Microeconomics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Microeconomics - Essay Example There is a huge demand for Australian iron ore in China due to the high quality of the ore. The high Chinese demand for iron ore has also led to the hike in prices of iron ore in the world market (Rutkowski, 2010). All these have benefited the export of iron ore from Australia especially the Western provinces. According to reports China serves the biggest market for Australian export and the value of export of iron ore from west Australia was $13.82 billion in 2007. This was almost 60% of the net export of Australia (Zpryme: Emerging Markets Group, 2008). The wage rate has also increased steadily in Australia with mining being the highest paying occupation. A study of the regional developments in Australia shows that West Australia is the second state with the highest average annual wage at $70,101. The surge of export is expected to continue in the future. As a result it paints a bright picture for the forecasts about GDP growth. Australia has an unemployment rate of 5.2% which is v ery close to full employment and in the mining regions of Western Australia it is 4.7% (Australian Regional Labor Market, March Quarter 2011). Impact of increasing demand for iron-ore The high demand for steel by China has led to a rise in the global price. The global iron market uses an annual benchmark system for pricing. By this system the iron mills enter into a contract with the producers of iron ore for a period of one year and that price is followed for all transactions till the next year when the prices are revised. Iron is a very important component in all the manufacturing goods. So the iron mills want to ensure that there is no random fluctuation in prices that destabilizes the market. However in the rise in iron ore prices at a fast rate from $37 per ton in 2004 to $101 per ton in 2009 has led the major iron ore manufacturing countries like Australia, Brazil, and China to lobby for a shorter period of contract. This will allow the companies to revise the prices sooner an d thus make higher profit. The Chinese demand for iron ore is exogenous and depends on the global demand of steel. In other words the demand for iron ore in China does not depend on the price of the iron ore but on the global demand for steel. This is evident from the fact that in the previous years we have seen a simultaneous rise in the price of iron ore as well as demand for the ore in China. Therefore, though a short term contract will lead to an increase in the cost of production it will not necessarily reduce the demand for the Chinese steel (Rutkowski, 2011). For this reason, though Chinese steel mills are trying to negotiate the short term contracts, but their high demand for steel to continue operations has made them unable to have advantageous ground in these negotiations. We shall explain the logic with the help of a diagram. d d’ s’ P’ P s d’ s’ d O q q’’ q’ In the above diagram, we have tried to show the effect on the price of iron ore for a shift from short term to long term contracts. A long term contract fixed the price at a level p for any quantity. As a result the supply curve PS becomes inelastic. An exogenous rise in demand for goods shifted the demand curve from dd to d’d’. Since the price remains fixed, the equilibrium quantity rises from Oq to Oq’. However a short term contract would make the supply curve more elastic. Regular revision of

People resourcing(HR) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

People resourcing(HR) - Essay Example They are men and women who lead by example, team work, communication skills, and dedication. In the modern times, it is not enough to be highly skilful. One has to be adaptable to adjust with changes in technology and environment. The need for development of a strategic approach is correlative to the 'best fit, best practice' concept in management of human resource. Best fit is not simply use of the best man or woman for a particular job slot. It goes beyond to achieve the winning situation by harnessing the talents and skills of one employee for the purpose of achieving a specific target or goal. People sourcing align with the company's strategy and strategic human resource management has a stake in the company's performance and results. (Sandeep Krishnan and Manjari Singh). The importance of this approach is gaining ground as traditional management techniques based on 'one system fits all' approach is rapidly losing out in view of the frustration felt by both the management as well as the employees to fit into an outdated system which is no more suited for either. Instead, today the preference is for capability with communication skills. For instance, the capability of a particular employee may not be of very high order, but if his communication skills are noteworthy he may be the ideal choice to carry out a job, a project, or even a whole enterprise. ThModern day technology is designed to bring out the best even in the most mediocre individual provided he or she abides by the simple instructions codified as commands. The tremendous growth of information and communication technologies has exposed the new generation today to a system run efficiently with the help of sleek computers, printers, scanners and other gadgets which has left the system of the previous generation overwhelmed and on the throes of extinction. The system which was in vogue just a decade ago has been outpaced in terms of efficacy and communication methodologies. The present office scenario in most establishments, even in third world countries, presents an atmosphere of youthful exuberance blending with computer aided data systems in place. Handling men enjoins a host of activities and concepts. It has to do with operating, planning, control, research and development, and decision making. Indeed, the present age's requirement for 'best fit, best practice' approach is necessary in the highly competitive nature of doing work today. Even with

The drugging of our children Essay Example for Free

The drugging of our children Essay Are young children early on exposed to psychotropic medications due to lack of medical attention? Do millions of children in these countries really have ADD or ADHD? These questions arise all over North America, Great Britain, and Australia. Drugging of children at young ages is the result of self-diagnoses, teacher diagnoses, and lack of medical care and treatment for children with the â€Å"disease† of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In the documentary The Drugging of our Children, Gary Null, Forever Living Products, 2005, DVD Web, brings about the argument. Back in the 1980’s and 1990’s children began to be put on many different drugs for their behavior in school, the main drug being Ritalin. In the documentary, Null speaks out to parents of children that are on medication by interviewing many different parents, physicians, and education committees about the use of Ritalin and other psychotropic medications in young children. All of these things that are being evaluated of the child’s behavior is at school, and is compared to the expected behavior of that particular teacher’s classroom. The film goes on explain how teachers diagnose those more challenging students with either ADD or ADHD and have them forced to put their kid on a medication to â€Å"cure† their so called disease. After showing each case and their stories, the film also reflects the long term effects of the medications also. The process of diagnosing a child with ADD or ADHD starts in the school environment. Teachers early on look for flaws in students in regards to classroom disruption. There is a list of nine elements including: can’t sit in seat, fidgets, jumping out of chair, doesn’t wait his turn, blurts out answer before question is finished being asked, careless mistakes in schoolwork etc. If the teacher can identify at least six out of the nine characteristics, then she has the authority to tell the parent that their child will be sent to a special needs school program. They will also tell parents that their child needs to be medicated for this disease. Dr. James Schaller of the Medical College of Pennsylvania (Life Script; James Louis Schaller, MD) believes that one must rule everything out first and then see the actual problem before considering medication. It is common in this day and age for people to accuse the hyperactive child of their parents not knowing how to raise or control them. Dr. Michael D. Fraser states that parenting style is not a cause of ADD and ADHD but that it’s hereditary and can even have to do with things like low birth weight, diet, and allergies. Needleman stated that, â€Å"It has also been claimed that exposure to lead can cause delinquent behavior in children†. The number one symptom of ADD or ADHD is â€Å"Often fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in seat†, stated by Peter Breggin, MD. Null only gets facts and stories from people that have been negatively affected by the use of psychotropic medications and doctors that are against the use of them. The audience is only able to wrap the mind around tragic situations that’ll lead to agreement with the argument presented. It was observed that as children got older, school shootings became more common. The cause of this was claimed to be that children now days had easier access to guns in the home. Researchers looked further into this answering their own questions like â€Å"Weren’t guns easy to access in the 1950’s and 1960’s? † In fact, yes, it was just as easy, if not easier for children to get their hands on guns then also. Physicians looked further into the children committing these acts. Miguel Humara, Ph. D states that, â€Å"The most effective form of treatment for ADD and ADHD are cognitive behavioral therapy, and psychotropic medication†. All of the children featured in the film had a history of being on some sort of psychotropic medication, the most common being Ritalin. These drugs are most commonly meant for people ages eighteen years or older, but doctors were being lazy and just prescribing these drugs to small children also. Comparing an eighteen year old on Ritalin to a seven year old on it, they had different side effects. While the eighteen year old was experiencing headache and vomiting, the seven year old was hallucinating and unconsciously doing violent acts. Obvious to viewers that these had long term consequences to younger aged children. This information makes sense and is valid from people with first-hand experience, but what about the people with no horrendous side effects? What about the doctors that do rule out everything before trying out medicine? These things should have also been addressed throughout the film for accurate accusation. The argument is strong and makes the audience think about medicating young children and is definitely persuasive in making them agree. This argument makes the audience think more in depth of the side effects of medication on young children in both their short term and long term effects. Null, throughout the entire film, speaks to the audience through the credibility of doctors, educators, and parents that have lived through experiences. This is an effective way to grab the attention of the audience with real life stories of victims. It makes the audience feel as if they know the victim and can have sympathy for their experience and therefore be able to agree with the argument, making the argument effective. In reality, young children are going to be a bit hyper and squirmy in their childhood and shouldn’t be look at as diseased or troubled. They need time to grow up and understand acceptable behavior. Though teachers and parents quickly make the assumption that there is something wrong, doctors need to be the ones to make the ultimate decision. Therefore, drugging of young children is the result of self-diagnoses, teacher diagnoses, and lack of medical attention and care for those with ADD and ADHD.

Effectiveness of Sports Psychology

Effectiveness of Sports Psychology With reference to published literature critically discuss the factors influencing the effectiveness of a sport psychologist Introduction Sport psychology has grown remarkably from its roots in the amorphous and poorly understood disciplines of athlete motivation and performance counselling 40 years ago (Dosil, 2005; Cox, 2005). Modern sport at every level of competition and in virtually every sporting activity has benefited from the application of psychological principles and mental training in the pursuit of maximum athletic performance, stress management, improved training attitude and every other aspect of sport where the mind, emotions and physical performance intersect. Sport psychology is unique amongst the applied psychology disciplines for a number of reasons. The phrase suggests that there are accepted common practices employed by sports psychologists and its is acknowledged as with any science, the baseline approaches to the education, training and certification of the sport psychologist are well understood across the world of sport and athletic competition. The feature of sports psychology practice that tends to differentiate it from other form of applied psychology is the general closeness of the relationships developed between an individual athlete and their psychologist. The common professional boundaries of professional detachment are different in sports environments where intense emotion and competitive desire are the fuel that both drives the athlete onwards and makes them vulnerable to psychological stresses. Many sport psychologists play a multi-dimensional role in the lives of their athlete clients trained professional psychologist, friend, sounding board, confidante and advisor are each possible and entirely ethical component to the relationships that may develop in practise (Watson, 2008, 1). This paper considers the question of effectiveness of the sports psychologist as considered within the following analytical and discussion framework. A detailed and properly academic analysis of why the science of sports psychology is effective in the context of competitive and recreational sport is beyond the scope of this paper. The discussion that is developed below is premised on the proposition that sports psychology is a proven and well accepted body of science that applied in accordance with its principles will generally benefit an athlete. All athletes in all sports, team and individualÂÂ   from cross country running to equestrienne events, in all age groups and genders are amenable to its benefits (Kornspan McCracken, 2003: 36: Donohue, 2001: 19). The important question in the present context is what factors, professional and personal render a sports psychologist successful in a particular application. Included in this discrete issue are a wide variety of potential eth ical considerations. The question requires that a preliminary working definition of sport psychologist be articulated; the definition as stated below also assists in defining the general areas of professional engagement within sport. The discussion will then engage two broad and interrelated questions: what steps sports psychologists take in any given assignment to achieve maximum effect with their athlete; where are the typical problem areas that require attention in the sports psychologist / athlete relationship? The emphasis of the discussion will be directed to Educational Sports Psychologists as this area of sport psychology provides the most immediate connections between athletic performance and the application of psychological principles. These questions also require consideration of the type of person who is more likely to succeed as a sports psychologist as with any professional activity where the subject is a human being, the delicate interface between the knowledge based psychological education that helps to comprise ones intellect and the often empathetic talent of dealing with people is important (Armstrong, 2001; Griffin, 2008:10). The paper draws upon the significant representative sampling of the authorities as appended to this paper in this regard. The paper concludes with some thoughts concerning the anticipated continued expansion of the sport psychologist role at all levels of sport. If these professionals have not already achieved such status in most sports, it is submitted that the progression observed in the relationship between athletes and sports psychologist will trace the progression from pop psychology to important training and coaching asset to an indispensible component of the training regimes and competitive performance of all serious athletes.ÂÂ   Sport Psychology definition and scope of the discipline The literal definition of sports psychology is a deceptively straightforward one. According to Cox (1998) and confirmed as accepted throughout the literature, sport psychology is a science in which the principles of psychology are applied in a sport or exercise setting (p.4). The definition does not depend on the presence of a professional relationship with elite or aspiring high performance athletes; the principles of sport psychology apply with necessary circumstantial modification to every level of athlete. In this paper, the term sport psychologist shall extend to any professional engaged in the psychology of sport or exercise (Douthitt Harvey, 1995: Griffin, 2008)). As a general proposition there are three different types of sport psychologists recognised in the field; a great deal of the work carried out by a sport psychologist may include work in more than one category in the case of a particular athlete or assignment. For the purposes of the discussions set out below, the boundaries between each sub discipline shall be regarded as relatively fixed. In the present discussion, it is assumed that each category member is a fully trained and accredited psychologist as defined by the relevant statue I their jurisdiction (British Psychological Society, 2009: American Psychological Society, 2009). The first category is the Clinical/Counselling Sport Psychologist (Cox, 2005).This person is trained in clinical or counselling psychology and is a licensed psychologist. These psychologists are trained to assist athletes to deal effectively with emotional and personality disorder issues that affect particular athletes. The range of prospective sport patients that this professional might assist is very broad; an example would include treating a female gymnast who suffers from bulimia or other eating disorder given the competitive pressures to perform at a specific weight. Treating a downhill skier of motorsports racer who has difficulties recovering from a particular crash or injury might be another. The second category is the grouping that includes the Educational Sport Psychologist (Cox, 2005; Kramer Moran, 2008). These psychologists come to sport with an extensive academic and practical background in university departments of physical education and sport specific training. The objective of an intervention or ongoing assistance provided by these individuals is to assist the athlete to develop a wide range of potential psychological skills for performance enhancement. Specific techniques such as various mental imagery sequences, self talk, the building of per performance or per competition routines are all included in the work carried out by the psychologists in this category (Morris Summers, 2004; Boyce King, 1993). These psychologists also provide services to athletes in a team environment. This particular definition also provides an important qualification concerning the general role of psychology in sport. Sport psychologists are not monopolists in this area. Many athletes have the benefit of psychological support as provided by a trainer, a position coach or a team manager (Kornspan Duve, 2006; Wilson Stephens, 2005). This element of sport psychology is very important but is excluded from consideration here. The final category is the Research Sport Psychologist. This group is comprised of scientists and scholars of sport psychologist. Theirs is an important support role to the entire discipline (Cox, 2005). Sport provides science with ongoing opportunities to gain access to athletes and teams in every sport from its preseason, in season and post season /off season periodization. The psychologists engage in ongoing research and experiments in the field. Applied sport psychology Applied sport and exercise psychology involves the extension of psychology theory and research into a specific field. While the particular athlete or team will inevitably attract the most attention in these applications, given that the pursuit of athletic excellence is a primary objective, the psychologist has a significant role to play in the education of any coaches, teammates, parents, fitness professionals, and athletic trainers about the psychological aspects of the specific sport or exercise activity. Applied sport and exercise psychologists seek to facilitate maximal involvement, performance, and enjoyment in any sport environment. The practice of applied sport and exercise psychology usually involves a combination of individual and group consulting or counseling depending on the style of the professional conducting the intervention and the needs of the client. The realty of amateur sport is that many athletes do not have the access or means to have a personal psychological consultant (Maclean Hamm, 2008: 352). Notwithstanding access questions, the principles that support a proper practitioner / athlete relationship are the same. Key Issues Sports psychologists face similar professional demands in areas such as continuing education and training. It is submitted that given the ceaseless commitment to athletic improvement, the development of new training techniques, nutritional and supplement approaches, physical monitoring, equipment trends and related factors places a substantial pressure on a sports psychologist to remain current in all aspects of their practice (Nesti, 2004). At its best articulation, sport psychology has a transformational power that elevates performance (Armstrong, 2001, 4). Experiential learning cycles are often at the heart of successful sport psychology practice, because sport performance typically provides immediate feedback as to the efficacy of the cycles developed for the athlete. Sport psychology encourages an intensely personalized approach to all facets of it application; a significant relationship exists between the personality of the practitioner and the effectiveness of the applications; the simple observation that not every psychologist can succeed in this area due to the limitations of their own personality is reinforced here. For even the most engaged and cutting edge practitioners, there are practical considerations to the discipline that are submitted as both constants and as overarching issues that never decline in their importance. These are discussed here under the general rubric of ethics; as the examples below illustrate, the boundaries between professional competence, the duty of care to the athlete, continuing education concerning best practices, and the maintenance of appropriate ethical standards in all matters involving an athlete or team are not always clear cut. It is important to appreciate that notwithstanding the unique demands of an individual sport or the immediacy that may be a part of the practitioner / athlete relationship, a psychologist remains bound by the statutory provisions and the ethical regulations of their jurisdiction. The various Codes of Conduct do not create separate regimes for the sports psychologist; the attention to the athlete relationship must be observed with the same care as patient relationships in clinical or therapeutic settings. It may be observed that in an elite sports team setting, where there is a large staff of professional sport persons that span a number of disciplines, only the team physician and the sport psychologist are liable to a standard of ethical conduct that extends beyond their contractual obligation to the team or the common law duties of care that might apply to a coach athlete or trainer athlete scenario (Nesti, 2004; Watson, 2008; Morris Summers, 2004). Ethical codes may be clearer c ut when the practitioners relationship is with a adult professional golfer or well paid footballer; the youth and overall potential for vulnerable persons to be working with a sports psychologist render the standard ethical duties very important in practice. One might conclude that given the acceptance of sport psychology as an important element of modern sport training and competition, that the more closely one could integrate physical and psychological, athletic training the more efficient the training over all and the more successful the athletic enterprise. Leaving aside the impossibility of installing combined coach / practitioners at every level of sport, a seeming next best option would be to ensure a close and centralised relationship between the athletic and psychological training programmes. There are clear advantages to such a coordinated approach. The training time required for each aspect would be optimized; the psychological training could be seamlessly integrated into every segment of the physical training routines. The trust implicit in the athlete / coach relationship could assist the athlete in overcoming any apprehension about what to them may be novel or disconcerting mental training approaches (Wright Erdal, 2008: 187). The disadvantages are equally stark and it is submitted that the maintenance of practitioner and coaching boundaries is important in several potential areas of difficulty. Where the coach and the psychologist are working very closely together in a team sport environment, there is the concern that the athlete may be apprehensive about confiding in the psychologist or making a complete commitment to a psychological training programme for fear of any mental / emotional weakness being revealed to the coach and thus compromising playing time or status on the team (Watson Clement, 2008, 3). The relationship between psychologist and athlete, like coach and athlete is inherently a power relationship; the knowledge that the practitioner applies to the psychological aspects of training create a dependency that must not be permitted to influence any other relationships that the athlete has.ÂÂ   As Nesti notes (2004), the task facing the practitioner is to simultaneously maintain openness to the athletes and coaches without abandoning or diluting their most personal and deeply held values. This makes considerable demands upon the psychologist working in a sports environment where the dominant values are those centred on self-preservation and material gain.(102) The ethics rubric takes on a further and more complex dimension when a team or sports organisation retains a sport psychologist to provide training. The ethical duties and their corresponding lines can become blurred. The following hypothetical will illustrate the issue. A sport psychologist is retained by a football team to help develop what the coach describes as mental toughness (Wann Polk, 2007).ÂÂ   The coach wants his players to be more aggressive, more truculent and more physical in their approach to the game Im tired of our guys getting pushed around. It may be readily appreciated that there is a thin almost indiscernible boundary between the coachs toughness and a training programme that may as easily promote rough, violent or anti-social attitudes amongst the players. The coach is determined to take newfound toughness instilled in the mental training regime to a new competitive level. The psychologist is now placed in a difficult position to train as the clubs retai ner requires, or to potentially assist in the promotion of emotional attitudes that are not necessarily in the individual athletes interest (Goldstein Iso-Ahola, 2006). The sports psychologist has an important preventative / restorative role in all aspects of athletic training. Burnout is a psychological problem at every level of competitive sport, youth leagues to the professional ranks. (Kalliath Beck, 2001; Matheson, Mathes Murray, 1997) The same fundamental trust relationship between practitioner and athlete that build mental power in sport must also be applied where appropriate to protect if an athlete is not emotionally suited to a particular type of training a practitioner has a positive ethical obligation to discontinue it, no matter who is paying for the services. Future Directions in Sport Psychology It is impossible to provide a definitive conclusion as to the future direction of sport psychology within the framework of this paper. However, two tentative propositions may be advanced. The first is a predicted even greater reliance by elite athletes on sport psychologists to provide them with support in training and competition. Every athlete in every sport seeks the proverbial edge, so often measured in millimeters or milliseconds. In an era of immense potential financial returns for sport success, a sports psychologist is a cost-effective training aid. The second prediction is connected to the development of the discipline itself. Competitive athletes are result driven; for society as a whole, there are fewer ways to empirically measure societal athletic or sport exercise success. The cost of health care as attributed to poor life style choices and sedentary attitudes may militate in favour of a public push to incorporate sports psychologists into the public health mainstream, on the same cost effectiveness rational as observed in elite sports. Works Cited American Psychological Association Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (2009) [online] Retrieved November 18, 2009 at: Armstrong, Scott. Are You a Transformational Coach? JOPERDThe Journal of Physical Education, Recreation Dance 72.3 (2001): 44 British Psychological Society Ethical Guidelines (2009) [online] Retrieved November 21, 2009 at: Boyce, B. Ann, and Valerie King Goal-Setting Strategies for Coaches JOPERDThe Journal of Physical Education, Recreation Dance 64.1 (1993): 65+. Questia. Web. 24 Nov. 2009. Cox, Richard H. Sport Psychology: Concepts and Applications (5th ed.) Toronto: McGraw Hill (2005) Donohue, Brad, et al. The Development and Initial Evaluation of Two Promising Mental Preparatory Methods in a Sample of Female Cross Country Runners. Journal of Sport Behavior 24.1 (2001): 19 Dosil, Joaquin, ed. The Sport Psychologists Handbook: A Guide for Sport-Specific Performance Enhancement Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley Sons, (2005) Douthitt, Vicki L., and Mark L. Harvey Exercise Counseling How Physical Educators Can Help JOPERDThe Journal of Physical Education, Recreation Dance 66.5 (1995): 31 Goldstein, Jay D., and Seppo E. Iso-Ahola Promoting Sportsmanship in Youth Sports: Perspectives from Sport Psychology; Sport Psychology Provides Crucial Insights for Improving Behavior in Sport. JOPERDThe Journal of Physical Education, Recreation Dance 77.7 (2006): 18 Griffin, Joy. Sport Psychology: Myths in Sport Education and Physical Education Sport Psychology Isnt Just for the Elites; It Can Benefit Everyone in Youth Sports and Physical Education. JOPERDThe Journal of Physical Education, Recreation Dance 79.8 (2008): 11 Kalliath, Thomas J., and Alexandra Beck Is the Path to Burnout and Turnover Paved by a Lack of Supervisory Support? A Structural Equations Test New Zealand Journal of Psychology 30.2 (2001): 72 Kornspan, Alan S., and Mary J. McCracken The Use of Psychology in Professional Baseball: The Pioneering Work of David F. Tracy. Nine 11.2 (2003): 36 Kornspan, Alan S., and Michael A. Duve A Niche and a Need: A Summary of the Need for Sport Psychology Consultants in Collegiate Sports. Annals of the American Psychotherapy Association 9.1 (2006): 19 Kremer, J., Moran, A. P. Pure Sport: Practical sport psychology. London: Routledge (2008) Maclean, Joanne, and Shannon Hamm Values and Sport Participation: Comparing Participant Groups, Age, and Gender. Journal of Sport Behavior 31.4 (2008): 352 Matheson, Hilary, Sharon Mathes, and Mimi Murray The Effect of Winning and Losing on Female Interactive and Coactive Team Cohesion Journal of Sport Behavior 20.3 (1997): 284 Morris, T., and Summers, J., eds. Sport psychology: theory, application and issues (2nd Ed.). Chichester: Wiley (2004) Nesti, Mark. Existential Psychology and Sport: Theory and Application. New York: Routledge, 2004 Wann, Daniel L., and Joshua Polk The Positive Relationship between Sport Team Identification and Belief in the Trustworthiness of Others North American Journal of Psychology 9.2 (2007): 251 Wilson, Marcia A., and Dawn E. Stephens Great Expectations: How Do Athletes of Different Expectancies Attribute Their Perception of Personal Athletic Performance? Journal of Sport Behavior 28.4 (2005): 392 Watson, Jack C and Damien Clement Ethical and Practical Issues Related to Multiple Role Relationships in Sport Psychology (2008) [online] Retrieved November 22, 2009 at: Wright, Perry B., and Kristi J. Erdal Sport Superstition as a Function of Skill Level and Task Difficulty Journal of Sport Behavior 31.2 (2008): 187

Harper Lees To Kill a Mockingbird - Faults with Characters, Plot, and

The Flaws of To Kill a Mockingbird    Is it possible to judge literary classics to have failings or are they beyond contemporary measurements? As perfection is not attainable in any media, "classics" such as To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel by Harper Lee, can be found to have many instances of fault and flaw. A great novel should ease the reader into learning the story's characters and histories. It should include a plot that keeps the reader up all night wanting to read more. And it should also include a theme that remains clear and focused; to reach out to a reader without being encumbered. However this is not the case with To Kill a Mockingbird. To Kill a Mockingbird has faults with its characters, plot, and overall theme. The introduction of both the characters and their histories are flawed. The novel hastily presents a great number of characters within a short amount of written space; causing the reader trouble when trying to differentiate between them. With a few dozen individuals taking part in the goings on in the story arc, one finds oneself constantly backtracking through the story to find previous references and descriptions of the characters to remember who they are. What is worse is the fact that many of the names of said persons mentioned early in the story make no appearance at all later on in the work. "...but they were Haverfords, in Maycomb county a name synonymous with jackass...John Hale Finch was ten years younger than my father" (Lee 5). "Jem gave Dill the general attitudes of the more prominent figures: Mr. Tensaw Jones voted the straight Prohibition ticket; Miss Emily Davis dipped snuff in private; Mr. Byron Waller could play the violin..." (Lee 159). This leads t... ...un in his hand" (Lee 112). This lesson or theme is one of several that the children learn in the story, this particular one being from the incident with Mrs. Dubose. The majority of the novel makes use these sub arcs and lessons to add meat the novel. But instead dilutes the true them of the book, and the reason for which is was made. In conclusion, one finds that because of problems found within the characters, plot, and theme of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, that this piece of classical literature is not perfect. Clearly by realizing its faults one can see that even a well-known and loved book is often no better than any of the mediocre novels of today. Classical works can indeed be judged, and many are far from perfect. Work Cited: Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird. (New York, N.Y.; Warner Books, Inc., 1982) 3-5, 99, 112, 159, 164, 247.

Death of a Salesman Character Development Essay :: essays papers

Death of a Salesman Character Development Essay A person’s attitude is mostly what everyone around him or her will view them as. From this they can tell many things. Whether it is if the person is funny or down to earth or even irresponsible. Many times people change personalities often and they would be classified as being a dynamic type of person. A person who is doesn’t change is classified as being a static character. Willy, from Death of a Salesman written by Arthur Miller, is a static character for his inability to grasp reality, his poor parenting and his constant lying to his wife. Foremost, Willy has a problem with his inability to grasp reality. As he grows older his mind is starting to slip. For example, when he talks to the woman and his brother Ben. Throughout the story, Willy dreams of talking to the woman, because the woman is a person that he was dating in when he went to Boston. He was cheating behind his wife’s back. Willy basically uses her as a scapegoat when he’s hallucinating about her. He blames all of his problems on the woman. For instance Willy says, â€Å" Cause you do†¦ There’s so much I want to make for.† (38) This is the evidence right here. Also he dreams about his brother Ben. Willy wishes could be more like his brother who has just passed away a couple of months previously to the story. He also wishes he didn’t have to work and could be rich like Ben. He respects Ben for not really working and making a lot of money. Another example of Willy’s hallucinations are when he says,â€Å" How a re you all?† (45) This occurs when Willy is talking with Charley and he starts thinking about Ben. Willy’s inability to grasp reality never changed throughout the story. Willy also has very poor parenting skills. He has two children Biff and Happy. Willy excuses Biff for a lot of events when he was younger. If Biff stole something, Willy just brushes it off and says that is was no big deal. He didn’t even care when Biff failed math and did not graduate from high school. He measured success in how many people you knew not what your grades are. In one breath Willy would say that Biff is lazy and then in the next say he’s not.

Texas Gladiators Case

teThe Texas Gladiators Apparel Store The Texas Gladiators won the Super Bowl last year. As a result, sportswear such as hats, sweatshirts, sweatpants, and jackets with the Gladiator’s logo are popular. The Gladiators operate an apparel store outside the football stadium. It is near a busy highway, so the store has heavy customer traffic throughout the year, not just on game days. In addition, the stadium has high school or college football and soccer games almost every week in the fall, and baseball games in the spring and summer.The most popular single item the stadium store sells is a red and silver baseball style cap with the Gladiators’ logo on it. The cap has an elastic headband inside it, which conforms to different head sizes. However, the store has had a difficult time keeping the cap in stock, especially during the time between the placement and receipt of an order. Often customers come to the store just for the hat; when it is not in stock, customers are upset , and the store management believes they tend to go to other competing stores to purchase their Gladiators’ clothing.To rectify this problem, the store manager, Jessica James, would like to develop an inventory control policy that would ensure that customers would be able to purchase the cap 99% of the time they asked for it. Jessica has accumulated some demand data for the cap for a 30-week period. The data is shown below. (Demand includes actual sales plus a record of the times a cap has been requested but not available and an estimate of the number of times a customer wanted a cap when it was not available but did not ask for it. ) The store purchases the hats from a small manufacturing company in Jamaica.The shipments from Jamaica are erratic, with a lead time of 20 days. Questions: 1. In the past, Ms. James has placed an order whenever the stock got down to 150 caps. What level of service does this reorder point correspond to? 2. What would the reorder point and safety s tock need to be to achieve the desired service level (99%)? 3. Discuss how Jessica James might determine the order size of caps and what additional, if any, information would be needed to determine the order size. 4. Base Case: Suppose that the carrying cost is $6/unit/year and ordering cost is $200/order.Assume that there are 52 weeks in a year. For this base case, compute an optimal order quantity, average inventory (when service level is 99%), annual number of orders, total inventory costs, and cycle time. 5. For the base case, construct a graph showing how annual carrying cost, ordering cost, and total cost changes due to the changes in order quantity. 6. Sensitivity Analysis: Construct table(s) and/or graph(s) that show how the optimal order quantity and total inventory costs change when (a) carrying cost varies from $4 to $8/unit/year and (b) ordering cost varies from $150 to $250/order.