Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Marketing - Essay Example This paper intends to examine a favorable portfolio for a 25-year old, planning to invest $100,000 in both mutual funds and stocks. The study seeks to roll portfolio that considers investments with high-risk tolerance. The portfolio will include three stocks, three mutual bonds and 2ETFs. As point of departure investment strategy is fundamental in meeting the anticipated goals. For instance, in this study, the portfolio attributed to high risk is adopted because the young investor is aggressive. This implies that, the more risk born, the more aggressive the portfolio (David, 112). The aspect of aggressiveness of a portfolio versus the extent of risk to be born, explains the aggressive portfolio to be considered in this study. The investor should embrace the aggressive type of portfolio. An aggressive portfolio devotes a bigger portion to equities and relatively less portions to bonds and other fixed income securities. In this study, an aggressive investment portfolio is considered. F or purposes of in- depth understanding, examine the following pie chart indicating, the approximated percentages of investments in each section (Mark, 45). This portfolio intends to invest in equities, treasury fund, bond funds and cash equivalents. The Equities take a large share because of the aggressive nature of the investor and this is attributed to high-risk investments (David, 112). To achieve the designated portfolio, the investor should embark on strategies to ensure the right asset allocation. The capital should be apportioned between the appropriate asset groups. For instance in our case the $100,000 should be apportioned as follows Investment type % Amount ($) Mutual funds 46 46,000 Stock fund 43 43,000 Cash and equivalents 11 11,000 Mutual funds From the definition, aggressive growth is a mutual fund investment goal that aims at high capital gain potential growth stocks. These are stocks of companies, which are anticipated to grow at a rate faster relative to the genera l stock market. In essence, the aggressive investor should bear in mind that this type of portfolio requires growth investment strategy because of the anticipated higher volatility, which is measured by beta. Before investing in an aggressive mutual fund, first ascertain that, the fund is real aggressive growth fund by looking at the stated objective within the mutual fund prospectus or find it from the mutual fund family website (Harry, 45). This study establishes that to pick the intended aggressive mutual fund, check on the market value of beta, which is 1.00, and consequently ascertain that, the beta value of an aggressive mutual fund is slightly above 1.00. Conversely, consider the taxes aspects. The preeminent performing mutual funds, particularly over long periods such as 10 years and more are habitually funds with low tax costs. The aggressive investor needs to look for the most tax-efficient funds (Harry, 45). This is because, previous studies on the correlation between low cost taxes, low turnover ratio and low expenditure ratio indicate highly positive. This implies that this portfolio investment is probable of creating immense gains over the period of 35 years. The young investor is advised to invest 46% of his capital in the following categories of mutual funds. As a smart investor, he considers an aggressive fund, which invests in mid-cap stocks or small-cap stocks. The reasoning behind this is that, the likelihood of already having a large-cap stock fund in the investment portfolio is high, consequently no need for more. The Fidelity Capital Appreciation (FDCAX) is the best aggressive growth mutual fund strategy to be considered in this investment portfo

Irony In Nathan The Wise Essay Example for Free

Irony In Nathan The Wise Essay Nathan the Wise is a call for reexamination among those who consider themselves as having the monopoly on truth while the rest of the world are supposedly living their lives based on false creeds. The misunderstanding among peoples or nations is rooted in this perception. Gotthold Lessing’s play sought to highlight the innate prejudices of his characters’ religious affiliations and subsequently provided a pithy reminder in the form of an irony. â€Å"Ah! Indeed you do not know how closer I shall cling to you henceforth. We must, we will be friends. Despise my nation. We did not choose a nation for ourselves. Are we our nations? What’s a nation then? Were Jews and Christians such, e’er they were men? And have I found in thee one more, to whom It is enough to be a man? (Lessing)† This was Nathan’s response to The Templar on the latter’s perception of Jews. The irony is on the second to the last sentence which implores humanity to be humane or kind to others regardless of what one believed in. Lessing is contrasting people living their lives based on religions and men who are humane kind to their fellowmen. The irony is in our supposition that our beliefs save us, guide our conduct, and teach us to be human. Yet the same precepts tend to make us biased and often cruel to those outside our fold. Indeed everyone is certain that his belief is the truth among many â€Å"lies†. Sometimes it’s this self-righteousness that makes us unjust. A paradox as pointed out by Lessing. It is ironic that a play written more than two centuries still holds true today. IRONY IN TARTUFFE Moliere parodied religiosity through his play, Tartuffe. Moliere created a very witty play of witless characters-with the exception of the servant girl, Dorine and Cleante. The irreverence of the play could explain away its banning during its time. Hypocrisy is personified by Tartuffe as credulity is personified by Orgon. There are gems of literary passages in the play that demonstrate irony. One particular instance was the interjection of Dorine to Orgon who was convincing his surprised mother about Tartuffe’s masquerade. This passage in Act V, Scene V is worth considering: â€Å"You are quite wrong, you have no right to blame him; This action only proves his good intentions. Love for his neighbour makes his virtue perfect; And knowing money is a root of evil, In Christian charity, hed take away Whatever things may hinder your salvation. † Orgon and his family are about to be evicted from their own home by the unscrupulous Tartuffe when this particular dialogue was uttered. He was already at a loss of how Tartuffe could have done this to him. The irrepressible Dorine could not resist jabbing him verbally. To be deprived of one’s property is to be given the chance to be eternally saved since the thing that causes sin is taken away from you. The person robbing you then is in fact doing you a favor and the robbery itself is a result of good intentions. This may be a tongue-in-cheek line but the irony is apparent in the situation where the quest for religiosity has led almost to Orgon’s total material depravity. IRONY IN THE PRINCESS OF CLEVES â€Å"If any other motives than honour and virtue were necessary to induce you to persist in that character you have hitherto worthily sustained; I would tell you, that a reverse of conduct will disturb my happiness in a better world. But should (which Heaven forbid! ) this heavy misfortune be inevitable, I shall welcome death with joy, since it prevents my being witness to your disgrace (Lafayette). † These last words in the deathbed of Madame de Chartres were part of a warning to her daughter of the pitfalls of falling in love while married. Rather than prevent the Princess of Cleves falling in love, it further arouses in her the need to experience what is romantic and for her which obviously she has not found from the Prince of Cleves. Aside from this irony of a warning prodding one to fall into the pit of forbidden love, Madame de Chartres or Madame Lafayette treated us with verbal irony in the last two sentences. She indicated that if the Princess will stray from the marriage path, she will be unhappy. Still she added she might be happy in death since it will prevent her from witnessing that which would bring disgrace to her daughter. This strong admonition is quite consistent with how society looks upon extramarital dalliances. The Princess was only guilty of mental infidelity. Ironically, it was not only her who suffered but her mother, who died of a broken heart, perhaps from a daughter who ignored her; husband, who died of jealousy; the Duc Nemours who suffered emotionally; and finally the Princess herself who entered a convent. The deathbed warning is ironically not helping the Princess. It destroyed everybody. Bibliography Lessing, G. E. (n. d. ). Nathan the Wise. Retrieved March 14, 2009, from PDF Books: www. pdfbooks. co. za Moliere, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin. The Project Gutenberg EBook Tartuffe. Project Gutenberg, October 26, 2008 (Posting Date). Lafayette, M. The Princess of Cleves. London: J. WILKIE, No. 71, St. PAUL’S.

Role of Silicosis in Silica-associated Lung Cancer

Role of Silicosis in Silica-associated Lung Cancer Background Crystalline silica is a mineral compound composed of silicon and oxygen atoms that are arranged in a repeating pattern. Common polymorphs of crystalline silica include quartz, cristobalite and tridymite, with quartz as the most common form. Human exposure to crystalline silica is most often from occupational tasks that involve disturbance, use or manufacture of quartz-containing materials, including stonecutting, mining, quarrying and ceramics.[i],[ii] In 1997, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) concluded there was sufficient evidence for carcinogenicity in humans with occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica in the quartz or cristobalite form.[iii] The 1997 IARC Monograph noted the greater part of epidemiologic studies reported the presence of silicosis (referring to the chronic or also known as classic type), a fibrotic disease of the lung that is associated with high exposure to respirable crystalline silica dust, increases excess lung cancer risk among workers exposed to silica. However, it remains unclear whether lung cancer development among these workers is due to the presence of silicosis or due to exposure to significant silica levels with silicosis being a confounder rather than a prerequisite. A recent literature review of relevant epidemiological studies confirmed that there remains uncertainty about excess lung cancer risk exclusively among silicotic workers due to the shortcomings of the design of existing epidemiological studies, including the inaccurate measurement of silica exposure, inadequate characterization of the exposure-response relationship between crystalline silica and lung cancer, inadequate control for potential confounders such as known lung cancer risk factors and the presence of other carcinogenic agents in the workplace, and the absence of comparing the lung cancer risk between silicotics and non-silicotic (do not have silicosis) workers as controls. The proposed research study attempts to clari fy the role of silicosis in silica-associated lung cancer development by addressing some of the identified study design challenges. Significance Determining if silicosis is a prerequisite for lung cancer development has important public health implications for setting occupational standard for silica exposure, implementing workplace medical surveillance programs and determining causation in medico-legal cases. For example, if it is determined that lung cancer risk increases among workers exposed to silica only in the presence of silicosis, then efforts should be focused on reducing high silica exposure to a level that reduces the risk of developing silicosis. However, if it is determined that silicosis is not a prerequisite, then lung cancer development can occur at silica exposures lower than those likely to cause silicosis, which makes prevention of exposure to high silica levels not adequate for worker protection. Specific Aims To better understand the role of silicosis in the pathway leading to lung cancer from occupational exposure to silica, the specific aims of the study are: To examine the association between occupational exposure to crystalline silica and lung cancer risk in the presence and absence of silicosis and To measure the exposure-response relationship between crystalline silica and lung cancer risk with risk estimates adjusted by silicosis Procedures/Methods Study Design and Population A nested case-control study design will be utilized to analyze the association between occupational exposure to crystalline silica and lung cancer risk among silicotic and non-silicotic workers from an original cohort mortality study. The original study was conducted among workers from the Vermont granite industry.[iv] They were identified from a group insurance program enrollment between January 1st, 1947 and December 31st, 1998, Vermont Department of Health Division of Industrial Hygiene (DIH) records, pension records, data from a study of workers employed from 1979 to 1987 and data from a study of retired workers.iv The data from the multiple sources were linked to avoid duplications. As a result, the cohort consisted of 7052 Vermont granite industry workers. The mortality follow-up of the cohort identified 359 observed lung cancer deaths. iv Age at death, smoking history and silica dust exposure, medical history of obstructive lung disease and demographics will be compared betwee n the cases and controls. Workers that did not have sufficient smoking information, work histories and available chest radiographs were excluded. The exposure of interest will be the cumulative exposure to silica dust. The study population is unique in that the Vermont granite industry has a long history of silica exposure, medical surveillance and a general exclusion of occupational exposures associated with lung cancer. Case Ascertainment Lung cancer cases will be ascertained from the original Vermont granite industry cohort study. The vital status and cause of data was ascertained from the US National Death Index (NDI), US Social Security Administration vital status records and the Vermont State Records Office. The cause of death was coded to the 9th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9). Control Ascertainment Controls will also be ascertained from the original cohort study. The controls are defined as workers who did not die from lung cancer. Lung cancer cases will be matched to 2 controls by age. Silicosis Ascertainment The presence of silicosis among the cases and controls would be obtained from compensation and medical surveillance records. Silica Exposure Measurement Cumulative exposure to respirable crystalline silica was measured using a job exposure matrix that utilized industrial hygiene measurements. The cumulative exposures are categorized in quartiles. Sample Size Justification According to the sample size calculator (http://www.surveysystem.com/sscalc.htm), it is estimated that this study would need approximately 360 subjects are required in the study to obtain the confidence level of 95% with an interval of 5%, if we are selecting subjects from the 7052 Vermont granite industry workers cohort. We will strive to obtain 90 cases and 180 controls, based on the availability of sufficient smoking information, work histories and chest radiographs. Statistical Analysis Statistical analysis will be performed to calculate odds ratios to examine the association between lung cancer and total and each quartile of cumulative silica exposure in the presence and absence of silicosis. Odds ratios will be adjusted for smoking, obstructive lung disease and age as they are potential confounders. Odds ratios will be calculated with 95% confidence intervals. Study Strengths Strengths of the proposed study include: comparing the association of silica exposure and lung cancer in both silicotic and non-silicotic workers measuring the exposure-response relationship between silica and lung cancer risk, taking into account the presence and absence silicosis controlling for potential confounders of smoking and obstructive lung disease excluding potential confounders of other occupational exposures associated with lung cancer by studying the granite industry cohort conducting a nested case-control study is less expensive than a full cohort study since a comparably significant number of lung cancer cases have emerged Study Limitations Potential biases and study limitations are: Selection bias is a concern as silicotic workers are identified from compensation and medical surveillance records Silicotic workers may be diagnosed by different criteria, but resulting in non-differential misclassification Differential misclassification may result from categorizing the silica exposure in quartiles Silica exposure assessment may not be accurate if the job exposure matrix is methodologically sound Only studied one type of industry associated with silica exposure Non-diseased persons from whom the controls are selected may not be fully representative of the original cohort due to loss to follow-up or death References [i] International Labour Organization (ILO)/SafeWork Bookshelf (2006). ILO Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety: Volume 1, Part I. Body: Chapter 10 Silicosis. Available at http://www.ilo.org/safework_bookshelf/english?dnd=170000102nh=0. [ii] Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) (2002). OSHA Fact Sheet: Crystalline Silica Exposure Health Hazard Information [Electronic Version]. Available at http://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/data_General_Facts/crystalline-factsheet.pdf [iii] WHO/IARC (1997). IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans: Silica, Some Silicates, Coal Dust and para-Aramid Fibrils [Electronic Version]. Volume 68; available at http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol68/mono68.pdf. [iv] Vacek PM, Verma DK, Graham WG, Callas PW, Gibbs GW (2010). Mortality in Vermont granite workers and its association with silica exposure. Occup Environ Med, 68(5), 312-318.

The Meansure of a Man (A Closer Look at Five Great Men) :: essays research papers

How does one determine the measure of a man? His accomplishments? His ancestry? His financial worth? Or do we look deep into the heart and soul of that man and determine the weight of his values, his dreams and what he has stood for in the grand scheme of things?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  We will appraise the lives of six important figures in the shaping of our country. With this evaluation, we risk becoming critic and judge, but in an attempt to go beyond those things both tangible and measurable, perhaps we will be forgiven.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Thomas Jefferson called him, â€Å"†¦a wise, a good and a great man.† Patrick Henry, when asked who he thought was the greatest man in Congress, replied, †¦Ã¢â‚¬ if you speak of solid information and sound judgment, Colonel Washington is the greatest man on that floor.† Despite his height and noble bearing, Washington was a quiet man who pondered long before decisions. Even with little schooling, he was an avid student of math and science. At a very early age, he was aware and respectful of decorum and manners. At 13, he copied the one hundred and ten â€Å"Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversations,† and lived by them. His mathematical and science skills coupled with attributes of respect, responsibility and strength secured him a position as a surveyor in Virginia at only sixteen.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  These same qualities, planted as deeply into his soul as the trees on his father’s farm, are what gave him the courage and perseverance to plunge headlong into a life filled with some of the greatest achievements in American history.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At 20 years old, Washington was plodding through one thousand miles of snow, swimming ice-clogged rivers and dodging the bullets of angry Native Americans only to carry a warning message to an unwelcoming French commander in the Ohio River Valley. He was shot once, and walked one hundred miles when his horse got too weak to go on. But he finished the task laid before him. In this first mission, courage and perseverance were metals he earned to wear on his heart.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Two years later he commanded the British army in the French and Indian War. As Lieutenant Colonel of the Virginia forces, he captured twenty-one French and killed ten, loosing only one man in the process. In this, he added two metals, strength and wisdom.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Military battles dominated Washington’s years, and the battles both won and lost created the warp and weft of the fabric of his life.

Critically evaluate piaget’s theory of cognitive development Essay

Piaget has been described as the father of cognitive psychology (Shaffer, 1988) and his stage theory as the foundation of developmental cognitive psychology (Lutz & Sternberg, 2002). It is not possible to describe Piaget’s empirical findings and theory in only 1,500 words. Instead, I will briefly review the theory’s scope, comprehensiveness, parsimony, applicability, heuristic value and methodological underpinning. I will then evaluate in more detail the theory’s utility in describing and explaining cognitive development. Historically, Piaget’s ontological approach was ground-breaking with its focus on the qualitative nature of cognition and its constructivist perspective. The theory itself is wide-scoped (universal), comprehensive (covering a broad spectrum of cognitive achievement) and elegantly coherent (from neonate to adult). It remains profoundly influential on cognitive psychology and continues to be widely applied in childcare and educational settings. Piaget’s theory is parsimonious in its commonality of approach to a broad range of complex phenomena with key interlinking concepts. Inevitably, such an ambitious theory has generated a wealth of research, some supporting, some supplementing, some extending and some disputing aspects of Piaget’s theory. Some of the weaker aspects of Piaget’s theory appear to arise from his ‘clinical method’ of using observational behavioural data to infer conclusions about children’s underlying cognitive competences. Longitudinal data, ideally suited to monitoring progression, was only recorded for his own three children. Certain of his techniques were insufficiently sensitive to identify the underlying causes of performance variations, especially with very young infants, where more recent habituation techniques have shown that Piaget considerably underestimated their understanding and ability (Bower, 1982, Baillargeon & DeVos, 1991). This may have led him to overlook other relevant explanations for varying levels of performance, eg limitations on memory capacity (Bryant & Trabasso, 1971, Kail, 1984, Diamond, 1985), motor-co-ordination (Mandler, 1990), availability of memory strategies (Siegler, 1991) and verbal understanding (Sternberg, 1985). However, Piaget’s clinical method, his flexible and ecologically valid approach did reveal original insights into children’s thinking, which a more standardised, ‘scientific’ approach may have overlooked entirely. Piaget’s theoretical framework describes the structure of cognitive development as a fixed sequence of four discontinuous and qualitatively different ‘periods’ (for ease of understanding, referred to as stages) of all children’s intelligence across domains, tasks and contexts. Invariance is a core feature of Piaget’s conceptual structure, in contrast with contemporary perspectives, which question rigid conceptual structures, eg post-modernism and chaos theory. Piaget emphasised the invariance of progression through stages, so that a child never regresses to thinking methods from an earlier stage of cognitive development. This is empirically unconvincing, eg, as an adult, I have easily switched from formal-operational to concrete-operational thinking when presented with flat-pack furniture and an incomprehensible set of instructions. Research (Beilin, 1971, Case, 1992) has also contradicted the assumption that within a given stage of development, children demonstrate only stage-appropriate levels of performance, eg 4-year-olds make the same mistakes as 1-year-olds on some hidden-object problems by looking at locations where they have found the object previously (Siegler, 1998). Structural, qualitative discontinuity between stages – a key feature in the theory’s description of cognitive development – is also questionable. Although much research has shown that children can do things at ages earlier than Piaget considered possible (Baillargeon, 1987, Mandler, 1998, Diamond, 1991), Piaget focussed on the sequence of progression from one stage to another rather than the respective ages of cognitive achievement. However, because cognitive achievements have often been shown to emerge earlier (and occasionally later if at all, eg certain formal operations) than Piaget’s stages indicate, exactly when these stages begin and end cannot be clearly established. This blurring of boundaries between stages, suggests a spiralling structure of gradual, continuous cognitive development rather  than a stepped structure of discontinuous stages. Piaget’s focus on competence as opposed to performance contributes to the difficulty of determining when one stage becomes qualitatively different from another. What we may be capable of doing optimally (competence) may often differ from what we do actually much of the time (performance) (Davidson & Sternberg, 1985). Even if we accept Piaget’s stages as distinguishing when competences are fully developed and functional not necessarily when they first appear (Lutz & Sternberg, 2002), there is still insufficient evidence that qualitative leaps in cognitive competence can be distinguished between one stage and another. Indeed, Piaget (1970) adjusted his position on the discontinuity of stages, acknowledging that transition from concrete-operational to formal-operational reasoning occurs gradually over a span of several years. Siegler (1998) suggests that catastrophe theory (a mathematical theory which examines sudden changes) explains both the continuous and discontinuous appearance of cognitive development. The forces that lead to the collapse of a bridge may build up over a period of years, however the bridge’s visible collapse appears as a sudden event. Analogously, a child may suddenly solve a problem that she could not solve the day before, but her progress may be due to experience and improved understanding acquired over preceding months. Thus cognitive development may be viewed both as a continuous process of small, imperceptible amendments or as a discontinuous shift from one state to another – depending on when and how closely viewpoints are taken. Bloom (2002) provides a similar argument in refutation of ‘spurts’ in word learning. Piaget initially argued that his stages are universal, ie that they apply to everyone irrespective of their individual experience. Recent research suggests that cultural practices are related to children’s proficiency on tasks (Rogoff, 1990). Piaget (1972) always acknowledged the impact of social and cultural contextual factors on cognitive development but came to revise his claim that his stages are universal, eg by recognising that achieving formal operations is dependent on exposure to the specific type of thinking  found in science classes and on individual motivation to undertake certain types of task. Piaget’s revised stance on universality and the discontinuity of stages also calls into question the theory’s implicit structural premise of cognitive development being domain-general. Piaget refers to stages as holistic structures, with coherent modes of thinking that apply across a broad range of tasks, ie are domain-general. However children do not appear to develop consistently and evenly across all cognitive tasks or even within specific types of cognitive functioning, eg conservation. Piaget explains unevenness of progression, eg, within the domain of conservation, mass is conserved much sooner than volume, by ‘horizontal decalage’, which occurs when problems that appear quite similar in the requirements of underlying knowledge actually differ in the complexity of schemata required. An alternative explanation for perceived unevenness in cognitive development is domain-specificity, ie that specific types of cognitive processing develop separately and a t differing rates from others. One example of domain-specificity for language vs number acquisition occurs in deaf infant’s symbolic-representational ability allowing them to learn American Sign Language as early as 6-7 months, while children’s symbolic-representational ability for number appears months later (Mandler, 1990, Meier & Newport, 1990). Subsequent research (Chomsky, 1986, Fodor, 1983, Chi, 1992 cited in Pine, 1999) has suggested domain-specificity for language, mathematics and logico-spatial reasoning involved in chess! Horizontal decalage is described, at best, as a peripheral element and, at worst, as undermining the theory’s holistic stage structure and domain-generality. To summarise the descriptive utility of Piaget’s theory, it certainly describes the general sequencing of children’s broad intellectual development, although stage-like discontinuity may be a reflection of perspective only. However, the theory appears less accurate in its description of cognitive development as universal, functionally invariant and domain-general. More recent research (Fischer, 1980, Flavell, 1985) suggests that cognitive development occurs gradually and sequentially within particular intellectual domains. Turning to the theory’s explanation of cognitive development, Piaget’s theory explains cognitive development as the result of physical maturation and two basic biological, invariant functions: organisation and adaptation (Lutz & Sternberg, 2002). Organisation is seen as the tendency to organise physical and psychological processes into purposeful, efficient systems. Adaptation occurs via equilibration, namely the seesaw-like balancing of (1) assimilation, ie how children transform incoming information to fit their existing modes of thinking (‘schemata’) and (2) accommodation, ie how children adapt their schemata in response to new experiences. Equilibration integrates physical maturation, experience with the environment and social influences (Miller, 2002). Whilst Piaget’s focus on the active constructivist mechanism of individual/environmental interaction has been highly influential, it does not provide a sufficient explanation of cognitive development. There is little explanation of the physical maturational aspects that are key to cognitive development, such as that provided by subsequent researchers on age-related neural processing improvements (Diamond,1991). More importantly, the processes of adaptation and organisation do not explain how a child’s logical ability is derived from interaction with the environment, eg there is no explanation of how sensorimotor activity is transformed into mental images which are in turn transformed into words. Crucially, Piaget’s theory does not provide any explanation of the mechanism of cognitive transition from one qualitative stage to another. Piaget’s explanation of cognitive development thus appears impoverished. It has been supplemented by social theory, which explicates the role of social interaction in the child’s development (Vygotsky, 1934/1978) and is supported by research into the innate social characteristics of young infants (Meltzoff & Moore, 1994 amongst others cited in Smith, Cowie & Blades, 1998). Information-processing theorists (Case, 1985,) have also explained the contribution of specific areas of cognitive development, such as memory and attention. Other theorists (Karmiloff-Smith, 1992) have  incorporated a combination of approaches into a more holistic explanation of cognitive development. In conclusion, Piaget’s theory appears only broadly accurate in its description of cognitive development. Its explanation of cognitive development is inadequate; only acknowledging but not fully examining the role of social, emotional and contextual factors, underestimating the existence of innate cognitive abilities (Flavell, Miller & Miller, 1993), and ignoring the complex role of language in cognitive development. Nonetheless, Siegler (1998) describes Piaget’s work as ‘a testimony to how much one person can do’. The theory’s heuristic power is undeniable: recent studies of cognitive development have focussed on previously unsuspected cognitive strengths in children and on a broader range of children’s thinking than that investigated by Piaget (Kohlberg, 1984). The theory’s longevity is certainly warranted for its originality and inspiration to others. According to Piaget â€Å"the principal goal of education is to create adults who are capable of doing new things, not simply of repeating what other generations have done – who are creative, inventive, discoverers† (Piaget, 1977 cited in Shaffer, 1998). By this standard, Piaget and his theory of cognitive development must be judged a success for current cognitive psychology. References Baillargeon, R. (1987). Object permanence in 31/2- and 41/2-month old infants. Developmental Psychology, 23, 655-664 Baillargeon, R. & DeVos, J. (1991). Object permanence in young infants: Further evidence. Child Development, 62, 1227-1246 Beilin, H. (1971). Developmental stages and developmental processes. In D.R. Green, M.P. Ford & G.B. Flamer (Eds.) Measurement and Piaget. (pp 172-196) New York:McGraw-Hill Bloom, P. (2002). How children learn the meaning of words. New York: Oxford University Press Bower, T.G.R. (1982 ). Development in Infancy 2nd Ed. San Francisco: WH Freeman Bryant, P.E. & Trabasso, T. (1971). Transitive inferences and memory in young children. Nature, 232, 456-458 Case, R. (1985). Intellectual Development: Birth to adulthood. Orlando, Fl: Academic Press. Case, R. (1992). The mind’s staircase: Exploring the conceptual underpinnings of children’s thought and knowledge. Hillsdale, NJ:Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Chi, M.T.H. (1992). Conceptual change within and across ontological categories: Examples from learning and discovery in science. In R.Giere (Ed.) Cognitive Models of Science: Minnesota studies in the philosophy of science. Minneapolis:University of Minnesota Press Chomsky, N. (1986). Knowledge of language: Its nature, origins and use. New York: Praeger Cole, M. & Cole, S.R. (2001). The Development of Children (4th Ed.). New York : Worth Publishers Davidson, J.E. & Sternberg, R. J. (1985). Competence and performance in intellectual development. In E. Neimark, R deLisi & J.H. Newman (Eds.), Moderators of competence (pp 43-76) Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Diamond, A. (1985). Development of the ability to use recall to guide action, as indicated by infants; performance on AB. Child Development, 56, 868-883 Diamond, A. (1991). Frontal lobe involvement in cognitive changes during the first year of life. In K.R. Gibson & A.C. Petersen (Eds.) Brain maturation and cognitive development: comparative and cross-cultural perspectives. New York:Aldine de Gruyter Fischer, K.W. (1980). A theory of cognitive development: the control and construction of hierarchies of skills. Psychological Review, 87, 477-531 Flavell, J.H. (1985). Cognitive Development (2nd Ed.) Englewood Cliffs, NJ:Prentice-Hall Flavell, J.H., Miller, P.H. & Miller, S.A. (1993). Cognitive Development (3rd Ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ:Prentice-Hall Kail, R. (1984). The development of memory in children (2nd Ed.). New York:Freeman Karmiloff-Smith, A. (1992). Beyond Modulatiry: A developmental perspective on cognitive science. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Precis accessed at http://bbsonline.org/Preprints/OldArchive/bbs.karmsmith.html Kohlberg, L. (1984). The psychology of moral development: The nature and validity of moral stages (Vol 2). New York: Harper & Row Lutz, D.J & Sternberg, R.J. (2002). Cognitive Development. In M.H. Bornstein & M.E. Lamb (Eds.) Developmental Psychology: An advanced textbook (4th Ed.). Mahuah, NJ:Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Mandler, J.M. (1990). Recall of events by preverbal children. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 608, 485-516 Mandler, J.M. (1998). Representation . In D. Kuhn & R.S. Siegler (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology (5th Ed.): Vol 2: Cognition, perception and language. New York: Wiley Meier, R.P. & Newport, E.L. (1990). Out of the hands of babes: on a possible sign advantage in language acquisition. Language, 66, 1-23 Meltzoff, A.N. & Moore, M.K. (1994). Imitation, memory and the representation of persons. Infant Behaviour and development, 17, 83-99 Miller, P.H. (2002). Theories of Developmental Psychology (4th Ed.). New York:Worth Publishers Piaget, J. (1972). Intellectual evolution from adolescence to adulthood. Human Development, 15, 1-12 Piaget, J. (1970). Piaget’s theory. In P.H. Mussen (Ed.) Carmichaels’ manual of child psychology (Vol 1). New York:Wiley Piaget, J. (1977). The role of action in the development of thinking. In W.F. Overton & J.M. Gallagher (Eds.) Knowledge and development (Vol 1). New York:Plenum Pine, K. (1999). Theories of Cognitive Development. In D. Meuer & S.W. Millar (Eds.) Exploring Developmental Psychology: From infancy to adolescence. London:Arnold Rogoff, B. (1990). Apprenticeship in thinking. New York:Oxford University Press Shaffer, D.R. (1988). Developmental Psychology: Childhood & Adolescence. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole Siegler, R.S. (1991). Childrens’ thinking (2nd Ed.). 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New Technology and How It Has Impacted Front Office Operations Essay

According to Bunduhn (2010), the hotel industry, in a worldwide scale, should meet the needs of their clients by adopting technology. In this fast paced world we currently live in. Technology is convenient, fast, and more economically wise to integrate into a system whose formula for success and their criteria for evaluation of good service is the comfort and convenience that the clients experienced bringing in more people, and ultimately more profit; a big plus to other important aspects of the hotel industry. Adopting technology is a big decision, especially when you are about to integrate it into a system that has been proven and tested from the humble beginning of the hotel industry to its current state infact, in spite of the time consuming, manual work that includes paper and pen, it has proven its worth all throughout its existence, some may even consider it safe, but there are ways to inject technology which provides convenience and comfort for the customers, while providing safety. This kind of decision is made by the front office because they are the ones who sort these things out. Front office functions may include room reservations of the guests, telephone ser-vices, and accounting, to name a few and we will be going into them one by one later in this pa-per as well as the benefits that each part can get out of technology. According to Sribd.com, hotels have what they call a guest cycle which includes the fol-lowing: (1) Pre-arrival Stage; (2) Arrival Stage; (3) Occupancy Stage and; (4) Departure stage. All of these stages can benefit from the integration of technology into the system of the hotel front office. During the first stage of the guests cycle, which is the stage where they go through all the possible hotels they are going to, selling a first impression and information, referrals, and various testaments are key to attracting potential clients to your service. One helpful tool in attracting potential guests into considering to stay at a hotel are the social networking sites. Social networking sites pop up today like weeds and it has many users all around the world. It is wise to utilize this kind of software into the system as part of the ad-vertising and sales department. This will be especially helpful in spreading information like wild-fire, and in social networking sites like Facebook, where everyone has access, it can be done, so it is vital to first create a page. Moreover, it also makes the manager’s job easier because if the information provided in the page is complete, or at least nearly complete, then there will be fewer questions asked by the guests upon inquiring for special requests; no more basic information needed. In addition, these types of social networking sites leave space for its users to leave com-ments that can be used to make testaments and comments about the place, and if provided good services, positive feedback will flood the page leaving a good impression on the people viewing your page. Good feedback resulting to more clients; more clients mean more income for your company. When the user has already decided, an application in the internet can immediately help in their reservation- convenience for both the customer and the management of the hotel. The sys-tem that handles these kinds of services such as plane seat and hotel room reservations is called the Global Distribution System or also known by its acronym the GDS. With the help of the GDS, the client can get easy access to reservation sheets allowing them to personally type in the information required in order to get a reservation. Customers can also call in to the front desk for any inquiries that are not clearly stipulated in their social networking site page, or on their web-site, and also for questions whether they can accommodate your special preferences and requests. After all is said and done, the client can already submit their reservation sheet, and then an elec-tronically generated email print of the confirmation letter will be shown on the monitor and can be printed by the guests, for reference purposes. Other means of reserving a room in a hotel that uses the advancement of technology is with the use of telephones or cell phones. With its aid, the customer is not required to visit the hotel, which may be miles away from them and be made at the comforts of their own homes. Basically these varied means in making reservations aim at making it easier for the client to get a room for a vacation, a business trip, making sure they have somewhere to stay in ad-vance. A good way to plan ahead and these advancements makes it easier, both for the client and the hotel’s manager and staff. During the stage when the client is already staying at the hotel, communication is vital in this stage between the staff, the manager, and the guests. Innovations in the communication sys-tem such as the use of the intercom system which is much like the Private Branch Exchange also known with its acronym of PBX, makes it easier for the client to contact front desk for any re-quest that he sees as necessary for him and also from one department to another, no need of marching your way to different areas of the hotel. Using one line for multiple telephones, you only need to dial a phone number that only requires three-digits or four which is assigned to eve-ry department of the hotel. The use of the desktop is very common in the current generation of hotel services. In con-trast to the previous hotels, they used manual handwriting, and that also entails a lot of papers that could possible eat up your work space. With the use of the computer hardware system, which includes, the keyboard, the monitor, the mouse, and certain pre-installed application into the computer, paperwork and writing may not necessary. These kinds of hardware also help in the strict monitoring of the charges of the guests. With pen and paper there is a higher chance of error, for the human mind can sometimes forget and might also be missed out when computing, so with the use of the automatic calculation pro-gram installed by a programmer into the system, the charges can be enumerated and totaled easi-ly, which Is apart of the whole reservation software. Simple small equipment had been very useful in the hotel front office system such as cal-culators, may not be in use in the current system of the hotel industry, but in the past, they were certainly helpful. Lastly, accounting has never been easier with the use of computers and specialized soft-ware provided by companies such as Microsoft and Intact. These accounting software allows management to monitor cash ledgers, the different accounts that goes in and out of the hotel, and payroll, to name a few. It will help with the monitoring of the many accounts of each guests in your hotel, not leaving out anything that they spent during their stay, because no matter what they say about convenience of their guests is their priority, income is still important. In many ways but one, the hotel industry should be thankful to technology because even though managers aide in the growth of the industry, it is the technology that makes their the in-dustry develop. References: Books and Printed Document: Brewer, P. et al. (2008). Current and Future Use in the Hospitality Industry. Bunduhn, R. (2010). Hotel Industry Urged to get Technology Up to Speed. The National Gretzel, U. et al. (2010). Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2010. SpringerWienNewYork. Ferdinand Berger & Sohne Gesellschaft m.b.H., 3580 Horn, Austria Internet: Retrieved from: http://www.scribd.com/doc/38875395/Guest-Cycle. Retrieved: October 17, 2012 Retrieved from: http://www.tourism.bilkent.edu.tr/~jamel/RDM/Guest%20Cycle.doc. Retrieved: October 17, 2012

Lessons I Learned from a Suicidal Arsonist

Lessons I Learned from a Suicidal Arsonist On Friday, September 26, I set out to travel from New York City back home to Madison. I dutifully arose at 4:00 a.m. to meet a car service, arriving at the airport with plenty of time to spare. Boarding went smoothly and we left the gate. I looked forward to a 10:36 a.m. landing in my hometown after 3 days at a conference in Denver and a week with my family and friends. I had wonderful plans for Friday evening and Saturday. Then the announcement came: There has been a fire in the Chicago air traffic control tower. All flights in and out of Chicago have been delayed. The guy across the aisle from me began cursing and waving his fists around. I resolved to take the news better than he was taking it. After calling United twice and spending an hour on hold, I managed to get rebooked through Atlanta. But when I landed in Atlanta there were three voice mail messages advising me that my flight to Madison had been cancelled, and one informing me that I had been rebooked on a flight the next day through Washington D.C. I would, if all went as re-planned, arrive in Madison at 9:12 p.m. Saturday night. The punch line is, I made it home. But there’s more. Throughout this adventure, I learned or was reminded of some valuable life lessons. Here are some of them: One person can truly make a difference. That guy Brian Howard who set a fire in the Chicago air traffic control tower was one single man who managed to paralyze air travel across the country for two days. I’m guessing he also affected security measures at air traffic control towers throughout the world. Yet so many of us sit around thinking we can’t make a difference. What are the extreme positive acts you could take to change something you want to change? Surrender to what’s so. When faced with the prospect of spending the night in Atlanta, I was not thrilled. But since all flights to Madison, Milwaukee, Chicago and pretty much all areas surrounding were cancelled, I decided the best plan was to surrender. I got on a line for customer service, hoping there might be a hotel voucher for me if Atlanta was my only overnight option. An hour later I was at the counter, having had some lovely conversations with other stranded travelers, and discovered that there were no more hotel vouchers remaining, and that my flight to D.C. was that very night. Suddenly I had a new reality before me, and I accepted that one too. It’s amazing how much my stress level went down when I dealt with what was so instead of wishing it were another way! It’s good to have friends everywhere. Through a combination of college connections and my dance community, as well as other life adventures, I have built a network of friends and family in almost every major U.S. city (and some overseas cities as well). Drop me in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Austin, Tucson or Tel Aviv, and I will have a friendly place to lay my head. When I discovered I would be in Washington, D.C. for a night, I started calling friends, one of whom, my college buddy Sara, was happy to put me up for the night. I had not seen her in about 10 years, so it was a great treat to spend unexpected time with her. Not only that, but she had kale in her fridge, a blender, and a free pass to her gym which we used to attend a class together Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon we swam together in an outdoor pool, well after any such pool in Madison would ever be open. I also saw a high school football game that was highlighted on Fox 5 Friday night! I was well taken care of. And I got on a deep l evel that I have led my life well to be able to call on so many people to help. Of course I would do the same for all of them. Talk to strangers. In the customer support line and on various airplanes Friday and Saturday, I met some other waylaid travelers. It was good to connect with humanity. They put my situation in perspective, and helped me out by watching my bag while I went to plug in my phone, whose battery was on its last legs. One woman guided me where I needed to go in D.C. to get to the suburban Metro stop where I met my college friend Sara. I noticed I felt fairly upbeat given the monkey wrench that had been thrown into my life, and on one of my plane rides I identified why: I was talking to strangers! In an article I read on the plane in Success (which is quickly becoming my favorite magazine), I discovered that a social science study by researcher and professor at Harvard Business School, Michael Norton, Ph.D., showed that â€Å"talking with strangers can be at least as important to our daily happiness as talking to our close friends and family.† Norton confirmed this to be true regardless of personality type. I know it is true for me! I always feel more energized when I connect with the people around me than when I retreat into my shell. On Saturday night my flight departed from D.C. on time and landed in Madison 30 minutes early. My housesitter Mariah picked me up and drove me home, where I arrived fairly exhausted yet grateful. I slept well that night, knowing that I am well-loved, resourceful, connected, and able to handle the challenges that one suicidal arsonist  threw in my direction. 🙂 This is a good reminder to travel a couple of days early for any important event. 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