or of certain economic areas, where such aid does not adversely affect trading conditions to an extent contrary to the common interest Aid to promote culture and heritage conservation where such aid does not affect trading conditions and competition in the Community to an extent that is contrary to the common interest Such other categories of aid as may be specified by decision of the Council acting by a qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission. Paragraphs a and c settle the legal base for counting regional investment aids compatible. Paragraph a points out regions with income levels per head significantly below the EU average and paragraph c is related to regions with income and employment levels below the average of the member states (Friederiszick, H. W., Rà ¶ller, L. H., Verouden, V. (2006). European State Aid Control: an economic framework.). The general principle behind the Commissions compatibility assessment is to balance the positive impact of the aid measure (pursuing an objective of common interest) against its potential negative effects (distortions of trade and competition). As mentioned above Commission looks at competition and trade aspects of state aids for making an efficient control. At this point it is known that state aids cause more distortions in markets which are more competitive than others. Clearly if market shares of the firms are small and if there is firms with low profit margins, state aids in this market (given to a specific firm or a group of firms) may have greater distortive effect. The Economics of State Aid Control: Basic Concepts The economics of state aid is related to these fields of economics: Public Economics, The Economics of Competition and International Trade Theory. State Ads must be looked at the window of Public Economics to analyze the purpose and effectiveness of state intervention in the national economy. As mentioned earlier the economics of competition is slightly related to state aids to analyze the impact of state aid on competition. European Commission pays attention to state aid to study its policies in an international context. European Union intends to raise welfare of the EU citizens by using state aids as in other ways. Economists developed social welfare functions in the early years of 20th century. Social welfare function seen as an indicator of total utility of society. Some researches, studies and practices showed the economists that there are two theorems of welfare economics. First theorem says that all competitive markets make Pareto  [2]  Efficient allocation of goods and services. Second theorem says that any income distribution and allocation of resources can be reachable by competitive markets. First theorem points out efficiency concept while second one does that for equity concept. Economists recognizes government intervention in some market failure situations on the basis of efficiency like externalities, public goods, information asymmetries/ missing markets, imperfect competition/ market power. State Aids can be seen as necessary in some cases as an intervention of government. If we look at this topic from the basis of equality, it is not incorrect to say that the mission of governments is to product more fair and equitable outcomes. State aids or any government intervention can be accepted if most fair and optimal resource allocation will be gained after that. Because individual is the reason for being governments and unions. And government intervention and state aids can be accepted for happiness and welfare of individuals (Friederiszick, H. W., Rà ¶ller, L. H., Verouden, V. (2006). European State Aid Control: an economic framework.). Briefly if we think distribution of income as a cake; we can make cake better by increasing the efficiency of an economy and thereby pushing the welfare frontier outward or we can divide the cake better by distributing the available resources in a way that maximizes the preferences of society for equity and redistribution. Therefore the welfare frontier can be moved along. Limits of State Aid A state aid can be measured as effective and provides equity to reach a better welfare point. However for this welfare function there will be some significant problems to be solved. Firstly it is very hard to measure the size of market failure resulting with state aid. For example; lets think a research and development activity which imposes positive externalities. Socially desired output exceeds personal output with a subsidy which is a desirable condition. But there will be uncertainty about the size of economic inefficiency resulted by subsidy. Besides that; benefits gained from a state aid must exceed its costs. State Aids are costly and benefits and these costs must be compared by taking into account the opportunity costs. After that making the decision will be appropriate. As mentioned above frequently the biggest harm of state aids is the condition of distorting competition. Lastly one of the failure of governments is inefficient decision making problem which is a result of deficiencies in providing information can be a bottleneck of success of state aids in terms of efficiency and equity. Principal agent problem between politicians and bureaucrats distorts the political decision making process. Additionally principal agent problem between citizens and politicians is the biggest handicap of representative democracy. As we know this problem occurs when parties have different set of goals. In this context principal agent problem can cause different outcomes of EU state aid than desired ones. With all these consequences one can understand that a state aid can be possible reaching the best desired point (efficient, remedial distributional outcomes/ income distribution) with perfect information (Friederiszick, H. W., Rà ¶ller, L. H., Verouden, V. (2006). European State Aid Control: an economic framework.). Rationales for European State Aid Control It is mentioned above that European Union has targets like helping undeveloped areas to develop, serving European Unions common interests, protecting cultural heritages and increasing employment. It is needed to have an efficient control mechanism for reaching these targets with a more efficient and equitable way. More specifically we can mention three basic rationales of EU state aid control. Cross- Border Externalities: If governments do not take into account the side effects of their intervention, there will emerge cross- border externalities. Member states can try to take advantage of international oligopoly profits by means of state aids even when they compete each other. National Commitment Problems: These problems are generally related to soft budget constraints. Because governments can not establish regulations about transparent budget rules, private firms can be affected from this, negatively. If firms do not have enough incentives to be efficient, it can not be provided the social/ optimal efficiency and one can not mention about any increase in welfare. Internal Market Rationale: The competition will increase by means of integrated European Markets. In addition to this there will be taken appropriate steps for economic development by means of restructuring firms. However state aids without efficient control mechanism harm EU internal market. Because if firms do not compete or do not need to compete in consequence of state aids they receive, benefits from giving state aids can not be provided; on the contrary competition could be distorted. The point to be considered here is that the aid also must provide free circulation of goods and services if and only if under the conditions of competition (Friederiszick, H. W., Rà ¶ller, L. H., Verouden, V. (2006). European State Aid Control: an economic framework.). To make compatible its laws and regulations with European Union, Turkey established Competition Authority in December 1994. De Minimis Rule Treaty of European Community prohibits aids given by state resources, which are distorting competition or having impact to distort competition and affecting trade between member states. Nevertheless European Commission has the opinion that small aids do not have any potential distortive effect on trade and competition between member states. For this reason the Commission introduced a rule named as De Minimis Rule to decrease administrative burden on member states and the Commission itself. According to the De Minimis regularization there is not any negative effect of aids below 200.000 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ (for a period of three years) on trade between member states and this will not cause distortion of competition (Ä °lhan, B. (2010). Avrupa BirliÄÅ ¸i Rekabet PolitikasÄ ±nda Devlet YardÄ ±mlarÄ ± ve Tà ¼rkiyenin Uyumu. SayÄ ±Ãƒâ€¦Ã… ¸tay Dergisi, 76, 101-132) An Effect Based Approach to European State Aid Control One of the most important points to draw attention to state aids is the concept of Common Interest. For this reason it will be beneficial take into account competition when approaching the consumer welfare and efficient allocation of resources. Some economists give great attention to these important points to evaluate state aids: The State Aid addresses a market failure or other objective of common interest. The State Aid is well targeted. It must provide an incentive effect. The distortions of competition are sufficiently limited so that the overall balance is positive. Economists will advocate state aids if they provide these specialties above. As we understand it is very important to distinguish good aid from bad aid (Friederiszick, H. W., Rà ¶ller, L. H., Verouden, V. (2006). European State Aid Control: an economic framework.). In 2005 a new strategic plan named as State Aid Action Plan (SAAP) made by European Commission. The Commission suggested a more refined economic approach in state aid in order to ensure a proper and more transparent evaluation of the distortions on competition and trade associated with state aid measures by SAAP. With this suggestion, Commission proposes also using economic analysis to identify market failures that are meet to be overcome by the aid. Commission proposes a three stage balancing test to achieve these targets. Clearly to distinguish good aid from bad aid Commission wants to use to evaluate aids before giving them. The test consists of questions on the purpose of evaluation and specifying the necessity and qualification of aids. Is the aid measure aimed at a well defined objective of common interest like growth, employment, cohesion and environment? Is the aid well designed to deliver the objective of common interest, i.e. does the proposal aid address the market failure or other objective? Is the state aid an appropriate policy instrument? Is there an incentive effect, i.e. does the aid change the behavior of firms? Is the aid measure proportional, i.e. could the same change in behaviour be obtained with less aid? Are the distortions of competition and effect on trade limited, so that the overall balance is positive? First two steps address the positive effects of state aids and the third one addresses negative effects. According to the Commission the results / answers acquired from these steps/ questions will determine the qualification and limits of a good and efficient state aid. This balancing test give an opportunity to focus on less and better targeted aid (Heimler, A. Jenny, F. (2012). Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Volume 28, Number 2, 2012, pp. 347-367). European Union State Aid Policy and State Aid Plans prepared with Lisbon Strategy According to State Aids Action Plan, State Aids that are prepared within the context of Lisbon Strategy must concentrate on these priority areas below: Targeting innovation and Research Development to strengthen the knowledge society. Generating a better workplace and encouraging entrepreneurship Investing on human resources Increasing the quality of services of general economic interest Better prioritization scaling by means of simplification and combination A result oriented regional state aid policy Encouraging a sustainable future environmentally Establishing infrastructures of modern transportation, energy, knowledge and telecommunication technology (Avrupa Komisyonu, State Aid Action Plan, Brà ¼ksel, 7 Haziran 2005, s. 8-12) Conclusion EU started its adventure with European Coal and Steel Community to overcome destructive effects of Second World War on European Nations. However the target of Single Market has not been accomplished yet. EU proceeded a great way to accomplish this target for half a century. And still makes a great effort to develop the union and to reach European Single Market. The practice of State Aid and its control mechanism are parts of this effort to reach the target of Single Market. An efficient control mechanism will help EU to reach its goals. In doing so the balancing test suggested within the context of Lisbon Strategy will help to distinguish good aid from bad aid. European Union has passed a considerably long and successful process since the establishment and development of first communities. It will be great acquisition for Turkey becoming a part of this union to accelerate economic and social development.

I Was Born a White, Middle Class American :: Culture and Identity Essays

Culture and identity are two very strange ideas. They are received at a very young age, yet they are very hard to give to someone else. They will affect you for the rest or your life, yet for the most part you are born into them. However, they soon become very important to us and we cannot, no matter what we do, live without them. They are a part of us, and a vital aspect of society. However, it took me a very long time to recognize that I had an identity and a little while after that before I knew what it was. My entire life I have been a middle class white male. I was born into this identity and most likely will die in this identity. My entire family fits into the same class of society. I could probably wear a sign that read, â€Å"Average American† and no one would ever tell me that I was not. The neighborhood that I grew up in is middle class, and a majority of the neighbors that I have are also white and of the same class. When I was younger, me and my friends would play video games at my house until my mom would tell us to go outside. It seemed like the summers lasted longer then. This is probably because we spent everyday looking for something to do, whereas these days I spend my summers looking for ways to get out of doing what I am supposed to do. We would go to the local elementary and middle schools where there was a small creek and pond. We would catch crayfish, bugs, and frogs only to let them go after we celebrated our great achievement. We would play tag, football, soccer, hockey and baseball at someone’s house or at the athletic fields of the schools. And all of us were of the same culture and class. It was always three to fifteen young white males doing what young white males usually do. A few of the other kids were Italian, which apparently is not Caucasian, but we did not know that.

The French Revolution :: European Europe History

The French Revolution Thesis: The French Revolution was a crucial event in Western History, and possibly the single most crucial influence on British intellectual, philosophical, and political life in the nineteenth century. The French Revolution was a crucial event in Western History, and possibly the single most crucial influence on British intellectual, philosophical, and political life in the nineteenth century. It presented itself as a triumph in its early stages but later proved to be a revolution of senseless revenge. With a mob composed of mainly animals, like Madame Defarge, the French Revolution is one of the most barbaric periods recorded in history. The French Revolution began in 1789 when the States General met May 5. June the seventeenth the National Assembly was declared. Then a gang of angry, mistreated peasants stormed the Bastille and murdered numerous aristocrats. As a precaution, Louis XVI and the Royal Family were removed from Versailles to Paris. The King attempted, but failed, to flee Paris for Varennes in June 1791; he was captured. The Legislative Assembly sat from October 1791 until September 1792, when, in the face of the advance of allied armies, it was replaced by the National Convention, and the National Convention proclaimed the Republic. The King was brought to trial, found guilty, and executed on January 21, 1793. In February, war was declared against Britain, Holland and Spain. The Revolution heightened. After the execution of the King, the Committee of Public Safety and the Revolutionary Tribunal were created. The most horrific time was still to come. The reign of terror, during which the ruling faction ruthlessly exterminated all potential enemies, began in September and lasted until the fall of Robesoierre on July 27. During the last six weeks of the terror, nearly fourteen hundred people were murdered in the guillotine. On October 16, Marie Antoinette was executed, and many others followed her. The revolution began to invade people's lives deeper and deeper. In November of 1793, the worship of God was abolished and the cult of Reason took its place. Battle followed battle; the Revolution raged on devouring everyone in its path. Things finally came to a halt when Napoleon Buoneparte became Emperor on May of 1804.

Grandpas Lap :: essays research papers

Grandpa's Lap She seems to be at ease. Her face was completely consumed by her smile. She was in what felt like a safe place. Grandpa's lap always felt like a safe place. He was her hero. He would protect her from anything and everything that may come her way. He was a brave warrior who would take on the world for her if he had to. He smelled of Old Spice and cheap chaving cream. It was a comfortable smell. It was the kind of smell that made her want to curl up next to him. She would always watch him shave in the morning. She would often wonder why she couldn't shave like Grandpa. Once he shaved half of his beard off. He said, "If you like me with a beard look at this side, and if you like me better without, look at the other side." He was silly like that a lot. He was always humming while he shaved. It was always a silly song she guessed. He only hummed because the words to the songs were too dirty for a little girl's ears. He was in the marines after all. he didn't know any frilly songs. Only the hearty, manly, dirty songs. He would sometimes sing her a nursery rhyme when no one else was around. Grandpa was a special man. He retired from the marines, but never retired from the lifestyle. "One can take a man out of the marines, but you can't take the marine out of a man." This was one of Grandpa's favorite sayings. The marine really does stay in a man. It added to Grandpa's loving personality. It added a feeling of security. It added a lot. Grandpa's lap was her favorite spot. The big chair wasn't the same when Grandpa couldn't sit in it any longer. Once he was gone, no one would really sit there. He used to tickle her if she took his seat.

A Doll House Vs The Piano Lesson

Writers of the eighteenth and nineteenth century were the voice of the people and from their words; one can feel the smell of revolution against prejudices of the contemporary society.They embossed real life in their words, which they had seen and experienced and showed the majestic human spirit who always find themselves in the midst of conflicts arising partly from the Society and partly from the inner self and consciousness. In the nineteenth century was born among the many writers, a play writer that broke the shackles of the dominant Patriarchy society of the eighteenth century to give voice to the women behind the four walls of their Doll House.A father of modern realistic drama, Henrik Ibsen, was a Norwegian play writer who was charged of being scandalous only because he had examined the realities of life that lay behind many facades and social obequities.Another of the same genere was Wilson who won the Pulitzer Prize of 1992 due to his enduring words that raised the consciou sness of the Blacks. Spent his childhood also in poverty in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he lived with his parents and five siblings, he made his goal to shed the light on the sufferings that their ancestors had to go through among younger generations of blacks.Wilson himself realized this fact that his parents had withheld from them the knowledge of even greater hardships that they had endured themselves. He once told New York Times in 1984, â€Å"My generation of blacks knew very little about the past of our parents, they shielded us from the indignities they suffered.† (Gale Research, Autobiography of Wilson, Para.7). His Piano Lesson was one among his many works that eludes us to the greater revelations- the revelations of ourselves, and our association with our golden heritage.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Both Ibsen and Wilson were the mouthpieces of the suppressed and subjugated. In 1871 before Ibsen even started his play, a real incident touched his s oul. One day Ibsen got infatuated by a Norwegian girl named Laura Petersen, whom he called skylark. But in 1872 Laura married a Danish schoolmaster, Victor Kieler, but as soon as she married, her husband Victor contracted tuberculosis, but as they were poor they could not manage to go, so without her husband’s knowledge Laura arranged a loan. With this money they went to Italy and Victor soon recovered. But later the humiliation that Laura suffered was unbearable.When she was forced to tell the truth to her husband regarding the loan, she was abused and Victor straightforwardly found her unfit to be his wife. Laura could not tolerate and she had a nervous breakdown, but in return Victor admitted her in a public asylum.This incident prompted Ibsen to show the Society its true face. Thus emerged from his immense delicate soul, the master the most beautiful play, A Doll House; a play which is a struggle against the tyrannical and dehumanizing oppression of women in a society whi ch frowned upon the women who asserted themselves for individuality.Nora is suppressed in number of ways by her husband Torvald and tyrannical social conventions. Torvald is a smug bank manager and with his job he has number of responsibilities. He treats his wife as if she is her responsibility and a mere product. Torvald is more worried about his reputation but he least cares about her.Though Nora is financial well off yet there is not a single incidence in her life when she does not face rebuke by her husband. On the onset their marriage life seems to be satisfied, yet time and again Nora’s heart was burning like fire seeking Independence from the subjugation of her husband. Yet she fulfills her duty as a wife, and here is the hidden irony. Nora also took loan to save her husband’s life, but instead of credit she gets only rebuke from her husband.As the play moves forward, she realizes how she has to remain subjugated in her parents house and now as a wife too, and how her marriage is only a mere game of a Doll, so unrealistic. So when Helmer tells Nora, â€Å"Because such an atmosphere of lies infects and poisons the whole life of a home.Each breath the children take in such a house is full of the germs of evil,† Nora decides to discontinue her inauthentic role of a doll and closed the doors of domesticity to seek out her individuality, but that too she could attain at the cost of her children.She has to leave her children behind so that they do not get corrupted. In the end of the play, her assertion comes straightaway from her mouth   when she says, â€Å"I've been your wife-doll here, just as at home I was Papa's doll-child.†(1608).This is Nora and theare are Boy Willie and his sister, Bernice in the Piano Lessons who learned to cherish their heritage and assert their rights as human beings. Piano Lesson has a quintessential plot that revolves around a conflict.It appears on the surface that the conflict that is going on is between Boy Willie and his sister, Bernice, but hidden beneath lies the conflict for preserving their heritage and culture, which is in the form of Piano. Boy Willie wants to sell Piano to buy a land for good fortune. What he was visualizing was the future which is the dream of Westernized world of younger generations, whereas Bernice wants to stay firm to her roots, and declines to part with the heritage.The piano was reminder of her past. It was her father’s piano, who died retrieving it from the Sutter’s home. The unique thing about Piano are the engravings of the history of Charles family on it and for Bernice the souls of their ancestors reside in the Piano. It is the Piano only that joins them to their ancestors.The story of Piano dates back to the middle of the nineteenth century, when the Charles family were slaves, their owners Sutters sold two members of the family for a piano. Sutters then got the Charles pictures of Charles family engraved on Piano, but th e carpenter carved whole history of the family into it. This instrument was then stolen by their father who was later killed by the Sutters in retribution.With this piano, August Wilson firmly evokes into the heart of the today’s generation the reality of the   black people in American Society and how they assimilate into the White people, it simply means to give up their black culture and adopt the Westernized ways.When the Doll House was staged in 1879, the spirit of revolution was ravaging like a fire in Europe and writers inculcated in their writings new thoughts and new perceptions of life which totally defied the old conventions. Wth his colloquial language, Ibsen inserts the burning passion of Independent thoughts which allows the A Doll’s house to achieve laurels inspite of criticism.On the other hand, The Piano Lesson was set in Pittsburgh in 1930 when there was Great Depression which became historical background for the play. At that time, the black migrati on was also at the peak. They were migratinog from south to north in search of better life.This all inspired Wilson but inspiration of the play, he got from Romare Bearden painting by the same name. In the painting was shown a teacher and a student in a form of an an allegory which means that how African Americans should associate themselves with their past.Thus in their writings, inconsequent streams   of thoughts, longings, apprehensions, and musings pour out as they arise in the mind of all and thus emerge the consciousness of Individuality, Freedom, and Independence.WORKS CITED1. Gale, â€Å"Biography of August Wilson† Internet (Last Updated: Available: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~awilson/bio.html, May 11, 20072.  Ã‚   Spark Notes, â€Å"The Piano Lesson by August Wilson† Internet Available:http://www.sparknotes.com/drama/piano/context.html, May 11, 20073. Templeton, Joan. Ibsen's Women. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 19974. Wikipedia, â€Å"A Doll's Hou se† Internet (Last Updated May 08, 2007) Available:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Doll's_House, May 11, 2007    A Doll House Vs The Piano Lesson Words from the writers’ literary artifacts touches rhythm of the complexities of life and make us realize what we are and where we stand in this world and in the Society around us.From the words of the Writers, immerses the rich flavor of the real meaning of the life and the voice of the repressed and subjugated. Ibsen and Wilson reveal the majestic human spirit in their capacity of striving and suffering.. On one hand, Doll house is in reality a Doll House for women subjugated and repressed in the Patriarchy society of 18th century and on the other hand is the Piano lesson which is a voice of the Blacks who in the eighteenth century were kept as emotionless and subjugated slaves.In A Doll’s House, Ibsen paints the sacrificial role that woman has to play and the way protagonist of the play has to exert her feeling. In Piano lesson, the real conflict lies in the efforts of the Protagonists to maintain their family, heritage and exploration in the back drop of all the har dships their ancestors have to undergo.The piano is a representative of the culture and heritage and is a center of conflict for the protagonist whether to sell it for buying land previously worked by their slave ancestors or remains in the family’s possession as a heritage.Ibsen presented â€Å"A Doll house† in 1879 in the backdrop of the Victorian Society, the society wherein woman has to subjugate her according to the husband’s will.For the nineteenth century audience, the mere idea of woman leaving aside her marriage wows was considered as sacrilegious and, women abandoning her children were against the basic concepts of womanhood. In the end of the play Society won, as Ibsen was forced to write alternative ending of the play when it was staged in Germany.Nora as a wife of a banker has to maintain her relationship with her kids and her husband who both tries to control the family.In the play, Nora is a financially well off as compared to the other female cha racters in the play, but she leads a very difficult life because society demands dominant partner in Torvald, who issues decrees and condescends to Nora.On the other hand, in their hard times in order to save her husband’s life, she goes to the extent of forging her father’s name on the document for money but hides it from him. When the truth unfolds, he reacts with disgust and horror. He is only worried about his reputation but refuses to accept the fact it was her love that prompted her to do so. And due to this reason, Nora is considered as a cheat and her deception, left vulnerable to Krogstad’s blackmail.It was the real incident in Ibsen’s life that prompted him to write a play. It was 1871, eight years before Henrik Ibsen wrote A Doll’s House, Ibsen met a Norwegian girl named Laura Petersen, whom he called skylark and was infatuated by her.In 1872, Laura married a Danish schoolmaster, Victor Kieler, and her nightmares started. Victor contract ed tuberculosis, and his doctors prescribed warmer climate for him but as they were poor, Victor became hysterical. At this Laura arranged a loan without her husband's knowledge. With this money they went to Italy and Victor soon recovered. When the time came for Laura to repay the loan, they did not have the money to pay and Laura tried to send forged check but it was discovered and Laura finally had to tell the truth to her husband, who found her unfit as a wife.She had nervous breakdown, and in return Victor admitted her in a public asylum. Touched by this story, in the notes to The Dolls house, he said, â€Å"A woman cannot be herself in modern society, with laws made by men and with prosecutors and judges who assess female conduct from a male standpoint†. (Yurgaitis, A Doll’s House Synopsis, Para. 15).The indifferent attitude of Nora’s husband destroyed her illusions and decides to leave him, her children and house in search of truth. She has realized that he is not the noble man she has supposed him. In the words of Isben â€Å"Depressed and confused by her faith in authority, she loses faith in her moral right and ability to bring up her children. A mother in contemporary society, just as certain insects go away and die when she has done her duty in the propagation of the race.† (Wikipedia, Para 5)August Wilson, was himself a black man and as a black man he realized what hardships the blacks had to endure in their lives and as slaves. As Pulitzer Prize winner, he confided in his students at Dartmouth University, â€Å"My generation of blacks knew very little about the past of our parents.They shielded us from the indignities they suffered,† (Dartmouth, Biography of August Wilson, Sidelights Para1) and in a quest to impart the knowledge to the unspoken African American people, he gave to the world â€Å"The Piano Lesson† and many other plays.The characters Berniece and Boy Willie in the Piano Lessons struggle amo ng themselves, Willie wants to sell a Piano to buy a land but Berniece refuses because she had an attachment towards the piano. It was her father’s piano, who died retrieving it from the Sutter’s home. On the piano is engraved the history of Charles family and is only there ancestral property.The incident happened in the middle of the nineteenth century, when the Charles family was slave, their owners Sutters sold two members of the family for a piano. Sutters then called upon master-carpenter in the Charles family and ordered him to carve out the only faces of the sold slaves into the piano, but the carpenter carved whole history of the family into the piano. This instrument was then stolen by Berniece and Boy Willie's father, but was later killed by the Sutters in retribution.For Berneice, this piano is a â€Å"sacred altar†, considered by ancient African tribes as a crossroad between the living and the dead. It was her belief that by selling Piano, they will loose all the connection with her ancestors and also their protection, which may give the way to Sutter’s ghost to haunt them. Michael Morales too argues that this piano serves as a direct link to the past and is both a â€Å"sacred ancestral altar† and a tool to â€Å"transmit† oral history.Through the songs in a Piano, carvings and the words of Willie, August Wilson makes the audience have a deeper look at their forgotten past. At the end of the play Willie reminds Berniece to continue playing the piano and warns her about the worst consequences if she neglects her past again. And along with that Willie left his mark on the piano, by inscribing on it the history of the family's in readable language with the sole purpose of preservation and continuation of the family's legacy.

On Distance Learning Essay

Distance education represents a way of teaching with geographically dispersed individuals and groups. Moore related that as early as 1978, regular mail service was used to aid distance education, but the advent of the internet brought new and exceptional dimensions to the world of distance education (10). It offered access to geographically and physically separated individuals to courses and instruction in a more interactive manner through increased education, interactivity among participants, and incorporation of collaborative pedagogical models. But even with the increasing number of courses and degrees delivered entirely online, and the number of supporters this type of education has gained, many still express opposition to it as against the traditional classroom education. Former college teacher James Barszcz’s is one well-known critic of distance education. He strongly asserts in his essay that distance learning cannot fulfill the true purpose of education. The diffusion of the Internet worldwide has literally changed the traditional structure of the school, and, as it can be noticed from the previous examples, it is doing in many different ways that are more and more interesting. It must not be forgotten, of course, that parents keep on worrying about the fact their children’s opinions are circulating all over the world and that this could mean danger and repression for them. These anxieties, however, cannot erase the advantages coming from the introduction of this new technology into the educational are, most importantly, of bringing education to everyone. But what is the true purpose of education, really? In its most basic sense, I strongly believe that the essence of education is to instill in an individual the capability to make out at the world for oneself, to generate one’s own choices, to declare what is black or what is white. In whatever manner this education may come from, it is still learning and discovering about new things that help shape a person into what he is. Distance learning has brought a remarkable means of delivering this education to students in rural or remote areas, so that they make take advantage of continuing learning and give them the ability to schedule learning at times convenient to them. Not only that, a great number of distance education programs cater to the requirements of a lot of diverse people of all ages, sexes, occupations, learning backgrounds and health conditions. Granted that personal contact which is very important in effective education is missing with this kind of education, but as is the situation with all new technologies, there are negative and positive aspects to distance learning. Many instructors, as well as students of distance education miss this. Distance learning can admittedly be lonely sometimes. There is always a price to pay, whether it be big or small. Although this is the case, steps could be done to assuage this drawback. Encouraging students to share something about themselves is one activity that can at least give all participants the feeling that they know something about their colleague and the professor. Additionally, many courses are well supported and, for students who are unable to attend residential events, there are usually opportunities for students to participate in online discussion groups, clubs and societies. It would be noteworthy to point out that for distance learning to be effective, a conducive learning environment needs to be created and maintained. Considerable thought and effort should go into the criteria required for setting-up learning centers and how these criteria would be put into practice and monitored. If this would be followed, distance education, with an extensive record of providing learning to out-of-the-way and distant learners, will become the effective, mainstream method of education and training that advocates claim it to be. In a world where continuous learning is a must, distance education has paved the way for everyone to have access to the educational system without having to physically go to school. Discipline is needed, of course, but it is one value that even traditional schooling teaches students to have. In the end, distance education can only provide a win-win situation for everyone involved in it.