Eco dq Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Eco dq - Essay Example Money is a medium that enables people to forgo the use of goods and service that are less required to them and purchases which are most required. ii. People sell their service (work) to earn money now and to buy goods and services at a later time. Money is essential because it has a value in future and therefore people work to acquire money. The economic system of money functions on the basis of mutual aspects of belief (Moffatt p.2). iii. There are chances when the belief in money is lost or the future value of money is assumed to be low. This happens when the currency is impacted by inflation and people have a tendency to spend their money quickly. But profitable deals are not usually signed during inflation due to the fear of future value of money when it will be actually paid. Inflation can cause various inefficiencies in the economy where shop owners have to change the price of goods frequently and customers have carry loads of money to purchase just a loaf of bread. When people lose faith in money, economic activities are likely to halt. Like any other good, money is also a good which is ruled by the maxim of supply and demand. Money is a good, the value of which is determined by the demand and supply. Money tends to possess less value when there is inflation (when there is an increase in the price of goods) that occurs due to increase in supply of money, demand for money reduces, supply of goods decreases or when the demand for goods increases (Moffatt p.3). When an economy is under recession and there is high rate of unemployment the Fed issues policies to maintain interest rates at low level by purchasing securities. As a result, the price of securities rises and reduces their yields. This action of the Fed increases the amount of reserves with banks and increases the amount of bank credit that ultimately increases the total amount of money in the economy. This is the reason why central banks believe that the

Do Violent Video Games Cause Youth Violence Media Essay

Do Violent Video Games Cause Youth Violence Media Essay During the last years, the popularity of violent video games has increased significantly. Consequently, parents and teachers have become worried that these violent videogames may contribute or cause youth violence. These games have been blamed for school shootings, juvenile crime and sexist violence. In addition, the criticism towards violent video games from the media, and the parental community are so continuous, the causal connection between the videogames and violence has been accepted as an absolute reality. But the truth is another. Patrick Kierkegaard, a PhD student at Nottingham University, revised the researches and investigations on this matter, and published his conclusions in the magazine International Journal of Liability and Scientific Enquiry. In his work, he questions if there is scientific evidence that states that violent videogames contribute to violence or aggressive behavior, and the truth of the matter is: there is none. He also notes that if a connection between playing violent videogames and the activation of the regions of the brain associated with violence is produced, is not grounds for establishing a strong, proven and evident bond between the players attitude while playing the game and his behavior in real life. Furthermore, he states that there is no relationship between juvenile violence and the increasing sales of violent video games. In fact the effect seems to be the opposite, it looks like violent video games have decreased violence, but this theory hasnt been proven either. Moreover, Kierkegaard shows concrete data and statistics, such as, the reduction of violent crime in the United States, since the 90Â ´s, particularly among the youth, while video games have gained a lot of popularity and use, and he adds with millions of violent video games sold, the world should be experiencing a breakout of violence, instead, violence has decreased (Kierkegaard). And then there is this: In 2005, the US had 2,279 murders committed by teenagers compared to 73 in Japan. Per capita, video game sales were $5.20 in the US compared to $47 in Japan. This example illustrates that there is no correlation between violent behavior and playing video games. Duke Ferris published an article in Game Revolution titled The Truth About Violent Youth and Video Games. The author, a video game programmer doesnt take an academic approach to this issue, but uses official sources to support his point. In his article he says that over 300 studies have been conducted to see the effects of violent media, 30 of them studied video games. The majority did not find anything, but some found a correlation between violence and violent media. Now, even if this was true, correlation is not the same as causation. The reason for these results, according to the author, is that violent people are attracted to violent media. Blaming violent media would be like going to the opera, noticing that most people there are rich, and concluding that opera makes people rich (Ferris). Another point that Ferris presents, is an analysis of the risk factors of youth violence by the Surgeon General of the United States of America. In this analysis violent media was classified as small effect size, and other factors such as, socioeconomic status, academic failure, poor parent-child relations, weak social ties, and just being male were rated as higher risk factors than violent media exposure. Additionally correlation between violent video games and youth violence was proven to be ineffective by judge Consuelo Callahan, in Video Software Dealers Association v. Schwarzenegger. In this trial, Schwarzenegger claimed that violent video games cause neurological and psychological harm, but the evidence presented was a study that showed just a correlation to which Callahan responded, In sum, the evidence presented by the State does not support the Legislatures purported interest. Nearly all of the research is based on correlation, not evidence of causation. (Callahan). Callahan also wrote that the research presented, did not show any link regarding causation of neurological or psychological harm by violent video games. The ruling favored the video software association. Steven Johnson wrote an article for Los Angeles times. In this article, he talks about Hillary Clinton vs. the Xbox: Game Over. In his article he commends Senator Clinton for proposing a $90 million study on the effects of violent video games on children, and for her courageous stand against Grand Theft Auto videogames, this obviously is sarcasm because then he says he would like Clinton to put her attention in another game whose nonstop violence has caught the attention of millions of children, this game, he writes, plants violent thought on its players and some of these players have gone to the real world and committed acts of violence and sexual assault (Johnson). He was talking about football. In addition he suggests that congress should focus in these facts: The last 10 years have seen the release of many popular violent games, including Quake and Grand Theft Auto, at this same time violent crime has decreased. According to Duke Universitys Child Well-Being Index, todays kids are less violent than kids have been at any time since the study began in 1975. (Johnson). In addition, Johnson believes that violent video games are actually good for peoples brain. For example he says that playing video games provides the player a cognitive training to the mind, and it develops mental skills as important as skills developed while reading books. The exercises that the internet, video games, and even movies offer, explain the increase in the intellectual coefficients of North Americans. Games and movies played and watched today would have been considered much complicated for the audience of thirty years ago, but now they capture the attention of millions of people. Finally, he sugges ts that violent videogames have been demonized by people who tend to generalize everything, just like the same thing when cars or rock and roll music first appeared. To conclude, the majority of violent video games players are old enough to understand the difference between the game and real life; therefore, they will not emulate the actions that the characters in their games do, nor will they rob banks, kill, or go to war. Its clear that violent video games do not cause violence. The real causes of violence are: depression, family problems, and just aggressive traits. The evidence that shows a correlation between games and violent video games are not effective to prove such games are harmful to children or cause violence. Parents and individuals who protest against these type of entertainment, should focus on the real causes of youth violence and not point fingers without informing themselves properly

Athens: The History of the City Essay -- History Historical Papers

Athens: The History of the City The Beginnings The Athenians have made it their boast that they had never been conquered. Both Achaean and Dorian invaders passed them by, possibly because their rocky plain was far less fertile than the rich valleys of Argos or Sparta. Thus the Athenians represented, or claimed to represent, the purest and most ancient Grecian stock, descended from the gods themselves (Ellis). The initial name of Athens was Akte or Aktike, named after the first king, Akteos (http://www.sikyon.com/Athens/ahist_eg01.html). Her second name, Kekropia, came from the king, Cecrops, who succeeded Akteos by marrying his daughter. According to the legend, his lower body was that of a dragon. During his reign, goddess Athena and Poseidon were competing for the protection of the city and each one offered presents. Poseidon struck the rock at the Acropolis with his trident (the three marks can be seen behind the Erectheion) and a spring with salted water gushed up. With the blow also leaped the first horse, ready to serve the man faithfully, while Athena offered an olive tree. The legend tell us that all the men of Athens voted for the gift of Poseidon and all the women, for the gift of Athena. Because there was one woman more than the men, goddess Athena was selected and from her the city took her name. The Era of Kings Under King Cecrops, the city was founded with the name Athens 1550 B.C.? Cecrops built the city on a steep rocky hill that is known today as the Acropolis, and is also known as the sacred hill (Ellis).? Athens became one of the first city-states. A city-state consists of a city and the surrounding region ruled by a king.? Kings ruled the area until 682 B.C (World Book).? After rule by kings ended... ...29 Jul. 2002. 12 Dec. 2003. 2)Athens World Book Encyclopedia.1990. 3)Athens, Greece. Wguides.com. 12 Dec. 2003. . 4) Ellis, Edward S., and Charles F. Horne. ?History of Athens Greece.? The Story of the Greatest Nations and the World?s Greatest Events, Vol. 1. 12 Dec. 2003 http://www.publicbookshelf.com/public_html/The_Story_of_the_Greatest_Nations_and_the_Worlds_Famous_Events_Vol_1/history_beh.html>. 5) The Official Website of the Olympic Movement. 9 Dec. 2003. . 6) Procopiou, Angelo. Athens: City of the Gods. New York: Stein and Day, 1964. 7)The Religion in Greece: Information about Greece Religion.? Greeka.com: The Greek Islands Specialists. 12 Dec. 2003. .

Lockheed Tri Star

Investment Analysis and Lockheed Tri Star Problem Sets February 25, 2013 1a. The results of NPV, payback and IRR calculations are the following. For payback method, Rainbow Product will pay back the original investment costs after 7 years. Net Present Value is -$946 and IRR is 11. 49%. Rainbow Products should not purchase the machine according to the results of NPV and IRR calculation. The net present value of purchasing this new equipment is negative, and the internal rate of return is less than the cost of capital; thus both calculations confirm that the investment will not provide additional value to the company.Of course the payback method shows that the instrument will have paid back the cost in 7 years but does not take into consideration discounting present values. 1b. If Rainbow accepts the â€Å"Good As New† service plan, net present value will be a positive $2,500 and IRR will be 12. 86%, greater than the cost of capital. The investment would also pay back the cost i n 8 years. Rainbow should purchase the machine under this service plan as it results in a positive net value and the internal rate of return is greater than the cost of capital. c. If Rainbow chooses the reinvestment option, net present value is $15,000 and IRR is 15. 43%. Therefore, the best investment decision is to accept option C, where engineers reinvest 20% of the savings that help cash flows grow 4% in perpetuity. Figure 1 (applicable to question 1a~1c) 2. Using the IRR rule, I recommend renting a larger stand as it yields the greatest rate of return. Using the NPV rule, I recommend building a larger stand.IRR rule can be misleading in this case as this problem is comparing 4 mutually exclusive projects and given the stats, IRR for one out of four of these projects yields a much higher value, but none of these IRR values take discounting rate into consideration. Therefore, NPV is a better method. Figure 2 3. The NPV of this project is $100,000. 1,100 shares of common stock sh ould be issued at the current price of $100. Issuing new stocks will increase shares of the stock in the market and therefore reduce the value of the stock of existing shareholders. Lockheed Tri Star Case QuestionsAt 210 unit production levels, the true value of the Tri Star program is negative $584. 04 million. At break-even production of 300 units, Lockheed actually lost roughly $274 million. At around 400 production units, Lockheed would achieve economic break even. The decision to pursue the Tri Star program was unreasonable due to a miscalculated break even point. At 210 unit production, the net present value was roughly negative $182 million referring that Lockheed would have needed to produce somewhere between 210 units to 300 units to achieve true break even.In addition, given the overly optimistic 10% growth rate that calculated double the total of true aircraft market, Lockheed would have needed to either capture more than 50% of the market for aircraft to breakeven. Betwe en 1967 and 1971, the price of Lockheed’s common stock dropped about $50. With 11. 3 million shares outstanding, this comes to about -$565 million. We see that the original NPV with 210 unit production results in about similar value as the drop in the total value of the common stocks outstanding.

Educational Orientation for African Americans Essay

â€Å"Reality depends on one’s perception of the world. Thus, although there is one school, each student perceives his or her experiences in that school differently. Reality exists in that individual perception† (Marcus, Gross, & Seefeldt, 1991, p. 364). Ensuring social justice and opportunities of achievement for all students, especially historically underrepresented groups, has been my mission in life for many years. Concerned with issues like equal opportunity and treatment for all students, regardless of students’ social class, ethnicity, or family structure, I have always attempted to be cognizant of students’ perspectives. As a counselor in a school that is predominantly white with a few African American students I would like to research intervention strategies that would make those African American students in my school be more successful. There are many factors associated with school failure, especially in African American males. The purpose of this research is to identify those factors and develop interventions strategies to apply to combat the school failure of those students. Examining their culture and of the causes of this phenomena and understanding how they experience school was critical in identifying the issues and influences on their educations. Students’ failures to learn and succeed do not occur out of thin air. More specifically, African American boys’ failures to achieve do not occur out of thin air. A review of literature on Black male achievement shows that not only do they lag behind their White counterparts in America, but also in Britain and Canada (Graham & Robinson, 2004; Smith, Schneider, & Ruck, 2005). Attention must be given to examining policies, practices, attitudes, and experiences that create such failure in schools (Christle, Jolivette, & Nelson, 2005; Kagan, 1990; Nieto, 1999). Educators have many responsibilities. One of those responsibilities is to examine the reasons for the failure of students. Marian Wright Edelman (1992) sums up the purpose of education and echoes my belief of the responsibility of educators: â€Å"Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it† (pp. 9-10). The decision to study African American males in middle school arises from personal interest in equity and social justice issues. Tied to that is my experience in middle schools where I have been witness to struggling students, particularly African American males from low socioeconomic neighborhoods, who have demonstrated a lack of success in school. One cannot help but wonder why being Black and male puts students at risk for school failure (Davis, 2003; Noguera, 2003). For these reasons, my research is focused on a group of African American who are not successful in school; those who are struggling academically, demonstrating inappropriate behavior at school, and not putting forth effort to meet their academic potential. The research will seek to identify the influences, or the lack thereof, impacting these students’ success. When factoring in other issues that potentially result from a lack of educational attainment, such as involvement in illegal activity and incarceration of African American students, it is easy to see that we cannot afford to gamble on whether or not these students will make it on their own. Alarming statistics create a sense of urgency and responsibility for educators in reaching African American students in particular. Predictions based on steady incarceration rates reveal that 32% of African American males will likely serve time in state or federal prisons during the course of their lifetimes (U. S. Department of Justice, 2002). We are living in a country where twice as many African Americans live below the poverty line than Caucasians and where 40% of jail inmates are African American (U. S. Department of Commerce, 2002; U. S. Department of Justice, 2002). African Americans have held the lead in the percentage of people unemployed for three years consecutively (U. S. Department of Labor, 2003). Such statistics, when coupled with economic consequences of failing to adequately educate all students, paint a bleak picture for a large segment of our population. Gibbs (1988) goes so far as to say that African American males are an â€Å"endangered species. † She uses a dictionary definition to define this term as â€Å"a class of individuals having common attributes and designated by a common name [which is] in danger or peril of probable harm or loss† (p. 1). It is critical that struggling African American students are identified early to help avoid the dismal scenarios. The implications of failing to identify and assist struggling students at the earliest point possible not only have an immediate effect on students but also carry long-term consequences for students, communities, and the nation (Gibbs, 1988; Lee, 2002; President’s Committee, 1997). The educational and societal implications of not reaching this group of students are worthy of great concern. The lack of both academic progress and motivation to learn are symptoms of a larger problem. Without getting to the root causes for the underachievement of African American males, another year goes by and they fall further behind their academically excelling peers, lowering their chances of passing their grades or scoring at proficiency on the required yearly standardized tests. On a larger scale, this â€Å"silent catastrophe,† as a member of the London Parliament refers to the underachievement of Black male students, lays the foundation for impediments to quality of life, earned income, and other obstacles in these individuals’ lives, as well as implications for the greater society (Graham & Robinson, 2004, p. 654). behaviors children exhibit and failing to see the real problems. Conversations may take place between the teacher and the student or the student and an administrator on a superficial level inquiring as to why they are misbehaving or failing, but the deliberate search for the root causes is often set aside to deal with the immediate problem of behavior or unwillingness to learn. Students who are not succeeding academically often become â€Å"casualties of the educational systems that cannot see them because their problems remain invisible† (Nieto, 2004, p. 17). Classroom interventions, parent contacts, disciplinary consequences, counseling, and tutoring are a few of the strategies educators have implemented to improve student learning and chances of success. However, with some students it does not appear that we have scratched the surface of the underlying issues. Without getting to the root causes for the underachievement of African American males, another year goes by and they fall further behind their academically excelling peers, lowering their chances of passing their grades or scoring at proficiency on the required yearly standardized tests. On a larger scale, this â€Å"silent catastrophe,† as a member of the London Parliament refers to the underachievement of Black male students, lays the foundation for impediments to quality of life, earned income, and other obstacles in these individuals’ lives, as well as implications for the greater society (Graham & Robinson, 2004, p. 654). Irvine and Irvine (1994) suggested there are two perspectives that sum up the critical factor analysis on African American students’ failure in school. The first they call the achievement problematic, which suggests that Black students’ school failure is related to their cultural beliefs, perceptions and values about education. The second, cultural problematic, suggests that indifference to African American student culture is responsible for African American student school failure. The cultural vs. structural argument with regard to minority education is a common theme within sociology of education research. Empirical studies often highlight one or the other as contributing the under-achievement of African American. An examination of the various cultural and structural theories will put this debate into context.