Lubna Olayan

Lubna Olayan Lubna Olayan is one of the most prolific Saudi women of this new age. She was born in August 1955 and of age she has been able to acquire the title â€Å"most influential business woman in the middle east of all times†.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Lubna Olayan specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More She acquired this designation whilst working at her fathers company, the Olayan Financial; a business that operates in Riyad where she is the CEO. This company boasts being the most successful and efficiently run company in the middle east, with resources and operation consisting of manufacturing, investment (they are the largest stock market investor in Saudi Arabia), and distribution just to name a few. The company in essence is a conglomerate (Al-Ghazali and Sadi 9). Achievements and Leadership Style One of her greatest achievement took place at the economic Forum in Jeddah when she was invited to speak. This occurred in 2004 and it was a defining moment for her since she was actually allowed to speak in the presence of men in Saudi Arabia, which is unheard of in this region. In her speech, she reiterated the need for a fair open society where jobs are accessible by anyone willing to work despite their gender. She also spoke of the need for the country acquiring and maintaining tolerance to other countries despite religion, gender or creed. This according to Forbes Magazine was the deciding moment for the Muslim woman all over the world. As a result of her active role in advocating for women’s rights, she has been termed as one of the greatest philanthropic women leaders of all time. Her passion for seeking financial education and always clarifying the need for individuals to respect everyone despite of their gender has placed her in the world map as one of the most adored women leaders and role models. At reported in the Time website, although she has been actively involved in fi ghting for women’s rights, her humbleness has made her to downplay her constructive contribution on the perceptions of Arab women.Advertising Looking for assessment on biography? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More She has always reminded people that all women can do and even perform better than men as long as they are given the opportunity (Talal Al-Saud 80-82). Generally, through her advocacy for social change, Middle East is slowly embracing the need for social change and creation of leaders who respect and appreciate the potential of people. Lubna has achieved this by using her position in different boards of big companies to influence people towards appreciating humanity. In addition to this, she has actively been involved in philanthropic and numerous education programs, whose main aim is to explore people’s identity. Her overall ranking amongst the most powerful women in the world is ninety seven acc ording to Forbes magazine, but according to the Fortune magazine, she has been ranked among the fifty most influential women globally. Lubna Olayan holds a BS in Agriculture from Cornell University and an MBA from Indiana University, Bloomington and she is in charge of forty companies. Her rise to the top was fast ,because of her superior intellect, which made her to be selected to the board of Chelsfied PLC until 2004. In 2004, she became a member of the board of the Saudi Hollandi Bank PLC, after which she was appointed a non executive director of WPP’s board. Later on, she was also a board member of the International Advisory Board of the Council Foreign Relations and World Economic Forum and a member of the international advisory board of both the Citigroup and the Rolls-Royce Company. In terms of awards, she once received a Cornell entrepreneur of the year present. She is a believer in hard work and persistence; a motto she instills in all her companies. She also believe s in giving the best jobs to the best suited person irrespective of their gender.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Lubna Olayan specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It is all this plus other qualities that have made her to be one of the successful women entrepreneurs and leaders of all time (Al Shahrabani and Boer). Al-Ghazali, Basheer Mohammad and Sadi, Muhammad Asad.Doing business with impudence: A focus on women entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia. African Journal of Business Management 4.1 (2010): 1-11 Print. Al Shahrabani, Achmed and Boer, Kito.Modernizing the United Arab Emirates: An Interview with the Minister of Economy Lubna Al Qasimi.The McKinsey Quarterly (2008). Print. Talal Al-Saud, Alwaleed. Lubna Olayan. Time, 18 April: 2005. 80-82 Web. http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1972656_1972717_1974067,00.html

Sacred Words

Sacred Words Sacred Words Sacred Words By Mark Nichol The words featured in this post have a word in common: the Latin adjective sacer, meaning â€Å"holy.† The word’s direct descendant is sacred. Other terms include sacrament, which describes a religious observance or rite, and sacerdotal, which refers to things that pertain to a priest or the priesthood. A sacristy is a room where sacred objects are kept and where priests dress for services; a sacristan is a person in charge of the room and its contents. (Sexton, by way of the Anglo-French segrestein, is derived from the same Latin precursor as sacristan but refers more broadly to a church caretaker.) Sacrilege originally referred to stealing something sacred but later came to refer as well to any seriously irreverent act, although it is sometimes used to facetiously allude to something that merely mocks convention or tradition; the adjectival form is sacrilegious (which, despite looking and sounding similar to religious, is unrelated to that word). Sacrifice, from the Latin words sacra (â€Å"holy rites†) and facere (â€Å"perform†), originally meant just that but later referred to killing someone or something as an offering to a deity. In use as both a noun and a verb, it also applies in nonreligious contexts to destroying something or giving it up. In baseball, a sacrifice fly or hit occurs when a batter accidentally or deliberately hits the ball and is called or forced out but by doing so enables a teammate already on base to advance. To consecrate is to devote, or make holy; an act of doing so is consecration. To desecrate is to damage or destroy something sacred; desecration is such an act. To execrate, by contrast, is to curse, and the noun is execration. The adjective execrable originally meant â€Å"fit to be cursed,† but the modern sense is of something detestable or wretched. The rare term obsecration means â€Å"beseech† or â€Å"implore† (and is unrelated to the noun obsequy, meaning â€Å"funeral rites,† and the adjective obsequious, which means â€Å"overly compliant†). The anatomical term sacrum and its adjectival form sacral, both referring to the bone at the base of the spine, originate from the Latin term os sacrum (â€Å"sacred bone†). Competing theories for the significance of the term are that the part of the body in which it is located was used in sacrifices and that because the Greek term from which os sacrum is derived is hieron osteon, and hieron also means â€Å"strong,† the meaning is â€Å"strong bone.† (In anthropology, the adjectival form means â€Å"pertaining to religious rites.†) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Compared "to" or Compared "with"?Does "Mr" Take a Period?30 Words Invented by Shakespeare

The Important of the Immigrants in the USA Essay

The Important of the Immigrants in the USA - Essay Example The actions of immigrants to reach United States in the modern world have come to be derided and admired in equal measure but this has not deterred immigrants from putting in the effort to get to this country because they believe that they can have better lives within it (Foner & Fredrickson 2005, p.46). Those who deride immigration, whether legal or illegal, often do not take into account that it is immigrants who help in the development of a large chunk of the economy as well as its society and political scene so that America has become a unique and diverse society. Most of the immigrants to United States in the eighteenth century tended to come from northern Europe specifically Germany, Britain, Netherlands, and Scandinavian countries. These immigrants often came to this US to take advantage of the opportunities available and start their life afresh. The immigration that took place between the mid eighteenth century and the first half of nineteenth century was as a result of the agrarian revolution in Europe which forced many peasants out of their land, which they had worked for generations (Evans, 2001). As a result, many of them came to United States because it held the promise of significant land holdings, as well as work in its growing and developing cities. Those immigrants who came to United States after 1850 were predominantly of eastern European origin as well as of Irish descent. While the former often came to United States to escape the almost unceasing state of conflict and poverty that affected their homelands, the Irish immigrated mainly because of the potato famine that hit Ireland during this period. Most of these immigrants to United States from Eastern Europe were illiterate and often ended up working menial jobs in cities as New York and Chicago in order to make ends meet. From mid-20th century, immigrants ceased being predominantly from Europe and instead from across the world, as many individuals wanted to come to

Reducing Drug trafficking in the US Research Paper

Reducing Drug trafficking in the US - Research Paper Example One of the facets of prescription drug abuse is opioid abuse, which is abused by more than 7 million people. In discussing this problem, this paper will indicate the breakdown of statistics related to this problem, discuss the factors that drive this high prevalence of prescription drug abuse, the main prescription drugs abuses and then give proposed solutions to the problem. This section will also propose treatment methods for prescription drug abuse. In the United States, the more than 7 million people reported to be abusing prescription drugs make up about 2.7 percent of the whole population, a statistics that indicates the seriousness and prevalence of the problem. The main prescription drugs abused are those that focus on the central nervous system and the drugs that are used medically for psychiatric problems. This means that the main drugs abused fall under pain relievers, tranquilizers, stimulants or sedatives. Reports indicate that adolescents and young adults mainly abuse p rescription drugs that are served over-the-counter. This is also the same for other individuals, although a significant number do doctor-hopping; the process of getting the same prescriptions from different doctors. This high prevalence of prescription drug abuse is usually driven by three main factors. The first factor is the misperception that people have about the safety of the drugs. Many individuals assume that since the drugs are prescribed by doctors, they should be safe to take, and even with the increasing abuse, are not as bad as illegal drugs. What the public fails to understand is that prescription drugs work on the central nervous system in much the same way as illicit drugs. Another driving factor is the increasing availability of these drugs. With the ease at which people get prescription drugs over the counter, statistics for abuse are steadily increasing. The last reason that mainly drives prescription drug abuse is the motivations for their use. Most individuals st art taking the drugs for disease or some problem. However, the continued attachment to these drugs increases the prevalence of abuse. Drugs like opioids, when abused, have severe risks to the human body. The first risk factor associated with opioid abuse is addiction. From research, it is seen that opioids act on the same receptors in the brain as heroine and similar drugs. Causes Drug trafficking is made possible when there is a demand and supply chain. It is an opportunity created by a communities’ dependence on substances that enhance abilities or suppress emotions that a person is not ready to handle. Nevertheless, dependence alone is not the cause; the cause comes when one starts abusing the drug. These drugs vary from prescription drugs to those that are illicit. However, in recent times there has been an upsurge in the abuse of prescription drugs. According to recent data from the National Survey of Drug Use and Health, (NSDUH), a third of the people above twelve years of age who started using drugs in 2009 started by taking prescription drugs without a medical reason. Additionally, the report ‘Epidemic: Responding to America’s Prescription Drug Abuse Crisis, shows that the number of people refilling ‘Opioid pain relievers’ prescriptions has increased as has the dosage prescribed to them. In the same report, prescription drugs come second as the most abused drug after marijuana. Prescription drugs are easy to access especially painkillers. This is because families and

The Link between Crime and Mental Disorder Essay Example for Free

The Link between Crime and Mental Disorder Essay In an effort to understand, and therefore reduce or eliminate crime, studies are conducted that examine the many factors that influence or affect it. One of the influences [or possible influences] that affect crime [particularly violent crime]is mental disorder. Several studies have been carried out that investigate this link, which have uncovered much important information. These studies [as with most studies] however, are not without bias. Things such as definition of mental disorder or abnormality are often questionable, as are sample distributions. There are also individual factors, such as type of mental disorder and previous criminal records of subjects, which can influence the results. After taking these factors into account, the research results when examined, suggest, contrary to popular belief, that individuals with mental disorders are generally no more likely to commit crime than individuals without mental disorder. It is a common assumption, that whenever a brutal, violent or senseless crime is committed, it is by someone who is mentally ill or sick. Blaming violent and senseless crime on mental disorders may be comforting but it is not necessarily accurate. A stereotype has developed of the insane mass murderer largely due to the media, however, research evidence suggests that this stereotype is far from accurate. Much research on the link between crime [specifically to this discussion, violent crime] and mental disorder has been conducted, however there are different factors that need to be taken into account when examining this link. Definition of mental disorder is a major one, along with possible uneven sample distributions. Also, there have been changes in mental health and criminal justice policies that have increasingly made hospitalisation restricted to those who are more socially disruptive or dangerous. With these considerations in mind, research evidence can be then be examined. As previously stated, there are many problems with the mental disorder definition. The major symptom of mental disorder is abnormal behaviour, however, there is no strict criteria that sufficiently defines abnormality. Behaviour could be labelled abnormal if it deviates from the statistical  norm, however, as the American Psychiatric association [1987] notes there are no sharp boundaries between normality and abnormality. It can be concluded from this then, that there are no sharp boundaries between mental order and mental disorder. Behaviour could also be labelled abnormal if it deviates from the cultural norm. This is problematic because what society deems as normal is subjective and constantly changing. For example, homosexuality was regarded as being a mental disorder until 1973. These are only two of the ways in which mental disorder is possibly identified but others, such as behaviour that is subjectively distressing, deviates from optimal social or psychological functioning or fails to meet some ideal of health [Blackburn, 1993, p.247] are all subjective and are by no means exact. As such, these classifications have numerous exceptions. Another element of research on the mental disorder and crime link that is often questioned, is the sample distribution. Some believe that many of the studies conducted in this area have an uneven sample distribution that introduces bias in the results. As with many studies conducted in the criminology field, there is the question: should only those convicted of crime [and in this case, those officially diagnosed with a mental disorder] be studied or, should only those who indulge in criminal activity but have not yet been detected by the criminal justice system [or those with undiagnosed mental disorders] be studied, or both? Furthermore, if it is decided that both should be studied, how can people who commit crime, but have not been convicted, or people with mental disorders who have not been diagnosed, be included? These are difficult questions that are up to the individual[s] who are conducting the study to answer, and, different answers, can and usually will, dramatically affect the results. This, however, is not the only way in which a sample distribution could become uneven. A study conducted by Teplin [1984, 1985] cited by Bartol [1999, p.143] examined the tendency of police officers to arrest individuals with a mental disorder. Graduate students of psychology looked at 1382 encounters, and evaluated the mental health of the citizens according to a symptom checklist. The police qualified 506 citizens as suspects and arrested 148.  The students classified 30 of the 506 suspects and 14 of the 148 suspects that were arrested as having a mental disorder. Therefore it was found that 20% more individuals were arrested with mental disorder symptoms than those without. This is believed to be due to the fact that many people with a mental disorder have symptoms such as verbal abuse, belligerence, and general disrespect. This makes it fairly understandable that their arrest record is significantly higher than the general population, but it must be understood that it does not indicate a greater proneness to criminal activity. While considering uneven sample distributions, one must also consider the relatively recent changes in mental health and criminal justice policies. Long term inpatient care or hospitalisation of the mentally disordered is a practice that has largely disappeared [Bartol, 1999, p.141]. Therefore, the mentally disordered have become a more visible presence in the community, and so, if a problem occurs, it is usually up to the law enforcement officials to handle it. According to Teplin, as a result jails and prisons may have become the long-term repository for mentally ill individuals who, in a previous era, would have been institutionalised within a psychiatric facility [cited in Bartol, 1999, p.141]. Also, it has been suggested that studies which examine the criminal activity of recently released patients may be biased, as there has been an increased number of patients with previous arrest histories being admitted to mental hospitals from 15% to 40% over a thirty year period. This is due to an increasing tendency of courts to refer habitual offenders for psychiatric diagnosis. Therefore any post treatment criminal activity may not be related to the mental disorder at all, but more related to their having a previous criminal record. Once these, as well definition issues have been considered, the actual relationship between mental disorder and crime [specifically violent crime], and the research evidence can be examined. There have been several studies conducted on criminal behaviour in psychiatric patients, with the earlier findings indicating that mentally disordered individuals are no more likely to commit violent crimes than  those in the general population. However, more recent research has shown that male psychiatric patients who have a history of at least one violent incident, have a high probability of being violent within a year after being released from hospital. Rabkin [1979], cited by Bartol [p.142], conducted a review of the criminal behaviour of discharged mental patients, and found that the arrest rate for discharged mental patients was higher than the rate for the general population, particularly for assaultive or violent behaviour. There are two explanations suggested for this. Firstly, a small percentage of the patients studied that had criminal records before being admitted to hospital continued their criminal activities after being released. These patients substantially inflated the arrest rates for the other mental patients. Also there is the factor of arrest bias, as was previously mentioned. Secondly, Rabkin found that most offences committed after discharge were by those diagnosed with alcoholism, substance addiction or personality disorder. Alcoholism and substance abuse appear quite often in this type of research but do not represent serious or typical mental disorders, and the classification of personality disorders are vague and often questioned. It was found that with these three categories excluded, or considered separately, the remainder of the group appeared to be considerably less dangerous than those in general population. Another study conducted a 19 month follow up of discharged mental patients in 1968 and 1975 by Steadman, Cocozza and Melick, cited by Blackburn [1993, p. 266] Of the two samples, 6.9% and 9.4% were arrested about three times higher than the general population rate. It was found that the arrests after release were related to prior arrests, age or alcohol abuse. For patients with no prior arrests, the level was lower than that of the general population. Similarly, a study conducted by Linqvist and Allebeck {1990] cited by Blackburn {1993} which did a fifteen year follow up of released mental patients found that offence rates for the males were only slightly higher than the general population, but on the other hand, females offended at twice the expected rate. In contrast to these studies, one conducted by  Sosowsky, which studied patients with no previous arrest records, found that the arrest rates were five times higher than those of the local county in which it was conducted. It was believed, however, that when other factors such as age, race or socioeconomic status are taken into account in this study, the arrest rate becomes comparable to that of the general population. The results of these studies imply that criminal activity after discharge moreso depends upon previous arrest and other demographic factors than the mental disorder itself. Another way to examine the mental disorder and crime link is to look at mental disorder in prisoners, as opposed to criminal activity in individuals with a mental disorder. Mental disorders in prisoners is sometimes believed to be evidence of a link between crime and abnormal behaviour. Research reveals that the rate of mental disorders in prison significantly varies ranging from five to 16 percent psychotic [Teplin, 1990, cited by Bartol, 1999] In New York prisons, it is estimated that about eight percent of inmates have severe mental disabilities while sixteen percent have significant mental disabilities. A study conducted by Taylor of life sentenced prisoners in London [mostly murderers] found that 9% had symptoms of schizophrenia, 13% were found to be depressed and 33% personality disordered. These statistics are mostly similar to others found in Britain, but are significantly higher than those found elsewhere. This form of research, however is unclear on whether the mental disorder was present before being imprisoned, or if it happened as a result of being imprisoned. It is believed that prison may have detrimental effects on mental states meaning that the mental disorder may have come after the crime was committed. This would not be reflected in the results and so, would therefore introduce a bias. Research evidence indicates that there is no significant link between mental disorder and violence, however, it has been suggested that some disorders increase the risk. A study conducted in 1982 by Hafner and Boker, cited by Blackburn [p.269] surveyed all 533 case of murder, attempted murder and manslaughter in the Federal Republic of Germany between 1955 and 1964, who were found to be not responsible for their actions because of a serious mental disorder  [schizophrenic or affective psychosis, organic brain disorder, mental retardation]. The authors of the survey estimated that the mentally disordered accounted for 2.9% of convictions for serious violence and for 5.6% of murders. Hafner and Boker found that schizophrenia was overrepresented and affective psychosis underrepresented in their sample. Though the risk of serious violence in schizophrenia is very low [about 0.05%], it is much higher than other disorders, such as affective disorders and mental retardation [0.006%]. Depression has also been linked to violence, particularly homicide, mainly among females, Some recent research has indicated that there has been a link between violence and post traumatic stress disorder. Despite the fact that aggression is not among the criteria for diagnosing this disorder, irritability is, and it is also sometimes associated with unpredictable explosions of aggressive behaviour [American Psychiatric Association, 1987, cited in Blackburn, p. 273]. A study of 100 Vietnam veterans with PTSD found that 97% were explosive and irritable, 87% were socially avoidant and 72%were substance abusers. [Solursh, 1989, cited in Blackburn, p.273. This study, however, is unclear on the actual arrest or assault level. With the exception of some forms of personality disorder, no mental disorder seems strongly associated with violent behaviour, unless, as was previously stated, there is already a history of violence in the patient. Though schizophrenia has higher rates of violent occurrence, it is important to note that very few patients with this disorder actually commit acts of violence approximately 5 out of every 10 000 schizophrenics are likely to become violent. Only in very rare case does mental disorder completely absolve anyone of responsibility for their actions. [Bourne and Russo, 1998, p.569] The link between crime and mental disorder is a hard one to measure, because of the many and various other factors that come into play. Sample distributions are always questionable, as are specific definitions. Also, it is reasonable to assume that because neither crime nor mental disorder is extremely rare, it is inevitable that the two will overlap, however correlation is not causation [Bourne and Russo, 1998, p.571] the two may  exist even in the absence of a causal relationship. Research evidence suggests that no form of mental disorder [with the possible exception of some forms of personality disorder] seems strongly associated with violent crime, unless, the individual already has a history of violence some research in this area suggests that these individuals may be dangerous, and are prone to indulging in violent behaviour. However, the stereotype of the psychotic mass murderer that kills indiscriminately is inaccurate. Though, mental disorder may be one of the factors, it is seldom the only factor in play. Having a mental disorder rarely excuses or accounts for any act of crime, violent or otherwise. The numerous studies on the subject have generally found that the link between mental disorder and crime is not as significant as is often assumed.

The Great Gatsby :: essays research papers

In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald offers up commentary on a variety of themes justice, power, greed, and betrayal, the American dream and so on. Each one of these themes is demonstrated through the relationships, which the characters have. Fitzgerald carefully sets up his novel into distinct social groups, in which each character fits. By creating distinct social classes – old money, new money, and no money, Fitzgerald shows the differing in the way relationships turn out. This book offers a vivid peek of what life was like during the 1920’s.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first relationship introduced in the novel is Tom and Daisy Buchanan. Tom is a very powerful domineering man, very self-centered and self-absorbed. While Daisy is a charming, beautiful lady, with a thrilling voice, she is very self-centered as well. Tom and Daisy’s relationship is undergoing stress. When Daisy notices that her finger is hurt she says, â€Å"You did it, Tom†¦ That’s what I get for marrying a brut of a man, a great big hulking physical specimen (Tom interrupts) â€Å"I hate that word hulking†¦even in kidding.† â€Å"Hulking,† insisted Daisy. (P 16) Daisy knows how to push all of Tom’s buttons and how hard to push them. Daisy tells Nick how cynical she is about everything, she shows her views in the statement â€Å"She told me it was a girl and I turned my head away and wept†¦ all right I’m glad it’s girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a g irl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.† (P 21). It’s rumored that Tom is having an affair, â€Å"Tom’s got some woman in New York.† (P 19), and from what Daisy says she would just rather not notice what is really happening. Daisy and Tom never seem at peace with each other, just in an oblivious state where nothing can change them. They know â€Å"their place† is together; it suits society, they are perfectly matched. Daisy goes astray with Gatsby. â€Å"As he (Tom) left the room again she got up and went over to Gatsby and pulling his face down, kissing him on the mouth†¦You know I love you.† (P 122-123) Daisy uses Gatsby to rebel against Tom’s infidelity, but would never even consider leaving him, especially for an old flame. They are so materialistic; they except their flawed relationship as normal.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Myrtle and Tom have a very fiery relationship.

Steven Levitt

Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner shows that in life, everything has a hidden side. The book also discusses many topics, such as: incentives are the cornerstones of modern life, the conventional wisdom is frequently wrong, dramatic effects often have distant causes, â€Å"experts† often use their informational advantage to serve their own agenda, and knowing what to measure and how to measure it makes a complicated world much less so. (Levitt & Dubner 12).In this essay, I will be focusing on how incentives are the cornerstones of modern life, conventional wisdom is often wrong, and how â€Å"experts† often use their informational advantage to serve their own agenda. â€Å"An incentive is always a tiny object with astonishing power to change a situation. † (Levitt and Dubner 17) All incentives can be categorized by three types of incentives: moral, social, and economic. Some of which, may have adverse effects, such as with daycare in Israel de cided to start charging people a $3 fine per child for anyone that was more than ten minutes late.One would assume that in response to this, parents would be more likely to pick up their kids in a timely fashion, but instead, the opposite happens. The amount of late pick-ups increase dramatically. The logic behind this is parents were able to pay off their guilt for being late. In other words, they saw paying the extra $60 a month as a way to substitute a moral incentive. (Levitt & Dubner 19-20). These adversaries, nevertheless, can be predicted and used to the advantages of others.In illegal drug-dealing countries, such as Brazil, the government is legalizing all drug use and treating it as an addiction problem, rather than a crime. Surprisingly, this has lowered the amount of drug-related matters. In the United States, we try to crack down on drug use with strict laws and police enforcement. Consequently, this has caused the amount of drug-related delinquencies to sky-rocket in th e past decade. It is like a teenage kid. If you tell them not to do something, they are most likely going to do it anyways just to spite you and rebel; opposed to allowing them to do it and them just not doing it.Most incentives though, can be predicted and used to stimulate or punish people, but like in the â€Å"Daycare Dilemma,† are stronger and more enhanced for some circumstances than others. For example, police departments started posting pictures of johns and prostitutes in local papers and news stations to shame the guilty party. As Levitt & Dubner put it, â€Å"Which is a more horrifying deterrent: a $500 fine for soliciting a prostitute or the thought of your friends and family ogling you on www. HookersAndJohns. com? † (Levitt & Dubner 18).In this case, a social incentive was more humiliating and punishing to them than an economical one. Another key value in Freakonomics, is that â€Å"conventional wisdom† is often wrong. We form certain â€Å"notion s† about how things and people should be. Such as a women’s rights activist. Studies have shown that they actually dramatize the statistics they give to guilt more people into standing behind their foundation. Most people would think that if anyone wanted to the right thing it would be activists, but that’s not always the case. In chapter 6, we learn about two boys named Winner and Loser.Some might think â€Å"Well, with a name like Winner, he is better off to succeed. Unlike his brother, Loser, who is set up to fail. † Conversely, Loser went on to thrive. â€Å"He went to prep school on a scholarship, graduated from Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, and joined the New York Police Department, where he made detective and, eventually, sergeant. † (Levitt & Dubner 182) Winner however, was not so â€Å"inspired† by his name. He grew up to be a criminal with more than thirty arrests. Most people would think that with a sure-fire name like â€Å" Winner† he was bound to succeed, so how did he end up in jail?Well, another example of someone not quite living up to their â€Å"destiny† is Ted Kazinsky, also known as the Unabomber. Kazinsky grew up in a white-suburban neighborhood with two parents. As a child he was known to be incredibly bright, like his parents. He later went on to attend and graduate from Harvard. In this case, he had everything going for him, yet, he became an infamous terrorist. These are just a few instances of orthodox thinking and knowledge being proven to be mistaken. W. C. Fields once said, â€Å"A thing worth having, is a thing worth stealing.† (Levitt & Dubner 21)In this case, knowledge is used to exploit consumers. It happens every day, to almost everyone; professionals use their information to their benefit. A common example is in autorepair shops. Most people have gone in to get an inspection or to have a small problem fixed, and gotten a bill for WAY more than expected. Even a fter the mechanic has assured you that it won’t be costly. Furthermore, another example of it is in real estate. One would think that since real estate agents work off commission that they would want to get you the maximum profit  possible; which they do, but they don’t at the same time.Studies have shown that real estate agents will hold out for the best deal possible when selling their own home, but encourage you to take the first decent deal to come along. (Levitt & Dubner 8). The best way to stop this, is to do a little research on your before consulting an â€Å"expert. † In conclusion, economics is the study of incentives and how people react to them. Freakonomics, however, studied the hidden meanings beyond that and the cases where incentives not only reacted as expected, but where they were reacting differently as well  Levitt and Dubner did that by sticking to five main philosophies in their book, knowing what to measure and how to measure it makes a complicated world much less so, â€Å"experts† often use their information to their advantage, dramatic effects often have more subtle causes, â€Å"conventional wisdom† is often wrong, and incentives are the cornerstones of modern life. (Levitt & Dubner 12).Three of which, I believed to be the most important: â€Å"specialists† often use their information to their advantage, â€Å"conventional astuteness† is recurrently false, and incentives are the keystones of contemporary life.

Hot Imports Night

The roars of modified import cars stimulate my senses as I walk towards the Dallas Convention Center, where the 2001 Hot Imports Night car show is taking place. All around me, groups of anxious car enthusiasts rush towards the convention center. Hundreds of people were already in line, impatiently waiting to buy a ticket for the show. Luckily, I had already purchased my ticket online and did not have to wait on this half-mile long line. As I approached the entrance, I was overwhelmed by the onslaught of sounds coming from within. I knew walking in that this will be a day I wouldn t soon forget. As I stood in that cavernous exhibitions hall, my eyes feasted on rows of modified Hondas, Acuras, Mazdas, and other import cars. The car that caught my attention was a lime green 1995 Honda Civic Hatchback, shining radiantly below four strobe lights. This car had an Acura Integra GSR engine in it, a Greddy exhaust system, headers, a turbocharger, intercooler, white rims, a dragon decal on the hood, and many other modifications. Behind me I overheard a guy saying dats tight, but there are better cars and I knew he was right. There were endless rows of cars, and each row had its own representation of perfection. The cars were not the only part of the show that caught my attention. Standing by each sponsored car was a girl in her mid twenties wearing everything but clothes. One girl had on a golden studded bikini, which complemented her Venus-like body and her long flowing blond hair. Her innocent smile and seductive pose made it hard for me to take my eyes off of her. There were also models sitting behind desks signing posters for a modest fee. These were the models that graced the cover of car magazines as well as Playboy. Standing in front of these models would be lines of fans who wanted an autograph and picture. I tried to take a picture of every car model that I saw, unfortunately I ran out of film. When I reached the end of the hall I was surprised to see a disc jockey spinning break beats on a turntable and a mob of people raving and dancing on a dance floor as if they were in a nightclub. The music that came from the four giant sized speakers at this area was even louder than the music that played throughout the hall. The strobe lights had a dizzying affect, and my mind blurred as I walked through the crowd of people dancing. In one corner of the dance floor, I managed to push through the crowd of mesmerized people to get a glimpse of a short Asian guy, drenched with sweat, wearing flared jeans and a pink polo knit shirt wowing the crowd with his flawless break dancing abilities. As I had predicted, the night was anything but forgettable. I now anxiously await next year s event, which will take place next May. In the meantime, I ll just relive that night in my mind and learn some dance moves so that I can participate on the dance floor instead of standing around recording everyone else with a video camera.

Minimal Pairs Pronunciation Lesson

Minimal Pairs Pronunciation Lesson Minimal pairs are pairs of words that have one phonemic change between them. For example: let and lit. Using these pairs to help students recognize the minor differences between English muted vowel sounds can greatly help not only pronunciation skills, but also comprehension. Aim Improve pronunciation and recognition skills Activity The use of minimal pairs to help students distinguish minor differences between English vowel sounds Level Pre-intermediate to upper-intermediate depending on students capabilities Outline Introduce the idea of minimal pairs by writing a list on the board of a number of minimal pairs. For example: but - boot, sit - set, caught - cut, sing - song, etc.Practice comprehension skills by using the provided lists of minimal pairs. Each list contains one minimal pair with a number of examples.Once students are comfortable with the sounds, read sentence examples (for example: The call took a long time to go through - for the first pair) using one word of the pair provided. Ask students to identify which word of each pair was used.Continue using the list of pairs by asking students to practice the lists.Ask students to identify two vowel sounds which they want to focus on, for example: eh and uh, and have them create their own list of minimal pairs.Have pairs exchange lists and practice reading the others lists aloud.If appropriate, continue lesson by a more extended look into the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet, see IPA Lesson) Back to lessons resource page

The 12 Best Time Management Tips, Skills, and Strategies

The 12 Best Time Management Tips, Skills, and Strategies SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips When you hear successful people talk about the secret to their success, time management often comes up. But what is this vague and elusive â€Å"time management† they’re talking about? What does time management look like in practice, and how do you make it happen when you’re already stretched thin and overwhelmed? It’s important for anyone who’s busy, overcommitted, or stressed to have an arsenal of concrete, effective time management skills to lean on when things get tough...and when things are easy too! Our expert time management tips will help you make decisions about how to implement time management skills and techniques to organize and guide your daily life, through the good times and bad. After reading our guide to time management, you’ll be prepared to design a personalized time management strategy based on the skills and techniques you learn about here. In this guide, we’re going to cover the following info for you: What is time management, and why is it useful? Top time management tips for reducing stress and increasing success Best tools to support your time management strategies So take some deep, calming breaths and settle in to discover some effective time management techniques! What Is Time Management? Why Is It Useful? When some people think about time management, the first thing that comes to mind is a meticulously color-coded planner clutched tightly between the jittery hands of the student body president or class valedictorian. While well-organized planners can definitely be involved in effective time management, time management is more than just those things. Time management is kind of a creative process: it’s curating the time that you have in your life. Think about what a museum curator does: they select, organize, and look after the items in a collection or exhibit. You’re essentially trying to do the same thing. If your life is the collection or exhibit, then your time, health, responsibilities, commitments, and goals are the â€Å"items† that you need to learn how to â€Å"select, organize, and look after.† Curators want museum exhibits to be beautiful and meaningful, right? We know you want the same thing for your life! That’s why thinking about time management as a creative, strategic process can be a really important mindset for you to take on. Thinking about time management in this way is important because- and you probably already know this from personal experience- everyone is stressed out. Really stressed out. How do we know this? Because teens said so themselves in a 2014 poll. In fact, nearly half of the teens self-reported that they were not doing enough to manage their stress, and 34 percent believed their stress would increase in the coming year. Additionally, most American adults are spending 40 percent of their time at work, and stress-related illnesses account for more than $190 billion dollars in health care costs per year. (That’s a lot!) So how do you transition from being totally stressed and overwhelmed to curating all the â€Å"items† in your life that probably feel like they’re the main source of your stress? By learning about different time management skills, making careful decisions about what will work best for you, and designing an approach to time management that makes you feel strong and confident. Does that sound like hard work? It can be, but it’s hard work that’s totally worth it in the long run. The first step to designing your own approach to time management- techniques, skills, and mindsets included- is learning about concrete actions you can take to manage your time. So let’s take a look at seven concrete actions you can take in our list of top time management tips! Our time management tips will help you stay cool, calm, and collected (unlike this girl, who's definitely stressed out). Our Top 7 Time Management Tips for Reducing Stress and Finding Success To help you become a curator of the â€Å"items† in your life, we’ve done the research and compiled a list of seven tips for effective time management for you. Now, remember: you know yourself and the items in your life better than anyone, so be choosy as you read our list of time management tips! (If you try to incorporate them all, you’re only going to end us more stressed out.) So as you look through our tips, make sure you consider what will work best for you, and then start imagining how you want your time management strategies to look. Tip #1: Assess the â€Å"Items† in Your Life Through a Time Audit We’ll talk more about tools you can use to do this later, but we think a good place to start with developing your time management strategy is assessing the â€Å"items† in your life: those responsibilities, commitments, and goals that make up the exhibit that is your life. You can’t curate something until you know what materials you’re dealing with, right? So start there. One approach that many time management experts swear by is the time audit. A time audit might sound scary, but it’s actually super easy to do. Just select an amount of time- seven days is often recommended- and keep record of how you spend your time throughout each day in that designated time frame. Why do a time audit? Because taking inventory of how you’re currently spending your time can help you identify the changes you need to make. When you do a time audit, you’re supposed to record everything . . . including the hour-long â€Å"break† you took to watch Instagram stories while you were supposed to be studying for your history exam. Once you’ve done a time audit, you’ll have another nifty resource on your hands: a list of all of your weekly responsibilities and tasks. You could develop the list from your time audit into a comprehensive list of recurring tasks and responsibilities, then evaluate the items on that list, KonMari style: for each task or commitment on your list, ask yourself, â€Å"Does this spark joy?† Then, keep or discard accordingly. Of course, we know you can’t â€Å"discard† your required math or English courses...but lots of students overwhelm their schedules with tons of extracurriculars because they believe that quantity equals quality to college admissions committees. Additionally, you’ll also figure out where you’re wasting the most time. (Hint: it’s probably the Internet.) Here’s a reality check for you, though: college admissions committees are more interested in seeing your commitment to excellence in a few well-chosen extracurriculars than in seeing that you were a member of a bunch of different clubs or organizations. Taking your list of responsibilities and commitments to task through the KonMari method can help you shave that list down so it only includes things that enable you to grow, thrive, and achieve results that are meaningful to you and to college admissions committees. Win-win! Tip #2: Learn More About Yourself Since you’re the primary curator of your time (at least, in an ideal world), it’s worth it to assess yourself as a part of your time management strategy development, on top of assessing all of the other â€Å"items† in your life. This one’s more of a meta-tip- we’re asking you to really think about who you are, how you function, your strengths and weaknesses, your needs...we’re asking you to self-assess, and then to make plans for time management based on that self-assessment. And, here’s another plus: self-assessing can actually be a ton of fun. Have you ever taken a personality quiz? We recommend setting aside some time to take a personality test or two, then seeing if the results tell you anything new about your personality. That’s one great way to self-assess! Some personality assessments that are commonly used in workplace environments and by colleges and universities include the StrengthsQuest, the Myers Briggs, and the Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator. (You can even take a Sorting Hat Quiz, which isn’t official, but it is fun.) So what exactly can you learn from personality tests that might help with your time management? Well, personality tests usually generate reports based on your responses that provide an analysis of things like: How you perceive the world How you make decisions What motivates you and what stresses you out Your top strengths and weaknesses How you respond to external pressures, like interruptions, distractions, or others’ expectations How you function in interpersonal relationships, like in a team environment or workplace Can learning about these aspects of your personality help you design effective time management strategies? You betcha. We recommend taking your results from these tests with a grain of salt, since no personality test out there is perfect, but getting to know yourself a little better can be really helpful when you sit down to make decisions about your time management strategy. Tip #3: Take Time to Make a Plan and Prioritize We’re going to talk more later about actual tools you can use to keep track of the plans you make, but right now, we just want to emphasize this: making a plan for your week, for your day, and for long-term tasks and projects is extremely important. In order to create plans that prioritize urgent items and make the most effective use of your time, management experts recommend focusing first on effectiveness, then efficiency. We’ll break those concepts down into concrete actions next! Focus on Effectiveness To make a solid plan, first assess the expectations, goals, or outcomes for your day, week, or specific task or project. Take ten minutes in the evenings to evaluate your goals for the next day and sketch out a plan for how you want to achieve those goals. Do the same thing at the beginning of every week. Map out which tasks you want to complete in the morning, afternoon, and evening, and how much time you think it should take to meet your goals for those tasks. Then do the same thing for long-term or multi-step tasks or projects. Carefully read the assignment sheet your teacher gave you for that research paper or final project. Highlight it and annotate it. Ask yourself or others: What should the finished product look like? Who else is involved in this task, and how do I get them to actively participate? What tools, resources, or information do I need to acquire in order to complete this task? Making plans is good. Letting your goals guide your planning makes your plans is even better! Focus on Efficiency The second step to making effective plans involves breaking your tasks or projects down into manageable pieces or stages. As you build your plans, start by asking yourself some questions: When must the entire task be completed, and how much time will it take? Which parts of the task are going to be the most challenging or time-consuming? Which parts of the task can I complete or prepare for early? Breaking big tasks down into smaller pieces can help you allocate your time to completion of that task appropriately. Breaking big tasks down into smaller pieces can also be really helpful if you’re prone to procrastination, or if you get so anxious about big, overwhelming tasks that you can’t get work done. A couple of tried and true approaches to getting yourself going on tasks you really don’t want to do include the â€Å"Swiss Cheese† Approach and the Pomodoro Technique. These methods have some differences, but both encourage you to allocate a small amount of time to working on something- say, twenty minutes- and getting one small piece of it done. Advocates of the Swiss Cheese Approach and the Pomodoro Technique claim that just getting started and getting a little bit done can often give you the confidence you need to push through and finish the bigger task. Even if that’s not the case- or if you don’t have time to finish the entire task in one sitting- these techniques help you chip away at a big task or project over time. If you’ve planned well, you should have plenty of time to complete big projects incrementally and meet both your goals and deadlines. When you're dialed in and focused, you maximize your time. Tip #4: Curate Your Environment Into a Full-Focus Zone Another key to managing your time well is managing your environment. But what does it mean to manage your environment? Here’s an example: researchers have found that increasing natural light in work environments can increase workers’ productivity by reducing negative factors like eyestrain, headaches, and blurred vision. In other words, we’re talking here about how your physical environment affects what you get out of your available time. Now, we know that you have minimal control over your environment at school. But what about when the final bell rings and your time becomes yours again? That’s when you can really take ownership of curating a work environment that enables you to meet your goals and work efficiently. Some questions you can ask yourself to help curate your environment to maximize your time include: How does my workspace make me feel? Calm? Jittery? Restless? What could I change about this space to make it suit my needs? What is distracting me in this space, and is there a way to eliminate that distraction? What sounds, smells, tastes, textures, or visuals motivate me and help me focus, and how can I incorporate them into this space? Simple questions, right? But maybe you haven’t thought about your workspace in this way before. Maybe helping you focus and get your work done is just a matter of filling your workspace with some natural light, finding a more comfortable chair, or turning off your phone until you get your urgent tasks completed. So evaluate your workspace and figure out what’s best for you. Working in a space that works for you will decrease the amount of time you spend on physical distractions, which means you’ll be using your time more effectively! Tip #5: Take A Breather Managing your time effectively isn’t just about penciling work into every available second in your day. It’s also about scheduling in breaks so that you can get more out of your work time. Taking planned, meaningful breaks can replenish your energy and motivation when you start feeling sluggish or distracted. Taking a breather is an important time management technique! You could use the self-assessments that we talked about earlier to help you decide how to approach taking breaks. Taking fifteen minutes to stretch, grab a snack, or walk around outside for a few minutes can all be reinvigorating, but you’ll ultimately want to spend your break time doing something that works for you. What we don’t recommend is spending your break times doing something that could easily spill over into the next thing on your schedule, especially if that will make you anxious or upset. For example, if you pick up your phone to scroll through social media and you know you’re going to have a really hard time putting it down and focusing on your work again, just don’t get on social media. Save it for later, when your work is done. Work is important, but it's equally important to make time to relax! Tip #6: Make Time for the Things That Sustain You... You probably know people who skip meals, guzzle energy drinks, or only sleep three hours a night because they’re so busy and stressed. But research shows that sleep deprivation can contribute to various health problems and have negative effects on mood, memory, and concentration. And it’s pretty difficult to thrive if you aren’t fueling your body and brain properly. We understand that, when you’re already stressed and overwhelmed by the mountain of things you have to do, spending valuable time on eating, sleeping, exercise, and leisure can feel like a waste. The problem is, if you don’t dedicate some of your time to doing these things well also, it’s going to hurt your productivity in other areas. So make time to eat healthy, nourishing food, if you can. Take your time eating- enjoy it. Try to get eight hours of good sleep a night. Exercise in a way that makes you feel strong. Pay attention to how your body is responding to the pace of your life. Spend meaningful time with your family and friends. And reward yourself when you meet a goal! You work hard! You deserve to spend some of your time on meaningful activities besides work. Doing so will increase your positivity, and you can use that to catalyze productivity during your working hours as well. Tip #7: ...And Eliminate the Small Things That Don’t Saying â€Å"no† to things is easier said than done, but this is an essential part of effective time management. Even the most talented people can’t do everything, and they shouldn’t try. In order to be excellent at the things that you really want to do, you have to have enough time to learn, grow, and invest in those things...which unfortunately means you’ll have to say no to other things. Now, we’re not talking here about resigning from your officer position in the National Honor Society or dropping varsity choir. We’re talking about developing an instinct for when to say â€Å"no† to the little things that add up over time. These are the things that come up in the middle of the week that you didn’t plan for, the little favors or extra tasks that you’re randomly asked to take on. For example, if you hold leadership positions in organizations you’re involved in or if you’re known for being a high achiever in your extracurricular activities, your advisors or peers might ask you to take on more and more responsibilities because they know you’re awesome. But what can end up happening is that the same people take responsibility for things over and over, even though there are plenty of other people with extra time on their hands and not a lot to do. You could think of saying â€Å"no† to taking on more small things as an opportunity to let other people step up and learn how to lead or take responsibility. If you’re swamped one week and someone asks you to take on an extra task at your student council meeting, consider saying something like, â€Å"My plate is already pretty full this week, but I think Emma would do a fantastic job managing that task. I’ll come with you to ask her if she’d be willing to take the lead on that.† Saying â€Å"no† gives you more time to excel at the things that are meaningful to you. It also helps clear the clutter out of your brain and your to-do list. One of the neatest benefits, though, is that it gives other people the opportunity to shine. Who would’ve thought that effective time management could have such amazing benefits? Good time management comes down to having the right tools for the job. (Probably not these tools...but you never know!) 5 Best Tools To Support Your Time Management Strategies Now that you’ve read our top seven time management tips, we also want to hook you up with some time management tools that can play a role in growing your time management skills. Here’s the bottom line about time management tools: whether you choose from our list below or do your own research, it can be extremely helpful- even essential, for some people- to consistently use specific time management tools that support your developing time management skills. We live in a fast-paced world, and you don’t have to do it all on your own! We’re going to look at five different types of time management tools that you can use for different approaches to time management. Check them out and decide what works for you! Tool #1: Paper Planners Paper, you say? Nothing new and flashy about that. That may be true, but physically writing things down by hand helps you process information on a deeper level, which can help with mental recall later on. So that’s one big advantage of keeping a paper planner. If your school has strict rules about whipping out digital technology during or in between classes, a paper planner might be a good choice as well. Plus, there are a ton of options out there for planners that are aesthetically pleasing and designed for optimal productivity that also won’t break the bank. And an added benefit is that you can choose a design that fits both your needs and your personality! Advantages: Won’t crash when the WiFi does; fully high school-approved; great for detail retention; affordable (if you want it to be!) Cost: $8+ Tool #2: RescueTime If you’ve already been looking into time management apps, you’ve probably seen RescueTime mentioned all over the place. RescueTime runs securely in the background on your computer or mobile device, tracks your time spent on apps and websites, then generates a detailed report that lets you know how you spent your time that day. If you found the idea of doing a time audit (mentioned above in Tip #1) really appealing, RescueTime might be the app for you. Once you’ve used RescueTime to assess how you spend your time on your digital devices, you can even use it to set alerts that let you know how much time you’ve spent on a certain activity, block distracting websites for designated periods of time, and log highlights about what you accomplished during the day. If you’re looking for help actually managing your time spent on various tasks throughout your day, check out RescueTime! Advantages: Performs a daily time audit for you; keeps you accountable to your goals and schedule; manages distractions; supported by macOS, Linux, Android, and Windows platforms. Cost: The Lite plan is free, and you can upgrade to Premium for $9/month. Tool #3: Be Focused If you’re one of those people who gets easily overwhelmed by big picture stuff or you thought the Pomodoro Method (Tip #3) sounded cool, try out Be Focused, an app that segments out your workflow into timed increments and designated breaks. You can set your timed work increments and breaks to time frames of your choosing, and the app also generates a pie chart reporting how much time you spent on a given task and tracking your progress. In other words, it lets you add time-conscious structure to your day! There’s one downside to Be Focused, though. Unfortunately, this app is only available for iOS devices, but if you’re looking for a similar app for other devices, take a look at focus booster. Advantages: Handles the Pomodoro Technique for you; runs pre-programmed timers that you can use to guide your workflow Cost: $1.99 Tool #4: Google Apps This one’s a classic. Google Apps provides you with a lot of capabilities: emailing, archiving and organizing your files, creating slide presentations, and keeping up with a calendar are just a few. While you don’t have to use all of Google’s apps, if you’re interested in centralizing your schedule, email, contacts, and project files, this is a great option. Google’s can also be super helpful if you have to do a lot of collaborative projects, papers, presentations, or planning for events and activities too. Google Drive allows you to share media files with anyone who has an email address, and you can create and edit files collaboratively using Google Docs, Google Spreadsheets, and Google Slides. And even better: the only thing you have to do to access these powerful tools is sign up for a Google account! There’s also a strong possibility that your future college or university will assign you a Google account once you get on campus, so getting familiar with the many different ways that Google Apps can aid you in your academic career right now could give you a jumpstart on being an A+ college student in the future. Advantages: Accessible wherever there’s an Internet connection; usually school-approved; lets you store everything in one place; easy file-sharing and collaboration capabilities; usable on mobile and desktop Cost: Free! Tool #5: Evernote If you’re a compulsive note taker or list maker, take a look at Evernote. Evernote provides a central location where you can store and organize notes, voice recordings, pictures, and videos. This app might also interest you if you like to meticulously archive your notes and materials using some kind of intricate organizational system of your own design. This is probably sounding similar to Google Drive, so here are a couple of features that Evernote has that Google Drive doesn’t. Evernote allows you to apply tags to individual notes, so if you have notes that fall under more than one category, for example, you can tag them accordingly. Evernote’s search feature is more granular than Google Drive’s as well: you can search the contents of notes, notebooks (collections of notes), tags, and even attachments. The freedom to design your own organizational strategy could be overwhelming to some people, though, so Evernote might be a great resource to take advantage of when you start feeling really confident in your time management skills. The only downside with this option is that, in order to access Evernote’s full capabilities, you’ll have to upgrade to Evernote Premium, which comes with a monthly fee. If you upgrade to Premium, though, you can access Evernote from any device, even when you don’t have WiFi or mobile data. Advantages: Enormous storage space; multiple options for organizing and labelling content; easy to save content you capture on-the-go straight into Evernote; work from any device, anywhere (with Premium) Cost: Free for Evernote Basic; $7.99/month for Evernote Premium What’s Next? Now that you have all the tips and tricks you need to start managing your time, let’s jump into planning. (Planning is your friend!) But getting started can be a little intimidating, so we’ve created timelines to make things a little easier. Here’s a complete planning guide to studying for the SAT (and one for the ACT, too). Are you a procrastinator struggling to get your time management skills in order? We’ve been there. That’s why we’ve developed cram guides to the SAT and ACT. Click here for the SAT cram guide and here for the ACT cram guide! The trick to getting into the college of your dreams is planning ahead. (Sensing a theme here?) Here’s our guide to choosing the right AP classes for you, so you can make the most of your high school career.

Advertising Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Advertising - Essay Example Advertising has changed over time, and advertising of the  present  time is not as the same what advertising used to be sixty years ago. In this paper, I will look at how the techniques used in advertising have changed over the years while some aspects still maintain the  appeal, as well as analyze how advertising works. The  gradual  technological advancement over the years has bought with it  modern  forms of advertising such as the use of the internet. However, in all the developing aspects of advertising media, there is still that appeal that advertisers use to get the attention of potential customers. According to  Fowles  (2011), advertisers usually  target  the  psychological  needs of consumers through their use of graphics and texts based on the emotional point of view. Advertisers take advantage of the fact that people have deep-lying desires and that individuals  privately  yearn for certain things to  present  their propositions in the most  appealing  ways. They do this by creating images in the minds of consumers about how  good  they will  feel  when they finally  satisfy  their  longing (Fowles, 2011). An advertisement contains a  combination  of both texts and graphics but in some cases, only texts or graphics. When there is the use of textual components in advertisement, one has to make sure that the words used  bring  out the message in the best way possible. Bovà ©e et al. (2009) suggest that the services of a copywriter, as unknown to many, are  extremely  crucial in the success of an advertisement. Copywriters know how to play around with words that capture the attention of  possible  buyers and promote the merits of products and services to the consumer. They combine the various aspects of textual components to make sure that when the advert is finally out, everything flows well, and the intended  message  is clear to all. Coming up with an effective

Fringe Benefits Tax Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Fringe Benefits Tax - Essay Example This value is taxed on the top marginal tax rate. A statutory formula is prescribed for the payment of the FBT based on the value of the car and the distance travelled during the year irrespective of whether the vehicle was used for business or personal purposes. The lease payments or the running costs do not matter for the calculation of the FBT. If the car is made available for the personal use of the employees only for a certain period of the year then the FBT payable is calculated on a proportionate basis with the employer paying the FBT for the period for which the vehicle was actually used by the employee for his/her personal use instead of the whole year. Under this method the employee is allowed to reduce the FBT liability by making their own contributions towards the running expenses of the car. These contributions are to be deducted from their after tax salary. The amount of running expenses spent by the employee goes to reduce the same amount of FBT liability subject however to the maximum limit of the capital cost multiplied by the statutory fraction as specified by the Tax Office plus 10% GST. This implies that the personal taxation liability of the employee on the post-tax contribution is likely to be substantially less than the applicable FBT rate which is the maximum marginal rate of taxation. Robert Smith Cost of the Vehicle $ 44,000 Distance Travelled 20,000 Kms Lease Rent $ 12000 Running Cost and Maintenance $ 3300 Statutory percentage 20 percent of the FBV Amount of FBT payable $