Norms and Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Norms and Security - Essay Example His article is extremely credible and his style of writing that of a person intimately associated with the intricacies of international political scenario. In this article he poses three very pertinent questions. One, where this norm originates? Two, to what extent does it influence state actions? Three, why does this norm exceed other â€Å"ethical injunctions†? in the United States, the dual conundrums of an intransigent Saddam Hussein and terrorists such as Osama bin Laden have raised calls in Congress and among the media for assassination to be considered as a policy option (105). He points out that historically political assassination has not been resorted to by â€Å"great powers† and whole scale war has been the preferred option even though the collateral damage in case of a full scale war is much more and leads to the loss of many innocent lives and destruction of property. He cities that,†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ethical concerns usually place assassinations off-limits as a policy option especially when the target is an international leader† (105), but due to monumental changes in the way the international politics is conducted today, reality has taken precedence over idealism and by extension ethics and morality have been side lined in international affairs. In conclusion his pragmatic approach to political assassinations is that in this modern world of real politic where terrorism and guerilla warfare have replaced the traditional modes of violence this option or ploy of political assassinations, albeit â€Å"unethical† (105) to achieve certain political ends is perfectly

Constitutional purpose and other uses of U.S. Census Essay Example for Free

Constitutional purpose and other uses of U.S. Census Essay Political power and the respective share of every state of the federal money are simply the Constitutional purposes of Census in the United States (Cole, 2009). These are the underlying reasons why for every ten years, the government mails the citizens with Census forms to fill out with their personal information of circumstances. Under an original objective which is just to have a correct or exact count and record of the American population, the U. S. census now signifies its importance in determining the number of congressional districts. Beyond the Congressional purposes of the Census, it is its practical uses to people’s daily living that ultimately signify its value to the nation. In terms of re-appointment of the members of House of Representatives, Cole further explains that it is under the Constitution that census affects or determines the respective circumstances of each state. Census particularly manifests which states gain or lose Congressional seats. Simply put, Cole states that â€Å"the census determines how many House of Representative Members you will have representing your district in Washington D. C. † (Cole, 2009, p. 1). This is where Census’ Congressional purpose of political power is shown. This is because if the population of one state decreased based from the last census, one or more Representative member is removed from a specified state. On the same token that a particular state reflected relevant increase during the last census, then additional member represents the said state. Hence, the population of one state, as what the Census reflects, establishes if such area requires of being redrawn after showing an increase or loss in the area’s population (Cole, 2009). Aside from the said Congressional purposes of the U. S. Census, there are at least five practical ways to use such gathering of information. Of the five primary objectives of the census, its three most important uses include the following. First is to count the country’s population including the number of American households. The second important use of the census is it is a way to collect data and to create information in order for both the federal government and the states to come up with rational budget. Another use of the census is its power to create information which serves various social entities such as the branches of economy, education, research, business and other significant components of the nation (â€Å"Uses of Census Data,† n. d. ). While a bigger part of the information provided by the public to the census is eventually kept secret for the next 72 years, the valuable pieces of information are used. This condition holds true especially during instances in the daily lives of the people. For instance, census is very important to the general public in terms of using the collected data in a number of fields or disciplines that are significant to people. In fact, census is applied to personal experience of an individual. Just like in my case, census proved to be valuable in three aspects. One, I used the information given by the census when I decided that there is a need to change the place of my resident. Census also made me decide what field of learning to choose depending on the state of employment and the value of wage per occupation in a particular location. I likewise was able to make use of census when I looked for a place that became the best suitable area where I opened my business few years back. References Central Bureau of Statistics. (n. d. ). Uses of Census Data. Retrieved July 24, 2009, from http://www. cbs. gov. il/w/censusshtml/UN-SSI41795192. shtml Cole, L. (2009). Census Records and the Constitution. Retrieved July 24, 2009, from http://www. associatedcontent. com/article/1905082/census_records_and_the_constitution_pg2. html? cat=37

Barriers Of Enterprise System Information Technology Essay

Barriers Of Enterprise System Information Technology Essay This report focuses on the impact of Enterprise System on ALDI supermarket. ERP systems are costly and complex. They require heavy investments and experts. This research examines key dimensions of implementation of Enterprise system within ALDI supermarket. The components of Enterprise System Software: ERP, CRM AND SCM and its benefits to ALDI supermarket are identified and discussed. Although enterprise system benefits ALDI in many ways, there are some disadvantages and barriers to implement it. These barriers and risks are identified and possible solutions are suggested. INTRODUCTION TO ALDI ALDI (Albrecht Discount) is a discount supermarket chain which is based on Germany and is one of the cheapest and smartest ways to buy groceries. ALDI was established in 1913 and the chain is made up of two separate groups, ALDI North and ALDI south. By the early 1990s the company operated an estimated 3,000 stores in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Austria, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom. Today, ALDIs rapidly growing network has more than 7,000 stores and serves millions of people across three continents. Aldi has taken this retail concept, which features low overhead and scanty selection, to its extreme. Unlike other supermarket chains, which continuously increase their product offerings and selling space, Aldi holds selection at its stores to about 500 items. The bulk of these items are packaged grocery or dry goods. ALDI claims Simplicity, consistency and responsibility have always been our three defining core values. As an expanding discount retailer, our actions have international influence in different markets and along the supply chain. ALDI has a different strategy of doing business and saving money. ALDI stores are usually small, from 8,000 to 15,000 square feet. ALDIs outlets also used to bypass expensive barcode scanners that are used by other stores to inventory and price products. Instead, a stockperson would simply post a sign with the price nearby. Price lists were memorised by the cashier but with the demanding information technology, ALDI has now started to use barcode scanners. Each product that ALDI sales have 4 barcodes which makes it quicker to scan and increases the productivity of the cashier (this has been inspected in one of the ALDI store in seven sisters, London). ALDI has also decided not to sell fresh meat which again saves company money as it can avoid steep refrigeration costs as well as the high wages the meat-cutters unions demand. ALDI also has a strategy to keep labour cost low in different ways. ALDI charges four cents per bag to their customers and the customers must bag their own groceries. Customers can rent a shopping trolley for 25 cents and they get their quarter back when they bring the shopping trolley to the front of the store. By doing this, ALDI does not have to pay someone to collect the trolley in the parking lot or replace stolen ones. ALDI also keeps the telephone numbers of their stores unlisted so that employees dont waste time answering the phone. Aldi-style austerity holds labour costs to an estimated four percent of store sales, compared to ten percent to 12 percent for most supermarkets. ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE Enterprise software services a larger amount of users and needs, typically through the use of a network and multiple points of processing and clients. Enterprise software provides services which are typically business-oriented tools such as online shopping and online payment processing, interactive product catalogue, automated billing systems, security, content management, IT service management, customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning, business intelligence, Human Resource management, manufacturing, application integration etc. It is normally multi-tiered client/server. In the past, companies were used to compete based on one or two competitive performance objectives such as price and quality. However, present markets demand both price and quality in addition to greater flexibility and responsiveness. Information systems such as Enterprise resource planning (ERP) have gained ground in providing support for achieving an integrated supply chain. Firms around the world have been implementing ERP systems since the 1990s to have a uniform information system in their respective organisations and to re-engineer their business processes. There are three main components of Enterprise System Software. They are: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Supply Chain Management (SCM) ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING (ERP) ERP uses internet technologies to integrate the flow of information from internal business functions as well as information from customers and suppliers such as manufacturing, finance, procurement and distribution. The system uses a relational database management system, within client/server network architecture, to capture valuable management data. ERP systems offer companies the following three major benefits: Business process automation Timely access to management information Improvement in the supply chain via the use of e-communication and e- commerce. ERP links all areas of a company including order management, manufacturing, human resources, financial systems, and distribution with external suppliers and customers into a tightly integrated system with shared data and visibility. It is not a good move to just plan resources required to run the enterprise; they need to be managed as well. An organisation must access itself, to see if it is ready for ERP. It must determine if it is ready for the competitive business environment and then strengthen its position for future changes. ERP software helps companys operations after they are integrated into the system with the help of experts. In addition, in order for them to be efficient, they have to be used by experienced personnel so it can sometimes be very costly. There are number of ERP softwares such as: SAP R/3, ORACLE, IFS APPLICATION, SAGE MAS 500, CANIAS ERP, SAS etc of which SAP R/3 is the most popular and is used by most of the organisation. BENEFITS of ERP ERP software can help ALDI supermarket in following ways: End user service delivery: ERP software has the features and functions that enable end-user services: innovative support for ALIDs business roles that help to extend the reach of human resource processes to all stakeholders. It also boosts productivity and efficiency and reduces many transactions and processes once handled by HR staff. Reduce operating costs: ERP software can help ALDI supermarket to reduce cost such as inventory cost, production cost, marketing cost etc. with ERP software, ALDI can improve coordination across functional departments and increase efficiency of doing business. Support strategic planning: Strategic planning defines business target and set of goals and objectives. It assesses plan and design coordination strategies and logically connects these strategies to needs, assets and outcomes. Part of ERP software systems are designed to support resource planning portion of strategic planning. CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT Business in todays world is customer driven. In the past, price and quality were the key factors to successful business but now, customer satisfaction and flexibility have also become equally important. Customer Relationship management is very important to a business successfully. The better the customer relationship is, the easier it gets to conduct business and generate revenue. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software helps to understand customer needs and allows ALDI supermarket to design customer-specific levels of service and also increases value per customer and customer retention. CRM softwares can be categorised into four different types: outsourced solutions, off-the shelf solution, bespoke software and managed solutions. It might be very costly and time consuming at times to implement CRM software however it can benefit ALDI in many ways: Based on previous records, it can increase sales through better timing by anticipating customer needs Can identify needs by understanding customer requirements Can identify which customers are profitable and which are not Can improve profitability by focussing on most profitable customers. BENEFITS OF CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT Customer Relationship Management (CRM) helps to build profitable and lasting customer relationship by providing the insight and analysis needed to anticipate customer needs. CRM provides the following: Flexibility to create unique customer experience: CRM software helps end-to-end business processes to address an array of marketing, sales, and service situations. The CRM software easily adapts and extends to create a more distinctive customer experience. Drives organisation to more consistent interactions across all channels: CRM software can help ALDI to make the most of every customer interaction that is consistent and relevant, with real-time information about the complete history, value and profitability of each customer across the entire customer life cycle. Enables end-to-end process within the industry value chain: CRM software can help ALDI drive customer value, loyalty across the entire value chain. CRM can turn the vision of customer-driven growth into reality with the best in class front office functionality that complements industry-specific processes. SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT Supply chain management can be defined as the management of a distribution channel across organisations. It is the design, planning, execution and monitoring of all supply chain activities. Supply chain management can benefit ALDI supermarket to plan smoothly and execute related operations to achieve long-term profitability and maintain a solid competitive edge. BENEFITS OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT Improve supply chain network: with supply chain management, ALDI can monitor the status of all activities across all suppliers, production plants and distribution centres. SCM enables an effective way of tracking and managing all related processes, from ordering through manufacturing and shipping of end product to customers. Minimized Delays: Delays in supply chain can result in poor relationship, unsuccessful business and eventually loss of business. With supply chain management software, all activities from start to finish can be coordinated with higher level of on-time delivery across the board. Enhanced collaboration: Supply chain softwares can bridge the gap between departed business software at remote locations to improve collaboration among supply chain partners. All participants can dynamically share vital information such as demand reports, forecasts, inventory levels etc. in real time. Reduced Costs: Supply chain software can help ALDI supermarket reduce overhead expenses in many ways. It can improve inventory management and facilitate successful implementation of on-time stock models. It also helps ALDI to make effective demand plans, so production and sales level can be set to the maximum. It can also help improve relationships with distributors which can cut the cost in ordering products in volume. BARRIERS IN IMPLEMENTING ENTERPRISE SYSTEM SOFTWARE Though enterprise system softwares have many benefits, these benefits can sometimes be matched with high level risk because of its complexity. According to Soh (el al 2000), some companies even terminate the implementation of enterprise system software regarding time, cost and disruption caused and sometimes limited benefits once the system becomes operational. There may be some barriers while trying to adjust the enterprise software and barriers cause decrease in organisational performance instead of improvement. Organisational change is one of the most important barriers encountered in transition of new systems. Some of the barriers involved during implementation of enterprise system software are: Structural Barriers, Technological Barriers, Intellectual and Socio emotional Barriers and Cost Barrier. STRUCTURAL BARRIERS It is very important to understand the organisational structure existent in the organisation before implementing enterprise system software to prevent possible knowledge integration problems that could exist. The main structural barrier is that organisational structural limits the interaction among the different functional areas. The level of efficiency reached in the implementing enterprise system software depends upon how the organisational structure aligns with the nature of the tasks performed by members. Ross and Vitales (2000) found that the majority of the firms surveyed perceived enterprise system software implementation to be extremely disruptive. Enterprise software implementation may only succeed when the organisation is able to re-structure itself, and not just overlay the new management information system on the old organisational structure. Hammer (1999) argues that the ERP implementation is an integrative mechanism that connects diverse departments establishing integra ted processes. TECHNOLOGICAL BARRIER The IS people within the information systems department who are the founders of the pervious system might have problems to understand and maintain the new enterprise software easily. This is when the technological barrier emerges. The IS people may not be able to provide good support the new enterprise software users because they had not internalised the routines necessary to support the new enterprise software. The second technological barrier could be the parallel use of legacy systems. According to Mileton-Kelly (2004), the new systems may quickly become legacy systems as they might not meet the full requirements of the users and may not be able to fully support business evolution. Furthermore, most of the legacy systems do not use a relational database management system (RDBMS); they still use proprietary flat file system. The reason for this is because there is no central ownership of data or information items in use by companies. This problem could be solved with the use of legacy systems for validation reasons only. Since ERP modules, processes or reports were validated, users only will have access to the ERP environment for their day to day work. This solution reduces the amount of work in terms of duplication of efforts. Moreover, users will focus only in the ERP system; this means a reduction of the comparisons with the legacy systems, an increment of the users productivity, and a possibility to integrate user knowledge in the ERP system. INTELLECTUAL AND SOCIO-EMOTIONAL BARRIERS The intellectual dimension is related with the learning and knowledge of users, and the socio-emotional dimension considers the feelings and the willingness to improve skills of the users. The main barriers involved in these dimensions could be: knowledge transfer between the legacy system and the new ERP system, and between consultants and ERP users. According to Ko, Kirsch, and king (2005), not much is known about knowledge transfer from consultants to ERP users, in which the knowledge structure of the participants is asymmetric. The consultant primarily possesses technical knowledge, whereas their clients and future ERP users primarily possess business knowledge. Hence, the knowledge initially possessed by the consultant must be integrated and embodied in the knowledge of the ERP users. This might remove barriers and also allows both parties to minimize disagreements and enhance their ability to work together for effectively transferring knowledge. The concern about users preferri ng old procedures and not adopting to the new ERP environment could be prevailing. Users may not be resisting to the change, but they might be trying to make sense of the change. This approach is related with the socio-emotional dimension because users need to justify that these changes are better from them. User training could be a key requirement for ERP implementation. Those organisations which invested in training had successfully overcome socio-emotional barriers involved with the ERP implementation. The individual knowledge barrier could be overcome by the identification and definition of new procedures and functions to shift the user perspective from the individual level to the organisational level. This means that to reach the knowledge integration process across the organisation, there may be a need to map the existing knowledge into the ERP functionality. This new vision helps to reduce the perception of the new ERP system. Pan et al. (2001) also suggests that ERP team members must instigate a process of relationship building through increased information sharing and social interaction among users. This behaviour promotes the structural integration to improve knowledge integration through users willingness to share information and ideas in the form of political transparency or process de-layering. COST BARRIER Although Enterprise system software can benefit ALDI in many different ways, it is very costly and hard to implement. ALDIs main strategy is to sell cheap products and use less technology. They sell the products cheap as they save money on technology but if they use technology, they might not be able to sell the products so cheap which is going to bring another competition among other supermarkets and is against ALDIs current strategy. CONCLUSION In the report, a brief history and introduction to ALDI supermarket was discussed. ALDI is a supermarket which was established in 1913 at Germany. Today, ALDI has more than 7000 stores and serves millions of customers across three continents. ALDIs business strategies were studied by visiting ALDIs local store and conversation with managers of ALDI. An overview of Enterprise Software and its components: Enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management and supply chain management were discussed. Benefits of using ERP, CRM and SCM were identified and it was discussed how ALDI would benefit by using these enterprise system software. Finally, barriers and risks of using enterprise system software were identified and solutions to those barriers were discussed.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee :: essays research papers

Scout Finch lives with her brother, Jem, and their widowed father, Atticus, in the sleepy Alabama town of Maycomb. Maycomb is suffering through the Great Depression, but Atticus is a prominent lawyer and the Finch family is reasonably well off in comparison to the rest of society. One summer, Jem and Scout befriend a boy named Dill, who has come to live in their neighborhood for the summer, and the trio acts out stories together. Eventually, Dill becomes fascinated with the spooky house on their street called the Radley Place. The house is owned by Mr. Nathan Radley, whose brother, Arthur (nicknamed Boo), has lived there for years without venturing outside. Scout goes to school for the first time that fall and detests it. She and Jem find gifts apparently left for them in a knothole of a tree on the Radley property. Dill returns the following summer, and he, Scout, and Jem begin to act out the story of Boo Radley. Atticus puts a stop to their antics, urging the children to try to see life from another person's perspective before making judgments. But, on the last day of summer, the three sneak onto the Radley property, where Nathan Radley shoots at them. Jem loses his pants in the ensuing escape. When he returns for them, he finds them mended and hung over the fence. The next winter, Jem and Scout find more presents in the tree, presumably left by the mysterious Boo. Nathan Radley eventually plugs the knothole with cement. Shortly thereafter, a fire breaks out in another neighbor's house, and during the fire someone slips a blanket on Scout's shoulders as she watches the blaze. Convinced that Boo did it, Jem tells Atticus about the mend ed pants and the presents. To the consternation of Maycomb's racist white community, Atticus agrees to defend a black man named Tom Robinson, who has been accused of raping a white woman. Because of Atticus's decision, Jem and Scout are subjected to abuse from other children, even when they celebrate Christmas at the family compound on Finch's Landing. Calpurnia, the Finches' black cook, takes them to the local black church, where the warm and close-knit community largely embraces the children. Atticus's sister, Alexandra, comes to live with the Finches the next summer. Dill, who is supposed to live with his new stepfather in another town, runs away and comes to Maycomb. Tom Robinson's trial begins, and when the accused man is placed in the local jail, a mob gathers to lynch him.

Optimism Definition Essay

Optimism is a mental attitude or world view that interprets situations and events as being best (optimized), meaning that in some way for factors that may not be fully comprehended, the present moment is in an optimum state. The concept is typically extended to include the attitude of hope for future conditions unfolding as optimal as well. The more broad concept of optimism is the understanding that all of nature, past, present and future, operates by laws of optimization along the lines of Hamilton’s principle of optimization in the realm of physics. This understanding, although criticized by counter views such as pessimism, idealism and realism, leads to a state of mind that believes everything is as it should be, and that the future will be as well. A common idiom used to illustrate optimism versus pessimism is a glass with water at the halfway point, where the optimist is said to see the glass as half full, but the pessimist sees the glass as half empty. The word is originally derived from the Latin optimum, meaning â€Å"best.† Being optimistic, in the typical sense of the word, ultimately means one expects the best possible outcome from any given situation. This is usually referred to in psychology as dispositional optimism. Researchers sometimes operationalize the term differently depending on their research, however. For example, Martin Seligman and his fellow researchers define it in terms of explanatory style, which is based on the way one explains life events. As for any trait characteristic, there are several ways to evaluate optimism, such as various forms of the Life Orientation Test, for the original definition of optimism, or the Attributional Style Questionnaire designed to test optimism in terms of explanatory style. While the heritability of optimism is largely debatable, most researchers agree that it seems to be a biological trait to some small degree, but it is also thought that optimism has more to do withenvironmental factors, making it a largely learned trait.[1] It has also been suggested that optimism could appear to be a hereditary trait because it is actually a manifestation of combined traits that are mostly heritable, like intelligence, temperament and alcoholism.[2] Optimism may also be linked to health. Explanatory style Explanatory style is different, though related to, the more traditional, narrower definition of optimism. This broader concept is based on the theory that optimism and pessimism are drawn from the particular way people explain events. There are three dimensions within typical explanations, which include internal versus external, stable versus unstable, and global versus specific. Optimistic justifications toward negative experiences are attributed to factors outside the self (external), are not likely to occur consistently (unstable), and are limited specific life domains (specific). Positive experiences would be optimistically labeled as the opposite: internal, stable, global.[4] There is much debate about the relationship between explanatory style and optimism. Some researchers argue that there is not much difference at all; optimism is just the lay term for what scientists call explanatory style.[5] Others argue that explanatory style is exclusive to its concept and should not be interchangeable with optimism.[6][7] It is generally thought that, though they should not be used interchangeably, dispositional optimism and explanatory style are at least marginally related. Ultimately, the problem is simply that more research must be done to either define a â€Å"bridge† or further differentiate between these concepts. Philosophy Philosophers often link concept of optimism with the name of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who held that we live in the best of all possible worlds, or that God created a physical universe that applies the laws of physics, which Voltaire famously mocked in his satirical novel Candide. The philosophical pessimism of William Godwin demonstrated perhaps even more optimism than Leibniz. He hoped that society would eventually reach the state where calm reason would replace all violence and force, that mind could eventually make matter subservient to it, and that intelligence could discover the secret of immortality. Much of this philosophy is exemplified in the Houyhnhnms of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. Panglossianism The term â€Å"panglossianism† describes baseless optimism of the sort exemplified by the beliefs of Pangloss from Voltaire’s Candide, which are the opposite of his fellow traveller Martin’s pessimism and emphasis on free will. The phrase â€Å"panglossian pessimism† has been used to describe the pessimistic position that, since this is the best of all possible worlds, it is impossible for anything to get any better. The panglossian paradigm is a term coined by Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Lewontin to refer to the notion that everything has specifically adapted to suit specific purposes. Instead, they argue, accidents and exaptation (the use of old features for new purposes) play an important role in the process of evolution. Some other scientists however argue the implication that many (or most) adaptionists are panglossians is a straw man. Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time Michael Shermer relates Frank J. Tipler to Voltaire’s character Pangloss to show how clever people deceive themselves. Shermer explores the psychology of scholars and business men who give up their careers in their pursuit to broadcast their paranormal beliefs. In his last chapter, added to the revised version, Shermer explains that â€Å"smart people† can be more susceptible to believing in weird things. Optimalism Optimalism, as defined by Nicholas Rescher, holds that this universe exists because it is better than the alternatives.[8] While this philosophy does not exclude the possibility of a deity, it also doesn’t require one, and is compatible with atheism.[9] The positive psychologist Tal Ben-Shahar uses optimalism to mean willingness to accept failure while remaining confident that success will follow, a positive attitude he contrasts with negative perfectionism.[10] Perfectionism can be defined as a persistent compulsive drive toward unattainable goals and valuation based solely in terms of accomplishment.[11] Perfectionists reject the realities and constraints of human ability. They cannot accept failures, delaying any ambitious and productive behavior in fear of failure again. [12]This neuroticism can even lead to clinical depression and low productivity.[13] As an alternative to negative perfectionism Ben-Shahar suggests the adoption of optimalism. Optimalism allows for failure in pursuit of a goal, and expects that while the trend of activity will tend towards the positive it is not necessary to always succeed while striving to attain goals. This basis in reality prevents the optimalist from being overwhelmed in the face of failure.[10] Optimalists accept failures and also learn from them, which encourages further pursuit of achievement.[14] Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar believes that Optimalists and Perfectionists show distinct different motives. Optimalists tend to have more intrinsic, inward desires, with a motivation to learn. While perfectionists are highly motivated by a need to consistently prove themselves worthy. Assessment Life Orientation Test (LOT) Designed by Scheier and Carver (1985), this is one of the more popular tests of optimism and pessimism. There are eight measurements (and an additional four filler items), with four positively (â€Å"In uncertain times, I usually expect the best†) and four negatively (â€Å"If something can go wrong for me, it will†) worded items.[15] The LOT has been revised twice–once by the original creators (LOT-R) and also by Chang, Maydeu-Olivares, and D’Zurilla as the Extended Life Orientation Test (ELOT). All three are most commonly used because they are based on dispositional optimism, which simply means expecting positive outcomes.[16] Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ) This questionnaire created by Peterson et al. (1982) is based on the explanatory style definition of optimism. It lists six positive and negative events (â€Å"you have been looking for a job unsuccessfully for some time†), and asks the respondents to record a possible cause for the event and rate the internality, stability, and globality of the event.[17] An optimistic person is one who perceives good things happening to them as internal, stable, and global. There are several modified versions of the ASQ including the Expanded Attributional Style Questionnaire (EASQ), theContent Analysis of Verbatim Explanations (CAVE), and the ASQ designed for testing the optimism for children.[16] Health Research has emerged showing the relationships between several psychological constructs and health. Optimism is one of these concepts and has been shown to explain between 5–10% of the variation in the likelihood of developing some health conditions (correlation coefficients between .20 and .30),[18] notably including cardiovascular disease,[19][20][21][22][23] stroke,[24]depression,[25][26] and cancer.[21][27][28] Furthermore, optimists have been shown to live healthier lifestyles which may influence disease. For example, optimists smoke less, are more physically active, consume more fruit, vegetables and whole-grain bread, and consume more moderate amounts of alcohol.[29] The relationship between optimism and health has also been studied with regards to physical symptoms, coping strategies and negative affect for those suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, and fibromyalgia. It has been found that among individuals with these diseases, optimists are not more likely than pessimists to report pain alleviation due to coping strategies, despite differences in psychological well-being between the two groups.[30] A meta-analysis has confirmed the assumption that optimism is related to psychological well-being: â€Å"Put simply, optimists emerge from difficult circumstances with less distress than do pessimists.†[31] Furthermore, the correlation appears to be attributable to coping style: â€Å"That is, optimists seem intent on facing problems head-on, taking active and constructive steps to solve their problems; pessimists are more likely to abandon their effort to attain their goals.†[31] It should be noted that research to date has demonstrated that optimists are less likely to have certain diseases or develop certain diseases over time. By comparison, research has not yet been able to demonstrate the ability to change an individual’s level of optimism through psychological intervention, and thereby alter the course of disease or likelihood for development of disease.

Importance of Early Childhood Education Essay

With the economy currently in such a terrible position now it is’s no wonder why that people everywhere are being laid off, and companies around both the country and the world are jobs are laying off and choosing to keep staff to a minimum. Unfortunately, the positions that are kept are held by those who have the educational background that has essentially securedd their position from the beginning. There once was a time where an individual could apply for a job and their lack of educational experience was not held against them, but. N now, it seems as if there are extremely few reputable jobs are ooffered where only a high school diploma and some college is sufficient. But However, the economy is not who shouldto be blamed. The question instead that we should be asking that should be asked is, â€Å"where does it start? † Although it is understood that education is needed to surpass stay ahead throughout our lifeves, the importance of early education is frequently overlooked. Childhood education, as in Pre-Kindergarten thru fifth grade, is not about learning the simple or basic parts of education, but instead rather itsis about introducing young children’s minds to new and more complex things that will prepare them for a successful future. Some may choose to believe that pushing a child to learn a multitude of things at a young age would be considered cruel. Some may also believe that spending too much time learning would take away a child’s â€Å"childhood,† and that children should be allowed to stay children for as long as possible. , and should be allowed to play as much as possible. On theWhile the importance of imaginative play is alsovery important,contrary, if you were to analyzeing the circumstances it makes it would be clear as to why so many children have chosen a path of uncertainty in education. For example, take a five year old child who is being introduced to school for the first time. He or she would learn the basics; counting, coloring, reciting the ABC’s. Now take a child who has been introduced to a pre school program (normally around the age of four) as similar to that ofin First Step or Head Start. By the time that child will have entered into Kindergarten he/ or she will have already been introduced to a level of learning that is above any child that has not take advantage advantage of early learning programs. Thise will enable them to excel above their classmates. Children’s minds are truly like sponges; when a child is still young their mind’s this should be the time when their minds sshould be â€Å"crammed† with an abundance of knowledge. Sean Brotherson, a family science specialist, gives the example of a child’s brain being like a house that has just been built. He says, the walls are up and the doors are hung. You bring supplies to the new house and set them on the floor, but they will not work until everything is wired and hooked up. He goes on to explains, â€Å"wWhileexplain, â€Å"while learning later is possible, it usually is slower and more difficult. Some improvement in most skills is possible throughout life. However, providing children with the best opportunity for learning and growth during the periods when their minds are most ready to absorb new information is important†. From the time a child is born he/she is learning. A disinterest in learning at an early age is something that may follow him or her throughoutu their school age life, and is something that can haunt them for their entire lives and may hinder their ability to succeed in the real world. If a child shows no interest in adding and subtracting from the very beginning, it’s is often likely that child will continue thru school disliking Mmath throughout school. . and that This is something that can hold a child back from their potential. It also started at a young age. Children need to believe that learning is fun and, at the right age, is something that can help them progress farther. in life. In most Pre-Kindergarten classes in the United States, children are being taught to button their clothes, tie their shoes, or count to ten, and introduced to letters and shapes for the first time. These are all good tools to learn, just not in school. If you were to look at schools in other countries, they are far beyond what the U. S. is teaching our Preschoolers. Elaine Wu, with The Kapi’o Newspress, did an article on the failing education in the U. S. She found that according to a study done by UNICEF, the U. S. was failing when it came to international education rankings. Studies showed that other nations in the â€Å"developed† world had a more effective education systemsmore effective education systems. How wrong could it be to give our children a little more to think about, or giving them a problem that may take a little longer to solve?. Being that the children that attended my hHigh sSchool were approximately 75% mMilitary â€Å"brats,† it wasn’t not rare to have a new kid transfer in. There were kids from all places over the world but the ones that stood out were the ones from different countries. I took special interest in where they came from, but what interested me more was the fact that they were being placed into mostly advanceds classes. So with that curiosity I would start a conversation, usually beginning with â€Å"where are you from†? aAnd usually often times they were from another country or from somewhere where education was an important factor in their community. I am now 26 years old and am finally deciding to finish school. Things like what I just described makes me wonder about the course my life has taken. ifIf I had beenwere pushed into the books and encouraged to learn when I was younger would my outcome in school be different?. Here is another example. I look at my I have a fourteen year old nephew who is now in 9th grade. He is a straight A student and plays basketball (coincidently at my same high school). His grades are monitored by his parents but the transition wasn’t was not always easy. He came from New Orleans, Louisiana, where he lived with his mother. New , whichOrleans has one of the worst school systems in America so his early education was a struggle. When he moved to Hampton, trying to get him to open a book and study was next to impossible but. Wwith a lot of perseverance he now knows how important school is and where it can take you. But imagine if he had beenwas excited to learn from the beginning. If he had been given the opportunity, the transition may have been easier. I am now 26 years old and am finally deciding to finish school. Things like what I just described makes me wonder about the course my life has taken. If I had been pushed into the books and encouraged to learn when I was younger, would my outcome in school be different? I don’t expect society’s children to be building rocket ships at the age of eight. But putting more thought in to teaching children things that broaden their minds wouldn’t be such a bad thing. WWork Cited Brotherson, Sean. â€Å"Growth of the Mind†. Online posting. August 2001. www. nbsu. com Wu, Elaine. â€Å"Failing America†. Kapi’o Newspress. 25 April 2001 .