Wk 5d1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Wk 5d1 - Essay Example Private IP addressing helps improve the networks security, besides conserving public address space. Private IP addressing is used for connecting client computers on a private network, for example in institutions. This addressing method allows for easier communication between network computers. Private networks allow the network administrator to arbitrary assign a local machine an IP address of his choice, if it falls within the range of private networks shown above. This is quite different from public networks. The nature of private networks restricts access to the private network. However, it is possible to connect two private networks by use of a device which allows Network Address Translation (NAT), for instance a router. A public IP address, on the other hand is allocated to each machine which connects to the internet where all IPs are unique. Therefore, it is not possible to have two computers sharing a public IP address on the internet. Public addressing enables multiple computers to connect over the internet and share information. Public IPs is assigned to each computer by the ISP when a computer connects to the gateway and so the user of the computer cannot change the public IP address assigned to his computer. A computer accessing the internet from a private network has both private and public IP addresses. In essence, it can be said that private IP is for communicating within the network while public IP is applied for internet

Sales and inventory documentation Essay Example for Free

Sales and inventory documentation Essay Why Inventory Control? Control of inventory, which typically represents 45% to 90% of all expenses for business, is needed to ensure that the business has the right goods on hand to avoid stock-outs, to prevent shrinkage (spoilage/theft), and to provide proper accounting. Many businesses have too much of their limited resource, capital, tied up in their major asset, inventory. Worse, they may have their capital tied up in the wrong kind of inventory. Inventory may be old, worn out, shopworn, obsolete, or the wrong sizes or colors, or there may be an imbalance among different product lines that reduces the customer appeal of the total operation. Inventory control systems range from eyeball systems to reserve stock systems to perpetual computer-run systems. Valuation of inventory is normally stated at original cost, market value, or current replacement costs, whichever is lowest. This practice is used because it minimizes the possibility of overstating assets. Inventory valuation and appropriate accounting practices are worth a book alone and so are not dealt with here in depth. The ideal inventory and proper merchandise turnover will vary from one market to another. Average industry figures serve as a guide for comparison. Too large an inventory may not be justified because the turnover does not warrant investment. On the other hand, because products are not available to meet demand, too small an inventory may minimize sales and profits as customers go somewhere else to buy what they want where it is immediately available. Minimum inventories based on reordering time need to become important aspects of buying activity. Carrying costs, material purchases, and storage costs are all expensive. However, stockouts are expensive also. All of those costs can be minimized by efficient inventory policies. Inventory Control Inventory control involves the procurement, care and disposition of materials. There are three kinds of inventory that are of concern to managers: †¢ †¢ Raw materials, In-process or semi-finished goods, †¢ Finished goods. If a manager effectively controls these three types of inventory, capital can be released that may be tied up in unnecessary inventory, production control can be improved and can protect against obsolescence, deterioration and/or theft, Handout 06/02 – Inventory Control Page 1 of 8 The reasons for inventory control are: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Helps balance the stock as to value, size, color, style, and price line in proportion to demand or sales trends. Help plan the winners as well as move slow sellers Helps secure the best rate of stock turnover for each item. Helps reduce expenses and markdowns. Helps maintain a business reputation for always having new, fresh merchandise in wanted sizes and colors. Three major approaches can be used for inventory control in any type and size of operation. The actual system selected will depend upon the type of operation, the amount of goods. The Eyeball System This is the standard inventory control system for the vast majority of small retail and many small manufacturing operations and is very simple in application. The key manager stands in the middle of the store or manufacturing area and looks around. If he or she happens to notice that some items are out of stock, they are reordered. In retailing, the difficulty with the eyeball system is that a particularly good item may be out of stock for sometime before anyone notices. Throughout the time it is out of stock, sales are being lost on it. Similarly, in a small manufacturing operation, low stocks of some particularly critical item may not be noticed until there are none left. Then production suffers until the supply of that part can be replenished. Such unsystematic but simple retailers and manufacturers to their inherent disadvantage. Reserve Stock (or Brown Bag) System This approach is much more systematic than the eyeball system. It involves keeping a reserve stock of items aside, often literally in a brown bag placed at the rear of the stock bin or storage area. When the last unit of open inventory is used, the brown bag of reserve stock is opened and the new supplies it contains are placed in the bin as open stock. At this time, a reorder is immediately placed. If the reserve stock quantity has been calculated properly, the new shipment should arrive just as the last of the reserve stock is being used. In order to calculate the proper reserve stock quantity, it is necessary to know the rate of product usage and the order cycle delivery time. Thus, if the rate of product units sold is 100 units per week and the order cycle delivery time is two weeks, the appropriate reserve stock would consist of 200 units (I00u x 2w). This is fine as long as the two-week cycle holds. If the order cycle is extended, the reserve stock quantities must be increased. When the new order arrives, the reserve stock amount is packaged again and placed at the rear of the storage area. This is a very simple system to operate and one that is highly effective for virtually any type of organization. The variations on the reserve stock system merely involve the management of the reserve stock itself. Larger  items may remain in inventory but be cordoned off in some way to indicate that it is the reserve stock and should trigger a reorder. Handout 06/02 – Inventory Control Page 2 of 8 Perpetual Inventory Systems Various types of perpetual inventory systems include manual, card-oriented, and computer- operated systems. In computer-operated systems, a programmed instruction referred to commonly as a trigger, automatically transmits an order to the appropriate vendor once supplies fall below a prescribed level. The purpose of each of the three types of perpetual inventory approaches is to tally either the unit use or the dollar use (or both) of different items and product lines. This information will serve to help avoid stock-outs and to maintain a constant evaluation of the sales of different product lines to see where the emphasis should be placed for both selling and buying. Stock Control A stock control system should keep you aware of the quantity of each kind of merchandise on hand. An effective system will provide you with a guide for what, when, and how much to buy of each style, color, size, price and brand. It will reduce the number of lost sales resulting from being out of stock of merchandise in popular demand. The system will also locate slow selling articles and help indicate changes in customer preferences. The size of your establishment and the number of people employed are determining factors in devising an effective stock control plan. Can you keep control by observation? Should you use on-hand/onorder/sold records? Detachable ticket stubs? Checklists? And/or physical inventory? If so, how often? With the observation method (the eyeball system), unless the people using it have an unusually sharp sense of quantity and sales patterns, it is difficult to keep a satisfactory check on merchandise depletion. It means that you record shortages of goods or reorders as the need for them occurs to you. Without a better checking system, orders may only be placed at the  time of the salesmans regular visit, regardless of when they are actually needed. Although it may be the simplest system, it also can often result in lost sales or production delays. Detachable stubs or tickets placed on merchandise provide a good means of control. The stubs, containing information identifying the articles, are removed at the time the items are sold. The accumulated stubs are then posted regularly to the perpetual inventory system by hand or through the use of an optical scanner. A checklist, often provided by wholesalers, is another counting tool. The checklist provides space to record the items carried, the selling price, cost price, and minimum quantities to be ordered of each. It also contains a column in which to note whether the stock on hand is sufficient and when to reorder. This is another very simple device that provides the level of information required to make knowledgeable decisions about effective inventory management. Most smaller operations today, except for the very smallest, are using some form of a perpetual online system to record the movement of inventories into and out of their facilities. In a retail operation, the clerk at the register merely scans the ticket with a reader, and the system shows the current price and removes the item from the inventory control system. A similar process occurs in a manufacturing operation, except that the sale is actually a transfer of the inventory from control to production. This is a particularly critical system in a large operation such as a grocery store where they regularly maintain 12,000 plus items. Often a vendor will provide on-site or computerized assistance needed to help their smaller customers maintain a good understanding of their own inventory levels and so keep them in balance Handout 06/02 – Inventory Control Page 3 of 8 Inventory Control Records Inventory control records are essential to making buy-and-sell decisions. Some companies control their stock by taking physical inventories at regular intervals, monthly or quarterly. Others use a dollar inventory record that  gives a rough idea of what the inventory may be from day to day in terms of dollars. If your stock is made up of thousands of items, as it is for a convenience type store, dollar control may be more practical than physical control. However, even with this method, an inventory count must be taken periodically to verify the levels of inventory by item. Perpetual inventory control records are most practical for big-ticket items. With such items it is quite suitable to hand count the starting inventory, maintain a card for each item or group of items, and reduce the item count each time a unit is sold or transferred out of inventory. Periodic physical counts are taken to verify the accuracy of the inventory card. Out-of-stock sheets, sometimes called want sheets, notify the buyer that it is time to reorder an item. Experience with the rate of turnover of an item will help indicate the level of inventory at which the unit should be reordered to make sure that the new merchandise arrives before the stock is totally exhausted. Open-to-buy records help to prevent ordering more than is needed to meet demand or to stay within a budget. These records adjust your order rate to the sales rate. They provide a running account of the dollar amount that may be bought without departing significantly from the pre- established inventory levels. An open-to-buy record is related to the inventory budget. It is the difference between what has been budgeted and what has been spent. Each time a sale is made, open-to-buy is increased (inventory is reduced). Each time merchandise is purchased; open-to-buy is reduced (inventory is increased). The net effect is to help maintain a balance among product lies within the business, and to keep the business from getting overloaded in one particular area. Purchase order files keep track of what has been ordered and the status or expected receipt date of materials. It is convenient to maintain these files by using a copy of each purchase order that is written. Notations can be added or merchandise needs updated directly on the copy of the purchase order with respect to changes in price or delivery dates. Supplier files are valuable references on suppliers and can be very helpful in negotiating  price, delivery and terms. Extra copies of purchase orders can be used to create these files, organized alphabetically by supplier, and can provide a fast way to determine how much business is done with each vendor. Purchase order copies also serve to document ordering habits and procedures and so may be used to help reveal and/or resolve future potential problems. Returned goods files provide a continuous record of merchandise that has been returned to suppliers. They should indicate amounts, dates and reasons for the returns. This information is useful in controlling debits, credits and quality Issues. Price books, maintained in alphabetical order according to supplier, provide a record of purchase prices, selling prices, markdowns, and markups. It is important to keep this record completely up to date in order to be able to access the latest price and profit information on materials purchased for resale. Handout 06/02 – Inventory Control Page 4 of 8 Controlling Inventory Controlling inventory does not have to be an onerous or complex proposition. It is a process and thoughtful inventory management. There are no hard and fast rules to abide by, but some extremely useful guidelines to help your thinking about the subject. A five step process has been designed that will help any business bring this potential problem under control to think systematically thorough the process and allow the business to make the most efficient use possible of the resources represented. The final decisions, of course, must be the result of good judgment, and not the product of a mechanical set of formulas. STEP 1: Inventory Planning Inventory control requires inventory planning. Inventory refers to more than the goods on hand in the retail operation, service business, or manufacturing facility. It also represents goods that must be in transit for  arrival after the goods in the store or plant are sold or used. An ideal inventory control system would arrange for the arrival of new goods at the same moment the last item has been sold or used. The economic order quantity, or base orders, depends upon the amount of cash (or credit) available to invest in inventories, the number of units that qualify for a quantity discount from the manufacturer, and the amount of time goods spend in shipment. STEP 2: Establish order cycles If demand can be predicted for the product or if demand can be measured on a regular basis, regular ordering quantities can be setup that take into consideration the most economic relationships among the costs of preparing an order, the aggregate shipping costs, and the economic order cost. When demand is regular, it is possible to program regular ordering levels so that stock-outs will be avoided and costs will be minimized. If it is known that every so many weeks or months a certain quantity of goods will be sold at a steady pace, then replacements should be scheduled to arrive with equal regularity. Time should be spent developing a system tailored to the needs of each business. It is useful to focus on items whose costs justify such control, recognizing that in some cases control efforts may cost more the items worth. At the same time, it is also necessary to include low return items that are critical to the overall sales effort. If the business experiences seasonal cycles, it is important to recognize the demands that will be placed on suppliers as well as other sellers.  A given firm must recognize that if it begins to run out of product in the middle of a busy season, other sellers are also beginning to run out and are looking for more goods. The problem is compounded in that the producer may have already switched over to next season’s production and so is not interested in (or probably even capable of) filling any further orders for the current selling season. Production resources are likely to already be allocated to filling orders for the next selling season. Changes in this momentum would be extremely costly for both the supplier and the customer. On the other hand, because suppliers have problems with inventory control, just as sellers do, they may be interested in making deals to induce customers to purchase inventories offseason, usually at substantial savings. They want to shift the carrying costs of purchase and storage from the seller to the buyer. Thus, there are seasonal implications to inventory control as Handout 06/02 – Inventory Control Page 5 of 8 well, both positive and negative. The point is that these seasonable implications must be built into the planning process in order to support an effective inventory management system. STEP 3: Balance Inventory Levels Efficient or inefficient management of merchandise inventory by a firm is a major factor between healthy profits and operating at a loss. There are both market-related and budget-related issues that must be dealt with in terms of coming up with an ideal inventory balance: †¢ †¢ †¢ Is the inventory correct for the market being served? Does the inventory have the proper turnover? What is the ideal inventory for a typical retailer or wholesaler in this business? To answer the last question first, the ideal inventory is the inventory that does not lose profitable sales and can still justify the investment in each part of its whole. An inventory that is not compatible with the firm’s market will lose profitable sales. Customers who cannot find the items they desire in one store or from one supplier are forced to go to a competitor. Customer will be especially irritated if the item out of stock is one they would normally expect to find from such a supplier. Repeated experiences of this type will motivate customers to become regular customers of competitors. STEP 4: Review Stocks Items sitting on the shelf as obsolete inventory are simply dead capital. Keeping inventory up to date and devoid of obsolete merchandise is another critical aspect of good inventory control. This is particularly important with style merchandise, but it is important with any merchandise that is turning at a lower rate than the average stock turns for that particular business. One of the important principles newer sellers frequently find difficult is the need to mark down merchandise that is not moving well. Markups are usually highest when a new style first comes out. As the style fades, efficient sellers gradually begin to mark it down to avoid being stuck with large inventories, thus keeping inventory capital working. They will begin to mark down their inventory, take less gross margin, and return the funds to working capital rather than have their investment stand on the shelves as obsolete merchandise. Markdowns are an important part of the working capital cycle. Even though the margins on markdown sales are lower, turning these items into cash allows you to purchase other, more current goods, where you can make the margin you desire. Keeping an inventory fresh and up to date requires constant attention by any organization, large or small. Style merchandise should be disposed of before the style fades. Fad merchandise must have its inventory levels kept in line with the passing fancy. Obsolete merchandise usually must be sold at less than normal markup or even as loss leaders where it is priced more competitively. Loss leader pricing strategies can also serve to attract more consumer traffic for the business thus creating opportunities to sell other merchandise as well as well as the obsolete items. Technologically obsolete merchandise should normally be removed from inventory at any cost. Handout 06/02 – Inventory Control Page 6 of 8 Stock turnover is really the way businesses make money. It is not so much  the profit per unit of sale that makes money for the business, but sales on a regular basis over time that eventually results in profitability. The stock turnover rate is the rate at which the average inventory is replaced or turned over, throughout a pre-defined standard operating period, typically one year. It is generally seen as the multiple that sales represent of the average inventory for a given period of time. Turnover averages are available for virtually any industry or business maintaining inventories and having sales. These figures act as an efficient and effective benchmark with which to compare the business in question, in order to determine its effectiveness relative to its capital investment. Too frequent inventory turns can be as great a potential problem as too few. Too frequent inventory turns may indicate the business is trying to overwork a limited capital base, and may carry with it the attendant costs of stock-outs and unhappy and lost customers. Stock turns or turnover, is the number of times the average inventory of a given product is sold annually. It is an important concept because it helps to determine what the inventory level should be to achieve or support the sales levels predicted or desired. Inventory turnover is computed by dividing the volume of goods sold by the average inventory. Stock turns or inventory turnover can be calculated by the following equations: Stock Turn = Cost of Goods Sold Average Inventory at Cost Stock Turn = Sales Average Inventory at Sales Value If the inventory is recorded at cost, stock turn equals cost of goods sold divided by the average inventory. If the inventory is recorded at sales value, stock turn is equal to sales divided by average inventory. Stock turns four times a year on the average for many businesses. Jewelry stores are slow, with two turns a year, and grocery stores may go up to 45 turns a year. If the dollar value of a particular inventory compares favorably with  the industry average, but the turnover of the inventory is less than the industry average, a further analysis of that inventory is needed. Is it too heavy in some areas? Are there reasons that suggest more inventories are needed in certain categories? Are there conditions peculiar to that particular firm? The point is that all markets are not uniform and circumstances may be found that will justify a variation from average figures. Handout 06/02 – Inventory Control Page 7 of 8 In the accumulation of comparative data for any particular type of firm, a wide variation will be found for most significant statistical comparisons. Averages are just that, and often most firms in the group are somewhat different from that result. Nevertheless, they serve as very useful guides for the adequacy of industry turnover, and for other ratios as well. The important thing for each firm is to know how the firm compares with the averages and to deter- mine whether deviations from the averages are to its benefit or disadvantage. STEP 5: Follow-up and Control Periodic reviews of the inventory to detect slow-moving or obsolete stock and to identify fast sellers are essential for proper inventory management. Taking regular and periodic inventories must be more than just totaling the costs. Any clerk can do the work of recording an inventory. However, it is the responsibility of key management to study the figures and review the items themselves in order to make correct decisions about the disposal, replacement, or discontinuance of different segments of the inventory base. Just as an airline cannot make money with its airplanes on the ground, a firm cannot earn a profit in the absence of sales of goods. Keeping the inventory attractive to customers is a prime prerequisite for healthy sales. Again, the sellers inventory is usually his largest investment. It will earn profits in direct proportion to the effort and skill applied in its  management. Inventory quantities must be organized and measured carefully. Minimum stocks must be assured to prevent stock-outs or the lack of product. At the same time, they must be balanced against excessive inventory because of carrying costs. In larger retail organizations and in many manufacturing operations, purchasing has evolved as a distinct new and separate phase of management to achieve the dual objective of higher turnover and lower investment. If this type of strategy is to be utilized, however, extremely careful attention and constant review must be built into the management system in order to avoid getting caught short by unexpected changes in the larger business environment. Caution and periodic review of reorder points and quantities are a must. Individual market size of some products can change suddenly and corrections should be made. Source: U.S. Small Business Administration Edited by SCORE 471 Handout 06/02 – Inventory Control Page 8 of 8

Maternal Mortality Rate in Pakistan

Maternal Mortality Rate in Pakistan Maternal Mortality a Public Health Issue Shahida Abbasi Introduction Maternal mortality refers to when a woman dies during pregnancy or within six weeks after delivery. There are many factors such as biological, socio-economic, cultural and availability of quality Reproductive Health Services (RHS) in the country which contribute to the alarming figure of Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR). Pregnancy is a normal process in which women experience some physiological changes as it is essential for fetal growth and development. During pregnancy women need healthy diet, antenatal checkup for pregnancy progress and identification of dangers signs and proper treatment. Unfortunately due to certain reasons these needs are not satisfied and resulted in death of the mother. This paper aims to in-depth analysis of the determinants of MM. Significant of the Issue Every year more than 500,000 women die during childbirth or from pregnancy-related causes worldwide. 99% maternal deaths occur in developing country (WHO, 2005) as RHS, and family planning services are not easily accessible and affordable. According to UNDP’s report Roca (2013) Pakistan has highest mortality ratio 260/100,000 per live births in the region. Socio economic determinants Poverty Poverty plays as a barrier to satisfy basic human needs and to access reproductive health services which contribute to maternal mortality. Current global economic crises adversely affected specially marginalized poor women. Escalation in fuel prizes made the food items so expensive that it is beyond the capacity of the poor to buy. Due to inadequate quantity and quality of food intake, the pregnant women suffer with nutritional deficiency anemia. A study conducted by Khan, Fatima, Imran and Khan (2010) in Rawalpindi, to assess the risk factors associated with the nutritional deficiency anaemia revealed that majority of the pregnant women were anaemic due to iron deficiency followed by folate and cobalamin and all these belonged to low socio-economic group. Moreover, these nutritional deficit anemic women are at greater risk of having postpartum hemorrhage and sepsis. Furthermore, cost of RHS such as formal fee, screening, purchasing of medicine and travelling acts as barrier for wome n to obtain care. In case of emergency obstetric complications the cost of treatment goes much high and causes the delay in treatment. A qualitative study by Ronis, Mehboob, Masood, Amjad, Nishtar (2012) revealed that seventy percent of the patients sold their belonging or borrowed money in order to pay for delivery charges. Poverty is a great barrier for pregnant women in approaching family planning and counseling services. National Institute of Population Study (NIPS) [Pakistan] and ICF International. 2013. depicts that in rural areas twenty percent of married women have an unmet contraception needs that increase the chances of unwanted pregnancies leading to abortion. A study conducted by Fawad, Naz, Islam, Zaffar, Abbasi (2011) over the period of 5 years in Abbottabad calculated the MMR 1,057/100,000 live births. All the 78 patients who died belonged to low socioeconomic status and majority of them were illiterate. Female literacy Poverty effects female education as they cannot afford even primary education. These women are not aware of their reproductive health rights and utilization of RHS. According to Lynd, (2007) the literacy rate of youth between the age 15 to 24 years of Pakistans female is (53%) comparatively lower than the boys’ literacy rate (77%) in the same age group. In-fact educated women are more autonomous in decision making and utilization of quality ante natal and perinatal services. It is also illustrated in National Institute of Population Studies (NIPS) [Pakistan] and ICF International. 2013National Institute of Population Study (NIPS) [Pakistan] and ICF International. 2013. that the antenatal care is widely received by women with secondary or higher education. Moreover, an international cross sectional study was conducted by Karlsen, et al. (2011) revealed that lower levels of maternal education were associated with higher maternal mortality. This depicts RHS are not being utilize by illiterate women. Cultural Cultural values are deeply rooted specially among poor and illiterate and it has significant impact on women’s health. It is cultural heritage that boys are nourished with rich food as compared to girls beside the fact girls that requirement good quality and quantity of food in order to carry out reproductive responsibilities. Moreover, in conservative families, women mobility is strictly prohibited even to obtain emergency obstetric care. As women are not financially empowered they totally depend on husband regarding their treatment. All the important decisions related to ante natal care, place of delivery and post natal visit are made by the mother in law or husband. Sometime the decisions related to reproductive health issue are made so late that pregnant woman’s condition gets worse. Moreover, women do not have the right to make independent decision for healthy timing and birth spacing which consequently lead to higher fertility one of the contributing factor to inc rease mortality. A qualitative study by Ronis et al., (2012) revealed that cultural norms in Pakistan restrict the women to opt RHS from female doctor only. Therefore their unavailability makes the services inaccessible. Gender Inequality Government has done much to decrease socio-economic gender inequalities on its part. As it is evident in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report by Bekhouch, Hausmann, Tyson, and Zahidi (2013) Pakistan is on ranked 64 out of 136 countries in political empowerment of women. Pakistan had secured the second lowest ranking in the overall measure of gender-based biases. The cultural heritage and ethnic diversity have been playing role in mediating gender inequality. In-fact boys are provided with nutritious food and good quality of schooling as compared to girls. A report by Bekhouch et al. (2013)14 million girls and 18.3 million boys enrolled in basic education in 2006, this depicts the accessibility and affordability of girl’s education. Moreover, gender inequality is also reflected by the accessibility, affordability and acceptability of RHS. According to UNDP’s report Roca (2013) in Pakistan 260 per 100,000 live births, women die due to pregnancy relat ed causes reflects the commitment of the government to provide the RHS to marginalized women. Early marriages Early marriage is one of the customs which is mostly practiced in rural areas. Due to low socio economical resources parents cannot afford required amount of food especially to their daughters therefore, early marriages is considered one of the way to get rid of this burden. Thus early marriage leads to early pregnancy that is one of the factors contribute to MMR. Early marriages consequently lead high parity. The National Institute of Population Study (NIPS) [Pakistan] and ICF International. 2013. report indicated total fertility rate in rural areas is high (4.2) and it is age specific fertility which is strong indication of early childbearing. It is estimated that 30 percent of all marriages fall into the category of child marriage which is more common in interior Sindh (Dawn 2012-01-19). It is well reflected in PDHS 2012-2013, that eight percent of teenage girls became mothers or expecting their first child. According to Roca (2013) Adolescent fertility rate is 28.1per 100,000 liv e birth which depicts the strong evidence of early marriage tradition in Pakistan. High Parity Early marriages consequently lead high parity. The National Institute of Population Study (NIPS) [Pakistan] and ICF International. 2013. indicates the total fertility rate in rural areas is high (4.2) and it is age specific fertility. Every time when a woman gets pregnant, the risk of dying increases. A study conducted by Rahim, Shafqat and Faiz (2011) also revealed that out of 268 deaths 47 percent were having more than five children thus supporting the evidence that maternal mortality is higher in grand multigravidas. These findings are consistent with the study of Fawad et al. (2011) out of 78 maternal deaths 49 patients were multigravida. Skilled Birth Attendant Due to dearth of skilled birth attendants (SBAs) in most of the rural areas deliveries are attended by unskilled traditional birth attendants (TBA) in Pakistan. These TBAs are not competently trained to detect dangers sign during pregnancy and delivery and to refer women for further treatment. The National Institute of Population Study (NIPS) [Pakistan] and ICF International. 2013. indicated that 67% of rural women received antenatal health care, while 41% women were assisted for deliver by SBAs. The reasons for less utilization of antenatal and delivery services are dearth of SBAs, geographical hindrance and long distance from health facility. Medical causes Obstructed labor, antepartum postpartum hemorrhage, sepsis and eclampsia are obstetric emergencies which need timely intervention. Mortality due to these cases can be prevented by proper antenatal care and detections of life threatening signs and timely referral to comprehensive emergency maternal obstetric neonatal care (EmOC) services. A retrospective, analytic study to analyze direct causes of maternal mortality over a period of seven years was conducted by Rahim et al. (2011) identified hemorrhage a leading cause followed by pregnancy induced hypertension, ruptured uterus and septicemia. A study conducted by Fawad et al. (2011) revealed that eclampsia was the leading cause of maternal deaths followed by sepsis and hemorrhage. Perhaps these precious lives could have been saved if the antenatal and natal services were provided or utilized. These studies calculated MMR 1311/100,000 and 1,057/100,000 live births live birth respectively a big figure as compared to UNDP’s report by Roca (2013) reported MMR 260/100,000 live birth. Abortion Abortion is one of the most important direct medical causes of maternal mortality, accounts for 12-40 % of overall global maternal deaths (WHO, 1994; According to a study conducted by Sathar, Singh, and Fikree (2007) an estimated 890,000 induced abortions are performed annually in Pakistan and 6 to 13% deaths occurred due to complications of abortion like hemorrhage, sepsis and visceral injuries (Jafarey, 2002). A descriptive observational study conducted by Shaikh, Razia, Abbassi, Rizwan and Abbasi (2010) revealed that 230 women were admitted with complications of unsafe abortion over period of one year. These complications include bleeding, uterine perforation, and gastro intestinal injury due to the procedure. Of these 12% women died as they developed septicemia. Deaths due to abortion can be prevented if the safe abortion care services are available by the skilled birth attendants at the door step. Poor Reproductive Health Services: It is quite encouraging that we have good health system that includes basic health unit (BHU), Rural Health Center (RHC) and Tertiary unit. Even though RHS services are available free of charges, BHU and RHC services are underutilized because of long distances to access. Moreover, poor referral system causes a delay in getting access and treatment. According Ali, Bhatti and Kuroiwa (2012) majority of the hospitals were lacking EmOC services and most referral hospitals equipped with EmOC were inaccessible. As in most of the rural areas broken roads and unavailability of proper ambulance services hinder the transfer of women in time. A cross-sectional survey on emergency obstetric care services facilities conducted by Ali et al. (2012) revealed that more than 50 percent of the public health facilities were lacking female doctor to provide Emoc services, thus creating a barrier for women to opt reproductive health services. Summary of analysis Maternal mortality is a public health issue that should be stem out. There are many factors which contribute to MM, and poverty is worse determinant that prevents female to receive education, have nutritious food and get access for reproductive health treatment. Reducing inequity and promoting female education is one of the key strategies to empower women and to bring their status equal to man. MM due to obstetric emergencies can be prevented by strengthening existing health facilities and increasing female skill birth attendants Recommendation Government and NGOs should have one focused agenda to invest in female education as this is their fundamental right. Empowering women with education consequently will improve their socio economic status and will reduce the gender inequity as well. Incentive should be provided to poor women who attend antenatal services in order to eliminate costs issue. Food supplement and medicine for correction of anemia should be free available to pregnant women. All the stake holders should collaborate in ensuring family planning and counseling services as to reduce unintended pregnancies which leads to induces abortions. Reproductive health services including Post Abortion Care (PAC) and family planning services should be made available, accessible and affordable within community settings. Civil society, educationist and health professionals should raise the awareness regarding Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 and its reinforcement, as child marriage is widely practiced in some parts of the country. It is imperative to strengthen existing health care facilities in order to provide emergency obstetric care. More skilled birth attendants should be trained and deployed who will provide twenty four hours services and make timely referral in case of emergency obstetric care. Health professionals should focus on research as suggested by Travis, et al., (2004) that identification of common national and international barriers in several studies will guide the policy makers and donors to pay attention. References Ali, M., Bhatti, M. A., Kuroiwa, C. (2008). Challenges in access to and utilization of reproductive health care in Pakistan.Journal of Ayub Medical College Abbottabad,20(4), 3-7. Bekhouch, Y., Hausmann, R., Tyson, L. D., Zahidi, S. (2013, September). The global gender gap report 2013. Geneva Switzerland World Economic Forum 2013. Dawn (2012, January 19). Child marriage behind high mortality rate. Dawn. [Punjab]. Retrieved from:http://www.dawn.com/news/689119/childmarriage- behind-high-maternal-mortality-rate. Fawad, A., Naz, H., Islam, A., Zaffar, S., Abbasi, A. U. N. (2011). Maternal mortality in a tertiary care hospital. Journal of Ayub Medical College Abbottabad, 23(1), 92-5. Jafarey, S. N. (2002). Maternal mortality in Pakistancompilation of available data. J Pak Med Assoc, 52(12), 539-44. Karlsen, S., Say, L., Souza, J. P., Hogue, C. J., Calles, D. L., GÃ ¼lmezoglu, A. M., Raine, R. (2011). The relationship between maternal education and mortality among women giving birth in health care institutions: Analysis of the cross sectional WHO Global Survey on Maternal and Perinatal Health. BMC Public Health, 11(1), 606. Khan, D. A., Fatima, S., Imran, R., Khan, F. A. (2010). Iron, folate and cobalamin deficiency in anaemic pregnant females in tertiary care centre at Rawalpindi.J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad,22(1), 17-21. Lynd, D. (2007). The Education System in Pakistan.Retrieved June,30, 2012. National Institute of Population Study (NIPS) [Pakistan] and ICF International. 2013. Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (2012-13). Islamabad, Pakistan, and Cleverton, Maryland, USA: NIPS and ICF InternationalNational Institute of Population Studies (NIPS) [Pakistan] and ICF International. 2013.National Institute of Population Studies (NIPS) [Pakistan] and ICF International. 2013. Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2012-13. Islamabad, Pakistan, and Calverton, Maryland, USA: NIPS and ICF International.National Institute of Population Studies (NIPS) [Pakistan] and ICF International. 2013. Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2012-13. Islamabad, Pakistan, and Calverton, Maryland, USA: NIPS and ICF International. Rahim, R., Shafqat, T., Faiz, N. R. (2011). An analysis of direct causes of maternal mortality.Journal of Postgraduate Medical Institute (Peshawar-Pakistan),20(1). Roca, T. (2013). Human development Report 2013. The Rise of the South, Human Progress in a Diverse World.Afrique contemporaine, (2), 164-166. Ronis, K. A., Mehboob, G., Masood, M., Amjad, S., Nishtar, S. The Voice of Women. Sathar, Z. A., Singh, S., Fikree, F. F. (2007). Estimating the incidence of abortion in Pakistan. Studies in Family Planning, 38(1), 11-22. Shaikh, Z., Abbassi, R. M., Rizwan, N., Abbasi, S. (2010). Morbidity and mortality due to unsafe abortion in Pakistan.International Journal of Gynecology Obstetrics,110(1), 47-49. Travis, P., Bennett, S., Haines, A., Pang, T., Bhutta, Z., Hyder, A. A., Evans, T. (2004). Overcoming health-systems constraints to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. The Lancet, 364(9437), 900-906. WHO. World Health Report–2005. Make every mother and child count. Geneva: WHO; 2005.(2012, 19 January). National Institute of Population Studies (NIPS) [Pakistan] and ICF International. 2013. Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2012-13. Islamabad, Pakistan, and Calverton, Maryland, USA: NIPS and ICF International.National Institute of Population Studies (NIPS) [Pakistan] and ICF International. 2013. Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2012-13. Islamabad, Pakistan, and Calverton, Maryland, USA: NIPS and ICF International.

JFK ASSASINATION THEORY Essays -- essays papers

JFK ASSASINATION THEORY November 22, 1963, was one of the darkest days in the history of the United States of America. It was a day of complete turmoil. People all over the country dropped everything that they were doing. Children were permitted to go home from school and people huddled around their televisions in shock as they watched the day's events. On this day, John F. Kennedy was brutally assassinated in Dallas, Texas. John F. Kennedy was probably the most beloved and popular president to ever sit in the Oval Office. He was the icon of our country. His youth and charisma personified the American citizen. His beautiful wife and his two young children optimized the perfect family. His war hero and his highly educated manor earned the respect and reverence of American society. He was truly the "common man's" president. John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts. The Kennedy name had already been known throughout the country and many of his relatives were involved in politics. He was destined to make political noise in our country. His family was also extremely wealthy. His father was a financier and a businessperson who was rumored to have made a great deal of money from bootlegging during the Prohibition era. John F. Kennedy lived lavishly throughout his life. He attended an expensive college prep school in Connecticut during his high school years. He then went on to study semesters at Princeton and Harvard. As he grew older and more involved in politics, his campaigns were known for his large staff and private jet trips. His wealth also helped fund a televised debate which helped him to secure the presidential campaign against Richard Nixon. John F. Kennedy definitely did not allow his wealth to turn him into a spoiled pretty boy. He participated in football, swimming, and sailing while attending Harvard. He also served in the Navy during World War II. As a matter of fact, JFK worked out for five months to strengthen his lower back, which was injured in a football game, just so he could be accepted into the service. While commanding the torpedo boat PT- 109, he was responsible for saving the lives of his crew members. This turned into one of the most famous war stories in history and was later turned into a movie. His bravery during this famous event won him the Navy and Marine... ...nd he fought for what he believed in. But, the uncommon man; the politicians, the big businessmen, the criminals; they hated him. They did not respect the fact that he spoke his mind and fought for his beliefs. As stated above, he made a lot of enemies during his term and in the end I think they got their revenge. Kennedy's assassination was definitely a conspiracy. I believe it was one that involved many, many different people throughout the world. I also believe that the US government helped cover up what really happened and knows who is truly behind this sick plot. Maybe one day we'll find out who really is responsible for his death; maybe not. Until then, John F. Kennedy's body rests in Arlington National Cemetery alongside his loving wife. People go there to this day and break down in tears. It is truly a sad place to be. It is sad to see how much he meant to his people. It is sad to see that a man that was loved by so many, was also hated by some. WORKS CITED 1.Johnson,Glen. "Camelot Revisited." Associated Press, 1995. 2. http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/home.htm 3. Http://til.ai.org/jfk.htm 4. Http://jfkennedy.8m.com 5. Http://www.historychannel.com JFK ASSASINATION THEORY Essays -- essays papers JFK ASSASINATION THEORY November 22, 1963, was one of the darkest days in the history of the United States of America. It was a day of complete turmoil. People all over the country dropped everything that they were doing. Children were permitted to go home from school and people huddled around their televisions in shock as they watched the day's events. On this day, John F. Kennedy was brutally assassinated in Dallas, Texas. John F. Kennedy was probably the most beloved and popular president to ever sit in the Oval Office. He was the icon of our country. His youth and charisma personified the American citizen. His beautiful wife and his two young children optimized the perfect family. His war hero and his highly educated manor earned the respect and reverence of American society. He was truly the "common man's" president. John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts. The Kennedy name had already been known throughout the country and many of his relatives were involved in politics. He was destined to make political noise in our country. His family was also extremely wealthy. His father was a financier and a businessperson who was rumored to have made a great deal of money from bootlegging during the Prohibition era. John F. Kennedy lived lavishly throughout his life. He attended an expensive college prep school in Connecticut during his high school years. He then went on to study semesters at Princeton and Harvard. As he grew older and more involved in politics, his campaigns were known for his large staff and private jet trips. His wealth also helped fund a televised debate which helped him to secure the presidential campaign against Richard Nixon. John F. Kennedy definitely did not allow his wealth to turn him into a spoiled pretty boy. He participated in football, swimming, and sailing while attending Harvard. He also served in the Navy during World War II. As a matter of fact, JFK worked out for five months to strengthen his lower back, which was injured in a football game, just so he could be accepted into the service. While commanding the torpedo boat PT- 109, he was responsible for saving the lives of his crew members. This turned into one of the most famous war stories in history and was later turned into a movie. His bravery during this famous event won him the Navy and Marine... ...nd he fought for what he believed in. But, the uncommon man; the politicians, the big businessmen, the criminals; they hated him. They did not respect the fact that he spoke his mind and fought for his beliefs. As stated above, he made a lot of enemies during his term and in the end I think they got their revenge. Kennedy's assassination was definitely a conspiracy. I believe it was one that involved many, many different people throughout the world. I also believe that the US government helped cover up what really happened and knows who is truly behind this sick plot. Maybe one day we'll find out who really is responsible for his death; maybe not. Until then, John F. Kennedy's body rests in Arlington National Cemetery alongside his loving wife. People go there to this day and break down in tears. It is truly a sad place to be. It is sad to see how much he meant to his people. It is sad to see that a man that was loved by so many, was also hated by some. WORKS CITED 1.Johnson,Glen. "Camelot Revisited." Associated Press, 1995. 2. http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/home.htm 3. Http://til.ai.org/jfk.htm 4. Http://jfkennedy.8m.com 5. Http://www.historychannel.com

Digital Bangladesh

The golden jubilee of the independence of Bangladesh would be observed in 2021. The country has already fixed its target of achieving ‘Digital Bangladesh' by that time. It is a timely expectation for proper positioning the country among other hi-tech countries globally. A country goes digital means it will be an e-state means all its activities of governance, commerce, education, agriculture etc. , will be powered by computer and internet. Today information communication technology (ICT) drives the technological and economic advancement of the developed as well as emerging economies.The goal of establishing such digital country would bring success in the ICT sector, which cannot be ignored in this 21st century. Heading towards that target will link every device such as cell phone, internet, computer, e-learning, e-governance etc. Today the entire world is gradually becoming a Digital Planet. Almost every state is heading towards a knowledge-based society and Bangladesh cannot s tay away from the advantages out of it. Though it is very easy to speak about such a dream, i. e. making a country digital, but at the same time it is very difficult to implement it.For implementation, it is basically the government who will take initiatives while the other political parties also need to play important role. For more than decades we are in the user level of computer, but we failed to develop better ICT infrastructure and not able to provide digital devices to the common people. A very first step for ‘Digital Bangladesh' would be to spread the ICT education throughout the country. Internet facilities should be made available to the remotest corner of the country at a cheaper rate. The speed of the internet must be made maximum to get the benefit of the time.Boosting up the ICT industry deserves huge investment as well as care by right ICT policy. A comprehensive plan and effort through a holistic approach needs to be made. Market needs to be broadened both in a nd outside the country for software, outsourcing and programming. Hardware plant needs to be established in the country. Bangladesh as a country with 150 million population has huge potential, despite having many problems. It is very important to create skilled manpower educated in science and technology. Currently, the people of Bangladesh remain far away from using ICT, when the whole world is getting developed with the blessings of ICT.Though late, but Bangladesh is already connected with SEA-ME-WE4 submarine fiber-optic cable connection. The government needs to adopt a viable ICT policy and set up a state of the art Hi-Tech Park with a view to flourishing the ICT sector. At present, the ICT sector falls under three separate ministries, namely post and telecommunication, science and technology and information. For obvious reasons, there is a need for bringing the ICT sector under a single umbrella to ease policy formulation and realize the potential.A holistic approach needs to b e taken by all the stakeholders to reach the ICT facilities to the doorstep of the common people. It is the time to take initiative to hand over a computer to every child of the country. The broadband internet charge needs to be reduced at minimum level. Therefore, it is the expectation of the mass people that the government will take all possible steps to create a SMART (simple, measurable, accountable, responsive and transparent) ‘Digital Bangladesh' and establish a knowledge-based society within 50 years of her independence in 2021.

Family marriage Essay

On the night of Feb 28th, the last day of classes, Nilesh proposed to Geeta, his MBA classmate of nearly a year and a half. Geeta agreed immediately and wondered if all her classmates will be able to attend their wedding as once they all go back to their homes it would be really very difficult for everyone to get together again. Suddenly, Nilesh came up with the idea: what if they got married on March 22nd? â€Å"But how could it be? Our convocation is on March 21st Geeta said. â€Å"Exactly! All our classmates will definitely come here for convocation and they would not mind staying an extra day for the wedding. In fact, we will get the blessings of even their parents as many are planning to come for the convocation. † Geeta: Right. But so many things have to be done. That is also when the wedding season starts and all the reception halls become unavailable. For our send-off party, juniors were saying that hotels were insisting on 17 days notice. Of course, for Rs 5000/- extra the notice period can be reduced to 10 days. Nilesh: I want my brother and sister-in-law to come for the wedding. Geeta: But, they are in US and working. They will require at least 10 days before they can be here. Also my parents will have to buy your sister-in-law a sari-set (sari with matching blouse and petticoat) as per the tradition. She will have to be here well in time so that they can be fitted well. Nilesh: And catering! It takes two days to choose the menu and Pandal decorations. Hotel Sayaji wants at least 10 days notice period before the formal engagement ceremony (one night before the wedding). Geeta: And what about our dresses? These days, it is better to get it made after choosing the pattern and buying the material yourself. It would take three days to choose the pattern and eight days to order and receive the material after Nilesh: Yes. But the material supplier can deliver in five days if we pay an extra of Rs 1000/- for expediting it. Geeta: I want Joyti of Asha Boutique to work on our dresses. Nilesh: But she charges Rs 500/- for one day of work. Geeta: If I got my mother to do all the services, we could finish the dresses in 11 days. If Joyti helped, we could cut that down to six days, at a cost of Rs 500/- for each day less than 11 days. Nilesh: It would take another two days to do the final fitting. Then dry-cleaner will take two days to clean and press the dresses unless we pay Ps 1000/- for the express service of single day delivery. Geeta: That’s right. By the way, have you thought about invitations? Nobody will come unless we invite them formally. Nilesh: Anand Printing Press will take 12 days to print the invitation cards. Of course, they do have an express service and can deliver in five days if we pay them extra Rs 1500/Geeta: It will take three days to prepare the matter which will be printed and select the styles. Nilesh: Given the postal delays, the invitations have to go out at least 10 days before the wedding. Geeta: Mailing them will take a day and that cannot be done until we write addresses on them. Addressing will take four days unless we hire some help. We can finish addresses in two days if we hire a part-time help for Ps 200/-. Geeta: We also have to buy some jewellery items to be given as gift to my brother-in-law. It will take a day to do that Nilesh: But before we start writing address, we will have to prepare a guest list. We can’t afford to miss out on anyone important, as that will have an impact on the relationship with them forever. We will have to be really thorough on that. I think it will take four days to prepare an exhaustive guest list. Geeta: That does sound like a lot. Now it certainly looks much easier to earn an MBA degree than get married!!! QUESTIONS:1. Given the activities and precedence relationships described in the (A) case, develop a network diagram for the wedding plans. 2. Identify the paths. Which are critical? 3. What is the maximum cost plan that meets the March 22nd deadline? Case -2 {Continuation of Case 2} Marks-15 Several complications arose during the course of trying to meet the deadline of March 21, for the Nilesh— Geeta engagement. Since it was important for Nilesh and Geeta to get married on March 22nd, the implications of each of these complications had to be assessed. 1. All hotels informed that the express booking had to be withdrawn that year as there was a mad-rush for getting married, and therefore Nilesh and Geeta would have to give 17 days’ notice. 2. A call to the US revealed that brother and sister-in-law couldn’t leave till March 1st as they had urgent deadlines at work. 3. Nilesh came down with four day flu just as he started to work on the guest list. 4. The dress material was lost in transit. Notice of loss was delivered to Geeta on March 10th. 5. There was an unplanned repair work at Sayaji on March 8. They informed that they would be closed for two to three days. QUESTIONS :1. Given your answers to the (A) case, describe the effects on the wedding plans of each incident noted in the (B) case. SECTION B Attempt any 5 questions:- Marks-50 1) What is the linkage between product choices and process choices in an organization? 2) How can the internet affect the practice of operations management? Does it have any implications for operations strategy? 3) Does the organization structure influence the product development process and way? Explain. 4) Distinguish between assignable and common causes of variations. Why is this distinction important quality control? 5) How does the choice of the layout affect of the operational performance of an organization? 6) Explain how forecasting helps an organization handle uncertainties.

arranged marriage essays

arranged marriage essays Arranged marriage is a concept that does not take precedence in the United States, where love marriages are most popular. In this presentation we will explore the reasons for arranged marriages and look at the process that goes on. Our group will also relate this topic to such anthropological terms such as dowry and joint family system. Our goal is to help others understand that no matter how different arranged marriages may seem to Americans, they love, procreate and support each other possibly more successfully than our "love marriages. Before delving into the intrcacies of the process of arranges marriages we will define our terms so that students will know how to relate them when they hear them in our presentation. Posters will act as our visual aid in order to explain such terms as swamber which literally means "groom seeks out his bride:. Other terms such include dowry which is the payment of the woman;s inheritance at the time of her marriage, either to her or her husband. This dowry usually helps pay for the wedding ceremony, paid mostly by her parents. One very important part of an arranged marriage is the significance of the middle man, who is usually a middle woman. She may be a family friend or an aunt of the person to be married. This matchmaker thoroughly inspects the pasts and reputations of the prospective bride or groom to find anything that may not be approved by the family. This is usually done by word of mouth by relatives and friends who know the person. There are three main characteristics that the mediator looks for : the girl or boy's social status, their education level and their physical appearance. After these qualities have been approves by both families, the two may meet if they don't already know each other. If they agree they would like to be married, the wedding may proceed as soon as two weeks later or as late as a few years. There are five ceremonies that are a part of the wedding. The fi...

SAT Historical Percentiles for 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, and 2011

SAT Historical Percentiles for 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, and 2011 SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you took the SAT from 2011-2015, you may be wondering what your percentile score is on the SAT. Is a 1500 on the SAT in 2011 the same percentile score as a 1500 in 2015? Do percentile scores change over time? In this article, I will explain SAT percentile scores, how they change, and I'll provide the percentile scores for SAT combined scores and section scores for 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, and 2011. Note: Go to this article instead if you're looking for historical percentiles for the new SAT (tests taken March 2016 and later). What Are Percentile Scores? Percentile scores reveal how well you did in relation to other people. If you scored in the 99th percentile, then you did better than 99% of the people who took the test. If you scored in the 50th percentile, then you scored higher than 50% of the people who took the test. The College Board determines its percentile scores annually from the scores of college-bound high school seniors who took the SAT. The higher your percentile score, the better you did relative to other high school seniors. Do Percentile Scores Change? Generally, percentile scores for equivalent SAT scores stay the same from year to year. For example, a combined SAT score of 2180 was the 98th percentile in2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015. However, percentile scores for the same combined and section scores can change very slightly. A combined score of 1990 was the 92nd percentile for 2014, but it was the 93rd percentile in 2011-2013 and 2015. Similarly, a score of 630 on Critical Reading was the 86th percentile in 2011, 2013, 2014, and 2015, but it was the 87th percentile in 2012. The SAT does try to utilize its scoring system so that equivalent SAT scores are indicative of the same percentile scores and skill level, regardless of when the test was taken. The purpose of the SAT is to provide a valid way to compare students. A score of 1600 from March 2015 is supposed to be equivalent to a 1600 from April 2015 or April 2007. How Should You Use This Data and Why Is It Important? Your percentile score is the most straightforward way to determine if you got a good or badSAT score. If you scored higher than the majority of test-takers, then you did well. However, when you apply to a specific college, you're being compared to the other students who apply to that school. Most colleges publicize their 25th and 75th percentile SAT scores. If you want to be competitive for admission at a certain college, then your target score should be aroundthe school's 75th percentile score. Also, percentile scores help put your scores in context. There may not seem to be much difference between a 680 on the Critical Reading section and a 600 on Math, but the Critical Reading score is the 94th percentile while the Math score is the 75th (according to 2015 SAT percentiles). Raising each section score by 100 points would raise the Critical Reading percentile ranking by 5 points but the Math by 18. If you're considering retaking the SAT, your percentile scores can help you determine how you should prioritize your time. Similarly, a small composite score increase can have a huge impact on your percentile score if you received a middle score. For example, in 2015, a 1500 was the 52nd percentile but a 1750 was the 78th. Raising your score 250 points can raise your score from average to among the top 1/4 of test-takers. Finally, seeing the percentile scores for multiple years shows how little variance there is between percentile scores for the same SAT composite or section score in different years. If you're worried about how an older SAT score stacks up with more recent scores, take a look at these charts to get an idea of how it compares. Composite Score Percentiles, 2015 - 2011 Score 2015 Percentile 2014 Percentile 2013 Percentile 2012 Percentile 2011 Percentile 2400 99+ 99+ 99+ 99+ 99+ 2390 99+ 99+ 99+ 99+ 99+ 2380 99+ 99+ 99+ 99+ 99+ 2370 99+ 99+ 99+ 99+ 99+ 2360 99+ 99+ 99+ 99+ 99+ 2350 99+ 99+ 99+ 99+ 99+ 2340 99+ 99+ 99+ 99+ 99+ 2330 99+ 99+ 99+ 99+ 99+ 2320 99+ 99+ 99+ 99+ 99+ 2310 99+ 99+ 99+ 99+ 99+ 2300 99 99 99+ 99 99+ 2290 99 99 99 99 99+ 2280 99 99 99 99 99 2270 99 99 99 99 99 2260 99 99 99 99 99 2250 99 99 99 99 99 2240 99 99 99 99 99 2230 99 99 99 99 99 2220 99 99 99 99 99 2210 98 98 98 99 99 2200 98 98 98 98 98 2190 98 98 98 98 98 2180 98 98 98 98 98 2170 98 98 98 98 98 2160 98 98 98 98 98 2150 97 97 97 97 98 2140 97 97 97 97 97 2130 97 97 97 97 97 2120 97 97 97 97 97 2110 97 96 97 97 97 2100 96 96 96 96 96 2090 96 96 96 96 96 2080 96 96 96 96 96 2070 95 95 95 96 96 2060 95 95 95 95 95 2050 95 95 95 95 95 2040 94 94 94 95 95 2030 94 94 94 94 94 2020 94 94 94 94 94 2010 93 93 93 93 93 2000 93 93 93 93 93 1990 93 92 93 93 93 1980 92 92 92 92 92 1970 92 92 92 92 92 1960 91 91 91 91 91 1950 91 91 91 91 91 1940 90 90 90 90 90 1930 90 90 90 90 90 1920 89 89 89 89 89 1910 89 89 89 89 89 1900 88 88 88 88 88 1890 88 87 88 88 88 1880 87 87 87 87 87 1870 87 86 86 87 86 1860 86 86 86 86 86 1850 85 85 85 85 85 1840 85 84 84 85 84 1830 84 84 84 84 84 1820 83 83 83 83 83 1810 83 82 82 82 82 1800 82 81 82 82 82 1790 81 81 81 81 81 1780 80 80 80 80 80 1770 80 79 79 79 79 1760 79 78 78 79 78 1750 78 77 78 78 78 1740 77 77 77 77 77 1730 76 76 76 76 76 1720 75 75 75 75 75 1710 74 74 74 74 74 1700 74 73 73 73 73 1690 73 72 72 72 72 1680 72 71 71 71 71 1670 71 70 70 70 70 1660 70 69 69 69 69 1650 69 68 68 68 68 1640 68 67 67 67 67 1630 67 66 66 66 66 1620 66 65 65 65 65 1610 65 64 64 64 64 1600 64 63 63 63 63 1590 62 62 62 62 62 1580 61 61 61 61 61 1570 60 60 60 60 59 1560 59 59 58 59 58 1550 58 57 57 57 57 1540 57 56 56 56 56 1530 56 55 55 55 55 1520 55 54 54 54 53 1510 53 53 52 53 52 1500 52 52 51 51 51 1490 51 50 50 50 50 1480 50 49 49 49 49 1470 49 48 48 48 47 1460 48 47 46 47 46 1450 46 46 45 45 45 1440 45 44 44 44 44 1430 44 43 43 43 42 1420 43 42 42 42 41 1410 42 41 40 40 40 1400 40 40 39 39 39 1390 39 38 38 38 38 1380 38 37 37 37 36 1370 37 36 36 36 35 1360 36 35 34 34 34 1350 34 34 33 33 33 1340 33 32 32 32 32 1330 32 31 31 31 30 1320 31 30 30 30 29 1310 30 29 29 29 28 1300 29 28 27 27 27 1290 28 27 26 26 26 1280 27 26 25 25 25 1270 26 25 24 24 24 1260 25 24 23 23 23 1250 24 23 22 22 22 1240 22 22 21 21 21 1230 22 21 20 20 20 1220 21 20 19 19 19 1210 20 19 18 18 18 1200 19 18 17 17 17 1190 18 17 17 16 16 1180 17 16 16 16 15 1170 16 15 15 15 14 1160 15 14 14 14 14 1150 14 14 13 13 13 1140 14 13 13 12 12 1130 13 12 12 11 11 1120 12 11 11 10 11 1110 12 11 11 10 10 1100 11 10 10 9 9 1090 10 10 9 9 9 1080 10 9 9 9 8 1070 9 8 8 8 8 1060 9 8 8 7 7 1050 8 7 7 7 7 1040 7 7 7 7 6 1030 7 6 6 6 6 1020 7 6 6 6 5 1010 6 6 5 5 5 1000 6 5 5 5 5 990 5 5 5 5 4 980 5 5 4 4 4 970 5 4 4 4 4 960 4 4 4 4 3 950 4 4 3 3 3 940 4 3 3 3 3 930 3 3 3 3 3 920 3 3 3 3 2 910 3 3 3 2 2 900 3 2 2 2 2 890 2 2 2 2 2 880 2 2 2 2 2 870 2 2 2 2 2 860 2 2 2 1 1 850 2 2 1 1 1 840 2 1 1 1 1 830 1 1 1 1 1 820 1 1 1 1 1 810 1 1 1 1 1 800 1 1 1 1 1 790 1 1 1 1 1 780 1 1 1 1 1 770 1 1 1 1- 1- 760 1 1 1- 1- 1- 750 1 1 1- 1- 1- 740 1- 1- 1- 1- 1- 730 1- 1- 1- 1- 1- 720 1- 1- 1- 1- 1- 710 1- 1- 1- 1- 1- 700 1- 1- 1- 1- 1- 690 1- 1- 1- 1- 1- 680 1- 1- 1- 1- 1- 670 1- 1- 1- 1- 1- 660 1- 1- 1- 1- 1- 650 1- 1- 1- 1- 1- 640 1- 1- 1- 1- 1- 630 1- 1- 1- 1- 1- 620 1- 1- 1- 1- 1- 610 1- 1- 1- 1- 1- 600 Section Score Percentiles Critical Reading Score 2015 Percentile 2014 Percentile 2013 Percentile 2012 Percentile 2011 Percentile 800 99 99 99 99+ 99+ 790 99 99 99 99 99 780 99 99 99 99 99 770 99 99 99 99 99 760 99 99 99 99 99 750 98 98 98 98 98 740 98 98 98 98 98 730 97 97 97 97 97 720 96 97 97 97 97 710 96 96 96 96 96 700 96 95 95 95 95 690 95 94 94 94 94 680 94 93 94 93 93 670 92 92 92 92 92 660 91 91 91 91 91 650 90 90 90 90 90 640 89 88 88 88 88 630 86 86 86 87 86 620 84 84 84 84 84 610 82 82 82 83 82 600 80 80 80 81 80 590 78 77 77 78 78 580 75 75 75 76 75 570 73 72 73 73 73 560 70 70 70 71 70 550 67 66 67 67 67 540 64 64 64 64 64 530 61 60 61 61 60 520 57 57 57 58 58 510 54 54 54 55 54 500 51 50 51 51 51 490 48 47 48 48 47 480 44 44 44 44 44 470 41 40 41 41 40 460 37 37 37 37 37 450 35 34 34 34 34 440 31 31 31 31 30 430 28 27 27 27 27 420 25 25 24 25 24 410 22 21 21 21 21 400 19 19 18 19 18 390 17 16 16 16 16 380 15 14 14 14 14 370 13 12 12 12 11 360 11 10 10 10 10 350 9 9 8 9 8 340 8 7 7 7 7 330 7 6 6 6 6 320 5 5 5 5 5 310 5 4 4 4 4 300 4 4 4 3 3 290 3 3 3 3 3 280 3 3 3 2 2 270 2 2 2 2 2 260 2 2 2 2 2 250 2 2 2 1 1 240 1 1 1 1 1 230 1 1 1 1 1 220 1 1 1 1 1 210 1 1 1 1 1 200 Math Score 2015 Percentile 2014 Percentile 2013 Percentile 2012 Percentile 2011 Percentile 800 99 99 99 99 99 790 99 99 99 99 99 780 99 99 99 98 99 770 98 98 98 98 98 760 97 97 97 97 98 750 97 97 97 97 97 740 96 96 96 96 96 730 95 95 96 96 96 720 95 95 95 95 95 710 94 94 94 94 94 700 93 93 93 93 93 690 92 91 92 92 92 680 90 90 90 90 90 670 89 88 89 89 89 660 87 87 87 87 87 650 86 85 85 85 86 640 84 83 83 83 84 630 82 82 81 82 82 620 80 79 79 80 80 610 77 77 77 78 77 600 75 75 75 74 75 590 73 73 73 72 73 580 71 70 70 70 70 570 68 67 67 67 67 560 66 64 65 64 64 550 62 62 62 62 62 540 59 59 58 58 58 530 56 55 55 55 55 520 53 52 52 52 52 510 50 49 48 49 48 500 46 45 45 45 46 490 44 42 42 42 41 480 41 40 38 39 38 470 37 36 35 35 36 460 34 33 32 32 32 450 31 30 29 29 29 440 28 27 26 26 26 430 25 24 23 23 23 420 22 21 21 21 20 410 19 19 18 18 17 400 17 16 16 16 15 390 15 14 14 13 13 380 13 12 12 11 11 370 11 10 10 10 10 360 9 9 9 8 8 350 8 7 7 7 7 340 7 6 6 6 6 330 6 5 5 5 5 320 5 4 4 4 4 310 4 3 3 3 3 300 3 3 3 2 2 290 2 2 2 2 2 280 2 2 2 2 2 270 1 1 1 1 1 260 1 1 1 1 1 250 1 1 1 1 1 240 1 1 1 1 1 230 1 1 1 1 1 220 1- 1- 1- 1- 1- 210 1- 1- 1- 1- 1- 200 Writing Score 2015 Percentile 2014 Percentile 2013 Percentile 2012 Percentile 2011 Percentile 800 99+ 99+ 99+ 99+ 99+ 790 99 99 99 99 99 780 99 99 99 99 99 770 99 99 99 99 99 760 99 99 99 99 99 750 98 98 98 98 98 740 98 98 98 98 98 730 98 97 98 98 97 720 97 97 97 97 97 710 96 96 96 96 96 700 96 96 96 96 96 690 95 95 95 95 95 680 94 94 94 94 94 670 93 93 93 93 93 660 92 92 92 92 92 650 91 90 90 90 90 640 89 89 89 89 89 630 88 88 88 88 88 620 86 86 86 86 86 610 84 84 84 84 84 600 82 82 82 82 82 590 80 80 80 80 80 580 78 78 78 78 78 570 76 76 76 75 75 560 74 73 73 73 72 550 71 70 70 70 70 540 68 68 68 67 67 530 65 65 65 64 64 520 62 62 61 61 61 510 59 58 58 58 58 500 56 55 55 55 54 490 53 52 51 52 51 480 49 48 48 48 47 470 46 45 45 44 44 460 42 41 41 41 40 450 39 38 37 38 37 440 35 34 34 34 34 430 32 31 30 31 30 420 29 28 27 27 27 410 25 25 24 24 24 400 22 21 21 21 21 390 19 19 18 18 18 380 17 16 16 16 15 370 14 14 13 13 13 360 12 12 11 11 11 350 10 10 9 9 9 340 8 8 8 8 7 330 7 7 6 6 6 320 6 5 5 5 5 310 5 4 4 4 4 300 4 4 3 3 3 290 3 3 3 3 3 280 3 2 2 2 2 270 2 2 2 2 2 260 2 2 2 1 1 250 2 1 1 1 1 240 1 1 1 1 1 230 1 1 1 1 1 220 1 1 1 1 1 210 1 1 1 1 1- 200 What's Next? Check out these posts on what SAT scores measure and if you need SAT scores to transfer colleges. How do these compare to percentiles on the new SAT? Learn more about new SAT percentile ranks here. Finally, learn how to calculate your SAT score. Want to learn more about the SAT but tired of reading blog articles? Then you'll love our free, SAT prep livestreams. Designed and led by PrepScholar SAT experts, these live video events are a great resource for students and parents looking to learn more about the SAT and SAT prep. Click on the button below to register for one of our livestreams today!

Hot Asphalt Mix Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hot Asphalt Mix - Lab Report Example   This implies that the cohesive forces between the mixture particles are at their minimal. This is considering that in cohesive materials; the cohesive forces reduce with the increase in the moisture volume. At high temperatures, the viscosity of the asphalt reduces making it be more of a liquid. This permits the particles of the aggregate to interlock in an effective way. At a slightly lower temperature, the binder will act as a lubricant allowing the aggregate of the asphalt to undergo densification and shift in the process of compaction. Further temperature reduction leads to a binder stiffening in which case its cohesion avoids any more densification. From the results, it is clear that as the content of asphalt increase, the asphalt thickness of the aggregate also increases. At the temperatures set for compaction, the thickened films make the effect of lubrication to be experienced more. The mixture temperature has an effect on the process of compaction in a similar way the content of asphalt does. However, there is a limit to the temperature which is 150 degrees. Above this temperature will lead to asphalt damage through hardening being accelerated. On the other hand, there is also a lower temperature limit which is approximately 85 degrees; any temperature below this means that there is need of compaction effect on the content of void. Asphalt mix in most cases has many volumetric properties which are constituent of few properties in the volume like voids in the aggregate of the mineral, void in asphalt, void in the total mix. The crucial void in the air is directly related to the density (Marker, 284). The results showed the air void to range from 2.618 to 8.631 and the average is 4.613%. The average gives a perfect figure for the mixtures that are dense-graded.  Ã‚  

Culture is globalised This connotes a widening of human experiences Essay

Culture is globalised This connotes a widening of human experiences and wisdom. (A. Gurnah). How valid is this comment - Essay Example This essay will look at the validity of arguments about the outcomes of a globalised culture after defining key terms. Globalisation has numerous definitions depending on the school of thought from which one originates; sometimes it may be defined from a sociological, political economic or anthropological lens. For purposes of this analysis, it will be defined as â€Å"an intensification of world-wide social relationships, which link distant places in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa† (Giddens, 1990, p.4). It is an undeniable fact that globalisation affects almost every single person on the planet irrespective of their class, gender or ethnicity. People’s level of consciousness is changing and many of them have now acquired a global orientation or at least global awareness (Beynon, 2000). This state of affairs has led to certain paradoxes, which had not been imagined before; increased awareness is not unifying the world, as one would expect. It is instead making people more diverse and even disjointed. Human experiences as defined in Gurnah’s phrase refer to things that occur in people’s lives that have the capacity to affect how they act and think. It may also be envisaged as the totality of all the skill and knowledge that people acquire through certain periods of time when they participate in something. Conversely, human wisdom refers to the ability to utilise one’s knowledge and experience in order to make sound decisions (Beynon, 2000). Finally, cultural globalisation refers to a phenomenon in which lives lived by people reflect a standardisation of cultural ideas from different parts of the world. This came about as a result of the proliferation of the internet, international travel, and the rise of popular culture. Homogenisation of cultural influences is apparent in the presence of fast food franchises like McDonald’s all over

Allstate Insurance Company Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Allstate Insurance Company - Case Study Example Table of Contents Abstract 2 1.0 Introduction 4 2.0Evaluation of Allstate's Goal-Setting Process 4 3.0Dimensions of an Effective Goal Setting Program of Allstate 6 4.0High-Performance Reward System of Allstate to Motivate Its Employees to Reach Its Diversity Goals 7 5.0Conclusion 9 6.0References 10 1.0 Introduction Allstate Insurance Company in order to improve the performance of the employees developed diversity strategy. This strategy was considered to be effective weapon for gaining competitive advantage. The company for achieving its goal has adopted various processes. The entire goal of the company was based on the performance standard of the employees. In this paper, the goal setting process of Allstate Insurance Company has been evaluated by considering the model of goal setting. The paper seeks to explain whether the company has fulfilled the dimension of goal setting. The paper includes the recommendations related to the high performance reward system that Allstate Insurance Company can implement for achieving its goals. 2.0 Evaluation of Allstate's Goal-Setting Process To improve the performance and to reach the goals, the insurance company thought of developing a goal-setting process. The diversity strategy of the company will enable it to reach the specific goals. The definite goal of the company facilitated to improve performance and increase motivation level of the employees. The goal setting model is required to be developed by a company otherwise the entire goals as well as objectives will suffer. The appropriate model facilitates a company to reach its ultimate planned targets (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2007). Goal Setting Process The company in order to enhance the performance level is required to follow three processes of goal setting model. The first step is challenging goal developed by the company. The company took a challenge to improve the performance and adopted diversity strategy. The strategy was developed by considering two major aspects of internal as well as external focus. The internal challenge is to develop the potential of employees by providing them with tools, opportunities and resources. The external challenge is to relate the employees with the experience and background of the market where the company was operating. This challenge had to be faced by the company in its daily operations (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2007). The second process is that of moderating. This step would recognize the ability of the company to meet its goals that have been committed. In this process the company received feedback from the employees regarding the improvement process that has to be implemented. The company generally focused towards the committed goals in this process and thus for goal achievement, various complexities have been raised. The next process involves mediating; at this point the company moved on a specific direction and gave utmost efforts with strong determination to reach the strategy that has been set. With such positive attitude the company gained positive performances from the employees (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2007). The company provided rewards to the employees owing to their effective performance which resulted in increase in satisfaction level of the employees. The ultimate result of all these processes was the achievement of the company in fulfilling its challenging goals (Hellriegel & Sl

Painting of Jackson Pollock Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Painting of Jackson Pollock - Essay Example A new, interactive and creative activity catches my attention for nearly a half an hour. Finally I give up and sink deep into the exciting world of colors, dots, lines and circles. Think and thin, short and long, bright and dull†¦ These colorful shapes are seducing the mind by the opportunity of becoming expressive, independent and original for at lest a few fun moments.Thought the first impression is that the activity of painting on the computer is just another entertaining experience, a second look makes me realize how cool our age is – the age of advanced technologies that allow any average individual to become, for at least some minutes, an artist. It’s so strange – a seemingly simple computer application makes the tired brain think of such great things as world progress, global development and even the essence of being. Dots – large and small, lines – straight and wavy, shapes†¦ And an inexpressible joy of creation.

Google Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Google - Research Paper Example Termed as â€Å"BackRub† initially, this search engine was refined and modified. It later led to the creation of the company that the world admires today; Google. Google started operations from Susan Wojcicki‘s garage at 232 Santa Margarita, Menlo Park. The initial funds for the company were provided by Sun co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim. Larry and Sergey, the co-founders, hired their fellow graduate at Standford, Craig Silverstein, as their first employee. There has been no looking back ever since. By mid-1999, the company had, led by venture capitalists Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, completed a $25-million round of equity funding. In May 2010, the first 10 language versions of Google.com were released. The search engine was now available in French, German, Italian, Swedish, Finnish, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Norwegian and Danish. By September, Google had started offering search in 15 languages including Chinese, Japanese and Korean. In February of 2001, the company acquired Deja.com’s Usenet Discussion Service, an archive of 500 million Usenet discussions. The company opened its first international office in Tokyo in August 2001. By the end of the year, index size of Google grew to 3 billion web documents. In May 2002, Google inked a deal with AOL that enabled it to offer search and sponsored links to as many as 34 million customers who used CompuServe, Netscape and AOL.com. Google continued its inorganic route to expansion and acquired Pyra Labs, the creators of Blogger, in February 2003. One of the most important acquisitions of the company has been that of Applied Semantics, whose technology immensely bolstered Google’s content-targeted advertising service named Adsense. Google made its initial foray into the domain of social networking when it launched Orkut in January 2004. A couple of months later, the company moved to its new abode â€Å"Googleplex† at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway in Mountain View. In October 2004, the company acquired Keyhole, a digital mapping company. It was Keyhole’s technology that later helped Google launch Google Earth. By February 2005 Google had 1.1 billion images indexed. A month later, the company acquired a web analytics company, Urchin, whose technology is behind Google Analytics. The acquisition spree continued for Google in 2006 as it acquired dMarc, a digital radio advertising company in January, Writely, a web-based word processing application in March and JotSpot, a collaborative wiki platform in October. The company continued to expand its reach as it forged an alliance with China Mobile in January 2007. The deal enabled Google to provide mobile and Internet search services in China. The same year in June, the company announced a partnership with Salesforce.com, clubbing the latter’s on-demand CRM applications with its own AdWords. In September 2009, Google acquire reCAPTCHA, a technology company focused on Optical Character R ecognition (OCR). Picnik, a site that enables users to edit photos in the cloud, without leaving the browser, was acquired in March 2010. In February 2011, a new search algorithm that has a bearing on 11.8 percent of queries was refined to give better search results. Earlier this year, Google launched Google +, the company’s latest foray into the world of social network

Argument for Lowering The Drinking Age to 18 Essay

Argument for Lowering The Drinking Age to 18 - Essay Example Banning drinking age at 18 will not stop teenagers from drinking. Some adults may have the impression that since it is made illegal to drink at age 18, then it would stop teenagers from drinking. On the contrary, the prohibition will not stop teenagers from drinking and that will even add to the thrill of drinking alcohol. Instead of stopping it, the prohibition will even have the effect of encouraging teenagers to drink. Banning alcohol at age 18 will just make teenagers hide when they are drinking and it is more dangerous. Adults or supervising authority may have the impression that they have stopped drinking but in fact, the drinking just went underground. This time, teenagers drink without the presence of adult supervision and this an unsafe environment for kids to drink. It is in this environment that excesses happen that often leads to the fatal outcome that some college presidents have aired their concern that drinking underground contributes to alcohol excesses among teenagers (Wechsler, 2010 pg. 987). Also, it is in this environment that beer binges and fighting occurs because teenagers tend to seize the moment and drink a lot until they could no longer control themselves. Also, 18 years old does not differ from age 21 in terms of the judgment. People may argue that older is better but being 21 does not make one wiser in terms of alcohol drinking. Delaying drinking age to 21 years old does not make one a more responsible drinker. In fact, delaying it promotes an irresponsible drinking behavior because teenagers will have to hide drinking first before they can drink in the open at age 21. So by the time they are already legal to drink to age 21, they have already developed the habit of drinking excessively because they were used to drink in an unsafe environment.

Painting of Jackson Pollock Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Painting of Jackson Pollock - Essay Example A new, interactive and creative activity catches my attention for nearly a half an hour. Finally I give up and sink deep into the exciting world of colors, dots, lines and circles. Think and thin, short and long, bright and dull†¦ These colorful shapes are seducing the mind by the opportunity of becoming expressive, independent and original for at lest a few fun moments.Thought the first impression is that the activity of painting on the computer is just another entertaining experience, a second look makes me realize how cool our age is – the age of advanced technologies that allow any average individual to become, for at least some minutes, an artist. It’s so strange – a seemingly simple computer application makes the tired brain think of such great things as world progress, global development and even the essence of being. Dots – large and small, lines – straight and wavy, shapes†¦ And an inexpressible joy of creation.

Argument for Lowering The Drinking Age to 18 Essay

Argument for Lowering The Drinking Age to 18 - Essay Example Banning drinking age at 18 will not stop teenagers from drinking. Some adults may have the impression that since it is made illegal to drink at age 18, then it would stop teenagers from drinking. On the contrary, the prohibition will not stop teenagers from drinking and that will even add to the thrill of drinking alcohol. Instead of stopping it, the prohibition will even have the effect of encouraging teenagers to drink. Banning alcohol at age 18 will just make teenagers hide when they are drinking and it is more dangerous. Adults or supervising authority may have the impression that they have stopped drinking but in fact, the drinking just went underground. This time, teenagers drink without the presence of adult supervision and this an unsafe environment for kids to drink. It is in this environment that excesses happen that often leads to the fatal outcome that some college presidents have aired their concern that drinking underground contributes to alcohol excesses among teenagers (Wechsler, 2010 pg. 987). Also, it is in this environment that beer binges and fighting occurs because teenagers tend to seize the moment and drink a lot until they could no longer control themselves. Also, 18 years old does not differ from age 21 in terms of the judgment. People may argue that older is better but being 21 does not make one wiser in terms of alcohol drinking. Delaying drinking age to 21 years old does not make one a more responsible drinker. In fact, delaying it promotes an irresponsible drinking behavior because teenagers will have to hide drinking first before they can drink in the open at age 21. So by the time they are already legal to drink to age 21, they have already developed the habit of drinking excessively because they were used to drink in an unsafe environment.

Argue Analysis Worksheet Essay Example for Free

Argue Analysis Worksheet Essay †¢ A statement is any unambiguous declarative sentence about a fact (or non-fact) about the world. It says that something is (or isn’t) the case. †¢ An argument is a series of statements meant to establish a claim. †¢ A claim or conclusion is the statement whose truth an argument is meant to establish. †¢ A statement’s truth value is either true or false. o All statements have a truth value. A statement is false when what it says about the world is not actually the case. A statement is true when what it says about the world is actually the case. †¢ A premise is a statement that is used in an argument to establish a conclusion. What we can say about an argument: †¢ An argument is valid if its premises necessarily lead to its conclusion. That is, if you accept that the premises are all true, you must accept that the conclusion is true. †¢ An argument is sound if it is valid and you accept that all its premises are true. †¢ A good, convincing argument is a sound argument. That is, since you accept all the premises are true, you must accept the conclusion is true (because the argument is valid). †¢ A bad argument is any other kind of argument. Examples: †¢ â€Å"Every animal needs to breathe in order to live. Fish are animals. Fish cannot breathe in the air. Therefore, fish cannot live in the air.† Here, the claim is that â€Å"fish cannot live in the air.† The premises are â€Å"Every animal needs to breathe in order to live,† â€Å"Fish are animals,† and â€Å"Fish cannot breathe in the air.† The argument is valid – the premises necessarily lead to the conclusion. The argument is also sound – the premises are true. It is a good argument. †¢ â€Å"Oranges are green. All green things make me sick. Therefore, oranges make me sick.† The claim is â€Å"oranges make me sick.† The premises are â€Å"Oranges are green,† and â€Å"All green things make me sick.† The argument is valid – if we accept the premises, we are forced to accept the conclusion. However, the argument is not sound – oranges are not, in fact, green, so one of the premises is false. This is a bad argument. †¢ â€Å"Broccoli is green. Some green things make me sick. Therefore, broccoli makes me sick.† The claim is â€Å"broccoli makes me sick.† The premises are â€Å"Broccoli is green,† and â€Å"Some green things make me sick.† Here, all the premises are true. However, the argument is not valid – even if we accept the premises, we are not forced to accept the conclusion. Just because some green things are sickening does not mean that broccoli is. This is a bad or unsound argument. (Notice, it doesn’t make any difference whether or not broccoli makes me sick – whether or not the conclusion is true. Even if the conclusion is true, the premises have not given us reason to believe that it is true.) †¢ â€Å"Whales know how to play hockey. Therefore, Canadians like winter.† The claim is â€Å"Canadians like winter.† The premise is â€Å"Whales know how to play hockey.† The argument is neither valid nor sound. It’s a bad argument. (Again, it doesn’t make any difference whether the conclusion is true.) Part II: Analyzing an Argument Reconstructing the argument The examples I’ve given are overly simplistic. Usually arguments come in complicated prose. It is therefore difficult to figure out what the argument is, let alone whether it is good. Our first step is to reconstruct the argument. That is, we must convert the argument into a series of statements, identifying the premises and the conclusion and laying them out so that the premises lead to the conclusion. Take Socrates’s argument in the Apology: â€Å"For Death is to be as it were nothing, and to be deprived of all sensation And if no sensation remains, then death is like a dreamless sleep. In this case, death will be a blessing. For, if any one compares such a night as this, in which he so profoundly sleeps as not even to see a dream, with the other nights and days of his life, and should declare how many he had passed better and more pleasantly than this night, I think that not only a private man, but even the great king himself, would find so small a number that they might be easily counted.† The first step is to identify the conclusion. Go through the passage and try to find the point. What is Socrates trying to establish? It’s buried in there: â€Å"Death will be a blessing.† To proceed, we first have to get rid of anything unnecessary – mere rhetorical flourishes, repetitions, and irrelevancies. Go through the passage and get rid of anything that doesn’t support the conclusion in some way: â€Å"For Death is to be deprived of all sensation if no sensation remains, then death is like a dreamless sleep. death will be a blessing. if any one compares such a night [of sleep without dreams] with the other nights and days of his life, and should declare how many he had passed better and more pleasantly than this night, I think.. [he] would find so small a number† Once we’ve dispensed with what we don’t need, we can reformulate the argument as a series of statements: 1. Death is to be deprived of all sensation. 2. If no sensation remains, death is like a dreamless sleep. 3. Anyone will consider a dreamless sleep better than most days and nights. 4. Death is a blessing. Now we’re ready to add anything that seems to be missing. Are there any premises that seem to be assumed, but aren’t stated? 1. Death is to be deprived of all sensation. 2. If no sensation remains, death is like a dreamless sleep. 3. Death is like a dreamless sleep. 4. Anyone will consider a dreamless sleep better than most days and nights. 5. Anyone will consider death better than most days and nights. 6. Anything that is better than most days and nights is a blessing. 7. Death is a blessing. Now, we need to say something about the inference in the argument. We need to say how the argument is put together. We should identify assumed premises and sub-arguments – conclusions that are premises for the main conclusion. This will also help us to identify if anything else is missing. 1. Death is to be deprived of all sensation. (Assumption) 2. If no sensation remains, death is like a dreamless sleep. (Assumption) 3. Death is like a dreamless sleep. (Conclusion from 1 and 2) 4. Anyone will consider a dreamless sleep better than most days and nights. (Assumption) 5. Anyone will consider death better than most days and nights. (Conclusion from 3 and 4) 6. Anything that is better than most days and nights is a blessing. (Assumption) 7. Death is a blessing. (From 3, 5, and 6) At this point, we’ve completed the reconstruction of the argument. No reconstruction is perfect, and I don’t mean to suggest that this is the only possible reconstruction of Socrates’s argument. It just seems to me as if this is what Socrates is saying. If you disagree with my critique, you can always question the faithfulness of my reconstruction. That’s a standard philosophical move. Analyzing an Argument Once we’ve reconstructed an argument – shown what we think it is and how it is supposed to work – we can begin to say whether an argument is good or bad. We need to evaluate the argument’s validity and soundness. First, take a step back. Assume that you don’t have any prior opinion about the conclusion. In this case, are you convinced? If you are, then you need to figure out why. If you aren’t, you need to figure out why not. That’s the point of the critique – to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the argument. It’s hard to decide where to start. Often, the issues of validity and soundness get tangled up. In general, you just have to choose whatever is convenient. In this case, let’s look at soundness first. Do we accept the premises to be true? The first premise seems acceptable. At least I’m willing to give Socrates the benefit of the doubt. The second, however, seems questionable. Does the lack of sensation really imply a similarity to dreamless sleep? It seems to me that (permanent) lack of sensation is different from dreamless sleep in at least one important respect – sleeping includes waking up. Lack of sensation does not. I mean, is it right to say that a corpse, or even a stone – neither of which senses – does something like sleep? The third premise is a conclusion of a sub-argument. Our willingness to accept its truth depends on the soundness of Socrates’s argument for it: 1. Death is to be deprived of all sensation. (Assumption) 2. If no sensation remains, death is like a dreamless sleep. (Assumption) 3. Death is like a dreamless sleep. (From 1 and 2) We’ve already considered the truth of this argument’s premises. We concluded that (1) was fine, but (2) was questionable. What about validity? It seems that this argument is valid. If we accept (1) and (2) we must accept (3). So we are convinced of (3) as much as we are convinced of (2). The fourth premise is an assumption about what humans in general would think. These kinds of generalizations are notoriously difficult to establish. Who’s to say what everyone would think? That said, I think it’s a fairly reasonable assumption that most people would consider a dreamless sleep better than a hum-drum day at the office or a normal night of tossing and turning. I know I would. The fifth premise is another conclusion of a sub-argument, which goes like this: 3.Death is like a dreamless sleep. (From 1 and 2) 4.Anyone will consider a dreamless sleep better than most days and nights. (Assumption) 5.Anyone will consider death better than most days and nights. (From 3 and 4) Is this sound? Clearly the argument is valid. Ignoring any lingering misgivings about (4), then, the argument is as sound as (3), whose acceptance depends on (2), as we said above. The only major problem identified, so far, is with (2). This does raise an interesting point, though. What if we compare death – non-existence – to the days of our lives? It just might be that a state of death – lacking all sensation, including pain and suffering – might be better than some of our days, though certainly worse than more pleasurable ones. Perhaps, then, death is not something to seek, but also not something to fear. The sixth premise is another assumption I’m willing to grant Socrates. People might disagree about what the definition of â€Å"blessing† is, but Socrates’s seems reasonable enough. Now, on to the conclusion. Is the argument valid? Do (3), (5), and (6) lead to (7)? Well, not quite. Properly speaking they only support the claim that â€Å"Anyone will consider death to be a blessing.† Socrates hasn’t established what death really is, just what people would usually think of it. But perhaps this is splitting hairs. As for soundness, we’ve already accepted (with reservations) (5) and (6). Again, (3), and thus (2), is the major sticking point. We can consider Socrates’s argument sound only if we accept (2). Critiquing an Argument At this point, it’s time to state what we’ve learned about Socartes’ argument in an argument of our own. We’ve ready to write our critique: Socrates’s argument that death is a blessing in the Apology is interesting, but suffers from some weaknesses. As it stands it is not convincing. In the first place, Socrates cannot establish what death really is, but only what people think about it. He never discusses what death is, only what people think about it. Therefore, he cannot reach his intended conclusion. Moreover, the whole argument hinges on whether it is correct to say that lack of sensation is like a dreamless sleep. Sleeping seems to imply the possibility of waking, so it is quite different in this respect from a complete lack of sensation. Is it fair to say that a corpse, or even a stone, is doing something â€Å"like sleeping† just because they cannot sense anything? If we do not accept this assumed analogy, Socrates’s argument does not follow. That said, Socrates does raise the interesting point that death might be compared to the rest of the days of one’s life. In this case, it might be that death is better than some days, but worse than the very best days. If so, then death is perhaps not something to seek, but not something to fear, either. Even if death is not a blessing, perhaps it is not a curse, either. Socrates’s argument does lead us to reconsider our common view of death as something invariably bad and the worst of all possibilities. Note how I’ve first identified the conclusion and said what I think about the argument as a whole. Since I don’t think the argument is good, I’ve said why I think so. In particular, I point out two important weaknesses, I say why they are weaknesses, and I say which is more problematic. I then comment on what I think is a strength of the argument, and why I think it is a strength. Finally, I summarize what I draw from the argument. Now, an argument critique should contain all of these elements, though not necessarily in this order. Most importantly, an argument critique has to say what the strengths and weaknesses of an argument are, and why they are strengths and weaknesses.