Cause and Effect;What would be the effects of dropping out of high Essay

Cause and Effect;What would be the effects of dropping out of high school - Essay Example High school dropouts will hardly provide any meaningful skills to the job market and therefore, not able to secure good jobs. This causes a sharp drop in living standards among high school dropouts. Lack of education means lack of skills needed by most employers if not all. This leaves high school dropouts with no choice than to do the unskilled jobs that are lowly paid. Whereas this is a loss to the employment sector, most of the loss occurs to the dropouts since they forego the gratification that comes with professional jobs. Such dropouts can hardly support their families with the little income they have. More notably, they are most likely to create a poor generation since their family foundations are already economically unstable. With the increasing problems associated with global economic crisis, high school dropouts are most likely to face overwhelming competition and difficult living conditions. US government has to make a huge budgetary allocation every year in aid for the poor families that cannot support themselves. A great number of high school dropouts add to this burden every year. This is because as they can hardly support themselves economically. Additionally, they nurture families that are not economically stable thereby adding more pressure to the already heavily burdened government spending. For instance, the government has to struggle raising funds to support a healthcare program for the poor even when the poor, such as high school dropouts, cannot afford to contribute financially to the program. Poor living conditions and lack of livelihood is a prerequisite to criminal activities. Criminal activities are most likely to be more prevalent among high school dropouts due to inability to generate enough income. High school dropouts hardly have any option apart from engaging in criminal activities due to the overwhelming competition in the modern society. More notably, high school dropouts are, most certainly, likely to associate with

Interpretations of our Culture and gender Essay Example for Free

Interpretations of our Culture and gender Essay Culture is a representation of many aspects ranging from indigenous practices, eating habits and even clothing, thus culture is expressed all the way through many and various ways, customs, habits and behaviors. Nevertheless culture is also identified through language. Culture and language are so intertwined and in that complexity, culture can neither be separated from language nor can language be separated from culture. The way people choose to use language in various phases of life affiliates them to a one specific culture from the other. In this context, cultures are very different from one another, for instance in some cultures women have no voice in society and there are roles that they are not allowed to play. However, (Embers 2007) note that, â€Å"it must not be forgotten that some people can create a class through stratification or class which may end in discrimination or segregation†. In this case there is class of the poor and another of the rich and through these classes; people develop a culture befitting them. In matters of sex or gender, some ethnic groups are very discriminative towards women and the class of women has been given lesser roles in society than men. Women do not make decisions or are not involved in decision making processes or procedures. However, it has dawned in many cultures that women play vital roles for the survival of many societies. Many rigid cultures that have rendered women voiceless have realized women at many a times make brilliant decisions than expected. So, what have they done? Women have been listened to and many have been given powerful leadership positions in such cultures to make impacting decisions. Currently, in many cultures women are leaders and they have performed. So far so good, there is no major disagreement and the way forward for many cultures is not to use gender or sex as a whip, but to be specific let girls and boys in any cultural setting get equal education, position and or all other favors, then give them equal opportunities. Reference: Ember, C. Ember, M. (2007). Cultural Anthropology, 12th Edition. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

The Indian real estate sector

The Indian real estate sector The Indian real estate sector plays a significant role in the countrys economy. The real estate sector is second only to agriculture in terms of employment generation and contributes heavily towards the gross domestic product (GDP). Almost 5 per cent of the countrys GDP is contributed to by the housing sector. In the next five years, this contribution to the GDP is expected to rise to 6 per cent. According to Jones Lang LaSalle, faster economic growth in Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) could result in the property markets of those nations recovering at a faster rate than the UK and US real estate markets. It has also been suggested that Indias property sector could begin to improve from late 2009 and may attract up to US$ 12.11 billion in real estate investment over a five-year period. Almost 80 per cent of real estate developed in India is residential space. According to the Tenth Five Year Plan, there is a shortage of 22.4 million dwelling units. Thus, over the next 10 to 15 years, 80 to 90 million housing dwelling units will have to be constructed with a majority of them catering to middle- and lower-income groups. It is for this reason that residential properties in India, particularly in Mumbai and Delhi, are viewed as very good investments as per a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Urban Land Institute, a global non-profit education and research institute. In the 2009-10 budget, developers of affordable housing projects (units of 1,000-1,500 sq ft) have been granted a tax holiday on profits from projects initiated in the financial year 2007-08. Such projects would have to be completed before March 1, 2012. At the same time, the finance minister allocated US$ 207 million to grant a 1 per cent interest subsidy on home loans up to US$ 20,691, provided the cost of the home is not more than US$ 41,382. This subsidy is expected to give a further boost to the housing sector. An apartment is a self-contained residential unit or section that occupies a part of a building. It can be either owned or rented. Some apartment-dwellers own their apartments as cooperatives, in which the dwellers or residents own shares of a corporation that owns the building or development. In condominiums, residents own their apartments and share ownership of the public spaces. Living in apartments is gaining popularity in India. The Sahara Group has already decided to build 217 townships across India. Their allure lies in the convenience that they offer in terms of safety and security and maintenance of utilities like electricity and water. A central maintenance system obviates the need for hiring outside help for minor problems like leaking taps or electric short circuits. Stand-alone homes also require incurring additional costs like buying/leasing land, licensing, duties, etc. Apartments enable maximization of space utilization and reduce demand on public resources. People are also able to avail of additional amenities like gymnasiums, swimming pools, etc. at affordable prices. There is a gap in the literature, however, with regard to the value drivers that dictate purchase decisions of residential property in the country. Similar studies exist for other countries but were found wanting in the Indian context, especially when it comes to apartments. Through this paper, we aim to do the very same, i.e. establish which factors dictate purchase decision and to what extent. We will also correlate these preferences with the demographic profiles and characteristics of our respondents and hence arrive at a greater and much deeper understanding of these issues. We see immense utility for our paper, especially for builders and property dealers who can use our findings in structuring their own business activities. RESEARCH BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESIS: Even though consumer behaviour is generally assumed to be an important part of real estate valuation, buyer preferences are generally not considered during the valuation process. It is basically reduced to the confirmation of a bid price which may or may not be met by the buyer. Efforts are being made to address this fault and many papers have been written on the analysis of motivations of residential property purchasers, attempting to explain them using models such as bounded rationality and hedonic pricing. Hedonic Pricing, or Hedonic Demand Theory as it is also known, decomposes the item of interest into constituents and evaluates the importance of each of them and their contribution to the overall valuation. These factors can be both internal characteristics of the good or service and external factors. In the case of real estate valuation, internal characteristics include layout, structure, etc of the property while status of neighbourhood, proximity to schools, etc are the exter nal factors. Factor Analysis enables us to do just that. It is a statistical method that reduces the number of variables by grouping two or more of them into unknown or hidden variables known as factors. Further analysis is then conducted by looking at the variation among these factors and evaluating their relative performance. These factors are taken to be linear combinations of the original variables plus error terms (Richard L. Gorsuch, 1983). Factor analysis seeks to do precisely what humans have been engaged in doing throughout history that is to make order of the apparent chaos of the environment (Child, 1990). It has great use in evaluating consumer behaviour. Charles Spearman is credited with its invention. He used it in the formulation of the g Theory as part of his research on human intelligence (Williams, Zimmerman, Zumbo Ross, 2003). Over the years it has found uses in fields as diverse as psychometrics, marketing, physical sciences and economics. It can be used to segment consumers on the basis of what benefits they want from the product/service (Minhas Jacobs, 1996). It has evolved as a technique over the years, with many researchers working on fine-tuning and improving the analytical process. Bai Ng (2002) developed an econometric theory for factor models of large dimensions. It focused on the determination of the number of factors that should be included in the model. The basic premise of the authors was t hat a large number of variables can be modeled by a small number of reference variables. Marketing strategies based on customer preferences and behaviour often make use of this technique during the market research phase (Ali, Kapoor Moorthy, 2010)[14] and while devising and changing the marketing mix (Ivy, 2008). Factor Analysis has also been used in ground water management to relate the spatial distribution of different chemical parameters to various sources (Love, Hallbauer, Amos Hranova, 2004). The facility of segmentation that factor analysis offers has been extended to the real estate sector and all studies thereof. Regression analyses are subject to aggregation biases and segmented market models yield better results. This segmentation is done using factor analysis Watkins, 1999). Property researchers have also dedicated a lot of attention to researching the preferences of property buyers and identifying the drivers of property value. A study in Melbourne, Australia (Reid Mills, 2004) analyzed the purchase decisions of first time buyers and tried to determine the most influential attributes that affect the purchase decision using factor analysis. The research findings of the paper indicated that financial issues accounted for approximately 30 percent of the variance in the decision of first time owners to buy housing. This related to timing, the choice of housing, and the decision to buy new housing. Apart from that the choice of housing is dependant on Site Specific fac tors (Location) and the decision to buy new housing is dependent on Lifecycle factors, such as family formation, marital status or the size of the existing house. Another study determined that brand, beauty and utility play a defining role in property value (Roulac, 2007). The findings of the paper explain why certain properties command premium prices, relative to other properties. It came to the conclusion that for value determination of high priced properties the overall perception of the brand is the most important factor followed by utility and beauty. Brand names are also very important especially in metropolitan markets as they add to the appeal, distinctiveness of the property. Another way to attract buyers attention is through the mix of neighborhood amenities offered (Benefield, 2009). Neighborhood amenities like tennis courts, clubhouses, golf courses, swimming pool, play park and boating facilities significantly impact property values. Hedonic pricing models in which buye rs are assumed to evaluate property specifics and location attributes separately when they purchase a home have also been used to study housing markets like that of Shenzhen, China (Xu, 2008). The findings suggest that the marginal prices of key housing attributes are not constant. Instead, they vary with the household profile and location. Cluster analysis involves the grouping of similar objects into distinct, mutually exclusive subsets known as clusters. The objective is to group either the data units or the variables into clusters such that the elements within a cluster have a high degree of natural association among themselves while the clusters remain relatively distinct from one another. Mulvey and Crowder (1979)[22] presented and tested an effective optimization algorithm for clustering homogenous data. Punj and Stewart (1983)[23] reviewed the applications of cluster analysis to marketing problems. They presented alternative methods of cluster analysis to evaluate their performance characteristics. They also discussed the issues and problems related to use and validation of cluster analysis methods. The application of cluster analysis in strategic management research was studied by Ketchen and Shook (1996). Their paper chronicles the application of cluster analysis in strategic management research. They analyzed 45 published strategy studies and offered suggestions for improving the application of cluster analysis in future inquiries. They believed that cluster analysis is a useful tool but the technique must be applied prudently in order to ensure the validity of the insights it provides. Since Marketing researchers were introduced to discriminant analysis half a century ago, it has become a widely used analytical tool since they are frequently concerned with the nature and strength of the relationship between group memberships. It is especially useful in profiling characteristics of groups that are the most dominant in terms of discrimination. Morrison (1969) explained how discriminant analysis should be conducted using canned applications and how the effect of independent variables should be determined. However, care must be taken when applying discriminant analysis. The potential for bias in discriminant analysis has long been realized in marketing literature. Frank, Massy and Morrison (1965) showed that sample estimates of predictive power in n-way discriminant analysis are likely to be subject to an upward bias. This bias happens because the discriminant analysis technique tends to fit the sample data in ways that are systematically better than would be expected by chance. Crask and Perreault (1977) looked at the validation problems in small-sample discriminant analysis. http://www.ibef.org/artdispview.aspx?in=60art_id=25260cat_id=381page=1. http://planningcommission.nic.in/plans/planrel/fiveyr/welcome.html. http://www.pwc.com/en_US/us/asset-management/real-estate/assets/emergingtrend s2009.pdf. http://indiabudget.nic.in/ub2009-10(I)/ubmain.htm. http://www.sahara.in/press03.html. Australia Richard Reed and Anthony Mills, Identifying the drivers behind housing preferences of first-time owners, February 2004, Journal of Property Management, Vol 25 Issue 3 , Published by Emerald Group Publishing Limited. China Ting Xu, Heterogeneity in housing attribute prices: A study of the interaction behaviour between property specifics, location coordinates and buyers characteristics, International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, 2008, Vol 1, Issue 2, Published by Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Consumer behaviour in the valuation of residential property: A comparative study in the UK, Ireland and Australia, Jacqui Daly, Stuart Gronow, Dave Jenkins and Frances Plimmer, Journal of Property Management, 2003, Volume 21 Issue 5, Page 295 314. A Bounded Rationality framework for property investment behaviour, Anne de Bruin and Susan Flint-Hartle, Massey University, New Zealand. An application of the hedonic price model with uncertain attribute The case of the Peoples Republic of China, Zan Yang, Journal of Property Management, 2001, Volume 19 Issue 1, Page 50 63. Factor Analysis, Richard L. Gorsuch, 1983, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Charles Spearman: British Behavioral Scientist, Williams, R. H., Zimmerman, D. W., Zumbo, B. D. Ross, D. (2003), Human Nature Review. 3: 114-118. Benefit segmentation by factor analysis: an improved method of targeting customers for financial services, Raj Singh Minhas and Everett M. Jacobs, International Journal of Bank Marketing, 1996, Volume 14 Issue 3, Pages 3-13. Buying behaviour of consumers for food products in an emerging economy, Jabir Ali, Sanjeev Kapoor and Janakiraman Moorthy, British Food Journal, 2010, Volume 112 Issue 2, Page 109 124. A new higher education marketing mix: the 7Ps for MBA marketing, Jonathan Ivy, International Journal of Educational Management, 2008, Volume 22Issue 4, Pages 288 299. Love, D., Hallbauer, D.K., Amos, A. and Hranova, R.K. 2004. Factor analysis as a tool in groundwater quality management: two southern African case studies. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, 29, 1135-1143. Property valuation and the structure of urban housing markets, Craig Watkins, Journal of Property Investment Finance, 1999, Volume 17 Issue 2, Page 157 175. Identifying the drivers behind housing preferences of first-time owners, Richard Reed and Anthony Mills, February 2004, Journal of Property Management, Vol 25 Issue 3. Brand+Beauty+Utility=Property Value, Stephen E. Roulac, Journal of Property Management, Vol 5 Issue 5, Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Justin D. Benefield, Neighborhood amenity packages, property price, and marketing time, 2009, Journal of Property Management, Vol 27, Issue 5, Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Ting Xu, Heterogeneity in housing attribute prices: A study of the interaction behaviour between property specifics, location coordinates and buyers characteristics, International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, 2008, Vol 1, Issue 2, Emerald Group Publishing Limited. John M. Mulvey and Harlan P. Crowder, Cluster Analysis: An Application of Lagrangian Relaxation, 1979, Management Science, Vol. 25, No. 4, INFORMS. GirishPunj and David W. Stewart, Cluster Analysis in Marketing Research: Review and Suggestions for Application, 1983, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 20, No. 2, American Marketing Association.

Economic Condition :: Economics

Economic Condition Economy from anywhere it could be from the United States or even from the UK it self. Can have a huge impact on the firm. The main economical influences on a firm are:- 1) Inflation 2) Exchange rates 3) Unemployment 4) Interest rates 1) inflation In some things the price of them could go up. It's because prices in things when time past generally goes up. For example a time piece costing  £1000 today mite go up to  £1050 in about a years time, But that is if they area no scratches and it's in a perfect condition. 2)Exchange Rates Exchange Rates is the rate of exchange between currencies in different countries for example.  £1 is worth about $10 in Hong Kong. 3)Unemployment Unemployment is a amount of people who are unemployed but are willing to work and that are actually looking for work or that they can work but they can't find any. But it could be lots more reasons too. 4)Interest rate Interest rate is the way that bank makes money. What they do is when people needs money to buy a house or a car they will need money so they get loan from a bank. The bank will lend them money but they want a repayment in a certain amount of time and they also want another amount of money which is called interest. So for example if a person borrows  £1000 to buy a car they mite have to pay back  £1100 back to the bank. So that is 10% on the interest rate. But people can also befit from interest rates too. Because if some one or company puts their saving in a bank they will get interest from it. If they keep the money in a certain amount of time. Could be something like half a year to a year. And the more you pay in the more you will get back from the bank. Inflation Inflation can have affects on businesses too and below I have listed some of the different types of inflation. 1) Cost of raw material 2) Sales will go down 3) Further consequences:- * Reduce costs, * Lower wages, * Dismiss some staff, * Eventually bankrupt Interest rates (increase) Interest rates can have a affect on a company too. That shows anything can small can have a big effect on a business. That why it is hard to have your own business. Below I have listed different types of interest rates:- * Firms cost of borrowing will increase also that means less likely to invest in new equipment. * Consumers will spend less. A) because they are encouraged to save more so you get better interest rate.

Literary criticism †feminism

From the very point of creation, God made no difference between man and woman – both of them were humans, created in His own image, who had to reflect the beauty of heavens on the earth and share their love with the Creator and each other. Both Adam and Eve had to work in the Garden of Eden and take care of it.Disregarding the fact that Adam was created first, Eve was made as a helper, suitable for him, as a conscious and responsible personality. In the second chapter of the book of Genesis, we read that God gave all commands to Adam only, so he was responsible to retell them to Eve that she could fully understand the will of God and fulfill the commandments properly. She was made for Adam to help him, and apart from all other creatures, was called â€Å"flesh of my flesh and bone of my bones† (Gen. 2:23); therefore, they both belonged to each other and supplemented each other. Keeping their individuality, Adam and Eve, at the same time, formed a new unity, and this com munity was so self-valuable, that for its sake â€Å"shall a man leave his father and his mother† (Gen. 2:24).On the other hand, we can see the God’s order in the family: God – man – woman. As a leader in the family, Adam, at the same time, was subordinate to God, and both man and woman were subjected to the sovereign power of Almighty God. And only after their fall, the Lord God made a clear distinction between man and woman: â€Å"thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee† (Gen.3:16b). This leading role of man is proven by the fact that Eve had fallen into temptation first, consequently breaking the God’s order on the earth. Yet, man must take the main responsibility. But if the core predestination of man isâ€Å"Literary Criticism – Feminism†work, woman is predetermined to bare children, be a mother, which is bound to pain and sufferings. Being in subordination, which was based on love, the fall of man has shifted it to the dominance of man over woman. But one should remember that it was not a new covenant of God, but rather a direct result of the fall.Since considering first of all the interests of man, who was permitted to have several wives, in the marriage husband had more freedom, comparing to wife. For example, one of the Ten Commandments claims that â€Å"thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife† (Ex. 20:17), for this kind of adultery was interpreted as criminal offence on the property of another man (wife is mentioned in this text between such things as house, ox, servant). Only in Deuteronomy the same text gives wife a separate place in the list of man’s belongings. The consequences for the adultery also differed depending on the social status of woman:death to man found with a married woman;trespass offering for maidservant;marriage or money penalty for a maid.â€Å"Literary Criticism – Feminism†Such strict regulations were called to p revent divorces; yet the adultery was widespread and was mostly noted in Proverbs. The offering of jealousy (offering of memorial) testified about the male privileges: man could demand this offering if he had the slightest, even groundless, suspicion as to his wife’s behavior (water could either cause the curse or not). Men were not subjected to this test.Divorce was also a sole prerogative of man. According to Deuteronomy 24:1, he had the right to divorce with his wife, if â€Å"he hath found some uncleanness in her†. This regulation assumes a number of interpretations: if in the beginning it was enabled only in cases of wife’s bad behavior, then, in the course of time, the bill of divorcement was given to man if his wife caused the slightest displeasure.For her whole life, woman was dependant: first from father, later – from husband, and, finally, – from son, with the exception of widows, whose children were under age. This position primarily gua ranteed her the sense of security. Disregarding the savage customs (Lot, who was eager to give his two daughters to sodomites – Gen. 19:8, Levite, who gave his concubine to the men of the city – Judges 19:24-26) that were caused by the fall, women in Israel had deserving and full life, they were loved and respected by their men (1-Sam. 1:5,8) and children (Ps. 35:14) and were honored with public acknowledgement and praise (Proverbs 5:18, 12:4, 18:22; Eccl. 9:9).In Israel, woman held better position, comparing to other Orient nations. Women and maids of the Old Testament could freely and unconstrainedly take part in social affairs and amenities. Sara, though she called Abram as â€Å"master†, nevertheless, had persuaded him to take a concubine (Gen. 16:1-4). Rebecca had not veiled herself until she met Isaac (Gen. 24:64). Jacob greeted Rachel with a kiss before the shepherds (Gen. 29:11). Women participated in public celebrations, the songs of Miriam, Deborah, an d Hannah (Ex. 15:20, 21;â€Å"Literary Criticism – Feminism†Judges 5 chapter, 1-Samuel 2:1-10) prove the highly developed intellectual faculties. Israeli women of the Old Testament also held official positions, such as the prophetesses Miriam, Huldah and Noadiah, and Deborah, the prophetess, who judged Israel.As a wife, mother and mistress, women are depicted in the most attractable manner. Heathenism cannot show the portrait of the woman that is described in Proverbs, chapter 31. Israel was the first one, who was taught by God to look at mother’s heart, as the likeness of God’s heart: â€Å"can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee† (Is. 49:15). The Law of Israel had lifted woman from that humbled state she was in heathenism. Yet, along with respect and honor, Bible gives us plain call to beware of foolish (Prov. 14:1), brawling, angry (Prov. 2 1:9, 19) and fair women without discretion (Prov. 11:22).First of all, woman was called to carry out duties of mother and mistress of the house. In these issues, man totally relied on her. In the house, woman could work and make decisions independently; she could manage her servants, who could belong directly to her (Gen. 16:1, 6; 29:24, 1-Sam. 25:42). Her primary responsibility was to raise children, at that mother’s covenant was equal to father’s admonitions (Prov. 1:8, 6:20). Women’s wisdom was highly valued and honored (Prov. 14:1, 31:26). Returning to Bethlehem, Naomi had the right to own the property of her husband (Ruth 4:3, 9), just as daughters had a part in father’s inheritance (Numb. 27:1-11), and Shunammite, the widow, was restored her house and field (2 Kings 8:1-6).  In contrast to men, women were not obliged to worship in the tabernacle regularly (Ex. 23:17), however, they brought the instructed sacrifices personally; they participated in celebrations and took portions of offerings. Women from priests’ families could eat offerings of the holy things; women and girls were praising the Lord with their dances and songs (Ex.15:20. Moreover, God gives especial revelations to women: the Lord has revealed the future of her sons to Rebecca – â€Å"two nations are in thy womb †¦ and the elder shall serve the younger† (Gen. 25:22, 23); Manoah’s wife was the first to receive the news about a son – â€Å"and the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman† (Judges 13:3); along with prophets, women were used by God to reveal His will to Israel, Miriam was the first mentioned prophetess, and â€Å"Deborah, a prophetess, she judged Israel† (Judges 4:4).So, analyzing all the texts and the mentioned above, we see that there is no single opinion, regulation and voice in Bible verses, regarding to women. Yet, one text gives us clear explanation to this issue: â€Å"In those days the re was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes† (Judges 21: 25). From human side, we had seen the difference in male attitudes towards women: in some cases that were regarded as property, in others, as humans equal or with the same social rights. Sometimes, they were treated like a thing, but, in contrast, women’s wisdom, beauty, love and meekness are considered as the greatest gifts from God to men.Anyway, in all these texts, it is obvious that â€Å"My thoughts are not your thoughts, nether are your ways My ways, saith the Lord† (Is. 55:8). Due to the fall, thoughts and ways of men were perverted and devil is still making everything possible to make them wickeder; therefore, sinless relations between man and woman were totally changed, but God still looks at them the same way – the way they should be. Angels, sent to women first, prophetess, chosen to tell the will of God, offerings, brought by women – prove that God can use them, just like men, and sometimes, women were holding the same positions, even not taking into account that God is looking at Israel, as to His children, disregarding the gender, as the whole community of children of God. Therefore, the sole contrast between men’s and God’s attitude towards women lies in the notion that the fall of man brought the difference in the world and human’s perception of woman’s role in the society.Works Cited:Holy Bible, King James Version. Plume, 1974.

Lamarcus Adna Thompson

?2009 The most influencing person in my life would have to be the inventor of the first gravity-powered roller coaster in the United States by LaMarcus Adna Thompson, also known as the â€Å"Father of the Gravity Ride† for his Switchback Railway at Coney Island, New York City and became famous for the Scenic Railway on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1887. Thompson was born on March 8, 1848 in Jersey, Ohio. At the age of 12, he built a butter churn and an oxcart, and was a master carpenter by the age of 17. In 1866, Thompson graduated from Hillsdale College in Michigan. He worked in a wagon and carriage business then made a mint for the manufacture of seamless women’s hosiery. In the early 1880s, Thompson almost had a nervous breakdown and thus sold his share in the hosiery business and returned to his first passion of inventing. Thompson was inspired by the designs of other inventors and the Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway in Pennsylvania. In 1884 in Coney Island, he had successfully built his version of the Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway, which he just simply called it, the Switchback Railway. Within the next four years, he had built about fifty railways all over the nation and in Europe. As more sophisticated coasters were beginning to be built, Thompson’s business was starting to go downhill. So Thompson paired up with James A. Griffiths, a designer, and produced his most famous attraction the Scenic Railway in 1887. It was a rolling tour of some elaborate artificial scenery with vividly colored tableaus, biblical scenes and flora-illuminated by lights triggered by approaching cars. This ride was the foundation of the Space Mountain of Disneyland in Anaheim, CA and other theme park journeys. Between the Switchbacks and his death on May 8, 1919, in Glen Cove, New York, Thompson had built many other scenic railways such as the masterpiece of faux-mountain and the Egyptian imagery in Venice, CA in 1910, which faced competition with his old partner James A. Griffiths. After he retired, he still patented an automatic car coupler and sold the invention to railroad car manufacturer, George Pullman. After Thompson’s death his legacy still ived through the Thompson company coasters, notably the Bobs, which was later renamed the Tornado, built at Coney Island in 1926. From then on, many coasters have been built and thought of. They are very intricate designs and have to be precise otherwise someone will get hurt. There are two types of roller coasters, steel and wooden. Steel roller coasters are known for their smooth riding usually taking the riders upside down, i n cork screws, etc. Some of the designs for the tracks are dwelling, figure 8, inverted, launched, shuttle, side friction, spinning and twister roller coasters. The most popular coasters are the floorless, flying, stand-up, suspended swing, and the Virginia Reel. LaMarcus Adna Thompson has influenced me more than I realized. My dream out of college is to become a roller coaster designer and if he had never invented the Switchback Railway I probably would be pursuing another career. I hope to be as successful as he was. I have learned to still be positive and stay focused on my goals in life now because the choices I make now will affect the way my future is played out. Like school for instance, I need to keep my grades up even though I have only one year left of high school. One bad grade could greatly decrease my chances of going to a college of my choice rather than a college I have to go to because I have no other offers. Even if Thompson almost had a nervous breakdown he still has inspired me to keep moving forward and to find comfort in the things that I find enjoyable. Yes, he did sell his part of the business but I would rather give up my part, than to bring everyone else down with me because that wouldn’t be fair to them. I understand more now than I ever did that when you fail it’s only an obstacle in your path that when you overcome it, you become even stronger than before. You become more creative and see the things in life with a totally different perspective than you would’ve thought of before. Now that I have grown to become a better person to find the good in everything I do and to pursue my dreams with my chin up high even though I know that I will get shut out every now and then. But that only means that greater things for me are to come in the mere future.

Business arena Essay

Recent years have demonstrated that a lack of unity exists within the business arena compared to the synergistic methods in which trade unions execute their policies. This must be considered another of the drawbacks of the existence of interest groups. This has resulted in costly political campaigning for Australian businesses (Bell, 0000). The number of organisations that attempt to represent their interests at the political level has become such a complex and tangled web that it is often unprofitable for to do business in such a scene (Matthews). Such action often bring great expense and yet offer little real guarantee of success (Coutskorais, 0000, p. 80). Such organisations in Australia as the Minerals Council of Australia (which represents the particular industry) and Surfer’s Paradise Chamber of Commerce (which represents regional membership) exist for the profitable purpose of (among other things) promoting competition among businesses and the consequent improvement of policies (Matthews, 0000, 75) Despite the clear benefits that interest groups can provide, some drawbacks do exist when one considers their impact on the politics of a country. It is usually necessary to be careful that certain interest groups do not become too powerful and end up coercing government to adversely affect policy changes (Apollonio & Bero, 2007). The two Australian interest groups previously mentioned are cases in point, as they represent very powerful organizations that have at least a large potential to urge the implementation of any of the policies they devise. Care must be taken that the policies they advocate really do consider the interest of the public. One major reason why such care must be taken is the fact that these interest groups are never guaranteed to possess equity in their actions. Because they take a particular stand on an issue, their interest is likely to exclude the interest of several others who have opposing views. Furthermore, interest groups have the general privilege of making donations to political parties. This is a lobbying technique that has been around for decades, but may give a political edge to such groups that have the greatest means of funding such campaigns (2007). Some interest groups have outsider status, and this means that they attempt to influence policy by altering public opinion (Evans, year. p. 84). Such groups may prove both beneficial and detrimental to the politics of a country. The detriment comes where such groups falsify or misrepresent information to the public in order to convince them (and their political candidates) to act in the behalf of the group. One group which has historically been seen in this light is the tobacco industry-front group. According to researchers Appollonio & Bero, â€Å"The tobacco industry has a history of misrepresenting scientific evidence† (2007, p.419). The researchers go on to point out that the industry has created what seems to be an unaffiliated interest group which presents â€Å"its antiregulation agenda as an expression of popular will, and allowed industry lobbyists access to policymakers who were otherwise unwilling to work with them† (2007, p. 419). This presents a very unfavourable view of political interest groups. However, positive effects of this attempt to influence the public may occur in the form of debates between/among opposing groups, through which the public becomes more informed about the policies being advocated by each. Furthermore, since each group represents a social movement made up of people who share values and see eye to eye on certain matters of concern, these groups provide a forum or network of communication that has the potential to provide a series of checks and balances amongst themselves and within the government (Marsh, 2000). Overall, the action groups that exist within Australia to lobby for the interests of the people have a predominantly positive impact on the Australian society. Such organizations as the Boy’s Club, Gay rights, and animal liberation groups offer protection and a voice for these minorities in the decision-making sectors of the government. Such groups also speak for such issues as gun control, military disarmament, and the protection of the environment. These interest groups possess the expertise and the experience to speak persuasively in the behalf of their interests, and also have the ability to aid in the execution of policies once they have been adopted by the political bodies. The media has the positive effect of promoting the accountability of the government, and of other businesses that my have formed ties with members of the government. However, the highly structured and powerful nature of certain interest groups, while they have the power to get things done within the government, also have the power to wrongly influence the government on their behalf. It is therefore necessary to take care in the freedom with which such groups are allowed to act. References van Acker, E. & Curran, G. (eds. ) 2004, Governing Business and Globalisation, (2nd edn. ) Pearson, Frenchs Forest. Ang, J & C. Boyer. 2007, â€Å"Finance and politics: the wealth effects of special interest group influence during the nationalisation and privatisation of Conrail. † Cambridge Journal of Economics. vol. 31, no. 2, pp 193-216. Apollonio, D. E. & L. A. Bero. 2007, â€Å"Finance and politics: the wealth effects of special interest group influence during the nationalisation and privatisation of Conrail. † American Journal of Public Health. vol. 97, no 3, pp 419-428. BCA. (2007). â€Å"Our Structure. † Business Council of Australia. Melbourne, VIC. Retrieved on May 8, 2007 from http://www. bca. com. au/Content. aspx? ContentID=100827 Hague, R. M. Harrop, S. Breslin. 1994, Political Science: A Comparative Introduction. St. Martin Press, New York. Gray, V. & D. Lowery. 2000, Population Ecology of Interest Representation : Lobbying Communities in the American States. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor. Greenemeier, L & J. N. Hoover. 2007, â€Å"Advocacy, Inc. † InformationWeek. no. 1121, pp 38-46. Hollander, R. â€Å"Name of Chapter or Essay. † (2006). Eccleston, R, Williams, P. & Hollander, R. (Eds. ). Foundations of Australian Politics. Pearson Education, Sydney. Marsh, I. 2000, â€Å"Gaps in Policy-making capacities; interest groups, social movements, think tanks and the media. † in M. Keating, J. Wanna & P. Weller (eds. ) Institutions on the Edge: Capacity for Governance. Allen & Unwin, St Leonard’s. Parkin, A, Summers, J. & Woodward, D. (eds. ) 2006, Government, Politics, Power and Policy in Australia, (8th ed. ) Pearson, French’s Forest. Chapter 17. Singleton, G et al. 2006, Interest Groups’ in Australian Political Institutions. 8th edn. Pearson, French’s Forest.. Ward, I. & R. G. Stewart. 2006, Ch. 12, ‘Pressure Groups and Social Movements’ in Politics One, 3rd edn. , Palgrave. Macmillan, South Yarra. Weitzel, P. 2004, â€Å"Joining with non-media organization can help win access battle. † The Quill. vol. 92, no 7, pp 20-21.