Information Technology for Managers Essay

Introduction In a fast rising popularity of technology, companies will use this to gain a competitive advantage. IT works in helping businesses reach their strategic goals. In the case for Sophia the goal would be to drive up her sales to meet with the standards that stiff competition has set up. Not knowing much about technology, Sophia would require help from an outside source in order to have the technology portion running smoothly. Website One of the best ways to improve the IT component is to open up a website with the help from the website onepageapp.com. This vendor is perfect for small companies to start up a website to your liking. One page app would assist in the purchase of a domain name for the site people go to visit. With a drag and drop interface the site being designed to Sophia’s preferred theme and the main content she would prefer on the site. One page app offers a few monthly plans starting from eight dollars all the way to two hundred. In Sophia case, the best plan would be the twenty nine dollars a month that includes up to twenty additional users, forty newsletters a month and even priority support if having any issues within the website. One of the best incentives here is that when launching with one page app it also creates a website version for mobile phone and tablets. With the increased use of smartphones and the emergence of ipads, people who use these devices on the often can view your website in read able and simple form. Another excellent feature one page app offers is engine optimization. The high use of search engines a good way to have website noticed is through the search results. With proper formatted HTML, Meta tags, meta descriptions, and sitemaps the results on search engines would attract more people viewing the website (OnePager, 2013). Sophia would be given useful analytics with one page app as the traffic the site receives would be documented along with the keywords used to gain the hits. The knowing of the keywords is valuable as we can use this information on seeing what foods people are searching on the web and what products are getting them redirected to Green Peppers website. Trying to further promote the interested item menu would only draw more interest from customers. Onepager allows for a great two stay connected  with customers. Having customers sign up for newsletters can have Sophia sending mass emails to subscribers for upcoming events and new menu items they may have. It’s a great way to keep good relation by also sending coupons for deals and such. If Sophia has trouble understanding these new online concepts she can elect to hire a part time employee or increase the duties of a current employees to keep the website updated. Constantly updating the site is crucial to stay competitive with any other restaurants. Twitter Social Media is a great way for small companies to get some easy exposure. As of September of 2013 there are 200 million twitter users (Canadian Press, 2013). With so many users using one application, generating awareness of a company proves to be beneficial. Having a company twitter account is a great way in getting Sophia’s restaurant known. Twitter can help generate feedback on previous customer experience and ways they could make some improvements. This has worked well with some bigger companies where a customer would tag the business in their tweet expressing some displeasure and the company comes up with a reply to compensate the experience with apologies or even future deals. Customers have already had issues with Green Peppers ordering techniques and this would be a good way for Sophia to gather some feedback. Green Pepper could also seek suggestions on different types of recipes customers would like to see being served. It would allow for them to add menu items that have potential on gaining popularity. Green Pepper would also be able to see what customers are saying about the local competition when it comes to service they provide and quality of food they tend to serve. This benchmark is probably the best when measuring the success of your current business. Opening a twitter account is completely free and very easy to use. Tweets could be sent from any smartphone making it convenient to access for all users. Tweeting out special promotions going on would bring in more customers and consumers are always finding ways to eat for less money. Hash tags are a great way to research what most of the world is talking about. For example, if a celebrity tweets about how much they love Indian or Chinese food, it would provide Green Pepper with a great opportunity to  tweet something to its followers referencing that comment to keep Green Pepper relevant. Facebook Like twitter, having a Facebook account is free. With a positive word of mouth rating of a restaurant being most valuable to a company, Facebook is a good tool to enforce that. Facebook allows for Green Pepper to post restaurant’s menu and updates for its followers to see. Green Pepper can take pictures of their most visually appealing menu items and post the pictures for display in order to entice more customers. They can show videos on the process they take into making the Indian fused Chinese dishes. Fusion food being seemed risky for some consumers, they can showcase the dish on the flavors added and how it is prepped. Listing the benefits of the human body that certain spices can offer, appeals to many health conscious customers. Keeping the account active is the most important as the regular customers who eat at Green Pepper would want to know what deals are occurring. It’s a great way to engage with the customers and making their personal experience at Green Pepper the best it could possibly be. Major fast food chains take great advantage of this by offering coupons online for their followers and always encouraging them to follow them on social media sites like Facebook and twitter. (Brandon, 2011) Replying to a post that a customer had at Green Pepper makes it feel more personal and the customer feels more satisfied as their questions and concerns are being noted by Sophia. Since Green Pepper is a small restaurant every negative comment about the service is a big issue on the company’s image. Having a negative word of mouth comments spread can cause customers to decline fast. Getting customers to partake in polls and quizzes is a free research base as companies can get a lot of info based on the poll results (Eldon, 2009). Offering the meals that customers prefer is an important way in staying relevant. Having someone over-look the operation of Facebook could be great by hiring a part time employee or even increasing the responsibilities of a current employee working at Green Pepper. Group on Groupon is website offering deals that many businesses are taking part in. Restaurants can offer deals on menu items for a fraction of cost if bought on Groupon. This is a great way into bringing customers into the restaurant and having them try other items on the menu and if they are satisfied with the service they could become returning customers. Another incentive is when a voucher is purchased not every customer goes and actually uses it. Many vouchers do have an expiry date and if the customer waits to long the voucher would no longer be valid and Green Pepper would still get half the purchase cost of the voucher. Since Groupon is running their site the only costs occur when the voucher is actually bought from a customer as Groupon takes half that money. They work as a great middleman between Green Pepper and future customers. The downside of this route is that Groupon takes half the proceeds from the voucher. An example is having an 80 dollar menu voucher sold on Groupon for 40 dollars. Groupon then keeps 20 dollars of that and gives the remaining 20 to Green Pepper. Other flaws being seen in their business model in an article in Forbes magazine â€Å"Groupon’s biggest victims are the small businesses that get suckered in to accepting Groupons. Restaurants lose money on them because consumers flood the restaurants, order very low priced meals, strain waiters and cooks, get lousy service, and never return.† (Cohan, 2012). Sophia must know the capacity restrictions well and if offering a Groupon deal then must be fully staffed for that day. Allowing customers to leave the restaurant on a negative really affects the company image especially being a small restaurant. Recommendation The way for Green Pepper to optimize its profits would be to hire a part time employee to run the social media aspects in Facebook and twitter along with working with one page app and keeping the website updated. Many young adults have some experience in social networks and finding a University student who could work part time wouldn’t be difficult. They would oversee the twitter updates and tweeting on the regular. They could update the Facebook Photo album with menu dishes as well as keeping in contact with the customers leaving feedback on the social sites. One page app makes the design of the website so simple just would need the employee to making sure site is  running smoothly and keeping in contact with the developers if any problem occurs. They would work with Sophia and teach her a little about the technology components as one page app allows many users having access to the website. The switch to technology focus should not be a hard one but instead a smart one.

A Probation Officer’s View of Effectiveness

This case study is about what a probation officer’s view of effectiveness is and how it can affect his or her view of the job. The local newspaper ran a 3-part article about the probation office and how it was not living up to the expectations of the citizens. The articles discussed how the recidivism rate for the department was high and the department did not utilize social programs in the community. Whose interests were served in the newspaper’s evaluation of the probation office and whose will be served by the proposed evaluation from the department? What theory or theories of effectiveness are represented in the proposed new evaluation format? And what process and outcome measures are included in the evaluation? What domain of activity do these cover? Is the meaning of the variables clear? The newspaper article served the interest of the probationer’s, citizens of the community, social service agencies, and the probation office. If the article had never been published there is a good chance there would not be a change in the operations of the probation office and the citizens of the community and probation officers would not see a change in the recidivism of probationers. The proposed evaluation will serve the probationers due to the fact that he or she will receive more options to break the cycle of crime. It will serve the citizens of the community by breaking the cycle of crime therefore crime rates will decrease. And, it will serve the probation officer’s as he or she can feel better about the options available for their probationers and the programs he or she can refer to them. The process approach and the system resource model are both prevalent in this case study. According to Steers, â€Å"the process approach consists of three related components: goal optimization, a systems perspective, and an emphasis on behavior within organizations† (Stojkovic, Kalinich and Klofas, 2003). In the case study, the officers and the leader discuss how the organization needs to look at how much time the officers are spending with each client, where they are spending this time, and what the probation officer is doing in this time. This type of study is putting the emphasis on behavior within the organization. In the system resource model the effectiveness is based on â€Å"the extent that it can obtain needed resources from its environment† (Stojkovic, Kalinich and Klofas, 2003). An officer in the case study discusses getting his clients in touch with the social agencies in the community to help break the cycle. This is an example of the system resource model. This evaluation will use the gross malfunction analysis. The probation system in the community is considered a failure. The evaluation in which the leader and officers are proposing will examine the reasons for the failure. Another good analysis is the revelatory analysis. This analysis is reflected in the use of social programs by probation officers and his or her client. It will also show how well the probation officers are utilizing inside and outside resources to help eliminate recidivism? The domain of activity these evaluations cover and the studies the probation office wants to utilize are the effectiveness-for-whom and the tendency for effectiveness criteria to influence behavior within organizations. By using the malfunction and revelatory evaluations the probation office and citizens of the community will have a better understanding of the operations and activities of the probation officers. The newspaper article in this study helped to bring about some positive changes for the probation office. The probation officers received a supervisor who included him or her in planning and implementing the type of evaluation needed to decrease the recidivism of all the probation clients. The effectiveness of the probation office became a propriety project not only for the probation supervisor but for the probation officers. The officers were able to feel as if the evaluation was his or her project and therefore he or she would benefit from it. The supervisor brain-storming with the officers gave the officers a sense of ownership over the evaluation and therefore when the results are returned he or she will be more compelled to help find solutions to the problems.

Bad Survey Questions

EXAMPLES OF BAD QUESTIONS & SUGGESTIONS OF HOW TO FIX THEM! Double Barreled question: Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with each of the following statements about the childcare program. Incorrect: I feel welcomed by staff and other youth at the center Correction: I feel welcomed by staff at the center I feel welcomed by other youth at the center Biased/leading question Incorrect: Community organizing is hard. Do leadership trainings help you feel prepared for community organizing? Much more prepared Slightly more prepared Somewhat more prepared Not more preparedCorrect: The leadership trainings prepare me for community organizing. Strongly agree Double Negative Incorrect Does it seem possible or does it seem impossible to you that the Nazi extermination of the Jews never happened? (22%) Very possible Impossible Correct Do you doubt that the Holocaust actually happened or not? (9%) Very possible Impossible Possible Very impossible Possible Very impossible Agree Disagree Strongly disagree EVALUATING SURVEYS The following are additional examples of bad survey questions. As a group, apply our class discussion, evaluating each question and its response choices to identify one error in each question (ie. ouble barreled). Explain the problem that your group identifies in each question and propose an alternative that solves the problem. 1. More people have attended the movie, Gone with the Wind, than any other motion picture produced this century. Have you seen this movie? Yes No 2. In your opinion, how would you rate the speed and accuracy of your work? Excellent Good Fair Poor 3. Did you first hear about the bombing: ______ from a friend or relative ______ from your spouse ______ from a newspaper ______ at work ______ from the television or radio or other electronic media 4.How do you feel about the following statement? We should not reduce military spending. Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree 5. People grow up in all different types of fam ilies. What type of family did you grow up in? ______Mom as single parent ______Dad as a single parent ______Both Mom and Dad 6. Where do you get most or all of your information about current events in the nation and the world? __radio __Newspapers __Magazines __internet 7. Higher than single-family density is acceptable in order to make housing affordable. Strongly Undecided Disagree Strongly Disagree Agree Agree 1 2 3 4 5CORRECTING SURVEYS The following are some suggestions of how to fix the problems of the survey questions found on the prior page. 1. Problem: Biased/Leading Solution: Have you seen the movie Gone with the Wind? Yes No 2. Problem: Double Barreled Solution: In your opinion, how would you rate the speed of your work? Excellent Good Fair Poor In your opinion, how would you rate the accuracy of your work? Excellent Good Fair Poor 3. Problem: Categories are not Mutually exclusive Solution: Did you first hear about the bombing: ____ from a friend ____ from a relative ___ _ from a media source 4.Problem: Double Negative Solution: How do you feel about the following statement? We should reduce military spending. Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree 5. Problem: Categories are not Exhaustive Solution: People grow up in all types of families. What type of family did you grow up in? ____two biological parents ____one biological parent & a step parent ____ mom as a single parent ____ dad as a single parent ____ with a relative other than my biological parents ____ in foster care ____ with adoptive parent(s) 6.Problem: Double Barreled Solution: Which media source do you rely on most to get information about current events involving the nation? ___radio ___ Newspapers __Magazines ___ Internet Which media source do you rely on most to get information about current events involving the world? ___radio ___ Newspapers __Magazines ___ Internet 7. Problem: Ambiguous Solution: In order to make housing affordable, is it acceptable to build housing whose b uildings hold more than one family? Strongly agree Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly Disagree

Adult and Community Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Adult and Community Education - Essay Example Adult and Community Education helps in reduction of the obstacles which are faced by several people while aiming to access education and training so as to achieve occupational talents and qualifications. Other people may find Adult and Community Education courses to be rewarding because of the fact that they can achieve more personal or communal aims. Adult and Community Education proves to be a fine alterative for grown-ups who aim for informal type of learning. Sargant presented a study of UK provision according to which one of six persons try to gain knowledge informally; that may be at home, at vocation, or anywhere else (1991: 15).The literature and the practice of Adult and Community Education also include target groups. This is particularly the case in Australia (Sheared & Sissel, 2001). These target groups are conventionally seen as minorities, or those persons who have been disenfranchised due to past circumstances of domination and segregation. The idea of target groups hap pens to be a main principle of Australian educational policy and lies on the supposition of a steady core. The Australian Adult and Community Education (ACE) policy recognizes certain classes of adults who are not properly represented in employment and training. They require additional sufficient and approachable stipulation so as to assist them in fulfilling their needs. The categories are (Adult, Community and Further Education, 2004): Koories; Men aged over 45; People with a disability; People from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds; Young people aged15 and over; and People aged over 55 These groups of people specifically require Adult and Community Education so as to help them on with surviving properly. Adult and Community Education results in plenty of advantages for the learners and they have major impact on their development. For example, Adult and Community Education can lead to social and economic welfare of people as well as the communities, it can produce social output and lifelong learning can be promoted through Adult and Community Education (Centre for Research and Learning in Regional Australia, n.d.). Therefore, it is important that equity groups also get an equal chance in participating in Adult and Community Education so as to improve themselves. For this reason there are boards and groups that enable this. One such is the Adult, Community and Further Education Board (ACFE) which encourages education and training for a variety of people, along with specially focussing on those who are included in the equity groups, that is, those who do not have full access to education. Around 450 community-owned and directed organisations are entitled to pass over adult and community education with ACFE Board funding. The government assists in Adult and Community Education provision. Since quite a few years the government has engaged itself a lot in Adult and Community Education, and it did this by providing the organisations with enough funds so as to allow them to educate the people. This has been very important and has enabled to broaden the position of Adult and Communi

Community Action Plan with Tri-fold brochure and 5 slide powerpoint Essay

Community Action Plan with Tri-fold brochure and 5 slide powerpoint - Essay Example Obesity is an epidemic that affects people not only in the US but worldwide. Nearly 59 million adults are obese and the percentage of children who are obese has doubled in the past twenty years. Obesity is a chronic disease that can result in serious health problems to its victims. Obesity among children in the US has serious health and social implication. These effects are all over including Wheat Ridge Colorado. Though a recent study ranked Colorado as lowest in obesity rate, there is still a problem. Obesity rate has doubled from 10.7 percent in 1995(Nathalia, 2012, p. 1). This increase in obesity rate in Colorado drives the motives of this paper. This community action plan therefore aims at reducing obesity rate in Wheat Ridge as a step to contribute to the overall obesity rate in Colorado. Symptoms Obesity is mainly due to one being overweight. Obesity among children and adults is on the rise in Colorado and all over the US. Children are taking more calories than before. They ar e eating many less healthy foods and drinking beverages that are more sugary. The problem becomes worse by the fact these children no longer walk or bike to school than it was several years ago. The situation is therefore very clear from this perspective. More sugar in the body plus less energy expenditure equal obesity especially in children. Many evidences suggest that obesity is mainly due to a combination of both genetics and environmental factors. People who eat food with many calories and reduce less energy through physical activity are more likely be overweight than other children. Obesity may have a variety of biological syndromes however; some degree of BMI is genetic. Obesity is mainly due to an increase in weight gain in excess of the expenditure(Trujillo, 2007, p. 3). Diagnosis The Colorado Children Campaign defines Obesity by the measurement of the â€Å"body mass index† (BMI). This is a measure of a person’s body weight in relation to the height. Diagnosi s of this public health issues involves comparing the BMI values with standard references of the same measurements. According to the Colorado Children Campaign (CDC), children with BMIs above the 85th percentile are at risk of becoming obese. Those with BMIs over 95th percentile are already overweight. This diagnosis of obesity is from the 2000 CDC growth charts for US(Trujillo, 2007, p. 1). In 2005, about 29 percent of children in Colorado between the age of 2 and 14 were overweight or at risk of becoming overweight. During the same year, 53 percent of Colorado adults were overweight or obese. If this trend continues at the same rate, then by 2020, 76 percent of all the residents in Colorado will be obese. Obesity can result in many health problems for instance in Colorado obesity is associated with a third of premature deaths. Obesity is because of many factors which act together to cause the health problem. One of the biggest causes of overweight in kids is the increase in the co nsumption of beverages with high sugar content for instance the increase in consumption of soda among most kids. Increased access to fast foods is also contributing to the high levels of calories in obese people. Most of the kids today spent most of their time watching television instead of engaging in play and games. This reduces the amount of energy expend thereby making such kids susceptible

IT & Entrepreneurship (A) Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

IT & Entrepreneurship (A) - Coursework Example Workers have developed frequent absenteeism behavior whose impact has negatively affected business returns. Further, the management has witnessed massive customer complains on matters related to over-speeding and use of abusive language by drivers as well as other Company employees. Owing to the gravity of these problems, I opted to develop a business intelligence system that will track the entire business operations and send reports to the human resource department for action. The design was made by creating a link through which company workers would sign in whenever they report to work. I thought this would help monitor and curb late coming especially on the part of drivers. In order to manage the problem on work ethics among the drivers, I developed an intelligence tracking system to monitor over speeding and use of abusive language. The tracking system was fixed onto all vehicles in order to ensure that all conversations taking place inside the car is recorded and easily retrieve d whenever it was required. The data collected was useful in gathering and analyzing data that would be useful in undertaking major business decisions. I thought this was going to assist the executive make informed business decisions and better the company’s financial returns while enhancing sound behavior among its workforce. In order to store vital information that would guide decision making in future, I modified the system that would be in position to store knowledgeable information. This would help the management make reference should a similar problem arise in future. It was important for the developed system to keep and manage important information concerning daily business operations. This was particularly important in keeping information about potential competitors, customer problems, probable partners and internal business operations that would ensure effective decision making for improved returns. The system was designed in a manner that will integrate data about s trategies that might be taken by business competitors from which such decisions will be utilized to curb stiff competition will be made. Throughout the design process I made sure the system was able to incorporate upcoming technological innovations in order to remain updated all through. It also had the ability to not only gather the information but make good use of it. This was possible because the system could sift large volumes of data and process what was relevant translating it into useful information and knowledge from which pertinent actions could be carried based on the analysis. I made sure that this vital web based information resource combine the available resources under the disposal of Hope Taxi Company was utilized to give the company the best returns possible. Information collected throughout the journey could be collected and utilized immediately a complaint was launched by a customer. This fastened up cases involving abusive drivers as well as those who were fond of over-speeding while passengers were on transit. I was in a position to monitor the functionality and content of data collected more frequently whenever an alert showed up. The business intelligence system that I created resulted into operative excellence because it enhanced the efficiency and effectiveness of business operations. In addition, the design enabled business flexibility to change by collecting and

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

Cases Analysis - Research Paper Example The prime role of the central reservation offices is to handle all calls coming from customers. The hotel call centers primarily handle calls regarding rooms’ reservations. Hotel call centers primarily serve the clients seeking for services from hotel chain companies. The central reservation office therewith provides the hotel reservation voice services on a continuous basis. It restores the customer’s feedbacks and provides accurate support to the customers too (Naveed, 2012). To improve hotel positioning, the hotel call centers should need to implement few strategies that can support it to increase its market share. Every individual hotel should suggestively try to establish its own call centre for promoting its business. Every hotel should also develop its own circuit for providing better customer services. Additionally, persons who have been appointed for voice processes are needed to be acquainted with the knowledge of several languages for services in international market. 2. Currently, the hospitality business has gained immense popularity among a large number people. After experiencing the success in leisure online travel market, the Online Travel Agencies (OTA) is observed to drive this success to a larger realm in the business industry. It is also noteworthy that the US travel agencies, such as American Express Travels as well as Carlson Wagonlit Travel have gained huge profit due to the establishment of online facilities. Those online travel agencies have expanded their business from traditional level to a large travel management companies, as observable in the current phenomenon. Moreover, few leisure sites, such as Expedia as well as Travelocity have also developed their sister sites for serving the business travelers. Currently, OTA services have been expanded to the cruise line industry besides making technology innovation to sustain in the global domain. Online marketing in the cruise line tourism industry is

The Importance of Analysis and Analytical Skills to the Manager Making Essay

The Importance of Analysis and Analytical Skills to the Manager Making Decisions in Business - Essay Example Specifically, the study evaluates the structured analytical approach to problems solving and discusses the concept of decision making. This is then followed by a critical analysis of three types of management decision making methods; project plan, financial modeling and diagrammatic representation. These methods are then discussed together in relation to management, before arriving at a conclusion on the study. Structured Analytical Approach to Problem Solving Management in the business world often presents with complex problems that call on managers to develop better approaches to problem solutions. Bonem (2011, p. 1-2) discusses the need for the structured analytical approach to solving problems, explaining that the aging and retiring of the baby boomer (or elderly) generation of workers takes away the invaluable experience needed in decision making. Thus, the author argues that the present managerial aspects of businesses need to adopt a structured analytical approach that will co unter the complexity of organisational problems and the lack of experiential knowledge. The structured analytical approach involves a cyclical multi-stage approach to decision making. Proctor (2010, p. 273) argues that the structured approach involves a number of discernible activities at each stage in the cycle; objective finding, fact finding, idea finding, problem finding, solution finding and acceptance finding. Cooke and Slack (1991) provide for a decentralised approach to executing the cyclic stages. This involves one or more individuals executing the component tasks of decision analysis which include administration, evaluation and implementation. The tow scholars present a normative cyclic approach consisting of 8 stages that involve recognition of the problem, objective setting, understanding the problem, determination of the options available, evaluation of the options established, selecting the most appropriate and effective option, implementation of the solution and monit oring. The structured analytical approach to problem solving as discussed above is a formidable approach to a business context as it addresses the root causes of the problem, identifies and assesses all possible strategic options and settles on the best. It also provides for monitoring, and the cyclic nature allows for awareness and readiness to face organisational problems and challenges which helps to avoid impetuous decision making. However, the approach is idealistic and requires being adapted to the specific context of the business environment (Cooke and Slack 1991). Thus, a manager should manipulate/customise it to suit the specificity in the environment and problem. The Concept of Managerial Decision Making Wang (2010, pp. 28-33) states that decision making is the process of choosing the best alternative to achieve goals in light of finite resources. The author argues that the concept of decision making cannot be divorced from resource allocation and the process of execution as these are dependent on sound decisions for success. Decision making is closely interrelated with problem solving, which Reza and Fahimi (2003, p. 2) define as the process of identifying and filling gaps on a desired and an actual organisational state. The authors relate decision making and structured problem solving, explaining that decision mak

Personal statement for applying master program in Finance

For applying master program in Finance - Personal Statement Example Finance is a vast subject. Just as it is revealed that human being is the crown of creation, the subject of foreign exchange is the crown of finance. Without the thorough knowledge of foreign exchange, its mercurial style of functioning, knowledge of finance, management and business world as a whole is incomplete. If we can compare the business world to an orchestra, foreign exchange is the conductor of the orchestra. All other musical instruments work in tandem as per the swing of the baton of the conductor. One who knows the subject of foreign exchange, knows how important the words like moods and swing in relation to this subject are! I like the subject of foreign exchange because I am aware of the significance of the subject in the context of global business. My interest in stock and investment goes in tandem with my fascination about the working of the foreign markets. Investments are about timing, opportunity and choices, especially for buying and selling stocks in the national as well as the international markets, one has to take split-second decisions. Often I marvel at those stock and finance wizards like Warren Buffet who take to the stock market just like fish takes to the ocean waters. They seem to function with ease, remain calm and collected, but they have a steely will and their well-versed calculations for investments, either to buy or sell stocks, are the outcome of their profound d study of the stock market and its behavior of the foreign exchange domain. This is not to say I want to follow their methods of responding to the share market and I certainly do not wish to become the second Warren Buffe t, but the first Chang Tu. That is to say, I do not like to be the follower, but the leader and prove my credentials. I have the will to grow, with the theory knowledge that I am going to acquire in university, under the able guidance of the members of the faculty. I realize that one of the

The Causes of Challenging Behavior Essay Example for Free

The Causes of Challenging Behavior Essay Dealing with children with challenging behavior has been a source of major problems amongst educators. The depth of the problem and the difficulty of dealing with students with challenging behavior have caused some schools and other educators to not properly address the trouble, hence resulting for the child’s expulsion or transfer from one school to another (Laursen and Peterson, 2005). This research will then seek to identify the causes and other risk factors that led to the development of Challenging Behavior and other related cognitive and behavioral concerns. Challenging Behavior: A Definition The Center for Evidence Based Practice (2007) defined challenging behavior as â€Å"any repeated pattern of behavior, or perception of behavior that interferes with or is at risk of interfering with optimal learning or engagement in pro-social interactions with peers and adults†. In relation with this, Emerson (1995) has added the role of culture on a development of a so-called â€Å"abnormal behavior†. Also, the element of success in school and other academic related activity was also cited by Grady (2007) as significantly related on the notion of challenging behavior. Environmental Factors One of the primary causes of challenging behavior among children is maternal depression (Douglas, 1989 p. 8). Studies showed that 30% of mothers during the 70’s to the 80’s revealed symptoms of melancholy. More specifically, a link between maternal depression and challenging behaviors of children proved to be one of the very vital risk factors. In addition, the notion of irresponsible parenting was claimed by Douglas (1989) as may be a result of a bad relationship with parents or with significant others. The role of the father in developing the behavior of the child is very crucial as studies showed that those fathers who exhibit characters of â€Å"personal disturbance, aggressive and anti-social behaviors† produced a significant effect on the children (p. 8). In addition, the difficult attitude of the father could also lead to a poor communication process that could further lead to minute cooperation and in the long run, irresponsible parenting. The study of Brown et al (1978) as cited from Douglas (1989) revealed four â€Å"Vulnerability Factors† that could be related to depression. The first factor is perceived as the death of one’s mother before the age of 11; the second factor was with regard to the absence of a â€Å"confiding relationship† with the mother’s significant others. The third was the lack of a professional career that would allow the mother to go to work, relate with other people and experience other things; and finally, those mothers who have three or more children who are all below 14 years old. Brown et al revealed that a significant 42% of â€Å"depression rate† was seen amongst mothers who have children who are all below 6 years of age. Barnes et al (1998) as cited from Michigan Non Profit Association (2002) have identified the role of parental illness as also one of the major determining factors for a child’s development of a challenging behavior. Some of the emotional dispositions of the mother that might have caused such is anxiety, depression and other negative emotional bursts that might have affect on the ability of the latter to take care of their children. In effect of this, a child may experience sadness, fear, loneliness and anger. The aggregation of these negative emotions in addition to the illness that is currently being experienced by the mother adds a lot on the distress and negative behavior that a child might exhibit. Corollary with this is the cause of family separation or divorce (Amato, 2002) (Pagain, 1997) as cited from Michigan Non Profit Association (2002). Amato and Pagain claimed that when compared from children who have a relatively better family setting, a child who has a broken family has more risks of developing challenging behaviors. In relation with this, Richman (1978) as cited from Douglas (1989) claimed that maternal depression is also associated on poor marriage; but virtually found no correlation at all to the role of relatives and friends in the curing of their depression. As such Douglas (1989) argued that it might be the case that the participants who are within the study of Richman have a relatively healthy relationship with their relatives and friends; however, such a relationship still cease to be a factor that could contribute to the well being of the mother until a healthy relationship on the significant other is established (Douglas, 1989, p. 9). The case of the child named June could be significantly related to this problem (Peterson, 2005). June is a 15 year-old female which has been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and ADHD. In addition with this, she has also been perceived as having a relatively low IQ. June has been experiencing problems in terms of dealing with her peers and also her teachers and school administrators. She has been getting her self into fights, using profanity and frequently shouts at her teachers. On one of the sessions of June to Peterson (2005), she revealed that she recognize the fact that it could be possible that the effect of her mom’s relationship with another man who eventually her step father has also influenced her attitude. In one of the incidents June admitted that her most recent tantrum resulted due to watching a movie that reminded her of the bad incident that happened to her and to her step sister. She claimed that there was this time wherein some men on their place have been using some â€Å"chemicals†. At that time, her step sister became intoxicated and was later on sexually abused by those men. In addition, June herself claimed that she was also raped (Peterson, 2005). The role of marital relationship has been perceived as one of the major factors in shaping child behavior, however McLean (1976) as cited from Douglas (1989, p. 9) argued that there are a relatively few number of parents who are willing to undergo marriage guidance for the sake of their children. In relation with this, the Michigan Non Profit Association (2002) claimed that another reason for the emerging of a child’s challenging behavior could be a result of the relationship between the custodial parent and the child. More specifically, the absence of the custodial parent further makes things more difficult for the child since the latter has usually more attachment to his or her biological mother or father. Other cases such as financial difficulties also emerge on the picture as some parents failed to provide the needs of their children as a result of single parenthood or irresponsibility. The role of environmental stress such as poor housing and poverty has also been asserted by Douglas (1989) and Michigan Non Profit Association (2002) as a contributing factor on challenging behavior. The study made by Richman (1978) as cited from Douglas (1989) revealed the relationship of the type of abode to the development of challenging behavior. Richman claimed that there is a high depression rate that could be seen among children who are living in tower blocks. More specifically, those mothers who reside starting from the fourth floor and higher revealed a relatively high risk factor. The physical conditions of the rooms up stairs have been perceived to be the cause of the problem. Richman (1978) claimed that â€Å"damp housing conditions, lack of electricity or hot water, and overcrowding† (p. 9) also add to the depression that a mother experiences. In addition, majority of the mothers who experience depression are those who are with pre-school children who are unsupported and who are living in single bedsits (Richman as cited from Douglas 1989). In addition, Richman argued that such a type of disposition has further added on the depression that a mother experiences. However Richman as cited from Douglas (1989) made it clear that the abode per se does not directly influenced the behavior of the child, rather the amount of depression that is being experienced by the parent. If a particular mother perceived that she is being demoralized because of the type of her abode and its conditions, therefore she will certainly feel depressed and pass on this depression to her child. In addition to the amount of depression, a parent may also feel angry about her situation. In effect of this, the mother will slowly cut her relationship with her child, lost her patience easily; scrap her self out of enthusiasm and totally let her self fully bothered with her problems and deprive her child of proper care. In addition, Richman also made a point that some mothers who live in depressed areas do not necessarily exhibit depressing behaviors. He maintained that the treatment of a mother’s problem is completely relative to the perceiver.

Techniques to Develop Creativity

Techniques to Develop Creativity Abstract. Creativity is the ability which has the human being to create something out of other ideas that are new and interesting but unfortunately in the actual education system not are implemented, so the present article explain about some things that have to change in the education system to increase the creativity in the students, the creativity can be learned, practiced, and developed by the use of proven techniques that it will speak more later. The implementation of creativity in the education in very importan because the schools must be a pillar bases to enrich and encourage creativity in each one of the students, in other words the improvement of creativity in education has great importance for the development of the students and a nation, because it can improve the formation of scientists, engineers, and specialists. The human creativity represents an enigma to the research community: It is all but impossible to describe the process in unequivocal terms, yet there is a strong desire to promote in the education the develop of creativity. The quality of education is one of the most commonly used expressions currently in the field of education, as a point of reference that justifies any process of change or improvement of the plan. In this area the development of creativity would be the backbone of a new educational system that is more efficient than other systems, because creative thinking in a disciplined manner can play a real role in innovation. Creativity and innovation are normally complementary activities(European Commission, 1998). The improvement of creativity in education has great importance for the development of the students and the nation, because it can improve the formation of scientists, engineers, and specialists. It can be learned, practiced, and developed by the use of proven tec hniques, so it is necessary to adopt a education system used in other countries that it is more effective. For example, Finland system in the education, implementation of appropriate tools to develop of the creativity and techniques and methods for develop the creativity. All these points are necessary to give solution to reduction of the creativity in the education, so it can be considered as a basis for building a strong education structure and the increase index them creativity in schools, universities and other institutions. There exists a big variability of creative techniques to use as individuals and groups. However the techniques that are more appropriate to generate creativity are used in groups. But, why are group techniques more efficient than the individual techniques? The European Commission gave the answer creativity is an attribute of the individual, though generally it can only be developed efficiently when it is tackled within a group of team.(European Commission, 1998). Some of techniques more used for develop the creativity are: analytic techniques and intuitive techniques (Sefertzi. 2000). Analytical techniques follow a linear pattern of thought or sequence of steps very good organize, in other words this type of organization in the question help that student stimulate different ways of organization known information and help approach problems from new angles (Miller 1987). Intuitive techniques are less structured techniques, so the intuitive techniques have not a organization or steps th at student have that follow because the student or other person that use the intuitive technique, only he has that look the phenomena of his study and the he has formalote intuitively hypothesis, theory and other suppositions to can give a explanation about the phenomena. Now, but to apply these methods and tapeworms requires the use of instruments that would facilitate a better understanding and stimulate the brain. According to Andriele De Prà ¡ Carvalho, Eloiza Avila de Matos, Dà ¡lcio Roberto dos Reis, Luà ­s Felippi Serpe and Sandro Carvalho there are also 67 creative techniques to stimulate the development of creativity in students. Following is the description of some of the tools for creativity. Analogy technique: According to Tsuilien Shena and Jiin Chyuan Laib the analog technique can help people to understand unknown events or houses from known elements (Shen Lai. 2014), in other words acts as a connection between the image that makes your brain to understand the phenomenon you do not know. Bullet Proof Technique: This technique consists of searching or determining in a specific area where the ideas and objectives raised have a high risk of failure, therefore the main idea of the technique is to find solutions to the problem that may appear in those cases. Inconsistency Analysis Technique : The technique consists in find contradictions to a certain situation, then you have to find the possible solutions, but the solutions titnen that being innovator. According to Andriele De Prà ¡ Carvalho, Eloiza Avila de Matos, Dà ¡lcio Roberto dos Reis, Luà ­s Felippi Serpe and Sandro Carvalho for the use of the technique of inconsistencies recommends the ones of: A list of inherent contradictions of these problems that you could solve in a daily basis. Add to the list the new contradictions you may find and try to identify the interaction among them. If you could find a way to remove or reduce multiple contradictions at once, then you will have a higher probability to identify an executable solution (Carvalho., Matos., Reis., Serpe Carvalho. 2012) New View Technique: The technique has the purpose of obtaining a suggestion or reaction from one or more persons about a specific topic, that is to say, the conclusions, recommendations and suggestions that the person or each person receives, the mind opens to new Therefore, this technique gives students new ways of thinking. Mental Mapping Technique: Paul Farrand, Fearzana Hussain and Enid Hennessy in their article say that Mind maps provide an effective study technique when applying written material Farrand.,Hussain., Hennessy. 2002), because when a student makes a mental map, he / she interconnects actions and concepts of a topic in general, therefore these interconeccion of concepts provide the student with a clearer way to understand in content of the subject. Notebook Technique: This type of technique is the most used among the students, because the student has the ability to write his everyday ideas, events, class subjects and other, a very important point is the way he notes his ideas, in other words the ideas annotated in the book, subjects in subjects among others are very easy to understand for the student because they are his own words that are written. Reflection Groups Technique: According to the article, the technique consists of the collaboration of a group of students who collaborate with each other with a common goal, therefore the ideas expressed by each one of the group members will not be the same, so the group have to reach a unanimous decision. The decisions in the main challenge facing the group. All of the above examples are designed to help people develop skills to engage in creative ways of looking at problems and framing solutions using these tools, and to maintain those skills even without using the tools. But there are also other types of tools based technologies. The technology today is also at our service to develop our creative capacity with a large number of mobile applications, also sotfware developed for computers and other electronics devices. According to Joyce J. Elam and Melissa Mead, the support system for creativity emerged around the 1970 (Elam Mead 1990), the initiative was promising to provide computer-based tools that would enable those responsible for decision making have the great possibility of developing improved solutions with more creativity in the face of the problems to be solved. Also in an article by Mingyang Gu and Xin Tong argument that the development of software for creativity has to have two fundamental aspects: discipline and creative, because software construction can be a great problem and in the case but if the Developed does not have the clear ideas of what he wants to build, everything is very similar to a hell. Many scientist research have orientation about the development of creativity as an process apply in the education. Some studies about creative abilities show that can be developed by the implementation of tools that estimate the brain, because in a research say the brain is a muscle that need exercise for attain a better performance (Taylor. 1972). Creativity can specifically be developed supporting tools, for example a computer can be a tool for creativity, because they contain models of software created with the purpose of stimulating the brains students, computer software idea processors, information systems, etc., for example MindMeister is a free software that you can find in internet, according to Rahimi, Van den Berg and Even, they think that MindMeister is very useful tool for students and also for teachers. Compared to paper, in MindMeister you can add much digital stuff to your mind map including im- ages, URLs, and links. (Rahimi., Van den Berg. Veen. 2012), also MindMeis ter is considered the best application in the market to develop mind maps online. With its award winning online version and its free mobile apps, its users can make mind maps at school, at home, at the office and wherever they are. Mind mapping with MindMeister is such an easy and intuitive process that anyone from a first grader to the CEO of a company can use this application to improve their productivity and put their creative ideas into action. MindMeister offers a variety of amazing features that allow users to collaborate and brainstorm online, plan projects, develop business strategies, create fantastic presentations and use the enormous potential that mindmaps offer for education. To this end, MindMeister offers huge discounts to students and teachers, and even offers free accounts with up to 10 mind maps that provide all the necessary features for creating mental maps: simple but with huge reach. The tools are that it develops a purpose which is help students to create, pro mote and generate creativity, creativity tools, stimulate the imagination. Everyone is creative, so each must find his environment to develop that creative side, that we all have but for able a best result of creativity. As the result of a radical change in the education system, methods a techniques and implementation of tools, produce that the creativity in the students can be more effective. In actual moment exist a decadent in the creativity of the student but in the future with the implementation of all that wrote in the essay can be posible the develop of creativity. REFERENCES European Commission (1998), Innovation Management Techniques in Operation, European Commission, Luxembourg. Higgins, J.M. (1996), Innovate or evaporate: creative techniques for strategists, Long Range Planning, Vol. 29, No. 3, pp. 370-380. Sefertzi, E.. (2000). Creativity . noviembre 17,2016, de EC funded project Sitio web: http://www.urenio.org/tools/en/creativity.pdf Miller, W. (1986), The Creative Edge, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA. Amabile, T. M., Conti, R., Coon, H., Lazenby, J., Herron, M. (1996). Assessing the work environment for creativity. Academy of management journal, 39(5), 1154-1184. Carvalho, A. D. P., de Matos, E. A., dos Reis, D. R., Serpe, L. F., Carvalho, S. (2012). Tools for Creativity. US-China Education Review, 2(11), 936-946. Shen, T., Lai, J. C. (2014). Formation of Creative Thinking by Analogical Performance in Creative Works. Farrand, P., Hussain, F., Hennessy, E. (2002). The efficacy of themind mapstudy technique. Medical education, 36(5), 426-431. Elam, J. J., Mead, M. (1990). Can software influence creativity?. Information Systems Research, 1(1), 1. Gu, M., Tong, X. (2004, April). Towards hypotheses on creativity in software development. In International Conference on Product Focused Software Process Improvement (pp. 47-61). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Rahimi, E., Van den Berg, J., Veen, W. (2012, December). Designing and implementing PLEs in a secondary school using Web2. 0 tool. In The Personal Learning Envrionment (PLE) Conference, Melbourne, Australia, 12-13 July, 2012. Public Knowledge Project.

Impact of widowhood on elderly women in nigeria

Impact of widowhood on elderly women in nigeria The paper examines the social structured context and implications of widowhood in Southeastern Nigeria. It argues that in spite of the efforts by formal and informal agencies to alleviate the burdens of widowhood, the gender informed discriminatory practice of mourning which exacts a heavy toll on women persists. In this case, widows are exposed to harsh and often cruel mourning practices which are especially tasking for elderly women who have to contend with frail physical health, loss of partners and the mental, psychological and physical stress of widowhood. Therefore, while these practices are norm oriented they expose the elderly widows to psychological and social coping challenges. However, these elderly widows are also often led into activities and social strategies perceived as capable of alleviating the burdens of widowhood. Equally interesting is the finding that widows who are actively engaged and enjoy social support cope better with the challenges of widowhood than other s. In view of the above, the paper argues for a more active role by social workers in informing care provisioning and policies for lessening the burdens of widowhood on elderly women. INTRODUCTION The plight of widows has been a recurrent theme in the efforts to address perceived or real gender imbalance in African societies even in contemporary times. In spite of this the traditional conception of mourning which places a higher burden on women has obviously defied reform efforts. Hence the focus on widows actually derives from the traditional and patriarchal nature of African societies in which women are often regarded as the silent role players. In such a situation a woman who loses her partner may confront culturally structured scenarios different from the case of a man in the same situation. Therefore, the imaginings of widowhood in African societies are socio-culturally structured and reinforced and generate significant gender imbalance. Widowhood, meaning loss of ones spouse whether early or later in life entails a lot of things, mostly problems for the bereaved. Its effects may even be worse when the bereaved is an elderly person. Her self identity also changes in the sense that it brings on an era of identity crisis. This is because the widows feel that the real essence of their being married has been lost by the death of spouses. Coping with this identity crisis depends to a large extent on the individuals capacity and will. For traditionally oriented women, the role of wife is central to their lives, structuring their lives not only in their house holds but also on the job and in answering the question who am I and these women often put wife of at the top of their lists (Atchley, 1996). Social recognition and acceptance also pose a problem to widows because often times, widowhood in African societies goes with the erosion of social recognition. Widows often face problems of declining social recognition and acceptance after the death of their spouses and this can be linked to their losing their central roles of wife. In dealing with the societal attitude, these women get involved in other activities that they think will help them get recognition from the public and this can be seen in their active involvement in politics. The elderly people in the society are often stereotyped as lazy, wicked, hard to please disgusting, sickly and sometimes even diabolical (Korieh, 2005). This can be explained by the fact that they are viewed as burdens and distractions from ones immediate family and responsibilities. This stereotype is wrong because in the society, old people who are kind, peaceful and God fearing can still be found and this shows that one being evil or nice has nothing to do with age but the persons character and dispositions in life. According to Hazelrigg (1977), age by itself is not the cause of anything and it gets meaning only from how we use it to sort people. Thus, although age is used systematically to distinguish and categorize people, age in itself explains very little or nothing at all. The loss of a spouse can be a very traumatic experience particularly for many older women who devoted most of their lives to their marriages, husbands and children. Widowhood has thus been called the exemplar of a stressful life event and perhaps requiring more adjustment than any other life transition. (Hatch, 2000; Gallagtor et al, 1983). In addition to this, isolation and exclusion from the social environment sets in all in the name of widowhood practices and rituals and the woman is not expected traditionally to look after herself or freshen-up. This is often defined crudely as not bathing or combing her hair (See Basden, 1966). He aptly captured this practice in traditional Igbo society. According to him the woman mourning: Moves from her deceased husbands house to a small but in another part of the compound. While dwelling in this hut, she wears no clothes unless perhaps a rag; she must sit on a block or wood and nowhere else. Instead of a sleeping mat, a banana leaf must suffice (Basden, 1966; 278). A prominent theoretical orientation in gerontology, the activity theory of aging argues that normal aging involves maintaining as long as possible the activities and attitudes of middle age (See, Havighurst, 1963; Brehm, 1968). The basic assertion of this theory is that individuals should be just as active and involved in a variety of different roles and responsibilities in their later years as they were in their middle years. Judging by the loneliness and feeling of aloneness these widows experience after living for decades with their spouses and losing them when their companionship is most needed- at retirement one would agree that the activity theory to a large extent captures the situation of these widow (See Atchley1996). Thus, according to Brehm (1968), except for the biological and health changes older people have essentially the same psychological and social needs as middle aged people. From our study, it was discovered that this activity theory is of very great significance as a reasonable number of elderly widows used in the study agreed that active involvement in occupation helped them deal with widowhood and its related stress. For them, it helped them overcome loneliness, provide them with resources and kept time moving. This is in live with the contention of Kunkel (1979), that working class widows adjust better during bereavement than those sick, jobless or incapacitated. Based on both the likely erosion of social recognition and insurmountable loss which widowhood occasions, widows have often had to face socio-psychological challenges. These challenges result from both the societal attitude to widows and more crucially the psychological and even physical health of widows. As the above discussion shows, the case of elderly women may be worse given the unexamined stereotype about their attitudes and behaviour (See Korieh, 2005). Therefore this study sought to ascertain the socio-psychological impact of widowhood on elderly women in a typical traditional setting in Nigeria. Such an exercise has undoubted policy and research implications since discrimination against widows form part of the much decried harmful traditional practices against women. Hence the outcome of this study may be instrumental in informing social policies for protection of women as well as pinpointing empirical and theoretical social work response to the problems of widowhood. The study was conducted in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria. Three quarters in the local government area viz Nkpunano, Nru and Ihe-owere were purposively chosen for the study. A total of 500 respondents were chosen through purposive sampling in the above three quarters. All the respondents were identified elderly widows above fifty years of age in these communities. The multi-stage sampling technique was used in actually selecting the above respondents while the questionnaire and interviews were used as instruments of data collection. The findings of the study reported below was based on a total number of 448 elderly women who fully responded to the study instruments. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MENTAL/EMOTIONAL STRESS AND WIDOWHOOD IN ELDERLY WOMEN IN NIGERIA. One glaring socio-psychological impact of widowhood identified in the study sample is mental/emotional stress. In the case, quite a good number of the respondents reported experiencing this type of psychological imbalance. As the table below indicates, the enormity of responsibilities widowhood lays on them triggers off mental/emotional stress in addition to physical stress. Table i: Distribution of Respondents by Nature of Health Stress. Stress Respondents Percentage Mental Stress 7 1.6 Physical Stress 280 62.5 None 161 35.9 Total 448 100 From the table above, apart from the 161 widows (35.9%) who declared they had no stress at all, 280 (62.5%) suffered from physical stress while 7 (1.6%) suffered from mental stress. This was as a result of the weight of responsibilities handed down to them after the death of their spouses. As has been indicated in the literature (See Basden, 1966), the isolation of the widow and the shabby treatment meted out to her in the name of culture in Igboland can generate and heighten emotional and mental stress. In fact as one of our respondents stated, most of the times I fall sick, it is because I think of how to care for my family and I dont seem to come up with any solution. Therefore in the Igbo area of Nigeria generally, as our study reveals, widows are confronted by social practices and observances such as disinheritance, and isolation which have adverse effects on their mental and psychological balance. Mental/emotional stress is a situation in ones mental well being or emotional state occasioned by tragedy (See Atchley, 1996). According to Atchley this stress can be manifested in the form of extreme anxiety, worries, frequent head-ache, high blood pressure, insomnia, heartache and regular hospital visits precipitated by mainly by worry. In patriarchal societies, especially where the widows are suspected of killing their husbands widows are left entirely without social support (see Korieh, 1995). This is usually worse for the women who do not have adequate educational background or who were prevented from obtaining further education. According to one of our respondents, a close relative of her deceased husband tried justifying the treatment meted out to her by asking her how come it was our brother who died? Therefore, the death of a womans spouse in Igboland is usually a great psychological and physical challenge to the widow and her children. The woman who is bereaved is usually expected to be the chief mourner, assisted by relatives and friends, the wailing, weeping and hysteria are expected to go on for days before the mans burial and even afterwards (Afigbo,1989). As has been reported in the literature such wailings and bitter lamentations are culturally expected (Basden, 1966; Meek 1937 cf Afigbo, 1989). This practice of prolonged wailing and anguish enforced by culture may often affect the psychological and mental balance of the woman (See Afigbo, 1989). In addition to this, widowhood may also occasion psychological and mental imbalance in some women especially older women whose mental faculties and emotions have been weakened by the challenges of living. Another key practice of widowhood in Africa which affects a womans psychological balance is the compulsory period of seclusion and isolation (Nwoga, 1989). In this case, the woman is isolated from the community for a specified period. According to this scholar, the isolation is combined with a regime of total neglect of the hygiene and body needs of the woman and incidentally, the practice of widowhood known as Igba-nkpe has also been noticed among Islamic communities. According to Trimmingham (1959), this period is known as iddat or idda among the Moslems and covers an average period of four months and ten days but in Igboland, the period lasts full 12 calendar months though radical Christianity has reduced it in some cases nowadays to six months. Due to their ages also, there are more reports of depression, poor health or new or heightened illnesses among these widows than there is among non-bereaved elderly widows and some of them do not live longer than one year after the deaths of their spouses (Gallagher and Thompson, 2001). This is because depression sets in at the loss of a spouse and most of them tell themselves that there is nothing to live for anymore. At some other times, married women friends see these widows as threats to their own still existing marriages and as a result terminate their relationships with these widows at the death of their spouses. ACTIVE INVOLVEMENT IN OCCUPATION AND COPING WITH WIDOWHOOD AMONG ELDERLY WOMEN Women across the globe have shown enviable courage, resourcefulness and residence in carrying on despite the trauma caused by widowhood, the isolation imposed on them by widowhood and the difficult tasks of earning a living and protecting themselves and their dependent family members. These women work outside the home as the breadwinners, make decisions, head their households and sometimes organize other women in areas of public life (ICRC, 1999). The above is no less the case with elderly widows in Southeastern Nigeria whose burden may have been doubled by the reality of aging. However, the women as our findings indicate see maintaining a sense of balance through engagement in occupation or meaningful economic activity as critical to surviving the coping challenges of widowhood in old age. Therefore, as can be noted from the table below, most of the widows were actively involved in one form of occupation or the other in order to earn a living for their families, and maintain some le vel of socio-economic functioning considered necessary to coping with widowhood: Table ii: Distribution of Respondents by Perceived influence of Active Involvement in Occupation on Coping: Active Involvement Respondents Percentage Yes 399 89.1 No 49 10.9 Total 448 100% It can be noted that 399 respondents (89.1%) stated that active involvement in occupation helped them deal with the stress of widowhood. This is in agreement with the literature which asserts that active involvement in occupation assists widows to deal with widowhood (See Kunkel, 1979). These widows when further questioned expressed different reasons for their involvement in active occupation but given that finance usually is a big problem to widows, 126 (31.6%) and 154 (38.6%) respondents respectively believe in active involvement because it provides money for the upkeep of the family and prevents too much thinking for the widows: Table iii: Distribution of Respondents by Importance of Active Involvement in Occupation. Importance of Active Involvement Respondents Percentage Prevents loneliness 56 14 Prevents thinking 154 38.6 Provides money resources 126 31.6 Keeps time moving 63 15.8 Total 399 100 Apart from involvement in occupation, these widows engaged themselves in some sort of social activities. These they did most times to get their minds off their problems especially at those periods the pains of loss of a love one and maltreatment by in-laws were very intense. The table below goes to show that a reasonable number of widows get themselves occupied socially in one thing or the other as a way of avoiding being engrossed in the throes of pain or endless contemplation of life without ones partner: Table iv: Distribution of Respondents by Social Strategies Adopted by Elderly Widows: Social Strategy Respondents % Active involvement in meetings 77 17.2 Stepped up interaction with family 42 9.4 Move involvement in religion 259 57.8 Introversion 14 3.1 Just keeping busy 56 12.5 Total 448 100 Given that most of the respondents were Christians, it was not out of place to discover that majority of them adopted or resorted to prayers as a social strategy to cope with widowhood. In the interviews as well, it was observed that a good number of them adopted church activities as a solace from the loneliness and difficulties associated with widowhood. Apparently, the widows as the interviews revealed held strongly to the popular notion that when all things fail, God never fails. One of them said in vernacular, Ekpere bu ikem. Chukwu bu onye nkwado m. This simply means in English, Prayer is my strength, God is my provider. From the foregoing therefore, the study revealed that most of the elderly widows at one point or another adopted economic strategies to help them cope the hardship associated with widowhood. Such strategies ranged from petty trading down to taking up additional jobs. On the other hand, they also adopted social strategies to assist them in their daily affairs as widows. These womens involvement in occupations and church activities as means of coping or overcoming widowhood are largely in agreement with the views of some scholars who have written on widowhood (see, Kunkel, 1979; Atchley, 1997). SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE AND THE ALLEVIATION OF PROBLEMS OF WIDOWS IN NIGERIA. As the study revealed, widowhood in Southeastern Nigeria poses a variety of problems to women ranging from low social prestige, disinheritance, and forceful remarriage amongst others. Widows in Southeastern Nigeria often encounter the most severe forms of these discriminations in spite of the increasing modernity of all spheres of the society. One dimension of this gender discrimination is that once the man dies, the widow faces the incidence of disinheritance by in-laws. In western societies, a woman is entitled to all she ever had or shared with her deceased husband but as this study found out in Southeastern Nigeria widows, though preferring to continue to work on the lands owned by their late husbands cannot do so because land inheritance is impossible for them as a result of cultural norms which forbid this (Korieh, 2005). According to Oluwa (2005), though in paper the statutory and customary laws indicate that widows should inherit or be sole beneficiaries of their dead husbands properties (especially where children exist), this does not apply in practice. Rather in some cases where the woman is desperate for these lands and property, she is forced to conform to the tradition of widow inheritance. In this case, the woman is treated as part of the properties of the dead men and is also available for inheritance. She b ecomes the legal wife of her inheritor and the children inherited and those born by the inheritor are considered to belong to the new husband (Evans Pritchard, 1951). The study also discovered that for fear of ostracism and related punishments, widows suffer in silence, especially when they are denied traditional sources of support. This usually causes economic hardships and deprivation. They lose their honour and respect as soon as they lose their husbands. Their husbands being traditionally their main sources of honour and respect, once dead gives room for them to be treated with disregard as humans especially by in-laws (ICRC, 1999). This can be explained by the popular Igbo adage which says that Di bu ugwu nwanyi, (a husband is a womans honour). It was further discovered that widowhood in Igboland is usually a great psychological and physical challenge to the elderly widow. The wailing, weeping and hysteria are expected to go on for days, before the mans burial and even after wards; as is obvious in the literature, such wailings and bitter lamentations are cultural expected (Basden, 1966, Meek, 1937 of Afigbo, 1989) and this prolonged wailing and anguish enforced by culture may often affect the psychological and mental balance of the woman. The list of problems is almost in exhaustible and these call for the intervention of social work services to help alleviate if not eradicate them entirely. From the study it was noticed that those widows who involved themselves in occupation cope better than those who did not. Social workers should therefore take cognizance of the need to sensitize the idle widows to get busy in order to overcome both the financial and emotional hazards of widowhood rather than wallowing in self pity. In this case social workers can go the extra mile of linking widows with systems or organizations where these jobs no matter how small can be found. They can also act as advocates for these widows on the issue of in-laws maltreatment. This role of advocacy should be extended to the policy makers bringing to their notice the ills suffered by the widows especially the elderly ones so that ways of enforcing already existing policies will be found and new ones established. These policies should cover areas such as Medicare for widows, living arrangements (this can be achieved by building low cost houses), changing or eradication of harmful widowhood practices etc. Perhaps beyond the above public policy responses is the critical need for a widow oriented social work practice which while cognizant of the socio-cultural and psychological burdens of widowhood in Southeast Nigeria sees the elderly widows as a special group. Basically, aging and its resultant physical infirmities and socio-psychological withdrawal makes the elderly widow particularly vulnerable to widow induced stress. Hence, social workers acting in their capacities to function as enhancers of coping capacity, linking agents and promoters of effective humane operation of social systems (see, Ekpe Mamah, 1997 on the functions of social work) can do a lot to improve the situation of elderly widows in a male dominated society like the Igbo Southeastern Nigeria. The re-examination of the main findings of this study indicates that the situation of elderly widows can be explained along the lines of the popular continuity theory in social work. According to this theory the individual in the course of growing older is predisposed towards maintaining stability in the habits, associations, preferences and lifestyle that he/she developed over the years (Peterson, 1976; McCrae and Costa, 1984). According to these Scholars, peoples habits, preferences, associations, states of health and experiences will in large part determine their ability to maintain their lifestyle while retiring from full time employment and perhaps adjust to the death of a loved one. Therefore in accordance with our findings in the study, it can be inferred that activity at old age helps the elderly overcome loss of their loved ones especially their spouses and this activity if possible should be in the areas preferred and chosen by the individual with which he/she had been accustomed to over time.

The Boondoggle of Vouchers and School Choice :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

The Boondoggle of School Choice The summer before my freshman year of high school, my suburban school district decided to implement a new school choice program developed for the state of Massachusetts. It is a program-limited choice similar to many others around the country. Schools offer a certain number of spaces in each class for "choice students," that is, students from other towns who wish to attend the school. Students apply and enter a random lottery system. If they are chosen, they become legally-enrolled students at the new school. The costs of the program are covered by the child's hometown or subsidized by the state. The logic of the program (and all other choice programs) is that it offers students the ability to attend better schools than those in their hometowns. School choice is lauded as the great white hope of American education. "Let's give those kids a chance!" "Let's take control of our children's education!" Supporters claim that school choice will not only save our students, but it will also save our schools. Schools will be forced to improve their programs to remain competitive. Soon, all students will be attending the schools they want to, and all schools will be worthy of their students. School choice is the panacea for the problems of American education. Or at least that's what the proponents of the program tell us. Unfortunately, they leave out a few crucial points. School choice will not be the saving of the American mind. It is a desperate attempt to patch up the problems of our system by offering a few students a new option and calling it salvation. One is reminded of a great juggling act, where if a few students are shuffled around, we may not notice the others falling to the ground. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain . . . Let me stress that I am not speaking as a bitter product of the system who feels that school choice has hurt her educational experience. When it was first installed in our school, a number of parents, students and community members were outraged. They took a "not in my backyard" approach to the situation, bemoaning the influx of students from "bad schools." They thought that the innocence of our town would be lost, as students who were different from our sheltered community were admitted.

Sending Technology Back in Time :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Sending Technology Back in Time The hot sun was shining high in the sky, as wind picked up dirt and threw it through the air. A tall, dark haired man stepped carefully behind a wooden plow. The animal that pulled the wooden, manmade creation was a shaggy, dark-gray donkey. The field is approximately two acres, and will probably take from sunrise to sunset to plow. In the distance, a brown horse and buggy slowly move along a flat dirt road. The long and tedious trip to the nearest town will take all day. John, the man guiding the plow, will have to take the same journey in a few days. For the most part, John is able to stay on the farm and perform daily tasks. The farm is self-sufficient. The lives of John and his family are devoted to taking care of the farm; without it, they would have nothing. Days are long on the farm and the five children that are old enough work a full day. The oldest children help in the fields with the plowing or planting. The younger children help with the simpler tasks and the two youngest run and play. The work is laborious and time consuming, and John's body aches after each day of work. The setting sun in the west tells John that it will soon be time to stop. When the only light that revealed any of the outside world was from the small glow of a gas lantern, John finally called it quits. Glad that the day was over, he headed back in the house. Dinner was already on the table, and all the kids were seated around it, hands and faces washed. John's wife, Anne, spent nearly the whole day preparing the meal of foods that were all acquired from their farm. When all the food was cleared from the plates, John headed to bed. He dreamed of little, knowing that all he had to wake up to the next morning was more work. As the sun began to creep through the blinds of the windows, a loud, obnoxious beep rang through his room. John woke with a jump to find that the noise was coming from a small box with a clock face on the front. The beeping continued until, John was finally able to find the off switch. The sound was still ringing in his ears, as he took a glance around his room.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Speech

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Hello and thank you all for coming! Today, we are here to commemorate the man, or Genius rather, who goes by the name of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. At the early age of four, he could learn a piece of music in a mere thirty minutes. At six years old, he began writing his first symphonies. Oh, the joy I would have if I could just sit and talk with him about his passion for music. We would talk about how he structures his compositions or about how easy he thought it was to compose a piece of music in only a short amount of time.Mozart’s mind is almost magical in my eyes. The precision he put into every one of his symphonies and operas emulates the passion he must have felt for his work. Of course it goes with out mention that he had his struggles every now and then, especially with matters of money. But through it all, he still managed to bring the world a wide array of music, which we can honestly say has defined a major portion of the â€Å"classical† period of music. Many composers that followed him sought to emulate his style, but it seems to me that there was no one greater than Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.As a classically trained opera singer, I have experienced the joy and struggle that accompanies any Mozart compilation. As I began learning his work, I was able to step into the shoes of one of Mozart’s opera singers. I imagined him encouraging my progress and watching my every achievement. Having learned many of his operas, I wondered how many he actually wrote in his life and what went into making them. I also thought of how his work had affected my life and the life of others.And, because of this my friends, I am here today to show you why Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart deserves a day of recognition for what he has given us, and to immortalize his life and works, and for his influence in my life. His operas are enchanting and unforgettable, but more importantly, the admiration I gained from learning his operas throughout m y life has given me a greater respect for the love of classical music. Mozart had many followers of his talented music, and of course, as he traveled for work, he had to accommodate to them.He composed many operas in German, Latin, and Italian. The traveling started when he was young. At only seven years old, his father would take him and his sister on tour across Europe, which gave him the chance to perform and to absorb many different styles of music. Since Wolfgang was a fast learner, he was quick to acknowledge the many musical idioms he had learned and that in turn helped him setup his own style of music. When he began freelancing his music, he sparked a great interest among people because they had never experienced the â€Å"Mozart† way of music.If he hadn’t embarked on his own path of self-fulfillment, I wouldn’t be here talking with you today. You see, Mozart had a passion and he built on that and was able to watch it grow. His actions have helped me kee p my love for music growing. Like Mozart, there are times that I struggle with the music, but it’s the passion and perseverance inside of me that pushes me forward. Because of my endeavors and accomplishments with Mozart’s operas, I was able to cultivate a new view on life. There is courage in me that I have gained from overcoming the difficulties of his works.I have an enormous amount of respect for real music because I know how much time and talent goes into it. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has shown me, through his works, that I can achieve great things and that I can over come difficulties. There is a way to share with others the joy and strength he has given me, and that is to dedicate a day of celebration in his name. I am proud to honor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart by proclaiming that January 21st is national Mozart day. This day will not only commemorate the day he was born, but it will also memorialize the history of his life.In celebration there will be chances for you to learn more about the famous composer. Historians will share with you the stories of his life, orchestras and operas will preform for you his many challenging masterpieces, and musicians everywhere will have a chance to be recognized for all the hard work and dedication they put into sharing the gift of music. A banquet held for them will provide the opportunity to learn and share all the unique aspects of music each musician can share with the world.This day will help us to set our goals high, and like Mozart, we will achieve greatness. No one will ever have the misfortune of not knowing who Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is and what he has blessed us with. Joy and relaxation will run through the veins of listeners as radio stations spread the beauty that his music provides. Mozart’s life was built around music. He was preforming almost his whole life, and even though that is true, most of us wish he could give us more.There are many works of music out there that have been writt en by Mozart but there are many more pieces of music that have been written and shaped by the influence he has bestowed upon the world. His love for music has shown me how much I can achieve just by pursuing the hard to reach goals. As we celebrate his life, may we take advantage of the joy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart can bring to each of our lives. But remember, Mozart was truly gifted and was recognized for it at an early age. You can encourage your children to get involved with music. You never know, what if they become the next â€Å"Mozart! † Thank you

Aim In Life Essay

I always feel that one needs to know where one is going in life so that when one reaches the place he can move beyond the horizon set for him. That is why it is essential for every person to have some aim in life. This aim gives people the strength to face obstacles and move the barriers in path to success. Almost every successful human being in history had a dream, which became the driving force that took them to the pinnacle of success. The aims of these people were to make the dream a reality. Henry Ford’ s aim was to make the motor car within the reach of the common people and today Ford is one of the biggest car manufacturers in the whole world. In Bangladesh, Dr. Yunus’s aim to bring credit facility to the poorest people in the country saw the birth of now world famous Grameen Bank I also have an aim in life. My aim is to own a business organization that-opens up opportunities to young people of the country. Helping them to get established in their own ventures with the right support by training them, helping them obtain capital and any other support they may need. I will try to encourage people to become entrepreneurs and such an organization will go a long way in encouraging people to take up the path of business. To fulfill my aim I want to get a degree in business administration as I feel this will equip me with the right attitude and knowledge. Then I intend to work in different reputed organizations to orient myself with the structure and workings of companies. I feel that, with the right education and work experience along with the right type of network. I will one day be able to reach my aim in life and then maybe go beyond that towards an even broader horizon.

My place: My space

This world is definitely made up of mild illusions that we are still living harmoniously with each other and with our environment. We have come to this age where society is not reaching to people in human forms anymore. Human interaction emerges over the net’s immense capacity. We are in dire need of a fulfilling social interaction. What we have are lots of electronic chat and message board’s trash with no honest emotional interconnections to serve feelings and sharing real experiences itself be it pain or joy. We all have the compassion to share what we feel and radiate inner happiness to other people who are in search for even one friend to understand their world, this world and them. Living in a fast paced society, in a fast paced world, makes adults and youth evolve to unlimitedly cope up the pressures of work, environment, social interaction stratification, family, and technology. Sadly, adult’s priority listing serves to cope up on everything where they can gain advantage especially monetary ones living family relationships concept behind. The idea might be challenging but simply exhilarating! I feel the need to do my thing amidst the complexities of my environment and human nature. There is something I have to catch on in this world – a need to catch me. Dare ask the question of meaning: Are people losing themselves to the black hole of their own creativity? We perform what we seek and in the process of achieving lose a part of ourselves and buried a lot of relationships therein, but to whose gain? My bedroom is the only place in this world where I can express myself be it art, poetry, speech writing, and reading. My computer is in my bedroom and it does a lot of things for me to serve my personal interest of relaxation, my music, my DVD’s, and my passion work at home academic writing and research. My bedroom is my place giving me my space from an infinite battle of articulating progress and pace. The place to spend one’s time to regenerate youth and vigor does not only mean costly trips to beauty spas and saloons. It also mandates comfort and convenience in experiencing freedom of doing the things you love thus making it your very own passion and inspiration to be the person you really wanted to be without catering illusions. Just plain me and my unique characteristic of enjoying the art of being alone without the presence of friends and other people engaging me into general discussions and afterwards ends up telling me what to do. This is rather a contrary to the kind of empathy and intellectual responses I expect out of human interactions. Replenishing my energy and recovering my perspective in life through music and meditations makes me feel whole and refresh upon completion of the task. My bedroom is the only place in the world that respects my privacy and guess I can say I am in-charge here without unwanted interference. Reflections of the day’s events will start to show dramatically in a series of replays in my mind. This is a kind of a rain check that serves to gauge how well we perform as a person. We do not need to check work performance in our quiet moments, we have our company’s performance appraisal forms for that. We practically needed moral updates to determine if the world has not influence us as it pushes to affect our views and inner perspectives. Sometimes when we need to cry and reach out to our inner self out of sorrow and deep frustrations, we can easily bump our head on our soft pillows without letting others see off poised drama performance. People could be so disappointing when no matter how hard you try to explain things and discuss the subject eye-to-eye still their heads are in parallel run on to something that is clamoring to their own thoughts and conclusion. It is an amazing art of listening that’s not really hearing what they listened since they weren’t able to get the meaning of what you have been telling them. It is a kind of a frustratingly off course discussion. They convincingly believed themselves to be authorities on any topic which make them tend to talk more and give advices that form as a pressing order rather than consoling. My frustrations would make me want to let that voice in me get out and be heard, but on what form? I write and reach out to myself in my bedroom. When everything else is still and quiet, it is easier to reach to the supernatural in us and feel the beating of our hearts while meditating. I seek my strength in my inner world because if I seek my strength from the support of other people then I will have no strength at all. Only faith can continuously support to carry us with our burden. Our constant fellowship with God must never be taken for granted in the entirety of human evolution. It seems that the world has been so busy and so filled with science that they forget the genesis of life. Witnessing further how science, social stratification, position and wealth accumulation has lead man far from the candor of God. It seems to deliberately change a person to another form of being yet filled with emptiness in his entirety. We forget the meaning and we find ourselves empty and continuously making a detour with our concept on life ideologies. People could frantically worry about on a lot of things and work. They can be a member of any group or belong to any aspired circle of friends. One could be so successful but still lonely and devoid of happiness like our super action heroes and blatantly blonde actresses. It is because each of us needed to find time for ourselves, to find ourselves, to find God, and regain a better perspective in life. My bedroom gives it all, creativeness, wholeness, authority, comfort, and satisfaction to my passion in writing. Â   Â  

Environmental Influences on Performance

1. â€Å"Marathon race organizers should be mindful of weather conditions during the race ‘ Discuss the above statement on a scientific marathon footrace is among the most physiologically demanding endurance events in the world. Competitive runners typically maintain a pace corresponding to 70-90% of their maximal aerobic capacity [3,15,20] for more than 2 h. At maximal mechanical efficiency, more than 80% of the energy required for this task is transferred as heat to the body core [9]. Moreover, the rate of endogenous heat production associated with a 2-h 10-min marathon estimated from ordinary heat-balance equations [9] is approximately 1400 kcal ·h-1. This metabolic heat must be dissipated to the surrounding environment, or body temperature will rise to physiologically dangerous levels. Lind [13] has demonstrated that core temperature is independent of climate over a temperature range he has termed the â€Å"prescriptive zone. † It has been demonstrated that the width of the prescriptive zone progressively narrows as metabolic rate increases. Thus, climate begins to affect physiological responses to exercise at relatively cooler temperatures during activities that elicit high metabolic rate compared with those eliciting lower metabolic rates. More recently, it has been demonstrated that endurance performance is indeed impaired when exercising in warm versus more temperate laboratory conditions and that air temperatures of approximately 10 °C seem optimal for endurance exercise [10]. One criticism of these and other laboratory findings is that typical airflows used for indoor testing situations are well below those encountered when running or cycling outdoors ver the ground. The lack of appropriate airflow substantially reduces the combined heat transfer coefficient [9] and may overestimate physiological strain [2]. Few field studies have examined the effect of weather conditions on endurance running performance[16,17,22]. Although it is generally observed that race performances worsen as weather warms, there are current ly no data quantifying the magnitude of performance reduction. In addition, these studies relied only on data from elite male runners; thus, the implications for slower competitors or women runners are only speculative. COLD WEATHER BEST FOR MARATHON PERFORMANCE Every runner knows that cool weather is better than hot weather for marathon performance. But a recent study from the U. S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine suggests that relatively cold weather is better than merely cool weather. Researchers gathered many years' worth of results and weather data from six major North American marathons and performed stastical analyses to determine the effect of air temperature on finishing times among runners at various levels of performance. Specifically, they looked at year-to-year comparative finishing times of the top three male and female runners at each event, as well as the 25th, 50th, 100th, and 300th finishers. The results showed a clear trend toward faster times at colder temperatures. For example, the finishing times of male races winners were, on average, 1. 7% slower than the course record when the air temperature was between 34 and 50 degrees. The finishing times of the top male runners were 2. 5% slower than the course record, however, when the temperature was between 51 and 59 degrees. And at higher temperatures, finishing times fell off even more dramatically. Runners at all levels were slowed by warmer air, but higher temperatures had a smaller effect on faster runners. The ideal marathon temperature, according to these analyses, was a bone-chilling 41 degrees. Think about that when you sign up for your next marathon! 2. Divers who collect ornamental fish have to work in a hostile environment. Discuss how the SCUBA apparatus helps these divers to meet the challenge of the deep sea environment. SCUBA diving is an exciting and first-hand way for scientists to study the underwater environment. It is one among the most effective ways for executing underwater experiments that require high quality precise measurements. SCUBA as the name suggests stands for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. It literally means that all divers carry all of required breathing equipment’s and gases with them. Hence they are subjected to water temperature, pressure, currents, and other factors revolving oceans present at the diving depth. The NURP program approximately supports about 10,000 SCUBA Divers for Scientific Research work. NURP provides all the necessary equipments and finances for scientists and technical assistance to conduct diving operations. They use both open circuit as well as closed circuit breathing apparatus. The difference between them primarily relies upon what happens to the exhaled gas. In open system the gas is exhaled in to the water. A closed system apparatus has recycling abilities and thus lasts longer underwater as it reduces carbon-dioxide and adds oxygen in a cyclic manner inside the container. It reduces the amount of gas required in the container and also allows the diver to remain streamlined. The breathing gas provided by NURP involves compressed air, NITROX and TRIMIX. NITROX is a composition of nitrogen and oxygen whilst TRIMIX is a composition of oxygen, nitrogen and helium. NITROX is of special interest to NOAA. It was in introduced in late 1970’s which allows the divers to stay longer underwater when compared to compressed air alone. Each of these gases is of different properties which enables the diver to dive at maximum depths. 3. The year 1968 marked the emergence of high altitude trained long distance runners from Kenya. Discuss the scientific basis of high altitude training and how it helps to perform better in long distance events. The theory underlying the belief that training at high altitude can enhance athletic performance sounds reasonable enough. Work out in an environment that causes the body to produce more oxygen-carrying red blood cells and an athlete will be able to perform better than he or she can when trained at a lower elevation. Proponents of this theory point to East African runners, who have dominated long-distance events in recent years, as proof that training at high altitudes pays off. But if that’s the case, why don’t runners from other high altitude countries such as Peru and Mexico perform equally well? And why do some athletes excel in endurance sports despite having never trained at high altitude? â€Å"[High-altitude training has] had so much press that certain athletes feel like they’re at a disadvantage if they’re not doing altitude training,† says Andrew Subudhi, a researcher at the Altitude Research Center in Denver and assistant professor of biology at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs. There’s a big movement for endurance athletes to move to high altitude if they’re serious about [improving their performance]. † Into Thin Air But does it really help? Answering that question is harder than one might think, despite numerous scientific studies on the relationship between altitude and athletic performance. The issue reached prominence at the 1968 summer Olympics in Mexico City (elevation 7, 349 feet), when questions arose about the best way to prepare for competing in the thin air, Subudhi says. Thin air† is a term used to describe air that contains less oxygen than air at sea level (20. 9% at sea level compared with 15. 3% at higher altitudes). The number of red blood cells found in the body of an endurance athlete who does not live and train at high altitudes may be insufficient to supply the amount of oxygen needed at higher altitudes. To help deal with this problem, athletes may live and train at high altitudes several weeks before a competition to increase the number of red blood cells, which are produced in response to greater release of the hormone erythropoietin. More red blood cells allows a person’s blood to carry more oxygen, which partly makes up for the shortage of oxygen in the air. Studies have found that athletes do perform better in competitions held at high altitudes if they live and train at high altitudes prior to competition, Subudhi says, but training at high altitudes does not necessarily help athletes perform better at low altitudes as one might assume. â€Å"When you’re at altitude, you can’t train as hard, and when you’re not training as hard, you’re not getting the same training stimulus,† he says. â€Å"Training at altitude doesn’t mean you’ll do well at sea level. Then again, that doesn’t mean that you won’t, says Jack Daniels, PhD, head distance coach at the Center for High Altitude Training at Northern Arizona University. Daniels says the key benefit to training at higher than normal altitudes is that it teaches an athlete how to hurt, and learning to tolerate pain can help athletes push themselves harder than they would otherwise. â€Å"It’s good for an athlete to learn to really lay it out there, and it’s easy to do that [in high altitude] without working quite as hard,† says Daniels, who has coached 31 individual3/22/13 Printer-friendly article page www. motionsports. com/blog/training at altitude. htm 2/3 NCAA national champions in his career. Although there are benefits to training at altitude, Daniels says, the advantages one might gain are unimportant when compared with more mundane factors. No matter where people train, he says, they want comfortable housing, healthy food, a friendly atmosphere, good training facilities, desirable weather, and adequate medical and therapy attention. â€Å"In other words, you train best where you are happiest,† Daniels says. If you c an have that at altitude, that's good, but if you do altitude-type things and don't have those other things, then you are wasting your time. It is very disturbing to me to hear people say, ‘If you don't train at altitude you may as well not bother trying. ’ I think we have all the things an athlete would want right here, but anyone who comes here and is not happy, I encourage to leave. † Live High, Train Low Daniels also doesn’t believe in another philosophy that has gained considerable support in recent years from researchers who have studied the altitude-performance relationship. Known as â€Å"live high, train low,† this philosophy holds that endurance athletes benefit most from living in high-altitude conditions but training at low altitude where they are able to push themselves harder. The term â€Å"live high, train low† came into being in 1996 when researchers James Stray-Gundersen and Benjamin Levine studied the relationship between altitude, training, and performance using three groups of endurance athletes. One group lived and trained in Park City, Utah, (elevation 7,000 feet) while another group lived there and trained at a lower altitude. A third group lived and trained in San Diego (elevation 72 feet). After the four-week training period ended, all were tested at a low altitude. â€Å"They found that the group that lived high but trained low got the best benefit; that was measured in 5-kilometer time trials. † Subudhi says. The reason for the improved performance among the live-high, train-low group, researchers hypothesized, is that by living in high-altitude conditions, their bodies produced more red blood cells in response to the lower concentration of oxygen. And because these athletes trained at a lower elevation, they were able to push themselves harder than they would have at higher altitudes, resulting in a higher training stimulus. The results of this and other studies received so much media attention that companies began manufacturing masks, tents, and rooms that would allow athletes to live anywhere in high-altitude conditions. Devices cost anywhere from hundreds to thousands to tens of thousands of dollars. Some companies convert entire houses to these conditions, and both Finland and the United States have outfitted dormitories in this way. Manufacturers claim benefits can occur from as little as six to eight hours of exposure. But those claims are not supported by research, Subudhi says, who contends 15 to 16 hours per day exposure is supported by research. Exercise rooms designed to mimic high-altitude conditions can benefit athletes who live at low altitudes and are planning to compete at a high altitude, he says: â€Å"If your competition is at altitude, then you need to train at altitude. † Altitude Advantage The only danger associated with the use of such devices is reducing oxygen levels too quickly, and almost everyone will experience more difficulty sleeping, Subudhi says. However, it’s rare to see athletes suffering from acute mountain sickness, commonly known as altitude sickness, or from high-altitude pulmonary or cerebral edema among those who live at an 8,000- to 9,000-foot altitude, he says. Plus, benefits are temporary: An athlete who stops living under high-altitude conditions will begin to see a loss in benefits in about two weeks as extra red blood cells die off, he says. Bob Cranny, PT, owner of Altitude Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine in Boulder, Colo. , is a big believer in the benefits of training at altitudes of 2,500 feet or greater. He and his wife are both triathletes and marathon runners who moved to Boulder (elevation 5,430 feet) 12 years ago from Long Beach, Calif. , because they believed the higher altitude would enhance their performance. Many athletes in the area follow the live-high, train-low philosophy, although it might more accurately be described as â€Å"live high, train lower. † That’s because many athletes who train in Boulder live at elevations of3/22/13 Printer-friendlyarticlepage www. kmotionsports. com/blog/training at altitude. htm 3/3 round 9,000 feet and travel to Boulder’s 5,430-foot elevation to train, as opposed to sea level. â€Å"If you could live at 9,000 feet and train at sea level, that would be even better — that would be wonderful,† Cranny says. So the answer to the question of whether training at high altitude will enhance an athlete’s performance is: maybe. Training at altitude will help some, while other athletes might benefit best fro m alternate training methods. â€Å"I see altitude as a type of training, and if this type suits you then it is good,† Daniels says.