Imports of Pakistan Essay

An import is any good or service brought into one country from another country in a legitimate fashion, typically for use in trade. Import goods or services are provided to domestic consumers by foreign producers. An import in the receiving country is an export to the sending country. Imports, along with exports, form the basis of international trade. Import of goods normally requires involvement of the Customs authorities in both the country of import and the country of export and is often subject to import quotas, tariffs and trade agreements. When the â€Å"imports† are the set of goods and services imported, â€Å"Imports† also means the economic value of all goods and services that are imported. The macroeconomic variable I usually stand for the value of these imports over a given period of time, usually one year. [pic][pic] Pakistan Imports Pakistan is a fast growth country given that it is in a tough neighborhood. For the last 5 years it has averaged 6-7% growth. Pakistan has been burdened with a costly arms race with the 8 times larger India. This has placed severe strain on her resources ever since her independence. However, there are signs that the country is trying to work its way out of the costly foreign policy and move towards greater economic development. Pakistan imports were worth 3649 Million USD in February of 2012. Pakistan imports mainly petroleum, petroleum products, machinery, plastics, transportation equipment, edible oils, paper and paperboard, iron and steel and tea. Its major import partners are: European Union, China, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and United States. This page includes: Pakistan Imports chart, historical data and news. Major Imports of Pakistan 1. Machinery. 2. Petroleum. 3. Chemicals. 4. Vehicles and spare parts. 5. Edible Oil. 6. Wheat. 7. Tea. 8. Fertilizers. 9. Plastic material. 10. Paper Board 11. Iron ore and steel. 12. Pharmaceutical products. Imports of Pakistan Pakistan’s imports are also highly concentrated in few items namely, machinery, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, transport equipment, edible oil, iron and steel, fertilizer and tea. These imports accounted for 73% of total imports during 2006-07. Among these categories machinery, petroleum/petroleum products and chemicals accounted for 53. 4% of total imports. Direction of Imports of Pakistan Pakistan’s imports are highly concentrated in few countries. Over 40 percent of them continue to originate from just seven countries namely, the USA, Japan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Germany, UK and Malaysia. Saudi Arabia is emerging as major supplier to Pakistan followed by the USA and Japan. The shares of USA and Japan, with some fluctuations, exhibited a declining trend because of the shift in the import of machinery/capital goods and raw materials to other sources. On the other hand, the share of Pakistan’s imports from Saudi Arabia has been rising due to higher imports of POL products. Malaysia share has shown rising, as well as, falling trends over the years mainly on account of fluctuations in palm oil prices.

Cis499

Gene Splicing Lab Question #1: DNA is made up of two separate strands of base sequences. The same sequence is found on both strands, but running in opposite directions. What word describes this characteristic? Palindrome Question #2: What does the term â€Å"sticky ends† refer to in gene splicing? When you splice a piece of DNA with a restriction enzyme, and want to insert the new gene, the â€Å"glue† that holds the two pieces together are the complementary bases, or sticky ends. Question #3: What is a plasmid? How is a plasmid used in gene splicing? A plasmid is a circular segment of DNA with an origin of replication.It can be duplicated and serve as an adjunct to the main bacterial chromosome. Question #4: What types of vectors are used to carry DNA from one species into the DNA of another species? Give examples. Generally plasmids and viruses, although naked DNA is a possible source as well. Question #5: What is a â€Å"transgenic organism†? Give examples. Or ganisms that contain dna from another organism. it is a type of gmo, or genetically modified organism. Ex: genetically modified crops, transgenic cows that produce different milk, mice with different genesQuestion #6: Why is it essential that the same restriction enzyme be used to cleave (cut) the DNA of both organisms used to create a transgenic organism? The restriction enzyme cuts in specifc sites on the DNA, for example complementary strands. A and T or C and G. So only with the same enzyme at both the DNA of organisms in places where the complementary base pairing can be cut, is used as the same enzyme enzyme, the DNA will be cut for example. at A and T on both the organisms the opportunity to tie the organisms at these sites via H-bridges as complementary bases.Therefore, it is allowed to bind the two organisms form a transgenic organism Question #7: Are there any factors other than technical ones that might slow — or even prevent — the use of bioengineering? The re are many social factors that will impede the progress of bioengineering. In the case of agricultural bioengineering, some people are frightened that bioengineered food would be less healthy. Bioengineered crops will also decrease the biodiversity of our food, making it more susceptible to disease (ergo famine). Also, genetically engineered crops will give developed nations a huge advantage over third world in food production.

After Divorce

Myparents divorced when I was two, and the repercussions of their split lasted longafter it was final. My mother was a parochial school teacher who earned justenough to stay off welfare, but not enough for us to live comfortably. Utilitiesin our home were shut off from time to time, and it seemed like we would nevercatch up. My mother also worked nights, so after school I would go to mygrandparents house. I spent little time with my mother because she worked duringthe week, and eventually on weekends, too. My most painful memories ofthat time are not of being teased for my limited wardrobe, or the times we had norunning water because my mother missed payments. The most difficult experiencewas watching my mother cry at night, while I hugged her and told her I lovedher. Through all this, I learned so much. I came to value education,family and faith. I worked hard in school, and earned good grades. I learned frommy mothers example (she went back to school after three children and a divorce)that it is important for a woman to go to college and not depend on a man. I cameto value extended family support and developed a close relationship with mygrandparents and cousins because I was with them so much while my mother worked. Last, my faith became very strong. Although my mother was very busy, shemade sure we all went to church together every Sunday. Most important, we did notblame God for our situation. Instead, we thanked Him for the good things in ourlives. We were grateful for the people who cared about us, for not being on thestreets, and for good health when we did not have health insurance. My parentsdivorce caused hardships and pain, but it was also an experience that I would notchange because of how much I learned.

Four Centuries of Guitar Masterpiece by Robert Wetzel Essay

Four Centuries of Guitar Masterpiece by Robert Wetzel - Essay Example This was punctuated by some breaks. The concert was conspicuously characterized by the use of the classical guitar. The classical guitar is different from the ordinary guitar in terms of the sound it produces, its weight, size, and material used in making it. The guitars used had six nylon strings, as used in the making f nylon and acoustic guitars. The family of classical guitar that was used was flamenco guitar. It is worth noting that this name is derivative of the modern classical, but what sets them apart are the materials that are employed in making them. The strings are plucked to produce sound and this comes with the advantage that different sounds could be produced by plucking at different positions, as well as in different ways (Julian 34). The guitar player was characterized by alternation. This was arguably purposed at achieving the effect of tremolo, as well as fluent scales of passages. Alternation is whereby the guitar player is restricted from plucking a single string using one finger within one row. The presentation of Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757), which included Tombeau sur la Mort de and Cajetan d’Hartig is what could never have gone unnoticed. The presentation was a depiction of a sonata that assumed a single movement, which was in a binary form. Furthermore, it appears the presentation was written either in the pianofortes and harpsichord. The presented gave one the opportunity to have an experience of the harmonic audacity, as far as the use of the discords, as well as the unusual remote key modulations is concerned. There are other distinctive features of the Scarlatti style and these included the influences of the Spanish and the Iberian music styles. What could also be discerned from the Scarlatti's presentation are the dissonances and figurations are suggestive of guitar forms.

Management Functions of (whatever company you desire that makes it Essay

Management Functions of (whatever company you desire that makes it easier for you) - Essay Example cruiting, developing and rewarding individuals which comes under the function of Staffing while Directing is taken to be the process of influencing employees’ behavior through communication, motivation, leadership and discipline. The purpose of Controlling is setting the performance bar for not only the employees but also the company’s objectives and actual accomplishments. Even a successful conglomerate such as General Electric (GE) with more than 300,000 employees engaged in 11 technology, services and financial businesses across 160 countries has been focusing and improving on these basic management functions for almost 130 years and continues till date (GE, 2006). It is these very functions that have brought them the success and appreciation which is seen today (Colvin, 2006). For all aspects of management and the basic principles which a company follows as it conducts its business, a mission statement is quite important (Hellriegel, 2004). GE does not have a stereotypical vision/mission statement to consider as part of their planning function. They appear to believe very strongly in what they call ‘company values’ which is a combined vision-mission statement stated as imagine, solve, build and lead (GE, 2006). These four values interconnect with each other and help build products/services which are winners (Welch, 2005). A vision cannot be complete if it does not have leadership and the management functions of GE emphasize good leadership very strongly. GE Commercial Finance, Infrastructure, Healthcare, Industrial, Consumer Finance and NBC Universal make up the six broad-based industry segments to put together their combined 11 organizations. To name just a few, the GE divisions offer several consumer and commercial financing programs, water, aviation, medical information technologies, television channels and other entertainment to meet an array of human needs worldwide (GE, 2006). The organization of these business areas would not have been

Landscape paintings from famous painters Term Paper

Landscape paintings from famous painters - Term Paper Example In this period, painting used more colours especially seal brown which was particularly common (Selin 25). In addition, new painting techniques emerged, art painting combined with calligraphy to produce broad scale paintings. As a result, there was the creation of new schools to accommodate students interested in the art study. The development occurred over stages from the early Ming, the mid Ming and finally the late Ming period. These stages were characterized by different symbols such as the increase and decline of schools. The early Ming period was intensively affected by Southern Song traditions; this was between the years 1368-1505. A significant breakthrough was through Chen Chun who introduced the Chinese landscape painting. The ink and paint used was best suit for durable landscape painting. The Zhe School was part of the southern school and Dai Jin was in charge, they specialized in large decorative paintings. Their contemporary paintings were different from those of the Wu School. In Ma-Xia school, there is an organized group of Chinese Landscape artists known as Xia Gui and Ma Yuan. The groups are named after famous landscape artists of the time (Ye and Zhenggang 75). The main importance of landscape artwork is to create a different feeling in the minds of their audience. It demonstrates a vast atmosphere that is void and a limitless space feeling with images of trees and mountains to represent the landscape. Xia and Ma are the leading artists who design these pictures. They use unique ways to create presentable pictures; a lot of ink is used to attain the desired angular appearance (Leffman 23). The Xia Gui (1195-1224) existed in the early Ming dynasty and was one of the works of Xia. The works of this artist were ordinary, done using ink monochrome and several colours. He was the founder of the Ma-Xia school of landscape painting. His artwork is identified by angular strokes that are sharp and short. This style depicts an age of rapid execution. T he birth and the death dates of Xia are not known, but during his life, he worked in the Imperial Academy. This is where he received the Golden Belt award as the best painter of the court. Xia was born in the capital of china at that time in the city of Hangzhou where the imperial court was located in the 12th century. It is at this place where he and his counterpart Ma- Xia concentrated on painting and emerged the best painters. He followed the steps of traditional painting by drawing the objects in his surrounding such as buildings and eventually the entire landscape. His painting of the album leaf that is fan-shaped is a stylistically artistic presentation. The album leaf is found in two museums, one in Japan, and the other in the National Museum in Tokyo. It is an exemplary illustration of the landscape paintings of Xia. In addition, he composed the famous hand scroll, which individual inscrolls to view from one end to another. It represented a journey that was imaginary journey , and uses rich ink of monochrome style. He also uses contrasts that are tonal to give the hand scroll an intensive bulk used to illustrate rocks. Xia uses the composition of Remote and Pure View that gives a picture of void and solid, far and nearby using colours of different schemes. There are many of his exceptional artworks in many museums such as the hanging scroll. His paintings have considerable significance in the political

Dr. Vert's Ch. 6 Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Dr. Vert's Ch. 6 Summary - Essay Example However, the trouble comes in because not all information is able to be put into a category easily, and because of that, it might fit into two or more categories. It also becomes confusing because one piece of information might relate to another in a very small way, but both should still be available, so that the person searching the information could see it and use it, if they wanted to. Most of the issues that come with managing information of this type are related to ‘spatial information’, or information that would be better characterized by the space it occupies rather than the information it actually holds. Examples of this are things such as street maps, climate maps, and scientific records of events such as earthquakes and tsunamis. The biggest issue that is faced in trying to retrieve and make sense of information about these events is that many pieces of information are scattered over many different computers, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that has been dumped from its box and scattered throughout a room. It becomes more of a scavenger hunt to put the pieces of the puzzle together than to figure out the picture the puzzle tries to represent. Think about how much time is being wasted looking for the different pieces of the puzzle. Dr.

Port Security Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Port Security - Research Paper Example In 2008, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimated a total 8.17 billion tons of goods, or 80% of the global international trade to have passed through seaborne channels and ports worldwide3. However, there is no international standard for security being implemented worldwide, with port security at the mercy of the host countries4. In the United States, seaborne transportation systems are vital to the national and international commerce of the country. Approximately 95% or over $740 billion or 2 billion tons of products pass through marine ports5. As majority of commercial goods passing through maritime ports of entry, the United States Department of Homeland security recognized the necessity of ensuring that the supply chain necessary for economic activity and prosperity should not be disrupted. As economic growth relies on the supply system to provide the necessary products necessary for trade, the Department treats the supply with grave importance as it â€Å"feeds critical domestic infrastructure and support (America’s) way of life.†6 As President Barrack Obama put it, economic activity relies on the global supply system and any disruption on the system, either by natural or terrorist activities, can gravely â€Å"impact global economic growth and productivity†, thus the need to address the threats and ensure the continuous flow of supply vital to trade and the economy.7 Defence IQ defines port security as â€Å"security that refers to the defense, law and treaty enforcement, and counterterrorism activities that fall within the port and maritime domain. It includes the protection of the seaports themselves, the protection and inspection of the cargo moving through the ports, and maritime security.†8 Following the 9/11 attacks in 2001, the necessity of securing ports of entries came under greater attention. As the New York Times reported in an article in 2012, many terrorists

International Crime Witness Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

International Crime Witness - Assignment Example Notably, as per the fourth amendment of the US, courts orders police not to involve in unnecessary seizure or search of any place or individual without any warrants. Furthermore, as per the Fifth Amendment, an accused cannot be forced by the court of law to make any statements that might act against his well being in future instances. Furthermore, to seek fast trail as per the sixth amendment is also another right of accused in the US that is taken into consideration by the court of law (Missouri Protection and Advocacy Services, n.d.). On the other hand, in the UK, criminal accused are provided with the right of appropriate hearing in the court. Individuals, irrespective of the nature of their accusation must availed proper legal hearing with the assistance of a well experienced solicitor. In the UK, accused will also have the right to see the evidences on the basis of which any decision can be taken against him/her by the court of law (Jacobson & Talbot, 2009). Different legal approaches also exist amid the two nations i.e. the US and the UK with regard to the treatment provided to the defendants. Defendants of suspects in the UK who is accused of a particular crime will need to encounter with several trails by the court of law. They will be liable to get legal assistance from the legal authorities of the nations so that his/her rights of getting a fair trial could be ensured (Talbot, 2012). Similarly, in the US court, criminal defendants are provided with equal opportunities to clarify their point or justify themselves as an innocent. Furthermore, fair access to the legal assistance provided by the government to its citizen, is also practiced in during trial proceedings of criminal defendants in the US. Once crime against a particular accused is justified and proved, he/she will be imprisoned in the US for a particular period of time based upon the

Cnbc House of Cards Essay Example for Free

Cnbc House of Cards Essay Who the players are? Stakeholders? Technical and ethical issues are? What was the relationship about prices and personal incomes? People started to buy houses that they couldn’t afford and then they were left behind leaving. The economy is falling and so are the communities. Insects, graffiti, dirty pools are left behind since people are evicted and people don’t have were to go. The lenders are not responsive to customers who want to cooperate to pay for their debts. Wall street only cares about the money they can generate from this foreclosure. During the crisis thousands of people were relieved from their jobs MORTGAGE RATES Housing prices were rising faster than incomes making it impossible to keep with payments. The demand for the houses went down and prices SHOULD HAVE been that prices went down but they went up. People will not be able to pay making prices to fall but they didn’t fell. â€Å"Keep going until someone tells you no† (uniformed and uneducated in finance?) the person didn’t know what he was able to pay right now and in the future, and he asked until someone tell him that he couldn’t do so. BUT people keep buying houses. CHAPTER 2 MORTGAGE MARKET ON FIRE Subprime mortgage –mortgage for the credit challenged Freddie and Fannie – the leaders in mortgage lending Quick Loan – for people who couldn’t afford a down payment You didn’t need to prove how much you made, no verifying incomes or assets After 2001 things got crazy. Before 2001 it was difficult to get a loan because more verification was needed such as tax returns, how much you make, and down payment. They had good loans until 2001. **GSE’s accounting scandal (executives could make more bonuses) In 1999 GLB the banks became deregulated causing banks to become commercial banks and mortgage brokers. Fannie and Freddie buyed loans from mortgages firms. They stated the rules. Until this point they were dominant because they only bought loans in which their investments would pay off. Then came the accounting scandals and they are in the penalty box. After 9/11 interest rates were lowered by the government and now houses are more appealing (or just buying was more appealing). Countries that were once stated as poor become wealthy countries and after all this happened (9/11 and Fannie and Freddie). Moral hazard what Dallas say about the wires crossing. CHAPTER 3 – DREAM HOUSES In 2002 government pushed Wall Street and lenders to facilitate mortgages. Adjusting interest rate – low interest rates the first two years and later higher interest rates. He claimed that he made almost four times than what he actually did. Lots of refinancing and lots of spending by the population Irresponsibility by the black lady, she could afford it because the mortgage broker gave her the company’s money * but it reality she couldn’t afford it She should have done a down payment, she didn’t do it Its an adjustable rate instead of a fixed rate CHAPTER 4 – LEGIONS OF LENDERS 20-30 minutes to provide a loan Loan officers with no experience on the industry had the job to provide as much loans as they could, their job was to close the loans. Health problems by the dirty pools left behind CHAPTER 5 – STAMPS OF APPROVAL In 2004 home ownership rates were higher than ever and construction in over 20 years, but they were not sustainable. But we ran out of people who could afford mortgages and even we throw subprime loans. Greater mortgage alternatives rather than the fixed rate loans. Allen came up with the Pay Option Negative Amortization Adjustable Rate Mortgage. Traditional loans had full amortization, fixed rates, and a fixed payment. Instead of having a fixed rate then an adjustable rate was used making possible people to make their payments. The problem was that if it went up, then the borrowers will not be able to afford the payments anymore unless their incomes went up fast. Pay options were also available allowing the borrowers to choose lower payments and the balance of what you should pay and what you actually paid was added to the loan to have a negative amortization. The introductory low rates were called Teaser Rates. The goal was to make home ownership more affordable for more people. Michael Francis and other brokers in Wall Street knew that some of these loans are bad loans but they didn’t cared because they transferred all these loans to whoever wanted to buy them such as pension funds. They are just the intermediary or the pipeline. These pension funds could only buy AAA mortgage loan. The investors wanted to sell their loans to the pension funds but they needed to be rated AAA by these agencies. Their job was to evaluate the risk of the securities. What was the ethical issue here with the agencies? The riskier BBB looked as good as the triple AAA and they looked much safer than they used to be and they started to look more like a AAA security. So AAA requirement got lower as the market got smart. Moodies, SP, and Fitch are the three rating agencies. They didn’t give price but based on their ratings they got priced. The suggestion is that these agencies would come with the investment bankers. The business was getting more competitive so you just wanted to get more business or more business than the other agencies. When Anne Arundel was asked if standards lower she replied, The problem is that if you are the only person to know how these standards work, if investors are not paying attention and banks are only comparing what they will get from you instead of the other agency, then no one is paying attention. This means that the investors are not concerned about the standards but how much AAA securities they could get from each agency. Then no one is paying attention? They are the ones that came up with the ratings, so this is not a fair statement. The investment banks were the ones who hired the rating agencies and they controlled the â€Å"repeating game†. It doesn’t make sense because the investors are the ones who should have made these appraisals instead of the investment bankers. It was advantageous for the investment banks to get as many AAA as possible to sell them as fast as possible since they only accepted AAA securities. They are not responsible for pricing the securities but only to rate them. Your payment goes down and the interest rates went up and the difference was added to the principal. The three rating agencies provided which loans are risky and which ones are not. Investment rate goes from AAA to BBB and this were the ones acceptable. BBB sounded more safe than their used to be and the requirements for AAA were lowered. Rating agencies helped lenders to achieve these requirements but they reject these accusations. So mispricing of risk occurred because they wanted more business than the other agencies. CDO worked really well around the country and around the world. CHAPTER 6 – ARCTIC INVESTORS Takes place in Narvik Norway. The major of Narvik says that the town was getting fewer taxes so the town council took and loan to place the money in CDOs. They bought the securities from Terra. They didn’t know what they were buying but they knew they were AAA rating CDOs. Citigroup was selling CDOs to Terra who knew a little about them and sold them to municipalities like Narvik that didn’t knew anything about them. Narvik taxes levels were going down. The problem was that their inflow was too low, do they decide to take action and increase this inflow. Knowing the risk rating was more important than knowing what it was. CDOs you take lower rated securities and bundle them up and create AAA securities. Why there were CDOS because the AAA are easy to sell but the BBB higher risk are tougher to sell and if you don’t sell them all you don’t make profit. Wall Street investment bankers created these new products. Bill Dallas said it was like a frat party were people didn’t go home, we could have stop it but we didn’t stop it because if we had we are just one company we would have gone out of business and another company would have taken his business. This was not his strategy but these products were doing big money. They talked about greed, a lot. CHAPTER 7 INSIGHT INTO OUTSIGHT The banks were never contacted by the SEC of the FED according to Michael Francis. But don’t use this in the paper because we don’t know if its true. The FED said that they could have done something but unemployment would have gone to 10%. The lack of oversight †¦ allen grenspan (Federal Reserve) there are a number of things, that there is a little thragh in this business. It could have done it buy it would have been politically suicide. The SEC didn’t intervene because they assumed the banks would police themselves. CHAPTER 8 THE BIG WINNER Kyle Bass discovered that bad loans were being made by Quick Loan Funding and decided to bet that at some point they would go bad. He invested $1 billion. CHAPTER 9 A WORLD OF HURT Bill Dallas discovered in 2006 when most of the loans were going bad. Wall Street decided to stop buying these bad loans and no cash was going into the lenders so many lending companies started to close. Quick fund Lending and Own it by Bill Dallas closed. People were not able to make the payment son their loans so they decided to default the loans and the house of cards started to fall. Simmons blames herself and the industry because they made her the unpayable loan. Arturo Trevilla lost his home along with his dream to own a business. Some California neighborhoods became ghost towns filled with empty homes. Then homes prices began to fall and the global credit crisis began. In Norway people began to realize that their investment came to nothing or loses. The losses accounted a quarter of their budget. Narwik didn’t bought home CDOs but municipal bonds. The only winner was Kyle Bass by betting against the market. He made 600% in 18 months. Retail sales went down after the attacks of 9/11 and the country was still recovering from the .com bust and the economy needed money to be invested and money to be spent. The lower the interest rates the cheaper it is to loan. The cost of borrowing became cheaper than the past generation. Prime interest rates were cut down along with mortgage rates. But at the same time prices were rising faster than people’s incomes. The problem was that if prices were going up and people’s incomes at a slower rate, then less people will be able to buy a house and therefore the demand for houses will fall and causing prices to fall. But the reality was that the price and demand didn’t go down. You swing for the fences until someone tells you to stop. Subprime mortgage is a mortgage for the credit challenged and was created in California. Back then getting a mortgage was not easy because a lot of information was needed, such a visit, bank statements, and wait 90 days. You check two years tax returns fully documented. Bill Dallas was 30 years in the business. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were created by Congress to increase home ownership. They bought mortgage loans from mortgage lenders. They get cash in return and make more loans. They received constant flow from home owners and create the Mortgaged backed security. They dominated the market of mortgage backed security. They dictated the rules for lending. They only accepted loans from people that were able to make the monthly payments but the smaller morgages instutions wanted to change that. They wanted to make sure that everyone could afford a loan or a home and they saw the right opportunity when these two companies got into an accounting scandal and received a penalty. They lost their dominance in the mortgage industry. With no leaders lenders could bend the rules. Who took over? Wall Street. Michael Francis worked with a company that wanted to take over Freddie and Fannie’s place. After 2001 and 2002 the mortgage market got in fire because cash was abundant. Countries that were once poor now had money and they wanted to invest in something and Wall Street had what they were looking; securities backed by American homes and American borrowers. More revenue through more loans. There were no money down for people with good credit. Quick loan funding target people who couldn’t afford a down payment and had a bad credit; these are called subprime loans. You didn’t need to prove how much money you generated and it was called stated income. You didn’t need to look at assets either. The problem was that Wall Street said ok and they decided to buy them. In 2002 the Bush administration pushed people to have a home. Arturo Trevilla dreamed to have an own business and a home. He bought a home with an adjustable interest rates. The first two years with low interest rates and then with higher interest rates. His broker told him that his home’s price will go up and that he could make a cash loan to start his own business. The paperwork was tricky and he didn’t read the contract and couldn’t understand it. He knowingling signed that he generated four times his salary and that he could afford to pay his $584,000. Cynthia Simmons also craved a better life. She lived in a bad neighborhood in California and decided to get out of there. Compton was infested with gang warfare. For her own and her family’s safety she had to get away from Compton. An agent got her a house in New Belinda California, own of the best neighborhoods. Simmons said that her mortgage broker lied on her income and without her knowledge he signed to loans. More of these loans were made and Wall Street was loaded with cash as long with homeowners that had more cash. Retail sales were going up. With the value of their homes rising they were able to refinance their loans and put cash in their pockets to spend. Lots of refinancing and cash occurred. Home values were rising and the equity on their houses was also rising. With this people refinanced their loans and made restorations and improvements. It took a week to close the loan and the conversation was wrapped up in 20 to 30 minutes. The loan officers had incentives to close more loans to generate more fees. Loan officers had no training; including pizza deliverymen. Their training was to close the loan and no license was required. Daniel Sadek was the owner of Quick Loan Funding in 2002 and became a wealthy man. Daniel sold Mercedes to young kids who were loan officers and he realized he wanted in that business. The subprime business was booming. Frank Medina and wife refinanced their loan to finished the back yard and pay their credit cards. Kelly and Mark Gifford refinanced their loan again because the value of their homes were rising. People turned their homes into cash machines. Daniel was financed by many of the industries largest investors (citigroup, Wells Fargo, ben Bernsatein) and he didn’t had a degree and they secured his loans so that he could finance your loans. Wall street created a market for the worst mortgages. He never made a loan that WS will never buy. Almost always they found someone in WS to sell that loan. Bankers became intoxicated with the amount of loans they could sell to WS. (38:00 min) What did banks did? They made this mortgages and used the warehouse line of credit and made a lot of these funds and pooled them. The economic and political environment when it started? What is the long term for the product? Product that came out of Allen †¦ Explain all the parts Why was people taking loans? To achieve the American dream, to pull cash put to do anything such as pay debts, to buy a house, to refinance their mortgage and get a better rate What where the rating agencies job? To assign risk to the securities. One of the problems or moral hazard? Investment banks hired them to rate their securities (you cant say they did it to have more business). Prices were increasing higher that people’s incomes. The issue was that people were using the house as an investment and they were counting on them. Prices rising in the entire economy, and income at a lower pace, so fewer people can afford to buy houses. It can remain that way and Kyle Bass said that income should rise or houses should come down. GSC – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had two roles – they set the rules to what a good mortgage was and they stated the requirements for making a loan. They established what a good loan was. When they came back they bought subprime mortgages. They were regulated agencies and when they were taken out other unregulated agencies took their place. As long as there is someone that will buy something from you, it will continue to supply it. Liar loans? CDOs? Teaser rate? – The initial rate people pay because it is substantially lower before it adjusts. People were not concern that it will adjust because they were going to refinance the loan anyways.

Advantages and disadvantages of using credit cards

Advantages and disadvantages of using credit cards In this modern era with the rising of e-commerce in the world, the usage of credit card is getting popular among the world nowadays. The usage of credit card has actually spread towards the college student and has increasing visibility (Hayhoe, 2002). Meanwhile, this is the best chance for the credit card companies to put on target at college students because college students are expected to have higher of earning power and this makes the credit card companies believe that as a desirable market (Warwick Mansfield, 2000). Credit card can be best defined as a small plastic card issued by the bank to the consumers to purchase goods and services in advance with a credit limit on the spending (eHow, n.d). With a credit card, the users are able to purchase goods without using cash. Users will have the ability to use it as online payment in internet and uses it as monthly installment for large volume goods and services (eHow, n.d). However, interest charges are applied to the credit cards. There are many different types of credit card associations nowadays. For example, American Express, Dinner Club, MasterCard, Visa and many more. Each month, the credit card user is sent a statement by bank that indicated their purchases for previous month. After the cardholder received the statement, he or she must pay the amount of their purchases otherwise may choose to pay a higher amount when the credit issuer charges interest on the amount owed. Even credit cards have higher interest rates than most consumer loans; many people still prefer to use it yet. This is because almost every store that we can see allows for payment of goods and services through credit cards today. The increasing number of banks that provides credit card has eventually increases the competition between banks in attracting the customers. Every bank has tried their own way to persuade the customers to apply the credit customers. The worst part is, they even attract college students by having promotion in the college. Historically, the bank actually started to bump into student credit card market in the late of 1980-an (Manning, 2000). In the long run, this will cause many problems to the college students. This is because most of the college students does not how to plan their money effectively. According to Henry, Weber, and Yarbrough (2001), most of the students will have the credit problems is because college students do not practice to have a written budget. The researchers also expected college students are vulnerable to financial crisis (Henry, Weber Yarbrough, 2001). The incredible increase of the usage of credit card actually has demonstrated the crisis among the college students. The increased number of credit cards among college has seen a major growth since the past decade (So, Grable Bagwell, 2003). Based on a research, 70% of all undergraduates at four-year colleges have at least one credit card today (So, Grable Bagwell, 2003). Advantages and Disadvantages of using a Credit Card Credit Card is an Automatic advanced card which people can use it to get the goods without paying the cash. Credit cards are widely use by people all around the world as a source of convenient to get what their needs. But, there are many advantages and disadvantages of using it. One of the advantages of credit card is that with credit card can eliminate the need to carry large sums of cash wherever we go. For example, if we are away from home for vocation, we dont need to take large amount of cash in pocket. Besides, credit cards may also offer us additional protection if goods that we bought is lost, damaged, or stolen. This is where the credit card company can know that the fact that we have made a purchase. In addition, we can also see that some credit card companies offer insurance for the customers on large purchases. By this way, the companies can protect their customers and give their customers the security of using the card. With a credit card can also assist us build a credit line. By having a good credit history is very vital, which meant that making payments on time and in full month, it help us not only applying a credit card, but also when applying for the loans, rental, or even some jobs will more easily. In conjunction to that, credit cards can also be useful in times of emergency as well. For example, students with a credit card can take the necessary actions by helping parents when they falls ill, a car is damaged, or trying to buy a higher cost books in the university. Some credit cards also offer some extra benefits for their customers, such as discounts from particular stores or companies, bonuses such free airline miles or travel discounts. All of these benefits is helpful for us as long as we bear in mind that out spending limits. On the other hand, the disadvantage of credit cards is that they encourage people to spend money that they dont have. The customers can spend any time as they want even they have less money. Indirectly, the customers cannot pay for the bill statements that what they had spent. By this way, the more money the customers owe the credit card companies, and yet they will charge the customers on interest each month on their spending. The other disadvantages of credit card is that the credit card companies will charge the customers on high amount of interest on each balance that the customers dont pay off at the end of the month. This is how the credit card companies make their money and this is how many of credit card users will get into big troubles. And, credit card fraud also is one of the disadvantages. This is where the credit card also same as a cash, it also can be stolen sometimes. They maybe be physically stolen from customers wallet or credit card number and use as to swap the mo ney. The good news is that, when we realize our credit card is stolen, quickly we can report to the credit card companies. This is to avoid us by not being charged for any purchases that someone else has made. As conclusion, credit cards can make life easier and convenient to the users as they utilize it wisely. But, if we use it wrongly, it will become huge financial burden for us. If we decide to use the credit cards, we must know some simple rules such as limit our purchases, dont spend outside our budget, pay off the balance at the end of each month, and most importantly is dont give credit card information to anyone else as the safety methods. 1.1.2 Development of credit card in Malaysia In old days, there was no such thing as money. Each person would provide for his own food and clothing and also shelter. As time goes by, a system of barter by exchange of needs began. Barter trade however, was not that simple. Sometimes, it was difficult to find those who had exactly the item that was needed. Some goods were used for barter trade because they could easily be carried, have a common value and be easily divided. This commodity money became a medium of exchange soon. Common goods such salt, bread, grain, tobacco were among the item that had served as money. The first money appeared when the ruler or king issued a constant value. For example, in historical times in Malaysia, blocks and tin were kind of commodity money. As businesses developed, it became inconvenient to move large sums of coins around the country. In the middle ages, people preferred to deposit their coins with trustworthy goldsmiths, in exchange for paper receipts. Whenever a depositor wanted to make payments, he would exchange these receipt back for coins. As long as the goldsmith was trustworthy, the paper receipt was as good as coins. Thus, the first paper money and first banks were developed. In Malaysia, only the Bank Negara Malaysia is allowed to issue coins and paper currency notes. The value of ringgit is legal tender and is backed by gold and foreign exchange held by Bank Negara. In nowadays, there are now 3 forms of money we can see in Malaysia. They are coins, paper currency, and transaction account which are cheques and credit cards. While coins and paper currency are used to transfer money at the present time, cheques and credit cards commit money that will be earned in the future. Cheques is the most common instruments used to transfer funds. And then, cheques and credit cards become more popular as they provide their holders with the power to purchase without having carried around large amount of cash. Research Background Credit card among college students has become a hot topic of growing nowadays. This is because college students are experiencing unique transition period in their lives. Financially, they are going through the process from financial dependence to independence. They may have learned some consumer skills in cash management at home before coming to college. At this moment, students just want to start to learn on how to use credit wisely and just matured enough to be able to sign legal contracts include credit card contracts. There are also some other studies that show that students are greatly involved with credit cards. Yet, the use of credit cards among students has received much attention in recent year from members of the financial community and policy makers. Credit card companies grab this golden chance to target students because they are expected to have higher average earning power and are seen by the credit card companies as a desirable market (Warwick Manfield, 2000). Besides, we can see that mixed practices among students credit use will make them have a low knowledge about credit because they do not fully understand the financial implications of having a large number of credit card debt. By this way, this will make them to spend more. (McNeal and Yeh, 1993) A research also showed that at average age of eight years children, making their first independent purchase as socialization as a consumer begins in their early years. Nowadays, as we know that a service tax of RM50 will be charges on each principal credit card in Malaysia start from 20l0. And, for every supplementary card, a service with RM25 will be charged yearly. The governments impose this tax is because the users of credit card is increasing day to day. 1.3 Problem Statement This study analyzes the factors that influence the usage of credit card among IPTA and IPTS students. The research will give the opportunity to collect accurate data from the designed questionnaire in order to analyze the relationship of the variables. The following problem statement is supporting the research background of this study: To what extent do demographic, knowledge, kind of purchases, credit attitude, and family background influence the usage of credit card among IPTA and IPTS students? 1.4 Research Objectives Students attitudes towards credit card could play a vital role in determining its distribution. After figuring out the problem statement of this research, let go to the objectives of this research. The objective of this research is to distribute a proper framework and to analyze the factors that influence the usage of credit card among IPTA and IPTS students. From the research study also, it could assist to provide some suggestion to solve this problem. The three main objectives of this research study are: To investigate the role knowledge of credit card use plays in compulsive buying among the students. To test demographic. To compare the monthly usage of credit card among IPTA and IPTS students. To determine which factors is most significant effect towards usage of credit card among IPTA and IPTS students. 1.5 Significant of study It is important to study that how the credit card as a key of contribution to everyone no matter to bankers, users, society or among college students. Every companies and banks will benefit with owning a credit card. Mostly are those banks making money from the credit card companies? This is how it goes. If a bank agrees to take their customers deposit, they dont keep it all in the back. This is because there are only a small percentage of the bank customers will demand their money at any given time, a percentage of all deposits( vault cash), is kept on hand. Some of this cash will loan out to credit card companies so that they can finance the purchases their customers make, until the customer pays the credit card company back. Actually, most credit card companies are organized as banks, so that they are regulated in a different way than regular companies. As a result, the more money that is owed by bank or company, the more that bank or company is worth. This is because of the way the American accounting system works. Meanwhile, the main benefit to each customer is convenience. A credit card allows small short-term loans to be quickly made to customer who need not calculate a balance remaining before every transaction, provided the total charges do not exceed the maximum credit line for the card. Credit card also provides more fraud protection than the debit card for the users. Many credit cards offer rewards and benefits packages, such as offering enhanced product warranties at no cost, points which may be redeemed for cash, products, and also for the airline tickets. This makes the users feel more satisfaction about their services of owning a credit card. Additionally, carrying a credit card is more comfortable to some users either than carrying a bucket of cash in their pocket. On the other hand, owning a credit card also benefited to community. This is how they permit people around to make a large purchase, such as expensive materials or those for cars. This make the people can buy those things easier. Yet, with credit card be useful for emergencies use like medical bills. Also, credit card offer additional protection of purchases. Example, if the goods that already bought by people is lost or had been stolen, the credit card company can prove for the fact that people have made a purchase with original receipts. So that people do not need to worry too much because some credit card companies are offering insurance on credit card. With a credit card too, it can help to create entrepreneurs. Many entrepreneurs who were unable to get the bank loan will have to use credit card as a way to finance their projects. Although by this way it is extremely risky, there is no choice to help some entrepreneurs become more wealthy and successful in future. Nowadays, we might see many credit companies also set up target in campus areas to encourage college students for sign up their card. They might give free gift such as t-shits, umbrella, water bottles for those who signing up the card. Some research shows that students are valuable customers because they are loyal for their first card and will continue to make their purchases in future. With the credit card, students can make large purchases easily such as expensive text books, airline ticket, hotel room booking, garments, and etc. 1.6 Organization of study This research focus mainly on how credit card use by students of IPTA and also IPTS. This research project compromises of 3 main chapters. It consists of introduction and background, literature review, and also research methodology. The first chapter introduces the area of the study that mainly on the overview and background of the research and the concept of credit card, its advantages and disadvantages, and overview of the previous and current issues related to the topic, and followed by problem statement of this study. Problem statement is referred to a clear statement of the question or issues that to be investigated with the goal of finding and answer solutions. The second chapter is provides a review on the related literature on credit card and the factors that can affect its usage. Literature review is review of facts from past researchers who conducted theirs studies on the same field (usage of credit card) in order to support this research study. The effort to form literature review was done by the information gathering from the internet, journals article and other sources such as past researches journals and articles that is vital to form the literature review. The purpose is to find out all the facts, data and information required to support the topic selected. Besides that, this chapter also includes the review of literature that explains the relationship between each independent variables and dependent variable. The third chapter presents the organized research methodology by explaining the research techniques used in the collection and analysis of the survey data. It includes designation framework, area of study, population sample size, data collection methods are also included, and identifying the variables that consist of dependent variables and independent variables.

Compare racial and cultural struggles in Alice Walker’s The Color Essay

Compare racial and cultural struggles in Alice Walker’s The Color Purple as well as Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye. In African-American texts, blacks are seen as struggling with the patriarchal worlds they live in order to achieve a sense of Self and Identity. The texts I have chosen illustrate the hazards of Western religion, Rape, Patriarchal Dominance and Colonial notions of white supremacy; an intend to show how the protagonists of Alice Walker’s The Color Purple as well as Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, cope with or crumble due to these issues in their struggle to find their identities. The search for self-identity and self-knowledge is not an easy task, even more so when you are a black woman and considered a mule and a piece of property. Providing an in depth analysis of these texts, this essay attempts to illustrate how both of these Afro-American writers depict and resolve their respective protagonists’ struggles. Religion is believed by many to serve as a means to achieving or finding self or identity. However, in the Euro-influenced Christian religion especially, directly after ‘finding one’s self’, one is called to deny one’s self in the name of a white ‘God’. ‘Humble yourself and cast your burdens to God’ they say, for ‘He will make all wrongs right’. Logically however, one must ask†¦what interest does the white God (who is especially portrayed in Afro-American writings such as The Color Purple and The Bluest Eye as a further extension of Patriarchal values) have in black people? Moreso, if the Christian bible is so heavily influenced by white man, what interest does the God it portrays have in black women? In The Color Purple, Celie’s original intended audience is a white, male God w... ... the voiceless, to overcome the patriarchal oppression and gradually find her ‘Self’. Bibliography Cutter, Martha. Philomela Speaks: Alice Walker's Revisioning of Rape Archetypes in The Color Purple - Critical Essay. MELUS, Fall – Winter, 2000. Davis, Thadious M. Walker’s Celebration of Self in Southern Generations. Hooks, Bell, ‘Writing the Subject: Reading The Color Purple’, in Bloom, H., ed. Modern Critical Views: Alice Walker, New York, 1989. Katz, Tamar. â€Å"Show Me How to Do Like You.† Didacticism and Epistolary Form in The Color Purple. 1988. Morrison, Toni The Bluest Eye, London: Picador, 1990. Peach, Linden Toni Morrison London: MacMillan, 1995. Shakhovtseva, Elena.  «The Heart of Darkness » in a Multicolored World: The Color Purple by Alice Walker as a womanist text. Walker, Alice The Color Purple London: The Women’s Press, 1986.

Legacies: Romans, Greeks, And Hebrews :: essays research papers

Legacies: Roman, Greeks, and Hebrews   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the ancient days, when culture, as well as civilizations were developing, many things came to be known as options for later cultures. Civilizations had different ways of doing things and therefore each of their cultures differed considerably. The Romans, the Greeks and the Hebrews all presented different legacies to the world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Romans actually gave a legacy from their political, and economic systems. From the political system they gave us two forms of working government. There was the republic, which was made up of a senate, two assemblies, and consuls. They also had many forms of a dictatorship. The dictatorship was made of a dictator, who had complete control over the people, because the dictator usually controlled the army. From the Romans economic system, we gained their great knowledge of architecture. The Romans were great builders and put the arch to much use.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Greeks gave us one of the first forms of democracy, and a well developed navy. Athens, one of the most powerful city-states in Greece had a form of government called a direct-democracy, which is where the citizens directly interact with government affairs. The other legacy of the Greeks was their Navy. The navy was mostly utilized by Athens in their struggle against Sparta. It served as a useful way to fight and transport armies across seas.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The main legacy of the Hebrews was religion. They brought in the idea of monotheism which is still used today in religions such as Christianity and Judaism. The Hebrews governement was very much based on religion and the laws passed to them by God. The Ten Commandments were passed to the Hebrews by God, Legacies: Romans, Greeks, And Hebrews :: essays research papers Legacies: Roman, Greeks, and Hebrews   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the ancient days, when culture, as well as civilizations were developing, many things came to be known as options for later cultures. Civilizations had different ways of doing things and therefore each of their cultures differed considerably. The Romans, the Greeks and the Hebrews all presented different legacies to the world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Romans actually gave a legacy from their political, and economic systems. From the political system they gave us two forms of working government. There was the republic, which was made up of a senate, two assemblies, and consuls. They also had many forms of a dictatorship. The dictatorship was made of a dictator, who had complete control over the people, because the dictator usually controlled the army. From the Romans economic system, we gained their great knowledge of architecture. The Romans were great builders and put the arch to much use.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Greeks gave us one of the first forms of democracy, and a well developed navy. Athens, one of the most powerful city-states in Greece had a form of government called a direct-democracy, which is where the citizens directly interact with government affairs. The other legacy of the Greeks was their Navy. The navy was mostly utilized by Athens in their struggle against Sparta. It served as a useful way to fight and transport armies across seas.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The main legacy of the Hebrews was religion. They brought in the idea of monotheism which is still used today in religions such as Christianity and Judaism. The Hebrews governement was very much based on religion and the laws passed to them by God. The Ten Commandments were passed to the Hebrews by God,

Nonverbal Communication Essay -- Functions of Communication

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Found information states that â€Å"nonverbal communication is the process of transporting messages through behaviors, physical characteristics and objects†. Its how and what we use in order to express our feelings and say things. Using symbols is a way of using nonverbal communication. Also nonverbal communication is the way we use body language and gestures too. Nonverbal communication is often used unconsciously. When using the certain communication it can be misinterpreted also. There are many different categories of nonverbal communication. They are the following: Aesthetics, Artifacts, Chronemics, Haptics, Kinesics, Paralanguage, Physical Appearance, Proxemics, and Oculesics.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Aesthetics is the study of nature, beauty and taste. Found information states â€Å"that Aesthetics refer to environmental factors and how they are manipulated to influence our feelings and emotions†. When referring to environmental factors it was including colors, lighting, spatial arrangement, and sounds. Found information also states that we â€Å"manipulate environmental factors to affect mood by controlling the setting†. For example, you may change the lighting in the room to a dim to give a romantic mood for someone. Aesthetics is used in many different ways.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Artifacts are things we use to express us individually. It’s our physical appearance. Meaning the clothes we wear. Also, the objects we wear too. These things are used to describe/ tell who we are. For example, uniforms are art...

Citizenship Education Essay

About the Citizenship Foundation The Citizenship Foundation is an independent educational charity that aims to empower individuals to engage in the wider community through education about the law democracy and society. We focus, in particular, on developing young people’s Citizenship skills, knowledge and understanding. Our work includes Citizenship resources for a wide audience from teachers to young offenders, national projects for primary schools, active learning initiatives for secondary schools, nationwide training programmes, and community-based projects to develop citizenship education as a collective responsibility beyond school and college boundaries. Theme 1 – Purposes and Values At the Citizenship Foundation we believe that the primary phase presents an important opportunity for children to make sense of the changing society and the shrinking world they live in. While primary school teachers have never found it difficult to think about what kind of citizens they would like their children to become, the opportunities for developing the children’s knowledge have, in recent years, been squeezed by the need to deliver the core subjects and the pressure of SATs. There are, at best, limited opportunities for teachers in English schools to cover social topics such as family or crime because, unlike the situation in many continental countries, there is no tradition of a social studies curriculum for this age group. B. B. 1. B. 2. The findings of the recent UNICEF report i underline the need to attend to pupils’ social well-being. For example the UK had the lowest proportion (43. 3%) of 11 and 13 year olds who described their friends as kind and helpful. We consider it of vital importance to cultivate in primary aged children a concern to act fairly, responsibly and with compassion. B. 3. We believe that Citizenship Education is essential to individual empowerment. Not only should it be statutory, it should be a core element of the primary  curriculum, integrating taught and experiential learning in a coherent way leading towards a full understanding of what it means to be a member of the community with rights and responsibilities. As part of our submission to the Education and Skills Select Committee’s investigation into Citizenship Educationii, we have called for the current joint PSHE and Citizenship non-statutory framework to be accorded statutory status The Primary Review submission from the Citizenship Foundation Citizenship Foundation, March 2007. 1 B. 4. ‘Every Child Matters’iii and the Education Act 2002 make it a duty to consult children. Children therefore need to be systematically taught and given opportunities to develop the necessary skills, language and confidence to enable them to participate fully in decision making processes. Citizenship Education provides an opportunity for broadening cultural, social and political horizons, particularly in respect to developing a sense of identity, and an appreciation of the diversity of our society. These important functions of a broad social education should not be relegated to the margins or the ‘optional’, as they are within the non-statutory programme of study. With the lowering of the age of criminal responsibility, it is important that children have the opportunity to establish a sense of social and moral responsibility and develop a clearer understanding of the nature of their legal and moral rights and responsibilities. Changing societal conditions and the earlier onset of adolescence have made it urgent for primary schools to do more by way of explicit social and moral education. For example, children are exposed to the media, and have access to the internet in a way that was not the case even at the time of the introduction of the National Curriculum. In 2003 the OECDiv placed the UK at the bottom of a league table of young people’s risk behaviours, which included drinking, smoking, bullying and sexual activity. At the Citizenship Foundation we believe that the primary curriculum should be broad enough to provide an intellectual foundation for choice, affording children the ability to make responsible decisions at later stages of their education. Citizenship Education supports children in their personal development, equipping them to investigate the wider social and economic world, and to develop personal aspirations for it. In addition it lays the foundations for their political literacy and promotes the skills of community engagement. It provides them with an early introduction to financial literacy and agencies offering welfare support, providing them with knowledge of where to go for help which is essential, in an increasingly complex world, to the economic well-being, both of the individual and the nation as a whole. B. 5. B. 6. Theme 2 – Learning and Teaching B. 7. We know that spoken language is a vital part of human learning in the first ten years of life, and that it is a strong determinant of children’s ability to handle the written word. Citizenship Education is a vital component in any holistic approach to literacy and oracy, providing children with opportunities to analyse, compare, evaluate, reason, argue and justify. The work of psychologists such as Mercerv demonstrates the educational importance of exploratory talk to address shared problems. Citizenship issues are rich in such potential because they are real and relevant. Dunnvi has shown that attitudes and social concepts are shaped from an early age. From Key Stage 1 Citizenship Education provides an opportunity for teachers to nurture the development of this understanding in the context of a variety of issues salient to the young people themselves, developing understanding and fostering empathy before attitudes become entrenched. B. 8. The Primary Review submission from the Citizenship Foundation Citizenship Foundation, March 2007. 2 It offers a context through which children can develop critical thinking skills and emotional literacy in a coherent, integrated way. B. 9. Current educational practice, and the emphasis on target setting has led to more individualised learning, yet Vygotskyvii has identified learning as a social, interactive process that requires discussion, exchange and the sharing of perspectives. Citizenship learning provides opportunities for participation and active involvement. It is characterised by social thinking, and cannot be isolated or atomistic, as typified by much of the learning that currently takes place. Activities involving teamwork and enquiry skills, using Wallace’sviii TASC (Thinking Actively in a Social Context) model for example, build a sense of interdependence and community. B. 10. Recent research shows that children’s peers can be a powerful influence on their receptivity and motivation to learn. We also know that profound knowledge is acquired through the practical application of knowledge: we learn best through doing. Citizenship is rich in opportunities for discussion and dialogue between young people, and for applying their knowledge to make a difference to the world around them. The most effective Citizenship Education is built around pedagogical approaches that place active learning at the core. B. 11. Researchers such as Margaret Donaldsonix suggest that concepts presented in familiar contexts enable children to grasp ideas more readily than when they are concept free, yet there is still a tendency to teach the core subjects in a vacuum. The notion of curriculum breadth needs to be critically revisited, such that breadth is defined through a range of learning experiences rather than simply a collection of subjects. We also know that children are more likely to recall matters which are important to them. Citizenship Education can satisfy both these characteristics of learning, firstly by presenting a real life framework, or ‘big picture’, to help children make sense of new knowledge, and secondly by tackling issues of relevance and value to them such as fairness, bullying and responsibility for the environment. Indeed, Citizenship Education can provide a meaningful context for much of the primary curriculum, particularly aspects of learning in Literacy, History and Geography. It can also afford children opportunities to demonstrate their abilities across a wide range of intelligences, including inter-personal and intra-personal, which are currently not recognised and assessed through SATs. Theme 3 – Curriculum and Assessment B. 12. At the Citizenship Foundation we believe that primary education should try to achieve ‘Excellence and Enjoyment’ x across all subjects. Currently there is a tendency to focus on ‘excellence’ in the core subjects while restricting ‘enjoyment’ to the foundation subjects in the wider curriculum, as tends to be implied by the Primary National Strategy (PNS)xi. A more holistic, coherent and enriched approach is needed, with the children’s personal experiences, and their place and future in society, as a key focus. The Primary Review submission from the Citizenship Foundation Citizenship Foundation, March 2007 3 B. 13. During the primary phase children develop an increasing awareness of social and environmental issues. They are entitled to opportunities to develop more informed, reflective and balanced views on these issues. The curriculum needs to be constructed in a way which promotes a higher level of interaction and cognitive engagement, as opposed to teaching with low cognitive engagement leading to pre-determined answers. Citizenship, with its emphasis on oracy, active learning, and emotional literacy can play an important role in redressing the imbalance of an overly narrow curriculum, and in providing children with the opportunities to apply their knowledge in areas such as peer mediation, school democracy and community involvement. B. 14. Citizenship Education fosters social development and nurtures the social self, thus enriching the school community. ‘Citizenship-rich’ primary schools (where practices such as peer mediation, students as researchers and school councils are embedded) offer social learning activities which are shown to have maturational and behavioural benefits to the individual and for the whole school. These benefits have the potential to become widespread across all schools if Citizenship is made statutory. B. 15. Citizenship Education is currently under-recognised and under-developed in the primary phase. This is especially the case in Key Stage 2 where issues such as bullying, stealing, the role of the police, respect for law, and community cohesion issues are commonly addressed but not always from a Citizenship perspective or in a consistent manner. Yet this is the time when attitudes to authority figures are being shaped. Moreover, the risk is that key issues are overlooked. For example, whilst young people are criminally responsible by age ten, this significant fact and its implications, are not systematically communicated to primary school pupils as part of the statutory curriculum. B. 16. We believe that the core concepts and skills associated with Citizenship should be more precisely mapped and strengthened, and that there should be a clear pathway of progression, with identified cross-curricular links, from the Foundation Stage through to Year 6, bringing Citizenship Education into line with and providing a sound foundation for Key Stages 3 and 4. B. 17. With regard to formative assessment we believe that the most appropriate method of assessment at this stage of learning is one based on ‘success criteria’xii which leads to more focused teaching, and enables and motivates children to judge and improve their own performance in relation to the specific learning objectives which will have been identified above, for example objectives associated with enquiry and communication skills. B. 18. We are currently working with the QCA to develop an appropriate eight point assessment scale to support the teaching of Citizenship across the primary and secondary phases. This will be based as much as possible on the empirical work of developmental psychologists, including their work on concept and empathy development. The Primary Review submission from the Citizenship Foundation Citizenship Foundation, March 2007 4 Theme 5 – Diversity and Inclusion B. 19. In his recent review of Diversity and the Citizenship Curriculumxiii, Sir Keith Ajegbo highlighted the need to promote understanding between communities, and the importance of combating intolerance and religious extremism. He suggests that teachers should be prepared to tackle controversial topics such as immigration and the legacy of the British Empire, and that Citizenship lessons are the appropriate forum in which children can ‘discuss and debate their identities’. Whilst his focus was the secondary curriculum, we believe that this work should begin in the primary phase. B. 20. Indeed, from April 2007, upon the implementation of the Education and Inspection Act (2006), all schools, primary and secondary, have a statutory duty to promote social cohesion. Citizenship Education provides the logical curriculum response to this duty. B. 21. Citizenship Education is the subject which provides the most natural forum for discussion of issues relating to equal opportunities, diversity, faith and culture. Work around topics such as ‘similarity and difference’ and ‘rights and responsibilities’ helps children develop empathy, deepens understanding and builds greater confidence to express personal views. It supports them in developing a sense of who they are, what they can do, and how they belong. Thus it helps create social cohesion, which is essential for our personal well-being, and the maintenance of strong communities. Theme 8 – Beyond the School B. 21. Every staff and governing body needs to reflect on the purpose of their school, and its wider relations with the community. Active community engagement is central to the Citizenship Education programme. Citizenship Education has the capacity for building links between home, school, and the community in which they are situated. Parents and their children belong to the same neighbourhood, national and global communities, and Citizenship Education can promote meaningful intergenerational activities. When children participate in projects aimed at making a difference to their community, or become engaged in research about the views and responsibilities of people from a variety of social strata and professions, they begin to see themselves as active members of wider society Theme 10 – Funding and Governance B. 22. When Citizenship Education is appropriately represented within the primary curriculum, it will need to be resourced and funded accordingly. At the Citizenship Foundation we believe there to be a need for a coherent National Strategy for Teaching and Learning in Citizenship, fully endorsed by the DfES and QCA, and that this can only be implemented with proper training for headteachers and their staffs. This analysis is now supported by the report of the Select Committee. Equipped with the professional expertise, teachers will be enabled to recognise, nurture and develop The Primary Review submission from the Citizenship Foundation Citizenship Foundation, March 2007 5 particular interests, talents and capacities to make it possible for each individual to flourish in our society. B. 23. We recommend that every school be required to establish a school council constituted largely of pupil representatives, and that pupil representatives should be invited to become associate members of their school governing bodies, in line with the new governing body regulations introduced in 2003. C. Conclusion C. 1. Citizenship Education has the potential to create more effective learners by promoting a reflective approach, enabling connection of knowledge, developing greater facility for shared learning with others, and increasing engagement and self-direction. Above all, Citizenship Education can play an important part in developing engaged and responsible citizens. The Citizenship Foundation has always argued that the failure to make Citizenship Education statutory in primary schools was a missed opportunity and results in developmental delay in this area. There are examples of excellent Citizenship practice in the primary phase on which to build but we argue that that current provision (based on a non-statutory joint framework for PSHE and Citizenship) is inadequate, and deserves a much higher profile. We recognise that primary schools and practitioners will need support for the implementation of the above developments, and in the light of this the Citizenship Foundation is campaigning for: †¢ A designated co-ordinator in every school, supported by an LA adviser; †¢ Citizenship to feature in a revised primary SEF form; †¢ NCSL primary programmes to include a primary dimension; We will be pleased to discuss any aspect of this submission with the review team. C. 2 C. 3. C. 4. The Primary Review submission from the Citizenship Foundation Citizenship Foundation, March 2007 6 References: i UNICEF Report on Child Well-Being in Rich Countries (2007) Education and Skills Select Committee Report on Citizenship Education TSO (2007) Every Child Matters DfES (2003) ii iii iv OECD League Table of Young People’s Risk Behaviour. Programme of International Studies Assessment (PISA) (2003) Mercer, N. (2000) Words and Minds: How We Use Language to Think Together. Routledge. Dunn, J.  (1988). The Beginnings of Social Understanding, Blackwell Publishing. Vygotsky, L. S. (1962) Thought and Language Cambridge,MA:MIT Press v vi vii viii Wallace, B. Maher. J. et al (2004) Thinking Skills and Problem Solving – An Inclusive Approach David Fulton Publishers Donaldson, M. (1978) Children’s Minds. Fontana Press ‘Excellence and Enjoyment’ DfES (1993) Primary National Strategy (PNS) DfES (2003) ix x xi as advocated by Shirley Clarke in Enriching Feedback in the Primary Classroom. (2003) Hodder & Stoughton xiii xii Ajegbo, Sir K. Diversity and Citizenship Curriculum Review (2007) The Primary Review submission from the Citizenship Foundation Citizenship Foundation, March 2007 7 About the Authors Marguerite Heath is an experienced Primary Headteacher who now directs the Go-Givers programme at the Citizenship Foundation. Go-Givers is a major new resource for teaching and learning about Citizenship in primary schools which is to be launched in June 2007. Don Rowe is Director, Curriculum Resources at the Citizenship Foundation and a co-founder of the Foundation. He has published and advised widely on Citizenship Education in Primary and Secondary schools. Tony Breslin is Chief Executive at the Citizenship Foundation and has published and advised widely on Citizenship Education and in a range of related educational fields. Ted Huddleston is a Project Manager at the Citizenship Foundation, and currently leads on the Citizenship Manifesto programme. He has published and advised widely on Citizenship Education. Elizabeth Griffiths is an experienced primary practitioner working on the development of Go-Givers at the Citizenship Foundation. Contact: Marguerite Heath The Citizenship Foundation, 63 Gee Street, London EC1V 3RS Tel: 020 7566 4148 Email: marguerite. heath@citizenshipfoundation. org. uk The Primary Review submission from the Citizenship Foundation Citizenship Foundation, March 2007 8 The Primary Review submission from the Citizenship Foundation Citizenship Foundation, March 2007 9.

Venus of Willendorf: the Image of Beauty and Survival

Venus of Willendorf: The Image of Beauty and Survival The Venus of Willendorf illustrates the characteristics of a woman in a utopian society because her figure demonstrates a society in which there is a stable food supply, and her most feminine features, breasts, hips and buttocks, are accentuated as a symbol of beauty and survival. According to PBS, â€Å"It was discovered on the banks of the Danube River, in Austria, and it was most likely made by hunter-gatherers who lived in the area. † During ancient times, food was scarce.People would eat whatever food they could get their hands on. When there was food available, dopamine, which is a neurochemical that plays a mojor role in reward driven learning, motivated the people to eat as much as they could. Dopamine triggers the chemical DeltaFosB. This chemical is also known as the binge chemical, â€Å"A ‘binge mechanism’ is an evolutionary advantage in situations where survival is furthered by overriding normal s atiety. Think of wolves, which need to stow away up to twenty pounds of a single kill at one go.Or our ancestors, who needed to store high-quality calories as a few extra pounds for easy transport to survive hard times. Or mating season, when there's a harem to impregnate. In the past, such opportunities were rare and passed quickly† (Yourbrainonporn. com). The Venus of Willendorf is a depiction of how human nature takes control of the brain in the presence of a food surplus. The Venus of Willendorf is a symbol of vitality, for she would survive during famine.Additionally, the artist who created the Venus of Willendorf was influenced by environment in which he or she lived in. â€Å"The people who made this statue lived in a harsh ice-age environment where features of fatness and fertility would have been highly desirable. In neurological terms, these features amounted to hyper-normal stimuli that activate neuron responses in the brain. So in Paleolithic people terms, the par ts that mattered most had to do with successful reproduction – the breasts and pelvic girdle.Therefore, these parts were isolated and amplified by the artist's brain† (PBS). Thus, the Venus of Willendorf was an attractive sight for it left its possessor daydreaming of a happier civilization where children survive beyond childbirth and food is unlimited. The Venus of Willendorf was the ideal woman in a successful society at the time of its creation, for her figure evokes two very important parts of maintaining a civilization: food and offspring. Because of DeltaFosB, our brains are chemically geared to eat when there is food around.James Kettlewell describes this phenomenon without science in regards to The Venus, â€Å"Consider when and where this Venus of Willendorf lived, when all food had to be gathered or killed, and its availability was never guaranteed. In her age corpulence would have made the most positive kind of statement. † The Venus of Willendorf†™s large figure represents food and the process of feeding. The overconsumption of food leads a concentration of DeltaFosB in the brain; when people of hunter and gatherer societies ate, DeltaFosB stimulated them to eat as much as possible.If there were an abundance of food, the DeltaFosB response from dopamine would produce figures like Venus of Willendorf. Venus of Willendorf’s large figure stimulated the thought of food in 22,000-24,000 BC when she was erected. Advances in food storage and childbearing techniques has made The Venus of Willendorf less of idolized figure, for there is social stigma with being fat in western society, but many countries in impoverished societies idolize fat. As a rite of passage in Nigeria, girls spend time in a fattening room.At the end of the three-month process, the women are believed to be more beautiful. Ann M. Simmons, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times visited Nigeria to write an article about the female lifestyle, â€Å"The fatten ing room is at the center of a centuries-old rite of passage from maidenhood to womanhood. The months spent in pursuit of poundage are supplemented by daily visits from elderly matrons who impart tips on how to be a successful wife and mother. Nowadays, though, girls who are not yet marriage-bound do a tour in the rooms purely as a coming-of-age ceremony.And sometimes, nursing mothers return to the rooms to put on more weight† (1). The Nigerian Gross Domestic Product per capita in 2011 was $1,452, while in the U. S. the Gross Domestic Product per capita was $48,422. It seems that poverty directly affects a societies’ perception of fatness. Tonga, Samoa, and Micronesia, countries that celebrate fatness, have GDP per capitas of $4,168, $3,532 and $2,852 and overweight percentages of 90. 8, 91. 1 and 80. 4, respectively. According to toptenz. net, â€Å"Excessive fatness continues to be embraced by many countries as a sign of health, wealth and happiness. Additionally, th is website continued to use Tonga and Samoa as exemplar countries that acknowledge this type of beauty. Could it be that the development of western civilization has changed the ideal citizen? In America fitness is seen as a necessity for fitting into the culture. Those who can afford a gym membership and are able to use it have more influence over the perception of beauty and fertility, for the fit citizens are often wealthier. The countries that celebrate fatness maintain a semblance of the hunter/gather society that created the Venus of Willendorf.An archaeologist in a special for PBS said that the Willendorf is, â€Å"Indicative of a general human tendency-wishful thinking. What you are seeing is altered or modified in order to give you a heightened experience†¦If what’s important to is the breast, hips and buttocks, then you’re stretching them out to get more gratification from the statue than the woman sitting next to you. † These eloquent words apply not only to the Venus, but also to the young women in the feeding huts in Nigeria. The aspects of a woman that are considered beautiful are exaggerated in order to make them more beautiful.Besides beauty, The Venus of Willendorf is well equipped for childbearing, for she has wide hips, and her breasts are well stocked for feeding a child. In times of famine, The Venus would survive. In Nigeria, elders who give advice about being a good mother and wife accompany women who spend time in fattening huts. Being fat is part of being a good mother in Nigeria. The Venus of Willendorf is a symbol of the same traits demonstrated in Nigeria, but the image of the Venus was only a pipe dream for the Paleolithic people.Their ideal woman would have been a spitting image of Venus, but the citizens of the long gone civilization did not have the technology to live the fantasical lifestyle of the Venus of Willendorf Words:1126 Works Cited Kettlewell, James. â€Å"Rethinking Classic Themes in Art Hist ory. † James Kettlewell:The Venus of Willendorf. N. p. , n. d. Web. 24 Sept. 2012. . Wilson, Gary. â€Å"Start Here for an Overview of Key Concepts. † Your Brain On Porn. N. p. , 12 May 2012. Web. 24 Sept. 2012. . Simmons, Ann M. â€Å"Where Fat Is a Mark of Beauty. Editorial. Los Angeles Times 23 Sept. 1998: 1-2. PROFESSOR SCHUTZER'S WEB PAGE. Pierce College. Web. 23 Sept. 2012. . Duvall, Susan. â€Å"Top 10 Countries Celebrating Female Obesity. † Top 10 Lists. N. p. , 17 Nov. 2011. Web. 23 Sept. 2012. . â€Å"GDP per Capita (current US$). † Data. The World Bank, 2012. Web. 23 Sept. 2012. . Streib, Lauren. â€Å"World's Fattest Countries. † Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 8 Feb. 2007. Web. 24 Sept. 2012. . â€Å"Venus of Willendorf: An Exaggerated Beauty. † PBS. PBS, 2006. Web. 24 Sept. 2012. .

Separate components

One of the main religious books of Buddhism is â€Å"Tripitaka† (Pali language and Sanskrit – ‘tri’ = three and ‘pitaka’ = basket), which means â€Å"three baskets (of texts)† and also is know as â€Å"Tipitaka†, canonic texts of classical Buddhism schools, consisting of the Vinaya, the Sutta or Suttanata and the Abhidhamma.This three-part structure of canonic texts can be considered as line of demarcation between classical Buddhism (which some people call hinayana – narrow way or narrow chariot) and those reformative directions, which having desire to show its supremacy, gained an honorable title of mayanaya (wide way or wide chariot) and created another collections of holy texts, imitating to some extent works of â€Å"Tripitaka† (first of all these are dialogues of Sutta Pitaka), but didn’t follow principles of three-part canon.Separate components of â€Å"Tripitaka† were kept in memories of many sch ools of early Buddhism indifferent Indian languages, such as Sanskrit and hybrid Sanskrit and also in middle Indian languages.Some schools considered as holy all parts of Tripitaka, – except of theravaddine, vatsipuri or machishchasaka. The others focused accent at importance of separate parts in comparison with others: sthaviravadines respected the Sutta first of all; sarvastivadines respected the Abhidhamma and aparashayles and purvashayles recognized only the Vinaya. Some of the followers completed three-part canon with new ‘baskets’.So, machasanghiki added to three parts Samiukta-pitaka and Dharma-pitaka, and bachusrutii (who already recognized â€Å"transcendency† of some Buddhist studies) added also Bodhisattva-pitaka, whereas dharmaguptaki took from traditional three parts only the Vinaya and added together with three new ‘pitakas’ also Tsharani-pitaka (which was probably text of magical spells) (Thomas W. Rhys-Davids, p.103).Complete c anonic text of â€Å"Tripitaka† belongs to ‘orthodox’ school of theravadines. Canonic texts were collected, were reproduced and passed orally, modified by the teachers, preachers and missioners of Buddhist communities during many ages, so material of Pali â€Å"Tripitaka† belongs to wide time continuum from the Buddha à ©poque (according to modern date – 5 century BC), some speeches of whom, probably, were memorized immediately by followers of his communities, specialized on memorizing of holy texts (bhanaki) till time of their partial writing in Pali language in the 1 century BC.Process of canonization wasn’t finished yet. Texts of â€Å"Tripitaka† continued to be created, edited, wrote and re-wrote till the 5th century – time of creation of â€Å"complete† commentary to â€Å"Tripitaka†, which can be considered the Pali re-working of Singal commentaries by egzeget collegiums, managed by Buddaghossa. So, historic al origin of â€Å"Tripitaka† texts needs special examining in each separate case.Written form of â€Å"Tripitaka† was first written on palm leaves – alu – during the times of King Vatthugamini Abhay (101-77 BC) in Alu-Vihara, Matala near Kandi, Sri-Lanka.These works were collected one year after Buddha’s death by his three followers at the first Buddhist’s meeting in Radzhigire. During the next meetings those groups of studies were re-worked and written.First ‘basket’ consists of 3 parts and is dedicated to principles of organization of Buddhist monk community, principles of creation and demands to monks.The Vinaya regulates all monk life and their communications with civil people in details. The word â€Å"Vinaya† means â€Å"that, who dispels evil†. The first part, Suttavibhanga, is commentary to patimokkha – 227 discipline rules for monks in connection with definite actions of members of early-Buddhist m onk community-sangha and corresponding punishments – starting of admonitions and finished by expulsion from sangha. These rules reflect real practice of regular readings of patimokkha during fasting-days (uposatha) of new moon and full moon.The second part consists of Khandhakas – in two versions (Mahavagga in 10 chapters and Culavagga in 12 chapters), where detailed discipline rules (prescribing how to live during rain periods, which clothes they should wear, how they should prepare medicines, etc), are ‘diluted’ with didactic and historical legends (Frauwallner, E.,, p.53).The first contains stories which explain how separate people came to Buddhist community, the second contains information about partial stories of Buddha’s life (gaining â€Å"clarifying†, first travels and first followers) and stories about first two Buddhist meetings in Radzhagrych (soon after Buddha’s death) and in Vayshali. The third part, Parivaranapatha, consi sts of 19 text of catechism type, including questions and answers for discipline problems.The Sutta, the eldest and the main part of Tripitaka’s texts is collection of five big texts (nikaya), first four of which are thematically similar to some extent (statement by Buddha, sometimes by his followers, of separate topics in Dharma (Buddhist science), and the last part is collection of different materials, united a bit later.The first four collections of the Sutta are started with unchangeable words â€Å"So I heard†, which is given from the narrator (in order to show origin of text), which is followed by plotline of lesson and then after the lesson itself, which Buddha pronounces in dialogue with somebody or in monologue (http://www.dharmanet.org/).The words are â€Å"Tripitaka† words are charming, they open your eyes and bewilder with their wisdom; they sound like music which you want to hear again and over again, reading and re-reading its simple but wise words : â€Å"He walks without fear, stands without fear, sits without fear, lies down without fear. Why is that? Because he is out of the Evil One ‘ s range. †Thai is what the Blessed One said. The bhikkhus were satisfied and delighted in the Blessed One ‘ s words†. (â€Å"Tripitaka†) These four collections of texts differ not only in content, but in quantity and structure – by length of the Suttas and way of organization of their consequences. All five big collections of the Sutta’s texts include in different proportions prosaic and poem components.

Advertisements Effects on Women

In our culture, our standards for how women must look and act are important to us. So important that they’ve become damaging to our well-being. Women have no way of escaping being judged on what they wear or how they do their hair. There is no â€Å"regular† female, free of standards, unlike a male. Nowadays, media and even language have influenced our ideals for gender conventions, mostly unconsciously. Pressure on females to fit into these conventions is higher than ever.Media—ads, television, movies, magazines, and celebrities—is something we cannot escape. It surrounds us almost every minute of every day. Involuntarily, the average American sees â€Å"3000 ads in a day, and spends 2 years of their life watching television commercials (Kibourne). † The disadvantages of female conventions have become bigger than ever before, and have come to driving women to extremes. Killing Us Softly 4 by Jean Kilbourne is a remarkably eye-opening documentary ab out how media affects our values, concepts, and ideals. As I’ve already stated, we cannot run away from advertising.Most people believe they’re not influenced by ads, but everyone is influenced by ads, whether they like it or not. Media shows us ideals of what we should be, what everyone should strive to be. They do more than try to sell us products. What we also don’t realize is most of the images we’re fed through advertising are an unrealistic ideal. Computer retouching, also known as Photoshop, is more popular than ever in advertising, and the women on ad’s we’re comparing ourselves to, are computer created. Nobody looks like that, but we continue to compare ourselves to them.In doing so, it creates an absurd amount of pressure on women. Our self-esteem is affected greatly. Advertisements drive women to extremes, such as plastic surgery and eating disorders. Plastic surgery is more popular than ever, and 91% of it is performed on women ( Kilbourne). Breast implants are one of the most common plastic surgeries, but when done, most women lose feeling and sensation in their breasts. When we lose feeling, the procedure is less about our pleasure, and more about other people’s satisfaction with a woman’s body.Advertisements show us that aging equals terror. Botox is injected into the face to remove any signs of emotion a woman could have. Ads also show us that women should be ashamed of what they eat, that most food is a â€Å"guilty pleasure. † Our culture, that’s spreading to different parts of the world, has the capability to make woman everywhere to feel terrible about them selves. When a woman’s self confidence is brought down, they give themselves a â€Å"makeover† to try to look more desirable and feel better about themselves.A change of wardrobe, makeup, or hair can help a woman feel a lot better. In doing so, a woman also chooses to â€Å"mark† her self and how pe ople see her. This brings me to Deborah Tannens essay: There is No Unmarked Woman. Tannen defines the term â€Å"marked† as â€Å"the way language alters the base meaning of a word by adding a linguistic particle (Tannen 68). † Some examples are learn, being the unmarked word, and learnt, being marked and defining a more specific word. Marked words also convey â€Å"female† words, as opposed to unmarked words conveying â€Å"male. Just as similar, females have to make decisions about clothing and their appearance, whereas males do not; females are marked, males are unmarked. As Tannen states in the title, there is no unmarked woman. A woman has a widespread choice of decisions to make on her appearance so that she makes a statement about herself. The range of decisions for males to choose from is much narrower. Tannen examines that â€Å"men can choose styles that are marked, but they don’t have to†¦ (Tannen 68). † Women can’t even cho ose a formal title without judgment; â€Å"Mrs. † and â€Å"Ms. † communicate a relationship status.Tannen even goes as far as to state that writing the article on unmarked women may mark her as a feminist, not as a writer. She states â€Å"merely mentioning women and men marked me as a feminist for some (Tannen 70). † Between these two writers, they cover a lot of common ground. A marked woman, also a woman greatly affected by advertisements, succumbs to consumerism. Feminine qualities are devalued by advertisements; therefore being marked is also devalued. Men are portrayed in advertisements to not have any feminine qualities, thus expressing disapproval for all things feminine.Consequently, men devalue women, and feminine qualities are consistently being devalued. Human qualities are divided into two separate parts and labeled, â€Å"masculine† and â€Å"feminine. † An unmarked man conveys being â€Å"masculine† while marked women are â⠂¬Å"feminine† and therefore not taken as seriously as men. Kilbourne states â€Å"men basically don’t live in a world in which their bodies are routinely scrutinized, criticized, and judged, whereas woman and girls do (Kilbourne). † The disadvantages of gender conventions heavily outweigh the benefits. In fact, I couldn’t find any reasonable benefits.Advertisements put pressure on women to choose to dress in a certain way, or do their hair this way. They put pressure on women to be wanted and beautiful. The idea that there is no marked woman is because we have such a vast variety of choices in how we look. Our ideals are inclined greatly thanks to advertising. Most marked choices that women make are because of ideals that advertisements feed us. These gender conventions will never cease, and they’ll continue to perpetuate. Why? Well, because advertisers make a profit off of making us feel terrible about ourselves.As I stated before, when we feel our self-esteem is low, we try to â€Å"make over† ourselves. The only way to â€Å"make over† your self is through buying products. Females try to fit the ideal that’s fed to us. Females do indeed feel a lot of pressure to be desired. After watching Killing Us Softly 4, I understand where this pressure comes from. No one seems to think that advertising really affects us in any way, when you already know it greatly does. The amounts of decisions we have to make about how we look are overwhelming.I believe that Kilbournes documentary is tremendously relieving because she’s opening people’s eyes to the fact that the media does in fact influence us. Even though Tannen tells us that there’s no escaping these judgments based off our decisions, Kilbourne lifts a weight off our shoulders by telling us that these standards are ridiculously unrealistic. More women than ever have disorders and issues because of the demand to basically look unreal, and I think that we need to start educating our youth about advertising and its harmful effects.During adolescence, we’re greatly influenced by everything around us, and I think it’d be beneficial to show children in middle school documentaries similar to Jean Kilbourne’s series of Killing Us Softly. People need to understand the images ads show us are wrong. Women will always feel pressure to be acceptable to everyone, but the pressures ads are giving women nowadays are misleading. I believe that the fashion industry, with its ever increasingly thin models, and the advertisement industry, devaluing women and creating mpractical ideals, both have some small, but significant, changes to make. I also believe that people should be educated in advertising as it becomes harder to avoid, to understand the industry the way Kilbourne does. People should be able to have thoughts and ideals of their own.Works Cited Killing Us Softly 4. Dir. Sut Jhally. Media Education Foundatio n, 2010. DVD. Tannen, Deborah. â€Å"There is No Unmarked Woman. † ENG 701 Fall 2010 Course Packet. Ed. Alessandro Braidotti. Temple University, 2010. 68-70. Print.