Curbing the Costs of College Textbooks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Curbing the Costs of College Textbooks - Essay Example The federal government has even involved itself in the issue by passing a recent law that forces publishers to tell professors how much-required texts will cost their students, and colleges must inform students during class registration what books they will need to purchase for each course. The best and most fair solution for everyone when it comes to textbook pricing is to move away from physical printed and bound books to electronic and downloadable texts. Publishers have every right to make money, but students should have the ability to save themselves money wherever possible while working towards their diplomas. Problems with the current system Students today spend a lot of time and effort when it comes to buying textbooks. Once their class booklists are in hand, the students have a few options as to where to buy their books. There’s the school bookstore, which will usually carry new and used copies of required books, and will buy back some books from previous purchases. S tudents may also look for their books online, at sites like Amazon.com or eFollet.com, which often offer a larger selection of used copies than the campus bookstore and often at a lower price (Bernard B5). Yet there are a lot of roadblocks when it comes to finding a cheaper, used copy of a textbook. According to a national survey conducted by the Public Interest Research Groups (PIRG) of required college texts, the books are revised and issued as new editions â€Å"every three to four years regardless of changes to the subject† (Allen 6). Why is this a problem? Because the older editions are then considered outdated and are made unavailable to students by the publisher. The older editions cannot be traded in for cash or credit at the student bookstore or sold online at Amazon.com or eFollet.com. Students enrolling in classes where the new editions are required must buy the books new since used copies are not available. Students also complain that many times they are only requ ired by their professors to read a couple of chapters in a single textbook – despite having to purchase the entire book (Allen 7). In the 1980s through the early 1990s, it was a fairly common practice for professors to offer â€Å"course packets,† which were photocopied chapters from several different textbooks and were made available to students for only the cost of the photocopies. These packets were widely considered by publishers to be a blatant violation of copyright law, leading to a lawsuit against a Kinkos in Ohio who was handling the photocopying order for Ohio State University. The publishers won the suit and course packets began disappearing not only from OSU but from colleges everywhere. (O'Shaughnessy 1-2) In 2010, the federal government passed a law as part of the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) requiring that book publishers tell professors up-front, in all marketing materials, how much the book will cost the student. The idea behind this provisi on of HEOA was described as â€Å"an effort to get professors to be aware of what their choices were really costing their students† (Smith A5).  

Discussion Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Discussion Questions - Essay Example Moreover, in some cases, business process changes are modified that are considered the root cause of the issues. Employees related to management should be well aware of various approaches for removing the weaknesses and select the best-suited method, according to the nature of business, resources and the control required over the process. Hence, all stakeholders must participate and show their interest in the selection process. Answer 2 In order to reduce cost on system development, organization purchase fourth generation tools or software packages. As the in-house ‘software development’ cost is high, organizations prefer to buy them from external software houses. Organizations may purchase the software from the vendors, outsourcing organization or application service providers. As business nature of the departments do not change at a rapid pace and are common in almost every organization including inventory control, general ledger, payroll processing and account receiva bles do not change over a long period of time. Applications that are purchased from external sources can be adjusted to the similar in nature business process of an organization. This is a cost saving factor, as applications are purchased from external sources along with customization and maintenance support, which is a responsibility of vendors. These factors conclude that the application software packages reduce the system development cost.

Domestic Violence Crime And Victims Act 2004 Social Work Essay

Domestic Violence Crime And Victims Act 2004 Social Work Essay The Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 closes a legal loophole, (whereby defendants in murder and manslaughter cases could escape conviction by claiming each other had killed the child), by creating a new offence of causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable adult. The offence establishes a new criminal responsibility for members of a household where they know that a child or vulnerable adult is at significant risk of serious harm.(NSPCC, 2010) This Act is about the focus on criminal justice upon legal protection and assistance to victims of crime, particularly domestic violence. It expands to the provision for trials without a jury, brings in new rules for trials for causing the death of a child or vulnerable adult, permits bailiffs to use force to enter homes.(Wikipedia, 2011) What are childrens need? The definition of childrens needs is not easy. Katz suggested that one of the most salient aspects of the field of early childhood education is the sharp divergence of views among workers and clients concerning what young children need as well as how and when these needs should be satisfied (Katz 1977:69). Maslow (1954) identified three types of need: primary needs (air, food, sleep); emotional needs (love, security); and social needs (acceptance by ones peers). What Law says about childrens right? Childrens rights focuses on the domestic laws and policies that affect child health and social welfare, education and special needs, child labour and exploitation, sale and trafficking of children, and juvenile justice. The childrens rights movement promotes legal protections and safeguards for children, distinct from those of adult. How to safeguard a child? The solution in order to protect children from being abuse is going on the extra mile to care about the childrens life after school hours in order to keep a relationship between the family. It is essential that to understand the families background because we might not able to understand them better through the children. We need people to be more caring. What is abuse? Abuse is an attempt to control the behaviour of another person. It is a misuse of power which uses the bond of intimacy, trust and dependency to make victim vulnerable.(novavita,nd) There are types of abuses:- physical sexual neglect psychological / emotional Physical abuse is often the most easily recognized form of abuse. Hitting, shaking, burning, pinching, biting, choking, throwing, beating and other actions are categorized as physical abuse, it may also cause physical injury, leave marks or cause pains. Sexual abuse is a sexual act or contact between an adult and anyone younger than 18 years old; between a significantly older child and a younger child; or if one person overpowers another, regardless of age. Psychological or emotional can be the most difficult to identify because there are usually no outward signs of the abuse. This abuse happens when yelling and anger go too far or when parents constantly criticise, threaten, or dismiss kids or teens until their self-esteem and feelings of self-worthy is damaged. Emotional abuse can hurt and cause damage just as physical abuse do. Neglect is difficult to identify and define. Neglect occurs when a child doesnt have the primary needs like food, shelter, clothes, medical care or supervision. Emotional neglects happen when a parent doesnt provide enough emotional support or deliberately and consistently pays very little or no attention to the child. This doesnt mean that a parent doesnt give a kid something he or she wants, like a new computer or a cell phone, but more to basic needs like food , shelter and love. What improvements has been done between the Childrens Act 1989 and Childrens Act 2004? After the astonishing incident of Victoria Climbie, the Act was created with a certain goals. It built in such a way that to give boundaries and help for local authorities and/or other entitles to better regulate official intervention in the interests of children. The Act also made changes to the law that pertain to children, notably on foster homes,adoption agencies, babysitting services and the handling of child-related crimes and crimes against children. Reasons of child abuse There are many factors that are potentially to start child abuse. Most commonly are the past events of child abusers that they experienced while they were young and as they grow up, they think that its fine to hit or beat a child, in other words which is teaching them a lesson. Another factor is that parents or child abuser cannot withstand childrens nuisance especially when parents are undergoing stress or other aspects that they are not in rationale state to cause abuse to happen. The causes of child abuse are too much to be narrowed down to a single cause. Most of the time, there are multiple factors are in play. For example, a father is an alcoholic and some part of the family system is caught up in a cycle of abuse that spans generation of the family. Now we can say that the alcoholic may be a contributing factor to the dysfunction, but there is also the generational factor to consider. Therefore, analysing the cause of child abuse , its easier to break it into sub categories which put children at risk for being abuse and neglect. These includes the social-economic causes of child abuse, family environment, parental profile and child-related characteristics. The term causes of child abuse is in reality about the conditions which may make child abuse more likely. There are 4 major causes of child abuse: Social economics Family income level Differing cultural value Institutionalized manifestations of abuse Family Environment Domestic Violence Single Parents Child-rearing practices Parental Profile Age of the Parents Low self-confidence Past history of abuse Drug and alcohol problems Mental health problems Low prevalence of social ties Refusal to believe their way of parenting is wrong The parent is mentally handicapped in a way that doesnt enable him or her to provide proper care for their children Having unrealistic expectations for their children and little knowledge of the developmental stages children go through. Child-related Characteristics Age of the child The child has physical or mental handicaps Childs gender The was unwanted and/or reminds the parent of an absent partner or spouse Childs personality is not a good fit with the parents personalities Reduced positive interaction between a parent and child due to separation from a parent during critical development periods. Impact of each different types of abuse Physical child abuse effects vary from child to child depending on six factors: severity of the physical abuse How hard a child is struck is only one aspect of severity. The implement the child is struck with is also a factor. This does not mean that using an open hand or fist will result in fewer or lesser effects; the harm done to the child is measured both by physical injury and emotional injury frequency of the physical abuse A single incident of physical abuse can result in severe trauma, but generally, the more often the physical abuse occurs the greater the impact on the child. age of the child when physical abuse began The younger the child was at the on set of physical abuse, the greater the imprint, and thus, the greater the impact. This particularly evident when the abuse continues throughout the childs life. childs relationship to the abuser When a child has a very close relationship with his/her abuser, the feeling of betrayal are that much greater; the very person who is supposed to protect is instead hurting that child. availability of support persons When a child has no one to turn to, increased feelings to abandonment occur, which in turns adds to the physical child abuse effects. childs ability to cope A child will find a way to cope with the abuse. The methods a child uses can add to the effects. Coping skills can be: Physical emotional inward outward Emotional abuse effects are directly connected to the relationship between the victim and abuser. The closer the relationship, the more devastating the effects on the child or youth. As the intensity, frequency and duration of abuse increases, so does the effect on the psyche of that child or youth. The negative messages of emotional child abuse causes inner damage that either destroys or impairs the development of a positive sense of self. Emotional child abuse is by definition constant negative messages, but even a single message of rejection can have long-lasting negative effects on the child or youth. Physical Effects Speech problems lags in physical development failure to thrive facial tic eating disorders self harm drug abuse attempt suicide Behavioural Effects low self-worth irritability overly reactive sleep disorders inability to trust others depression inappropriate behaviour for age withdrawal profound sadness stealing lying prostitution engaging in risky behaviours Emotional Effects inability to control emotions questioning of religious beliefs The effects of child neglect are not limited to the children in the neglectful families. Research is now showing that effects last well into adulthood. And not just emotionally, but physically as well. Sexual abuse effects on children and youth can be evident in emotional, physical and behavioural ways. These effects can be just as devastating whether there was only one occurrence or there were repeated occurrences. Sexual abuse cannot be compared, because each abuse experience is unique. Children are vulnerable to sexual abuse because of their age, size and innocence. When a child or youth is molested, she/he learns that adults cannot be trusted for care and protection: well-being is disregarded, and there is a lack of support and protection. These lead to grief, depression, extreme dependency, inability to judge trustworthiness in others, mistrust, anger and hostility. And as if all that isnt enough, children bodies often respond to the sexual abuse, bringing on shame and guilt. Conclusion Lastly, if a child is been abused mentally and physically, the possibility of the child to be affected is very high. This will not only affect the child himself but his future will be affected due to previous abuse that he has gone through. It is everyones responsibility to make sure all child is protected and given the right environment for their development in young age.

The Earth Centered Theme of Shakespeares King Lear Essay -- King Lear

The Earth Centered Theme of Shakespeare's King Lear King Lear is a complicated, apocalyptic play with parallel plots, moral ambiguity, and a messy ending. The play's events were politically charged and historically informed when they were performed in seventeenth century England, as they continue to be to today. Whatever his intentions, Shakespeare has given us several universal truths to consider. One I like to consider is how beneath all the sinister and bold machinations of man lies the gentle earth, from which we, and all life, spring. Some critics note that Shakespeare was skeptical about God and the role of religion in one's life. I believe King Lear is the product of a writer with a solid cosmology, but one centered in earth and humanity. I hesitate to label Shakespeare a pagan, or anything other than brilliant. Yet there is evidence enough in the text for me to argue an earth-centric thesis. A close reading reveals those who employ common wording or down-to-earth speech as embodiments of goodness, whereas characters that insis t on the perfectly controlled, artificial utterances of the feudal court are corrupt at best, if not evil. The gods above are shown to be fickle and uncaring, if not bloodthirsty. Shakespeare also weaves in certain utopian visions into the fabric of King Lear, earth-based ideals, not only pre-Christian like the play's setting, but pre-historic; thus supporting the argument for an earthen cosmology and humanistic political consciousness, freely exhibited and often applied in the work. Unnatural Edmund Edmund rejects the very idea of baseness, or what we might think of as earthiness. He is skillfully used in the play to oppose to all that is common and good. His famous soliloquy in Act 1, Sc... ... manifest values of personal humility, caring, and wise stewardship of the land. Works Cited Elliot, Michael. King Lear by William Shakespeare. Princeton: Films for the Humanities. 1988. Starring: Laurence Olivier and John Hurt. Oates, Joyce Carol. " 'Is This the Promised End?': The Tragedy of King Lear." Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. (Fall 1974) URL: http://www.usfca.edu/fac-staff/southerr/lear.html. Schneider, Ben Ross, Jr. "King Lear in Its Own Time: The Difference that Death Makes." Early Modern Literary Studies 1.1 (1995): 3.1-49 URL: http://www.humanities.ualberta.ca/emls/01-1/schnlear.html. Shakespeare, William. King Lear. Edited by David Bevington. New York: Bantam. 1980. Smiley, Jane. A Thousand Acres. New York: Fawcett Columbine. 1991. Toole, John Kennedy. A Confederacy of Dunces. New York: Grove Weidenfeld. 1980.

Love Is Not Bliss (Romeo & Juliet + Othello) A Thesis Essay

One of the reasons that the works of Shakespeare are so renowned is simply for the fact that he can beautifully create moments of happiness, sadness, glory, agony, misery, love, betrayal – and anything else which may fall in between (Krakauer 09). There are numerous situations in real life in which one person may fall deeply in love with another, but it will eventually turn out that it was never to occur in the first place. When it comes to Shakespeare, love is never meant to blossom in the plays Romeo and Juliet, and Othello. In the very first act of Romeo and Juliet, for example, we learn that there is a feud between the Montagues and the Capulets. Two households, both alike in dignity (In fair Verona, where we lay our scene) From Ancient grudge break into new mutiny (Act I Sc I). Romeo and Juliet fall instantly in love with each other. But, because of their families hatred, their happiness and youth are wasted. Juliet receives a marriage proposal from Paris, and agrees that she will consider marrying him if she likes him. After falling in love with Romeo however – at first sight, she learns as he leaves that he is a Montague. She is struck with as much horror as he is after he finds out that she is a Capulet. It is just a little while later that Juliet delivers her famous speech: â€Å"O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? †¦O, be some other name! What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.† (Act II Sc II). Passion it is of course, but that contaminated term has in our day become helpless to express it. Purity would be the perfect word for it if the world had not forgotten that purity is simply Greek for fire (Krakauer 17). Juliet later discovers that her father has arranged for her to marry Paris in three days. She refuses to do so, and her father is furious over the fact that his daughter is so proud and ungrateful. She then turns to her mother – but her mother refuses to listen to what she has to say. In desperation, she turns to the nurse for advice, and even the Nurse believes that Juliet should marry Paris, because Romeo was banished from Verona and is not likely to return. Juliet realized that everyone is against her, so she turned to  Friar Laurence for help. The Friar knows of a sleeping potion that Juliet would be able to use that would fool her family to believe that Juliet is dead. Juliet decided to use that potion on the very night that she is to wed Paris. When the family finds Juliet â€Å"dead’, the Friar says that they must arrange for a burial and carry Juliets body to the church. After Romeo (then in Mantua) learns that Juliet is dead, he buys some poison and intends to kill himself in the vault where Juliet lies. Paris is in the vault when Romeo arrives, and he assumes that Romeo is there for evil purposes. The two men then fight a duel, and Romeo realizes that he has killed Paris as he falls. He then gazes at Juliet in her tomb, and swallows the poison after giving her a last kiss. He instantly dies, and Juliet wakes up shortly thereafter. After she realizes that Romeo is dead, she takes his dagger and stabs herself with it. It is then that the families reconcile – when it is too late. Statues were to be made in honor of the lovers. Cynics are fond of saying that if Romeo and Juliet had lived, their love would not have lasted (Krakauer 24).There is also numerous instances in Othello in which it is evident that love was never meant to blossom between Othello, and his wife Desdemona. Brabantio is the father of Desdemona. He regrets the fact that he allowed Desdemona to marry Othello, who just happens to be a Moor. He realized that he would have rather let a unestablished man named Roderigo take Desdemonas hand in marriage. Othello is accused of using witchcraft on his wife, and it is said that he is probably abusing her as well. However, when Desdemona is questioned, she admits that she has fallen in love with Othello and married him on her own will. Brabantio is furious when he hears his daughters confessions, and he practically disowns her. He then turns to Othello, and says â€Å"Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see. She has deceived her father, and may thee† (Act I Sc III). Then there is the notorious villain, Iago. He came up with a plan to make it seem like Desdemona was cheating on Othello with his friend, Michael Cassio. Iago feels hatred towards Othello because he passed him over, and promoted Cassio for a position. Iago also had suspicions that Othello may have been having an affair with Emilia (Iagos wife), and for that he wants get revenge on  Othello. Shakespeare gives Iago an outward appearance of honest virtue and has Othello consistently call him â€Å"Honest Iago.† (Krakauer 56). Iago has the tendency to be very convincing and manipulative. He manages to make money off of Roderigo by offering foolish advice followed by a great deal of logic. After much talk, Roderigo is even convinced to sell off his land, so he can have a lot of money in his hands to get the attention of Desdemona. It is safe to say that Iago is very much like the devil himself (Krakauer 62). This is evident in his soliloquy at the very end of Act I. He reveals to the audience that he wishes to abuse Othellos ear, and blacken Cassios name as well. Iago also tends to compare people to animals, such as when he says, â€Å"The Moor is of a free and open nature that thinks men honest that but seem to be so, and will as tenderly be led by the nose as asses are.† (Act I Sc III). Iago does indeed poison Othellos ears by convincing him to view the friendship between Desdemona and Cassio under a negative perspective. At a party, he gets Cassio to drink an excessive amount of liquor, which makes him drunk. At one point as Cassio gets in a fight with another person, Othello walks in, and Iago makes him take Cassios position away from him. Iago then goes over to Cassio and acts as if he is a friend to him. He tells Cassio to request Desdemona to convince Othello to give Cassio his position back. Desdemona agrees to do so, but all in a very innocent manner. Since Iago has plagued Othellos mind with false thoughts, Othello gets furious everytime that Desdemona mentions Cassios name. He begins to suffer mentally, and has trouble sleeping, and begins to snap at Desdemona over the slightest things. Eventually, Othello smothers Desdemona, and kills her. Emilia discovers what has happened, and cries out till Iago arrives. She then reveals the fact that Iago is a villain, and Iago kills her. Othello realizes that he has made a mistake, and kills himself, and Iago gets executed. The love stories in Romeo and Juliet, and Othello start off very nicely, but unfortunately end with tragic deaths.

Martha Graham Essay

Throughout history, Modern Dance has been pioneered by inspirational choreographers such as Isadora Duncan and Martha Graham. Martha Graham in particular, revolutionised the dance industry with her numerous choreographed works. By experimenting with foreign movements and establishing the fundamental technique in Modern Dance, Martha Graham clearly expressed this dramatic dance style as a new form of life. Her style, created from raw emotion, challenges the technical barriers of traditional ballet and has evolved into today’s contemporary dance form. Born into a privileged life in 1894 near Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, Graham was inspired from her father being a specialised physician interested in the way the human body moves. In 1915, she studied dance with Ted Shawn and Ruth St Denis, the innovative teachers at Denishawn. She then moved to the Greenwhich Village Follies for two years to establish her lengthy career. Living in a time of misconceived ideas, Martha Graham used her dancing genius to represent the many issues in American society in an abstract form. Martha Graham’s technique is classically based but tweaks the usual symmetrical body alignment with sharp, precise and angular shapes. Graham’s moves communicate through the dancer, her emotion and stance on American social issues. These moves are expressed through; contraction, release, spirals, flexed hands and feet, rolls, flexion and suspension, clenched fists, fall and recover, curl and twist. Her stimulus for creating movements was breathing and the way she could emotionally express how she felt about life. The contraction starts from the pelvis and travels up the spine. This curvature in the upper body is developed from an exhalation of breath. The release brings the body back to a neutral position with an inhalation of breath. All of the dancers in her company have an extremely strong core and maintain flexibility even though strength is the dominating component. To train the dancers, Graham would often perform classes with just floor work to strengthen the technical elements (contract, release and spiral) as well as learning control. Here the discipline of dance was drilled before allowing the freedom of performing. Graham was quoted, â€Å"Practice means to perform, over and over again in the face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire. Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired. † Her experimental technique allowed her dramatic view on life to be performed through Modern Dance. One of Graham’s theatrical works Night Journey, displays her established technical elements of modern dance. Inspired by Sophocles’ Greek Tragedy, the dance begins with King Oedipus and his Queen Jacosta complementing each other in their arms. As the dynamics in the music develop, intruding onto the stage are six chorus members (Daughters of the Night) in a grieving state. Lunging forward in a contraction with their fists covering their eyes, they repeat this sequence around the stage recovering to a release in between each contraction. As the contraction is a Graham interpreted symbol of the human emotion grief, this has been consequently used multiple times throughout. Showing locomotion in unison as they clench their fists and flex their hands demonstrates this pleading state. These movements, contractions, releases, developpes, attitudes and shuffling of feet, depict the women as vulnerable to lustful desires. Graham was quoted, â€Å"The body is your instrument in dance, but your art is outside that creature, the body. † The expression of the upper body is sharp and angular with the reoccurring contraction and release. Non-locomotor movements are often in isolated poses of fear positioned around the males. At the time, women were often discriminated against not having the same power as men. Graham has used this theme to display the social inequality sending a message that men have been in control of women for centuries and that women need to break free. The males use dominating gestures throughout, with the blind-seer Tiresias, portraying power and purpose with the repetition of arabesque promenades and high levels. These foreign movements have expressed the themes in a dramatic way developed from her dance style. In this Greek themed performance, the women wore long black dresses with stripes down the side and crown-like head pieces. King Oedipus wears a simple black tunic revealing most of his body. Tiresias dresses in a black flowing coat, carries a wooden staff, and wears mask to show he is blind. Tiresias uses this wooden staff to indicate his wisdom and this symbolizes truth. The silk rope used to hang Queen Jacosta symbolises the connection to Oedipus from birth til death. The music is an extension to the dancers and enhances this performance dramatically. Wild, fierce and harsh would be a way to describe William Schumann’s dynamic instrumental score. The dancers reacted with the music emotionally as well as physically increasing the overall effect of the performance. This choreographic style has allowed modern dance to communicate life’s emotions through drama intertwining with physical movement and relationships. Martha Graham has created countless choreographic pieces that have revolutionised the traditional outlook on dance. The Martha Graham Company was established in 1926 and is still a leading company to date. She has pioneered the Modern Dance industry by creating the fundamental technique and applying it to her 181 choreographed performances. Martha Graham has created a dance style to express a new form of life which has changed the dance world forever.