Micro Final Paper

Micro Final Paper Micro Final Paper Term Paper: The Economics of Domestic Poverty December 11, 2014 Table of Contents: Page 2-5: Evaluation of poverty rate and suggested improvements Page 6-8: Causes of U.S income inequality Page 9-10: Describe and evaluate the welfare reform efforts of the past decade. What measures are still needed? Page 10-12: Scriptures View On Poverty Page 13-14: Bibliography Evaluation of poverty rate and suggested improvements Who are the poor in United States? The World Bank defines the poor as those who live on less than $2 a day. In the United States, however the most common way of measuring poverty is if a family’s income falls below the official â€Å"threshold of poverty†. The United States Census Bureau defines those being below the threshold of poverty as, â€Å"households who do not have a sufficient income to meet minimal food and basic needs.† The poverty threshold varies between households with more or less occupants and members under the age of 18 or over the age of 65. For example a household with one member under the age of 18-65 in 2014 has a weighted threshold average of 12,119 per year, while a household with one member over the age of 65 have a threshold of 11,173 (Census Bureau, 2014). U.S. poverty was first measured in the 1960’s through the Social Security Administration1, under the help of economist Mollie Orshansky. Orshansky helped establish the official poverty threshold, by using the cost of the Department of Agriculture’s economical food plan. She estimated families in United States spent on average a third of their income on food and, thus conceived the poverty threshold should be three times the of minimal food requirements for adequate living. In 1969, the U.S. government adopted her poverty threshold as the official statistical definition of poverty (Kolesnikova and, Liu 2012), One very disconcerting finding of the poverty threshold is it has seen little to no improvement overtime. In 1973 we had a poverty level of 11.1%, which is slightly lower compared to 2005 of 12.6%. Economists conversely have found many problems with the official measure of poverty especially with comparing poverty rates between decades (Eberstadt, 2006). The official poverty threshold most importantly fails to include changes in: food prices, higher standards of living, and government in-takes services. The official poverty threshold is based on three times food consumption, however food prices are not stagnated and have changed drastically over the years. Orshansky found the poorest fifth of American families were forced to devote nearly 30 percent of their expenditures to buying food, however in 2004 the poorest fifth of American families spent only one-sixth on food. In the 1960’s hunger and undernourishments were common problems regarding those living in the poverty threshold, however ironically today we face the opposite issue. Most poor households today in fact eat too much, which is why government programs like â€Å"Lets Move!† have rose in order to reduce obesity (Let’s Move, 2014). Eight percent of Children in low-income homes for example were surveyed by the Centers for Disease Control to be underweight; on the other hand in 20014 the rate was below 5 percent. The lower percent spent on food per families, means that Orshansky’s multiplier of three used for calculating the poverty threshold has become outdated and the poverty threshold needs to adjust accordingly (Kolesnikova and Liu, 2012). Food is one of the many improvements provided over the years. Housing in 2004 for example had only six percent of the country's poor households living in crowded dwellings2 compared to 25 percent in 1970 (Census Bureau, 2014). Poor households have many new modern luxuries such as telephone service or televisions. According to the Department of Energy survey in 2001, â€Å"most poverty households have microwaves, VCRs or DVDs, and cable television.† The poor have also seen improved health records over the years. The CDC's National

Understanding a Criminal Battery Charge

Understanding a Criminal Battery Charge Battery is any unlawful offensive physical contact with another person, with or without his or her consent. The contact does not have to be violent for the crime of battery to take place, it can be merely any offensive touching. Unlike the crime of assault, battery requires that actual contact is  made, while assault charges can be brought with only the threat of violence. Basic Elements of Battery There are three basic elements of  battery that are generally consistent among most jurisdictions in the U.S.: The defendant had offensive physical contact with the victim.The defendant is aware that their actions will result in offensive touching.There was no consent from the victim. Different Types of Battery The laws regarding battery vary from state to state, but many jurisdictions have different classifications or degrees of the crime of battery.   Simple Battery Simple battery generally includes all forms of contact that are non-consensual, harmful or insulting. This includes any contact that results in injury or non-injury to the victim. The battery is not criminal unless willful intent to inflict an injury or another unlawful act on the victim exists. For example, if a neighbor becomes angry at another neighbor and purposely throws a rock right at the neighbor resulting in injury and pain, then throwing the rock could result in criminal battery charges. However, if a neighbor is cutting their grass and a rock hits the blade and spins out and hits their neighbor causing injury and pain, then there is no willful intent and there would not be grounds for a charge of criminal battery. Sexual Battery   In some states, sexual battery is any non-consensual touching of the intimate parts of another person, but in other  states,  a sexual battery charge requires actual oral, anal, or vaginal penetration. Family-Violence Battery In an effort to cut down on  domestic violence, many states have passed  family-violence  battery laws, which require that cases of family violence be adjudicated whether the victim decides to press charges or not. Aggravated Battery Aggravated battery is when violence against another person results in serious bodily injury or disfigurement. In some states, aggravated battery can be charged only if the intent to do serious bodily harm can be proven. This includes a loss of a limb, burns resulting in permanent disfigurement, and the loss of sensory functions. Common Defense Strategies in Cases of Criminal Battery No Intent: Common strategies used in criminal battery cases include the most defense which is to prove that there was no intent to cause harm on the part of the defendant. For example, if a man rubbed up against a woman on a crowded subway in a way that the woman felt was sexual in nature, the defense could be that the man did not intend to rub up against the woman and only did so because he was pushed by the crowds. Consent: If consent can be proven, sometimes referred to as mutual combat defense, then the victim may be considered as being equally responsible for any injuries that resulted.   For example, if two men get into an argument in a bar and agree to take it outside to fight it out, then neither man can claim that their injuries were a result of criminal battery if they both agreed to participate in what could be viewed as a fair fight. There may be other criminal charges that apply, but probably not criminal battery. Self-Defense: If a defendant can prove that bodily harm inflicted on the victim was a result of the victim attempting to cause bodily harm to the defendant first and the defendant protected themselves  within what would be considered reasonable, but resulted in the victim being physically harmed, then it is likely that the defendant would be innocent of criminal battery. The key to this defense is that the self-defense was reasonable. For example, if two women were riding on a bus and one woman began harassing the other woman and then began hitting the woman in an effort to steal her purse, and the woman reacted by punching the attacking woman in the nose, causing her nose to break, then the woman that was first attacked used reasonable self-defense  measures and would likely not be found guilty of criminal battery.

Shape Memory Alloy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Shape Memory Alloy - Essay Example This hypothesis shall be verified during research[1,2]. The research work will be referred from journals and academic libraries. The research and development by the scientists on this metallurgy shall be revealed and explored through journals and research papers. The references o experiments shall be provided; it is on record that several experiments have been conducted to verify that SMA materials reversible solid state transformation. The experiments shall be referred to verify the composition of the alloys in SMA, the transformation temperature of the material is controlled and determined by the composition, manufacturing process, and physical conditions [4]. The findings of the impact, hardness and non-destructive testing shall be captured in the paper; these materials have the property to sustain significant bending and torsion-al forces. It has observed that these material tend to seize when establishing contact with other materials; these materials therefore exhibit high co-efficient. However such characteristics are essential for security surveillance at airports to firmly confirm the type and nature of material being transported. These materials have good life, and are resistant against corrosion.

Extra credit Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Extra credit - Assignment Example The most noteworthy aspect of marketing in the current economy is testing. Individuals and business firms that need to be successful should; have the right message, to the right audience in correct timing (Kennedy 15). Without these factors, whatever product that is being promoted will have a poor turnout. Through testing one finds the best performance expectation of a product. This enables the marketer to assume a clear baseline that resonates to the best audience. This also includes online marketing strategies which are aimed at establishing their market. Moreover, measurement and testing is essential in marketing success and, only proper testing can provide this information. Without customers, then no business takes place since, they are the lifeblood to any business criterion. Therefore, this is the overall secret to success of any business firm or individual. In line with testing, tracking the business progress is vital. This has made many business firms depend on online marketi ng efforts which track businesses’ growth. There are also many other ways in which a business firm can look into the growth issue. Nowadays, marketing is enmeshed in a medium defined by technology. For instance, the marketing field has some perpetual values like empathy with clients, authentic hearing, compelling of visual designs, open-mindedness, fluid mapping and an engaging flair for showmanship (Kennedy 23). However, the most fundamental aspects in the marketing discipline include analytical pattern recognition, agile project management, experimental curiosity and rigor, systems thinking and mashable software fluency (Kennedy 34). These factors are a veritable baseline to the success of any business firm. This is because they focus on the beneficial aspects of success in business enterprising. In business, individuals should outline a clear business plan, an operational plan and the risk analysis factor which are likely to affect the business. Analytical pattern recognition

Office Automation and Group Collaboration Software Essay Example for Free

Office Automation and Group Collaboration Software Essay Nowadays, in the modern business world, Office Automation Software include calendar and scheduling, call accounting and management, data entry, email management, fax management, and forms management softwares. On the other hand, Group Collaboration Software include group calendar, groupware solution, mailing list management, messaging solution, teleconferencing, video web conferencing, and web discussion system software. However, the uses of aforementioned software in most of the offices vary with respect to the requirements and the environment of the business operation. Office Automation Software have become an essential part of any business organization. As a matter of fact, word processing programs like Microsoft Word have replaced typewriters and paper-based work is being performed in database programmes. For instance, Employees attendance records and periodical inventory sales reports are useful operations which are being accomplished using automation software. On the other hand, group collaboration software adds value to business with respect of time management. This software allows business representatives to collaborate and get their colleagues’ views and ideas on different occasions. In this article, I will describe the uses of these software and analyze their advantages and disadvantages In my organization, there are 40 employees and all of them use Office Automation Software for the timely and accurate completion of their duties. In addition to that, most of the time we also use group collaboration software to solve a particular problem or we use it while analyzing sales, evaluating inventory, holding online meetings, etc. Video Conferencing Software Video conferencing system uses a room system in most of the offices. It allows its users to make a solicitation from the template that has already been created by someone. Consequently, it allows bidders to make or replace their bid in an electronic format, saves time, helps users who want to place or change their bid from their residence or offices, and saves money which might have been spent on traveling. A major disadvantage of this software is that in complex situations, while users bid on this platform, secret information may get leaked. Electronic Mail Electronic mail has replaced postage in every organization. Email software allows billions of users to communicate fastly and cheaply as compared to postage. In business offices, email has changed the whole phenomena of communication. Office colleagues can communicate directly both inside and outside the organization in a short period of time. Emails also allow a user to send or receive multiple documents with attachments of files or folders. On the other hand, you may lose data which is saved in your email account or your email account can be hacked by someone else resulting in an unauthorized use of your account and the leakage of your private business information. Furthermore, if you send some wrong information in your email, it cannot be taken back. Web Conferencing Software Web conferencing software enables multiple users to arrange an online meeting in order to solve particular problems or to discuss particular matters related to business operation. Web conferencing has completely changed the concept of meetings in the way that you can discuss many things online and solve your problems from anywhere. Consequently, it saves the time of business executives. The only disadvantage of web conferencing is that some problems cannot be solved on web conferencing since the physical presence of employees creates a different environment of mutual understanding and cooperation and gives a sense of closeness. Word Processing Software Nowadays, word processing software has become mandatory software for every organization. Before the invention of this software, the work associated with this nature was done by the typewriter and it was time-consuming. Following are the advantages and disadvantages of this software. (1) â€Å"It is easier to make changes to your document. You can move, change, delete, save, and format all your ideas in one handy file. (2) It frees you to express ideas more clearly and to let your thoughts flow because anything can be changed or deleted later. 3) It allows you to organize all your work or ideas together in a file. Instead of deleting paragraphs that do not seem to fit an assignment, you can move them to the end of the file where they can be used later or in another project. (4) It is easy to share and store word processing files electronically†. The only disadvantage associated with this software is that you may lose your data while working due to sudden electric power failure. (Advantages) Call Accounting and Management Software Since its invention, call accounting software has been adopted by approximately 90% of the established and non-established organizations because of its accuracy and cost effectiveness. A good call accounting software tracks and records various calls of clients and business partners, facilitates customer support management by saving all telephonic data, tracks call timing, and so on . Thus, by taking an analysis of its calls, an organization can easily know about its precious customers records and orders. This practice creates a good business environment across the organization. However, the only disadvantage of this software is, if the operator did not create a backup file and an error occurred in the software, data may be lost. Group Calendar Software Group calendar software allows you to organize your critical business events and meetings according to the departments, locations, projects, and time. Having group calendar software online, your employees and business partners can easily arrange a meeting by keeping in mind their work details and availability of time. Web based group calendars provide a cost effective solution without the anxieties and cost inherent with supporting complex in-house calendar system. There is no software to install no server to maintain ever plus group calendar tools are a perfect solution for rapidly expanding projects or distributed work forces†. (group calendar) Time and Attendance Software By using time and attendance software, we can easily save time of our payroll department employees. Time and attendance software automatically record and keep check-in and check-out timings of employees without delay. This software also makes it possible to calculate wages and salaries of workers and employees. Moreover, it provides complete details of attendance and check-in and check-out times to the payroll department that saves time. In addition to that, it is completely secure and can be accessed form different departments of an organization. However, occurrence of an error can create problems because this is the only place where employees records are kept. Conclusion Finally, computer software made it possible to run business operations more effectively and accurately. In today’s global world, computers have become a major part of every business organization because of their cost effectiveness and they also pave the way for every business organization to excel upon others by using them. Both Office Automation Software and Group Collaboration Software enhance the business activities and make it possible for the employees to save precious time and money of the organization. Some software like call recording software adds value to customer services and creates an excellent platform to keep records of their clients which increases organizational goodwill.

Slavery During, In, and After the Civil War Essay -- Slavery Essays

Slavery During, In, and After the Civil War The Civil War was doubly tragic because it was completely unnecessary. Slavery had been ended in other nations with the stroke of a pen, and yet in the mighty United States the country was willing to go to war over the issue of whether slavery should remain. The southerners felt that it was their constitutional right to own slaves and did not see a time when they should be required to give up that right. However, upon the election of Lincoln as President, the southerners felt threatened, and felt their slave holding rights were being threatened, and in an effort to protect these rights they chose to secede from the union. Why would any one person want to own another human being with the same intestines, some of the same feelings yet a different color for their own good . This was quite crazy if you ask me , I feel that the southerners should have felt threatened and that if what they were doing were so right why feel so threatened about doing it.The northerners and Lincoln saw the importance of maintaining a united country, set out to bring back the seceded states. Thus the Civil War began. During the civil war many Americans were either killed or wounded, this number was only surpassed by World War II. While the civil war originally began as a quest to bring the southern states back to the union. However, the goal of the war did soon change to that of abolition. While the war may have seemed necessary to ...

Burke Litwin 1992 Essay

Change is depicted in terms of both process and content, with particular emphasis on transformational as compared with transactional factors. Transformational change occurs as a response to the external environment and directly affects organizational mission and strategy, the organiz. ation’s leadership, atid culture, lit ttirn, tfie transactional factors are affected—strtictute. systems, management practices, and climate. These transformational and transactional factors together affect motivation, which, in turn, affects peifornumce. In support of the model’s potential validity, theory and research as wellaspraetke are cited. Orgatiization change is a kind of chaos (Gleick. 1987). The number of variables changing at the same lime, the magnitude of environmental change, and the frequent resistance of human systetns cteate a whole confluence of ptocesses that are extremely difficult to predict and almost impossible to control. Nevertheless, there are consistent patterns that exist—linkages among classes of events that have been demonstrated repeatedly in the research literature and can be seen in actual organizations. The enormous and pervasive impact of culture and beliefs— to the point where it causes organizations to do fundamentally unsound things ftom a business point of view^would be such an observed phenotnenon. To build a most likely model describing the causes of organizational performance and change, we must explore two important lines of thinking. First, we must understand more thoroughly how organizations function (i. e. , what leads to what). Second, given our tiiodel of causation, we must understand how organizations might be deliberately changed. The linkage typically is in the direction of theory and research to practice: that is. to ground our consultation in what is known, what is theoretically and empirically sound. Creation of the tnodel to be presented in this article was not quite in that knowledge-to-practice direction, however. With respect to theory, we sttongly believe in the open system framework, especially represented by Katz and Kahn (1978). Thus, any organizational model that we might develop would stem from an input-throughput-output, with a feedback loop, format. The tnodei presented hete is definitely of that genre. In other wotds. the fundamental framework for the model evolved from theory. The components of the model and what causes what and in what order, on the other hand, have evolved frotn our practice. To risk stating what is often not politic to admit in academic circles, we admit that the ultimate development of our causal model evolved from practice, not extensive theory or tesearch. What we are attempting with this article, therefore, is a theoretical and empirical justification of what we clearly believe works. To be candid, we acknowledge that our attempt is not unlike attribution theory—we are explaining our beliefs and actions ex post facto: â€Å"This seemed to have worked; I wonder if the literature supports our action. † Our consulting efforts over a period of about 5 years with British Airways taught us a lot^—what changes seemed to have worked and what activities clearly did not. It was from these experiences that our model took form. As a case example, we refer to the work at British Airways later in this article. For a more recent overview of that change effort, . see Goodstein and Burke (1991).

Public School Essay

The Perfect Public School will be established with the vision to provide the quality education to the students of the Fateh Muhammad Jatoi and to enable them to compete at the national and international level. To achieve this vision the school will have the very well experienced and well groomed faculty that will provide the education on modern lines that will inculcate the students as well as their parents for the betterment of their children career development. The quality education that provide in our school is at low price as compared to our major competitors Beacon house, Frobels, roots and City school etc. The Perfect school is developed in order to facilitate the Pakistanis to get education as good and excellent as the students in Perfect school Pakistan. The Perfect school is located in Pakistan and is well renowned in all over the world for its Excellency in education field. Students from far flung countries go there with the aim to study and to get benefit from their quality education system. The Perfect school of Pakistan is also ranked among the top ten schools of the world. Moreover the Sindhi students also go abroad to study in this school and they score quite well as compared to other fellow students. The only difficulty that the Pakistani students face while going abroad is that they have to pay a huge sum of money for visa and passport requirements. The Perfect public school is going to be established to provide quality education as did other schools of Pakistan. The Perfect public school will be affiliated with the B. I. S. E Sukkur. The educational industry that provide these types of services includes the competitors like beacon house, Frobels, Roots and City school. These institutions are established with the purpose of providing the quality education but initially they have done their job quite well in providing excellent education, and with the passage of time they start diverting from their core mission of providing quality education. Now their focus shifts to provide the luxurious environments to the students and not to provide the quality education. The students living in the luxurious environments are used to enjoy the beauties or luxuries of life and are not willing to hard work, normally student involves in other activities which lead them to depression and illegal works. The Perfect staff is well trained to guide the student about their career development. The Perfect school is one of the prestigious students and established in the capital of Pakistan in F-10 Islamabad. The reason behind choosing this location that is capital of Pakistan is that we can get attention to the people. Secondly the people living in that part are very well aware of the educational needs and they fully know the importance of good education. Thirdly there are a reasonable number of foreigners living and they want to get their children to get a quality education. Fourthly there are mostly living the elite class of people in Islamabad and our business is mostly targeted to the elite class. The Perfect public school comprises of an elegant building, three grounds for outdoor sports activities of the students and one sports complex for indoor activities like table tennis, badminton, squash etc. The school will consist of almost 5-7 class rooms, 1 staff room and one principal office. The class rooms will be very well decorated and well furnished. The male and female staff will be hired for better education. As principal, I will regularly visit the classes, our progress towards implementing the strategies within the Business Plan, as well as the achievement of milestones and targets. Our values Success for every student. Diversity Ideal Customer The ideal customer for the Perfect Public School’s foreign language programs falls into one of two categories. The first is a middle class working person who feels the need to learn a foreign language either for a pressing work-related need, a desire to have more options in career, or a wish to travel to a foreign country and enjoy the experience more. These individuals, however, feel they cannot afford one-on-one tutoring, but are too social to be able to be content with a book, online program, or software to learn the language. They desire a classroom experience both as a structured approach to force them to make a commitment to the language learning and as a means to have extensive social interaction through the process. Market Description Perfect Public School targets customers with the following characteristics: 05 to 15 years of age Locals Male and Female Situation Analysis The Perfect Public School will be in the first year of business as a start-up operation. The School believes that the market demand for their services will be great and are convinced that a cohesive marketing strategy is required for The School. Market Summary The Perfect Public School possesses good information regarding their market and the target segments that they wish to serve. The School will leverage this information to better understand who is served, their specific needs, and how The School can better serve them. Market Needs The Perfect Public School will provide the education with a source of knowledge. This market need is important as many parents’ are faced with the dilemma of using their limited income on education. Pricing: The Perfect Public School’s fees will be noticeably better than local schools. Market Trends The market trend for schools reinforces consolidation. Market Growth In 2012, the global educational system/industry as a whole was 897 Million industry. The education system is forecasted to continue its record growth. Pakistani society in particular has become increasingly reliant on education. This conclusion seems to be fairly intuitive as many individuals have a vested interest in living longer and more educated. SWOT Analysis The following SWOT analysis captures the key strength and weaknesses within  the area, and describes the opportunities and threats facing The Perfect Public School. Strengths †¢A unique, current business-environment-appropriate business model. †¢Excellent staff who are highly trained and very competent. †¢Games. Weaknesses †¢The lack of visibility and brand equity of a start-up business. †¢Lack of true experience. †¢Government intervention/regulation into education is possible. Opportunities †¢Outside pressure on students. †¢The constant growth of the number of students taking education. †¢Newly formed alliances of school systems. Threats. †¢The entry into the market by an established school. †¢Some event that cripples education. Competition Competition takes many different forms in the education industry. †¢Chain of schools: These are private national chains such as City School. Keys to Success The keys to success are: Male and female students. Low overhead and operating costs. Normal prices and services. Financial Objectives A double digit growth rate for the first three years. Reduce the variable costs associated with servicing each student order by 4% a year. Profitability by the end of year. Sales Forecast. Sales Forecast 2013 2014 2015 Sales Walk-in customers (students) 83,056 243,778 343,540 New & Old customers 76,994 976,543 1,234,654 Total Sales 360,050 1,720,321 2,078,194 Direct Cost of Sales 2001 2002 2003 Walk-in customers 111,664 453,705 514,559 New & Old customers 79,647 439,444 555,594 Subtotal Direct Cost of Sales 191,311 893,149 1,070,154 Expense Forecast Marketing expenses are to be budgeted so they ramp up quarterly. These intervals are chosen because they are the common intervals that students who are getting several types of courses in same school. Controls. The purpose of the marketing plan is to serve as a guide to the organization. The following areas will be monitored to gauge performance: Revenue: monthly and annual. Expenses: monthly and annual. Repeat business. Students’ satisfaction. Contingency Planning Difficulties and risks: Problems generating visibility. Difficulty developing sufficient talent. An entry into the education market from an already established, larger schools like City and Grammar School. Worst case risks include: Determining that the business cannot support itself. Having to lab equipment to cover liabilities. Competition.

Crime Rate Fluctuation

Crime Rate Fluctuation Free Online Research Papers Many sociologist and criminal theorist have attempted to explain fluctuation in the crime rates at both a state and national level through out America. Perhaps one of the most widely scrutinized and debated relationships is that between the crime rate and incarceration levels. The U.S Department of justice has stated that â€Å"tough sentencing means less crime†, however, proponents say that due to the abundance of ambiguous statistical analysis’s this claim should not be made because of the apparent complex relationship between crime and incarceration. A common misconception among the general public is that locking up ‘bad guys’ is the most effective way of making communities more safe and secure from crime. This is, however, anything but an accepted fact among professionals within the criminal field. One of the most apparent trends among the criminal justice system is the extreme increase of prison and jail populations within the last 40 years. According to The Sentencing Project’s article titled Incarceration and Crime: A Complex Relationship, prison and jail populations have increased by more than 500% between the periods of 1970 and 2000. This is quite a dramatic change, yet there has not been a change equally significant within the national crime rates. The nation as a whole has experienced a 40-year low in crime, however, the crime rates are only at the level in which they were during a time when the incarcerated population was just a fraction of the total today. Analysts can currently attribute only about 25% of the decline in violent crime to increased incarceration. Presented in the Sentencing Project’s report, economist Steven Levitt identifies four other primary factors that can be attributed to the decline in crime during the 1990’s. Levitt argues that one such factor was the growing economy which produced more jobs and opportunities for lower-wage workers and characterizes this to a nearly 30% decline in crime. This appears to make a great amount of sense. If lower level social economic classes are presented with a greater chance for success this could be enough to deter them from committing crime. Many people are pushed into a life of crime by unfortunate circumstances that lead them to believe there is no other choice. If a larger amount of opportunities are offered such as jobs, these may give enough incentives and reasons to lead people away from criminal activities. Strategic policing is another factor that Levitt suggests contributes to a decrease in crime rates. Levitt states that the adoption of various forms of community level policing are more effective strategies that make better use of police forces. Community policing is a strategy that promotes police to work closely with community residents emphasizing crime prevention, as opposed to law enforcement. This form of policing not only builds stronger relationships with communities but also reduces the fear of crime within them. (Walker and Katz 15) The Sentencing Project’s report lists several reasons for the limited impact that incarceration has on crime rates. Diminishing returns in crime control are possibly one of the biggest reasons for incarceration’s lack of effect on crime rates. As prison systems expand there is a higher increase of lower-rate offenders particularly related to drug offences. The expanded incarceration of these lower-rate and lower-level offenders has a negative effect on the cost-to-benefit ratios. These lower-level offenders cost an equal amount of resources as the higher-level offenders, yet cause no decline in crime rates projected by The Uniform Crime Reports. Another important reason for the limited effect that incarceration has on crimes rates is ascribed to the negative impacts on family and community levels. Incarcerating members of society in facilities located long distances from their community has a damaging effect. This type of imprisonment is said to weaken family and community bonds, and contribute to an increase in recidivism and future criminality. These family and community bonds are often frayed or broken by long distance imprisonment have a destabilizing effect, making it more difficult for the reintegration of former convicts into society. A final reason for the limited impact that incarceration has on crime rates has to do with the comparison to other interventions as an alternative solution. The Sentencing Project’s report suggests that drug treatment, interventions with at-risks families, and school completion programs are more cost effective than expanded incarceration as crime control measures. Placing more money into programs such as these will have a strong influence on crime rates by addressing social issues rather than just locking them away. Incarceration alone has no little to any rehabilitative value and should be reserved for more serious offenders. People with drug addictions and psychological problems should be treated in a way that has more of a focus on medical needs rather than punishment by isolation. There is no denying that incarceration has an impact on decreasing crime rates, however, it is not the ultimate solution. More focus should be place on community level needs such as education and employment. Higher education costs have continued to rise making it more difficult for families in lower social economic brackets to consider college as an option. The strongest tool for lowering crime is education. People with higher education are less likely to resort to criminal behavior and more likely to succeed in life. The government needs to place more emphasis on programs designed to make college more affordable and accessible to a wider variety of people. Discrimination against ex-convicts is a practice that may also contribute to an increase in recidivism and crime rates. Anyone with a federal charge is essentially given a scarlet letter, making it nearly impossible for them to seek employment or higher education. People released from prisons should be given an equal opportunity rather than branding them as lost causes. It is these types of practices that give ex-cons a feeling of hopelessness and exile from their government and society that ultimately cause them to resort back to crime. If the criminal justice system is truly committed to decreasing the crime rate they should consider revising current laws pertaining to substance abuse. Drug addicts belong in hospitals not prisons. The practice of mandatory minimum sentencing on drug offenders should be abolished and the money spent on the incarceration of them should be diverted to programs designed to treat and reintegrate drug offenders into society. The solution to decreasing crime rates will be a combination of various practices such as incarceration, raising employment opportunity and education. There is no one solution to the problem of crime and many which have yet to be explored. Prison over population is becoming a serious problem that wastes away precious resources. The solution is not to simply build more facilities. In order to create a safer and more secure society there needs to be more research and exploration into solutions rather than just locking criminals up and throwing away the key. Reference Walker, Samuel, and Charles M. Katz. The Police in America An Introduction. 5th. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005. 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When to Capitalize Religious Terms

When to Capitalize Religious Terms When to Capitalize Religious Terms Knowing when to capitalize religious terms can be hell. Or should that be Hell? And there we get to the crux of the matter. Are words from religions always capitalized? Is it only when you use these terms in a religious context? Or should you just say â€Å"to heck with it† and stop caring? Well, before you do that, check out our guide to capitalizing religious terms. When to Capitalize Religious Terms As a guideline, you should usually capitalize the first letter of religious terms when they are used as a proper noun. This is a noun that names a unique entity, such as â€Å"Barbra Streisand† or â€Å"Donald Duck.† In a religious context, proper nouns may include: Religions and religious movements (e.g., Judaism, Methodism) Religious figures and deities (e.g., Jesus, Zeus) Holy texts (e.g., Bible, Quran) Religious holidays (e.g., Easter, Diwali) Titles when used with a name (e.g., Reverend Green) However, there are some cases where the correct capitalization depends on how you’re using a term. We will look at a few of these below. God, Gods, Goddesses and Proper Nouns As mentioned above, you should always capitalize the first letter in a proper noun. If you were referring to the Christian deity, for instance, you would need to capitalize the â€Å"G† in â€Å"God†: I am here only by the grace of God. But some words, like â€Å"god,† can be either proper or common nouns depending on how we use them. So if you were referring to gods and goddesses in general, or any god or goddess where â€Å"god† is not part of their name, you would need to use a lower case â€Å"g† instead: Prior to Christianization, the Anglo Saxons worshipped the Germanic gods and goddesses, including Ä’ostre, the goddess of the dawn and spring. Notice that we do, however, capitalize Ä’ostre in the example above, even though we use a lower case â€Å"g† for â€Å"goddess.† This is because Ä’ostre is the name of a goddess, so it is a proper noun. Other Inconsistent Capitalization â€Å"God† is the most prominent example of something we only capitalize in certain cases. However, there are many religious terms that have second meanings. And you should only capitalize these words if you use them in a religious context, not when they’re used elsewhere. For instance, we would capitalize â€Å"Catholic† in â€Å"the Catholic Church.† But â€Å"catholic† can also mean â€Å"all-embracing.† And we would not use a capital â€Å"C† to write about someone with interests in a range of seemingly unrelated things (i.e., someone with â€Å"catholic tastes†). Catholic tastes ≠  A liking for Gothic architecture and stained glass. Likewise, we would capitalize the â€Å"M† in â€Å"Mass† if we were talking about the religious ceremony. But we would not usually capitalize the same word when using it as an adjective in â€Å"mass market† or â€Å"mass transit.† It pays, then, to double check whether religious terms have other uses. Holy Pronouns In the past, it was common to capitalize the first letters of pronouns when referring to religious figures. This is known as reverential capitalization. For instance, if we used â€Å"his† to refer to God, we might capitalize the â€Å"H†: Our hearts shall rejoice in God and His holy name! This is quite unusual in modern writing. However, if you do use reverential capitalization, there are two key rules to follow: Only apply it to pronouns that refer to deities and divine beings. Apply it consistently throughout your writing. To ensure consistency, you may also want to have your writing proofread. But if you do, let your editor know which terms you’ve chosen to capitalize. Heaven and Hell Finally, we have heaven and hell. As a rule, you do not need to capitalize these terms. This is true even when referring to the Christian concepts of â€Å"heaven† and â€Å"hell.† Take Matthew 5:18 from the NIV Bible, for instance: For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. However, some religious institutions do prefer to capitalize the words â€Å"Heaven† and â€Å"Hell.† And you should always capitalize ‘Heaven’ when referring to the famous gay nightclub in London. Is this what Belinda Carlisle was singing about?(Photo: Nick Cooper/wikimedia) The capitalization of â€Å"Heaven† is, in fact, one of the few areas where evangelical Christians and the LGBT+ community truly see eye to eye. And that, at least, should be celebrated.

Redesigning Cost Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Redesigning Cost Systems - Essay Example It seems to cause competition and arguments between departments. They argue over who was to blame for unfavorable variances when using traditional systems. Push through productions is productions that use large amounts of raw material and partially finished products. The materials or products are moved from one process to another. The preferred method, "pull through" production, is replacing this old method. The products are in work cells or similar workstations. An employee in a cell can operate several types of equipment. An order can be processed quickly within the cell. The "pull through" method is preferred because it decreases cycle time and holds on orders. The inventory is not overloaded with this method either. One group is responsible for the product as a whole. This decreases the chance of defects. The best way to make standard cost systems more dynamic is to update the variances. Variances in raw materials can be updated by adding a quality variance. This will allow the materials that were produced, but not used, to be factored into the equation. The efficiency variance factors the difference between the weight of the material used and the standard weight used for total production. The traditional method uses the weight of good production instead of total production. Another way to add variances is to split up the volume variance into market size and market share variances. A good way to deal with orders that are completed but not shipped is the Finished Goods Variance. If a sales order could not be filled for any reason, it results in loss of opportunity. To use this as a factor there is a Sales Order Variance. Other ways to add dynamics to the standard system are to use best performance records for a variance on past performances. This is a highly motivating tool for busine sses. Benchmarking tracks the performance of competitors. This is another motivating tool. This competition will also encourage a better product for consumers. Another way to use dynamic standards is through moving cost reductions. This decreases the standard cost by a certain percent each period. Target cost is another method used to make a product viable in today's market. By setting a price before production, manufacturers can find ways to lower the cost until it reaches the target. The reports on SCSs need to be accurate to be viable. A team atmosphere avoids conflict and encourages employees to be responsible. A team using a work cell arrangement and variances on reports will be less likely to be in conflict and in return be more productive. The final way to improve SCSs is to use it in relation to ABC. When a company has many indirect costs, ABC results produce better pricing. If combined, ABC can be used for indirect costs or analysis of indirect costs and SCS can be updated and used for direct costs or financial records. 4. Considering the suggestions made in this article, in contrast to the chapter presentation of standard costing, which ideas make the most sense to you and why I like the idea of using the SCS in conjunction with ABC. I make sense to track both direct and

The historian's task is to understand the past; the human scientist, Essay

The historian's task is to understand the past; the human scientist, by contrast, is looking to change the future. To what extent is this true in these areas of knowledge - Essay Example This includes various rational, systematic and verification activities used by human scientists for validating the data obtained through objective specific and subjective phenomena. As human science not only remains confined towards the study of humanities and social sciences but also covers the areas of sociology, history, economics and anthropology, it often overlaps the dimensions of historians. Hence, the area of knowledge of human scientists cannot be firmly polarized from that of learning the past like in the case of historians. On the other hand, the Historian’s task can be quite delicate, which includes understanding the implications of various analytical categories for filling up the historical gaps and framing a proper picture of the past. This way, the area of knowledge relevant to historians tends to be polarized from that of the human scientists who learn the past in pursuit to make the future better. The role of historians, since decades, has been focused to provide conceptualized and factual descriptions about various events and circumstances that had occurred in the past and develop an understanding of the same in order to unveil the past origins of the human society. The area of knowledge relevant to historians can be considered significant to a large extent. They play an important role in reconstructing complex stories from scattered historical sources. Human curiosity about their origin and evolution has always strongly motivated the historians in their efforts of understanding past events that had transformed human civilization or embarks on a secretive paradigm of ancient human society. Historians examine the past in a very broad perspective and facilitate the readers in adding up the historical events as well as actions, triggering their thoughts, motives, and adventurous states of mind (Barton, 2009). They study and extract data from old artifacts, recorded writings, past stories and