Sunday, October 13, 2019

The Benefits of Education :: Importance of Education

Education is as important as the air we breathe. It is the most important possession a person must have. Education is beneficial in many aspect of life especially, personal and social it is the only possession that cannot be taken away from you. Education is important because it will open up the windows of opportunities. In this competitive world having a good education is as important as the air we breathe because it is our weapon to conquer the world. Education will help you grow as an individual because the more knowledge you have the better understanding you will have in any given problem that will come your way. It will give you self satisfaction and will boost your self confidence. As an individual I know it will help me in a lot of aspects in my life. It will give me a financial stability because I will be able to land a good job and a high paying salary. I will learn how to spend my money and will learn how to invest it wisely. The more education I have the more respect and acknowledgement I will get from people. Knowledge is really important that is why we need to take it seriously. It is the strong weapon you can have to conquer this complex world. If you have a good education nobody can fool you and you will not tolerate any mistreatment from people. It will give you a better views in life if you are well educated. In the social aspect of my life education will give me a better understanding on how to communicate to people effectively. I will understand what is happening around me. For example voting, I will have enough knowledge to carefully choose the candidate I will vote for. I will know what to consider in choosing the right candidate to serve and protect our country. I will be able to understand the social issues that our country is facing and will be capable to help in my own little way. However, it is apparent in this competitive world that most of the successful person have the proper education especially the higher position in society they have proved that education will give you the edge in life.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Hamlet Essay :: essays research papers

Death can be harsh. Death can be punishing. Death can be for the most, sad. As most people see death, it brings tough and hard emotions to their minds. Most don’t understand that death should be celebrated. They believe that once they die they never see them again. This idea that death is the end, has haunted the human life for all of eternity. Death brings cold thoughts to a person, which makes them miserable. The passing away of a beloved person, can be extremely dangerous through the different ideas and attitudes that come with death. This is what came to be in the play Hamlet. The characters put their emotion into death and some of the different out puts toward death were surprising. Throughout Hamlet, the attitudes toward death are astonishing between the characters the Ghost, Claudius, and Hamlet.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The ghost had an obvious approach towards death. For instance, when he visited Hamlet telling him how he was murdered, he states, â€Å"Doomed...till the foul crimes done in my days are burnt and purged away.† (I:v:15-18) Suppressed by death, the Ghost felt abhorrence of the harsh evilness that he had to go through. He also showed his anger for the process of passing away, and death’s backstabbing ways. In addition, when he explained to Hamlet his murder, he exclaims, â€Å"...by a brother’s hand of life, of crown, of queen at once dispatched...O horrible, O horrible, most horrible!†(I:v:81-87) Here, the ghost implied that he loved life, and tells how easily death, in general, can bring you down to an all time low emotional state. An analogy to prove this is that the ghost felt his life was complete, so in the analogy he is sitting around a room with all of his goods around him. Then a glass box falls on top of him and he cannot have hi s goods anymore, although he can see them all and want them so much. There is no doubt that the feelings of death of the ghost were quite low and hated.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  King Claudius had an uncertain view on what he thought death of. For example, after the king sees the play, he admits that he killed Hamlet’s father for, â€Å"My crown, mine own ambition, and my queen.† (III:iii:59) Claudius felt that death was his only way to power, and power, to him, was like being a god. He just saw death as a little spec in the way, thus meaning he believes deceasing isn’t that big of a deal.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Go Greek

Becca Papineau English 101-18 Schwaller Essay Draft 3 October 26, 2012 Go GREEK!!! Being a part of something, and knowing you will always be accepted for who you are is one of the best feelings in the world. Learning life-long skills that you know that will benefit you in the future is also a rewarding experience. Joining a sorority or fraternity is something most people don’t regret. You have to give it a chance, in order to succeed. People judge the Greek system before they learn anything about it.They make assumptions that are most likely not true. They make assumptions from hear say only. You need to experience it, before you judge. Lauren Border’s negative outlook on the Greek system is mistaken, because she overlooks the positives like sisterhood and brotherhood, scholarship, and leadership, and what they have to offer. In â€Å"Pledging to never rush: a criticism of Greek life at Tufts†, published in The Tufts Daily, student at Tufts University Lauren Bord er writes how she is against the Greek life establishment at Tufts.She doesn’t understand why people would want to join an establishment that gives you so many bad names, and separates women from men, and men from women. In the article she did want to make clear that she does not dislike the people in the Greek life establishment. She has nothing against them; she is just against the establishment. She doesn’t like how the sexes are separated. She doesn’t understand that women are still trying to make a step up in the world and become equal to men, but then they have these establishments that separate them.She is also very against the hazing aspect on both sides of the Greek system. Girls’ egos are shut down, and men have to prove something, just to be part of something. She is stating that you can feel belonged to something and not have to partake in any of these things. In the article she states, â€Å"I am convinced that Greek life usually does much m ore harm than good. † She wants a change at Tufts and she is hoping that this article will make people wake up and see that there are other options out there. Border’s opinion on he Greek system lacks credibility when she points out the flaws of the Greek system. For every point she makes, she does not have any proof to back it up with. Also Border makes all of her judgments based off of the Tuft University Greek Life, when in reality not all Greek Life is the same on every campus nationwide. She is judging without knowing. Unlike Border I am currently part of a Greek establishment and it is the best decision I have ever made. I have only been in the house for three months, and I have experienced things I don’t think I would have ever experienced if I didn’t join.I don’t know if it’s because I go to the University of Idaho, but some of the stuff she mentions are not true. For example, Border states in the article that girls have it way worse in the Greek system than guys, but here at the University of Idaho, it’s the complete opposite. Absolutely no hazing is allowed, and if the house gets caught it will be shut down. No exceptions what so ever. There are many benefits for joining a Greek establishment. Border only looks at all the negatives, and doesn’t even bother to consider the positives.One of the multiple benefits for joining a Greek establishment is friendship and sisterhood/brotherhood you gain. When joining a house you have the advantage of meeting people of various backgrounds with both different yet similar interests. The ideal of sisterhood/brotherhood is the principal foundation upon which each fraternity/ sorority is built and from which you will receive the greatest benefit. You will always have people pushing you to be the very best you can be, and will be there when the going gets tough.Another benefit for joining an establishment is the academic side of it. One of the main purposes of the fraternity or sorority community is to develop and encourage high scholastic achievement among the members. Within the house you have the opportunity to take advantage of peer tutoring, upperclassman counseling, and chapter study hours. Those chapter study hours give the newest members a good sense of the change of study habits they are going to have to become accustom to in order to be successful in college.Also, there is the fact that your brothers/sisters can offer all kinds of academic advice after their experiences. There are so many benefits in joining a house, but I am only going to mention one more. When you join a fraternity or sorority you will be offered the opportunity to take on a leadership position. Leadership positions range from president to vice president of finance all the way to purchase chairman. Everyone in a fraternity or sorority is a leader, whether you’re an officer, on a committee, or just a participant. You will learn by doing.You will learn how t o manage a budget, run effective meetings, speak in public, and motivate others. These are skills that will help you not only within the university but throughout your life. These days it takes more than just a degree to get a job, it takes leadership experience. Being a part of something that has a lot of meaning behind everything is an amazing feeling. Being a part of a sorority/ fraternity and forming that sisterhood/ brotherhood is such an amazing thing. You know people have your back all the time, and you know you are not alone.Everyone is going through the same thing. Learning life skills while being part of a Greek establishment will help you so much later down the road. Whether you hear good or bad things about joining a house, give it a chance. You will never understand the meaning behind everything if you don’t give it a try. Lauren Borders negative outlook on the Greek system is mistaken, because she overlooks the positives of what it has to offer. Everything was b ased on hearsay and personal opinion. She had nothing to back up any of her points.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Merck & Co. Performance Appraisal System Essay

1) WHY? Brief Background on Merck & Co. Performance Appraisal System The past and existing performance appraisal of Merck & Co. was ineffective to identify and reward performance to a certain extent. Although the company was paying their employees around seven to eight percent more than the average compensation in other large companies, the performance appraisal system did not clearly identified outstanding performance, which caused inequity in rewarding performance and led to unhappiness among the employees, especially the high performers. Compared to the average performers, there was only marginal increase in salary for outstanding performers. Without proper recognition and rewards, the company was at risk of losing its high performers and keeping the worst performers. Core Problems and Its Causal Identification: High Degree of Criterion Deficiency and Criterion Contamination The core problems identified for inequity in performance appraisal was the high degree of Criterion Deficiency and Criterion Contamination in performance appraisal, forced distribution in performance rating and biasness in performance appraisal. There were 3 causal for the core problems. The 3 causal were namely: 1) the company’s absolute performance rating scale, 2) company’s salary determination under the old plan and 3) superiors’ biasness in appraisal. Recommendation Using Core Concepts to Solve the High Degree of Criterion Deficiency and Criterion Contamination The 3 proposed recommendation to address the 3 causal are namely: 1) identifying conceptual criteria through employees’ job analysis to eliminate criterion deficiency and contamination in performance appraisal, 2) employee comparison models (rank-order method) to identify outstanding performers under salary determination and 3) introducing an ongoing assessment to eliminate superior’s biasness. 2) WHAT? Causal 1: Performance Appraisal under the Old Plan (Criterion Deficiency & Criterion Contamination) The Absolute performance rating scale could only rate the individual’s performance independent of the performances of other employees. In my opinion, this individual’s performance rating scale was no longer relevant or sufficient in big company like Merck & Co in the present. From the case, it was noted that an employee was dissatisfied that the company’s performance was average and 83 percent of the employees  were actually exceeding job expectations. This had proven that the performance appraisal system was inaccurate in measuring the employee’s performance. For example, it might be due to the fact that the effectiveness of the company depends on an individual’s performance, that was interdependent on his subordinates, superior and even colleagues in a team context. Thus, an absolute performance rating scale would be ineffective in identifying and rewarding true performance as it had caused a criterion deficiency of excluding the team performance as one of the important criteria for performance appraisal. Causal 2: Salary Determination under the Old Plan (Forced Distribution for Performance Rating) In Merck & Co., the salaries of the employees were determined by a salary line formula comprises of the Hay points system. The employees would then get their actual salary based on their percentage for compa-ratio on the control point. On the surface, this system seems to be structured in rewarding based on merit, but in fact, it was not effective in rewarding outstanding performers. Firstly, an employee’s compa-ratio would always be capped at the maximum of 125 percent. In other words, an employee can only earn a maximum of 25 percent more of the normal 100 percent salary even he had performed exceptionally well in his job. Secondly, consisten t good performers were unable to maintain compa-ratio of 120 percent and above due to the annual revision on the control points. When the control points increased, the compa-ratio of an employee would dropped for most of the time, regarding his performance. Thirdly, an outstanding employee with high compa-ratio would get lower pay increase compared to an employee with average compa-ratio, given the same performance ratings. This salary determination system discouraged outstanding employees to continue to perform as the reward they get out of this system was capped and limited, and similar to what average employees would get for their effort. From the case, one of the employee had actually voiced out that it was demoralizing and demotivating as no matter how hard he work, he will still get the same rating as everyone else and the same 5 percent increase in salary. In addition, as reflected from the case, the vast majority of the employees received 3 or 4 while very few received 1,2 and 5. There was a forced distribution for performance rating. This system had caused criterion deficiency as the determination of the employees’ salary was not clearly assessed on their performance and thus,  making the outstanding performers to feel inequity. Causal 3: No fairness in the Performance Measures (Biasness) There was a significant amount of complaints from the employees on the performance appraisal system as there were no fairness in the performance measures. This was caused by the biasness of the appraiser. The contributory factors of biasness could be vanity, narcissism, laziness and frivolity (Michael, 2007). For vanity, the appraiser would want to give high ratings to his subordinate so as to make his people and department to look good and get good bonuses and other rewards. In the case, an employee who was an appraiser commented that he was unable to rate his people objectively as other directors were giving all their people a rating of 4, and it makes him hard to give his people a rating of less than 4. For narcissism, the appraiser would measure performance using his own point of view. An employee reflected that managers were afraid of giving experienced people a rating of less than 4 but willing to give new people a rating of 3. The managers’ point of view was that experienced employees would get a rating of 4 and above while new employees would get a rating of 3. In the case of laziness, the appraiser measures assumed performance without any thoughts and efforts. This cou ld be related to the case whereby the experienced employees would be rated higher than the newcomers as it was assumed by the appraiser that the experienced employees were better than the newcomers in term of performance. Lastly, for frivolity, the appraiser was not serious in the appraisal and would look for ways to blame others rather than shouldering the responsibility for improving performance. From the case, an employee who performed well was not given a rating of 5 by his supervisor, as his supervisor did not get a 5 for his performance appraisal. It might be due to the supervisor’s self-interest that made him reluctant to give a rating of 5 to his subordinate. These errors of appraisal had caused the performance measures to lose its values and resulted in criterion deficiency and contamination as the appraisers were not doing their appraisal properly. 3) How? Recommendation 1 to address Causal 1: Identify Conceptual Criteria through Employees’ Job Analysis Firstly, the company should use job analysis as the procedure to find the criteria and job performance scope for its employees in order to eliminate criterion deficiency and contamination and increase  criterion relevance. Job analysis would help to identify conceptual criteria such as observable job behaviors and characteristics of the job environment. Based on a relevant set of performance criteria, the management would then be able to measure and reward their employees’ performance effectively and would in turns, accurately reflects the effectiveness of the organization and eliminate cases whereby most of the employees exceeded job expectations when the company was only doing average in performance. Recommendation 2 to address Causal 2: Employee Comparison models (Rank-order method) as the Appraisal Method for Salary Determination Secondly, in order to improve on the way that the company determine the employees’ salary, the management can implement rank-order method as the performance rating for salary determination. In the company’s existing performance appraisal program, the management used forced distribution whereby the vast majority of the employees were given an average ratings and very few employees were given in the high and low ratings. This was reflected in the salary determination for the employees where there were no significant difference in the salary among the employees. It was ineffective to some extent in rewarding the outstanding performers as only a small proportion or percentage of the employees would get high ratings for their performance. Thus, it was recommended for the management to use the rank-order method so as to force the appraiser to p erform detailed analysis on the employees and rank them in order of their performance. Unlike forced distribution, the rank-order method can be motivating for the employees to perform as it objectively identify the worst and outstanding performers without the restriction of the quotas to meet in these two categories. When the salary determination system was paired up with Rank-order Appraisal method, according to the order of employees’ ranking, it can create a distinct gaps in terms of Hay points and Compa-Ratio between poor to average and high performers. Also, the employees in top rankings would get higher ratings in performance appraisal. Based on the salary line formula, rank-order performance rating method would significantly increase the salary gap between average and high performers contributed by the increase in the Hay Points, Compa-Ratio and performance ratings earned by the high performers. Recommendation 3 to address Causal 3: An Ongoing Assessment & Self-Assessment (360 Degrees Feedback) Thirdly, in addition of the  yearly formal performance appraisal, the company can introduce a weekly or monthly ongoing performance assessment and self-assessment to measure its employees’ performance effectively. The ongoing assessment must be objective, job-related and provide appeal process for employees who are not satisfied with the performance rating. With an ongoing assessments put in place, the management would minimize biasness by using and compare a variety of performance evaluations such as 360 degrees feedback that involve multiple appraisers and would also prevent the appraiser to appraise based on their own biasness without any substantial proof on the employees’ performance. The ongoing assessment would promote fairness in performance appraisal. Reference: Case Study 1) Merck & Co., Inc. (A) 2) The 7 Deadly Sins of Performance Measurement and How to Avoid Them

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Symphony no.7 in A major. Opus 92, second movement by Ludwig van Beethoven

This four-part symphony by German classical composer Ludwig van Beethoven was completed in 1812 in Teplice when the composer was regaining his health. The symphony is arranged for strings, woodwinds (2 oboes, 2 clarinet), brass (2 bassoons, horns and trumpets), and percussion (timpani) and divided into four movements – Poco Sostenuto – â€Å"Vivace, Allegretto, Presto, and Allegro con brio† (Beethoven).The second movement contrasts sharply from the first, as the second movement’s flow and theme is much more expressive than the first.This expressiveness comes in form of subtle elegance mingled with a hint of sadness, though it still maintains its dance-like rhythm. The second movement acts as the antithesis to the somewhat glorious mood of the first and also in consideration with its tempo. The movement is ‘slow’ compared to the first, though the movement is in Allegreto form; meaning, it is to be played in a lively manner. The transition from the first movement is punctuated by its sad theme, yet the mood is counterbalanced with the Allegreto form.The ostinato in the piece is prevalent in the whole movement, acting as a support for the main theme played in succession by the brass and string sections. As evident in most of Beethoven’s works, there are parts in the movement that the theme starts from a quiet and small accentuation into a strong and sudden emphasis. The dance-like rhythm of the first movement is maintained through the Allegretto tempo while maintaining its tonal change from the first. Work Cited Symphony no. 7, A Major, op. 92, Second Movement. By Ludwig van Beethoven. Cond. Carlos Kleiber. Perf. Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Vienna, 200

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Quantitative Methods Individual work wk4 Assignment

Quantitative Methods Individual work wk4 - Assignment Example In conservative approach, there will be determination of the minimum payoff in each alternative that are available. The second step using the approach will involve selection of an alternative that maximized the minimum payoff that can be obtained. Basing on this approach, the maximum of minimum payoff values, the recommend alternative is decision one with the third state of nature 25. The mind max regret approach involves evaluation of each alternative available in terms of maximum and minimum regret values that are able to occur. In the consideration, the second alternative will apply as compared to the first alternative. In making decision on the plant size to construct, the recreational products will be demanded most in large company except due to low demand periods. The best alternative that the company is able to go for is small size plant. During low demand, the firm when puts up a large size will gain less profit as compared to small firms but when the demand rises, the demand is equal in medium demand and higher in high demand. The small size farm will be appropriate as there is no much loss that is incurred in all demand seasons. From the decision tree, in case the firm starts the project at 5 million dollars it has the probability of failing and succeeding in the investment. In case the firm is successful and decides to build the facility that they operate, the firm is exposed to different profits in different demand situation. If the business decides to have sell rights after it is successful, the business will gain 20 million as the profit. In this situation, the business should invest and start the project. After the project is started, the business should then make sure to focus on the success of the project. When the project becomes successful, the business will invest in building the facility such that high demand will lead to more profit than the firm invested. The selling price of the rights to the product will be 25 million dollars

Monday, October 7, 2019

Prison in the US justice system Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Prison in the US justice system - Research Paper Example The current conditions of prisons will be considered, as well as the presence and implementation of recidivism programs, rehabilitative programs, introductory back into society programs, and steps taken to ensure the safety of the public after a prisoner has been released. When most people think of prisons, cold, rundown jail cells for the purpose of punishing hardened criminals is what usually comes to mind. While punishment is one of the primary reasons that prisons exist, there are two other reasons that often go overlooked: to protect and to rehabilitate. Prisons are used to protect both society and the criminal. Society needs protection against harmful individuals and groups, and the criminal needs protection from those in society wishing to seek revenge for any wrongdoings (for example, the father of a murdered child might feel tempted to go after the murderer). Prisons also help to rehabilitate to prisoners so that they can learn to handle their anger in healthy and beneficial ways, and will also be less likely to commit crimes once they have been released. In recent years, many state and federal prisons have been under fire due to the physical conditions that prisoners are being forced to live. The majority of these issues have stemmed from the two greatest ordeals that prisons are facing, which are overcrowding and underfunding. As early as 1991, prisons throughout the United States have faced a significant increase of inmates, and thus an increase in prison overcrowding (Weschler, 1991). The number of prisoners being released back onto the streets is shrinking while the number of prisoners being brought into prisons is continuing to grow. The demand to maintain prisoners is too great and cannot be kept up with. To make the overcrowding even worse is the underfunding of our state and federal prisons. Due to nationwide budget cuts and our current economic recession, our prisons are among the institutions that are being given the cold shoulder