The Uniqueness of the Accounting and Finance Sector of the Field of Essay

Essays on The Uniqueness of the Accounting and Finance Sector of the Field of Healthcare Essay The paper "The Uniqueness of the Accounting and Finance Sector of the Field of Healthcare" is an excellent example of an essay on finance and accounting. The single most surprising or interesting lesson in Healthcare Finance learned throughout the course was the uniqueness of the accounting and finance sector of the field of healthcare. It is true that healthcare practices or services are dominated by not-for-profit corporations that may either be private or governmental. Some of the interesting features of not-for-profit healthcare organizations are that they are charitable and tax exempted. In most cases, not-for-profit healthcare organizations have no owners. As a result, it is important to understand the activities involved in healthcare finance and accounting (Gapenski, 2012). The uniqueness of the healthcare service industry has been very interesting.For instance, looking at the healthcare service industry, charity and tax exemptions make the finance and accounting activities u nique. Therefore, it is important for financial analysts and accountants within the healthcare industry to have an in-depth understanding of the charitable activities and tax exemptions. Given that most healthcare providers are not-for-profit, it becomes tricky and interesting for involved stakeholders to identify how they will raise cash for purposes of meeting the daily operations of the organization besides paying for the expenses. Indeed, these features or characteristics of the healthcare industry make it unique especially with respect to financial and accounting management.Healthcare services administration is becoming a challenge especially in the contemporary environment where there are many needs of the patients. Nonetheless, most healthcare services are not for profit-making it difficult to raise additional money for growth and expansion, which is apparently some of the core objectives of businesses. Gapenski (2012) confirms that it is important for one to understand plann ing and budgeting, reporting financial information, making appropriate capital decisions, and then making appropriate financial decisions. In addition, Gapenski (2012) confirms that other aspects of finance and accounting management within the healthcare industry include management of working capital, contract, and financial risk management. These are aspects that have been learned within the course. Therefore, the aspects learned will be employed within the healthcare industry to enhance effectiveness and efficiency.Nevertheless, various issues relating to financial and accounting management of the healthcare service industry are likely to change within the next two decades. Financial managers within the healthcare industry will have to adapt to these changes, which are likely to be challenged. For instance, many governmental organizations are coming up with health insurance coverage for their citizens and this is likely to affect the functions of financial managers. In addition, f inancial managers will have to comply with changes in the structure of privately owned healthcare service providers. Within the next two decades, there is a likelihood that most governmental healthcare service providers will have to comply with increased healthcare insurance such as Medicare (Wong, et al., 2000). Other changes that financial managers will have to comply with include changes within the capital structure as well as increased costs of operations and revenue collected despite the fact that there will be no profits.Costs of operations and capital structures are likely to increase or change given the need for incorporations and inclusion of technological advancements within the healthcare service providers. Contemporarily, healthcare providers are incorporating technological devices in dealing with various forms of diseases and illnesses. Within the next two decades or so, such providers will need more capital structured towards buying of technological equipment (Wong, et al., 2000). Indeed, there are various changes likely to occur within the next two decades.

All About Southern Methodist University Admissions Essay Topics

All About Southern Methodist University Admissions Essay Topics By doing so you will have the ability to learn about what exactly is happening during the job. Simply take a glass of water on you, so you might drink something to calm down. Therefore, if you're set on being part of Baylor's vibrant community, continue reading for tips about how to craft a thriving application. Quite simply, simply because you become into a need-blind college doesn't mean you are ensured a completely free ride. The idea behind need-blind admissions is it focuses on merit instead of financial status. Each applicant to Baylor is assigned an admission counselor who will steer you through the procedure, and you ought to feel free to get in touch with your counselor whenever you have a question. As a consequence, need-blind policies tend make the admissions process a bit more competitive. Please be aware that financial aid isn't guaranteed and is only readily available for qualifying students. Th e Secret to Southern Methodist University Admissions Essay Topics Unofficial transcripts may be used to finish an on-line application for review, but before it's possible to start the application, you will have to have official transcripts sent to the Baylor admissions team. So be mindful that you might need to pay some of your tuition out of pocket even when you are accepted into a need-blind university. If you locate your scores are lower than the typical freshman, consider retaking the exam to improve your score or reviewing colleges trying to find scores matching your own. Whenever you have the last score that you're content with, after that you can send only that score to all of your schools. These exact folks frequently have also selected you for only a scholarship or otherwise extended independently professionally in order to advocate for you. To put it simply, need-blind colleges are schools where a student's capability to pay tuition costs isn't factored in the admissions decision. It was established in 2003 among the very first graduate programs for video game design in the States. Relocating to Dallas'' actually means, in the majority of cases, deciding to purchase or lease a house in one of the numerous suburbs inside or around the city. The absolute most intriguing essays will concentrate on small, personal moments that have shaped how you find the world. If you elect to tackle this specific question, make the most of the chance to demonstrate creative and critical thinking abilities. It is preferable to demonstrate that you're open-minded and have respect for those beliefs and ideas of others. You always need to look at life with a feeling of hope and optimism. According to experts, the key to true happiness or among the methods to happiness lies in creating a custom of hunting for the nice and positive in your life. A man of genius is a member of no period and no nation. Responses should be personal, but ensure your idea or belief isn't too controversial. Where to Find Southern Methodist University Admissions Essay Topics Still, overall the caliber of education is stellar. As the third biggest airport on earth when it comes to operations, it's more than adequate for the travel needs of North Texans. You have the very best business programs as well as the school is beautiful! Very similar to many different agencies, colleges deliver long institutional memories and a 2nd bad practical knowledge might take a lot of time to forget about. The Essentials of Southern Methodist University Admissions Essay Topics That You Can Learn From Beginning Immediately You have an extremely good possibility of raising your score, which will significantly boost your odds of getting in. Selecting a school may be a grueling and anxiety provoking process. At least 6 months before applying, you still need to doublecheck merely to make certain, and that means you have sufficient time to select the test. If you would like to get in, the very first matter to check at is the acceptance rate. Your goal within this brief essay is therefore to demonstrate you do indeed have aplan, not just wide ambition. Since you just have 50 words, don't have any choice except to continue to keep your answer short and sweet. To craft a productive reaction to this essay prompt, you will want to begin by doing some extensive research. GMAT scores aren't accepted.

Organisational Culture of Aetna Inc for Growth-myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theOrganisational Culture of Aetna Incfor Growth. Answer: Levels of Organisational Culture Organisational Culture refers to an amalgamation of external and internal policy that are transferred to new members so that they would be able to think and feel in such a manner that would lead to the overall growth of the organization. Values and customs that are shared comprise the organizational culture. The level of organizational culture that is frequently talked about in this assignment involves that of the role of information and communication technology. (Babnik et al.,2014). This will provide high quality solutions that will help in meeting the demands of targeted consumers. Values Values integrated within the organization help to improve the organizational culture and contribute to the development of the company. The desired set of values that an organization mentions that it believes in are termed as espoused values. Enacted values represent the reality and they comprise of the set of values valued by the organization (Bourne Jenkins, 2013). Principles of leading along with communication led the Aetna Inc Core to create values. The espoused set of values of Aetna Inc. is integrity, superior service, high quality health care, employee surveys, employee engagement, biannual performance reviews and investing in technology. Functions of Organisational Culture A strong culture prevailing in the organizational culture will ensure that there is lesser need for detailed rules. Organisational culture will help in understanding messages (Shockley, 2014). The necessity to communicate will be much less when there are shared assumptions. Strong culture will pave the path for strong identification (Gunkel et al.,2015). The shared assumptions will help in building perceptions. It will provide a very strong ground for the justification of behavior. It may also curb the growth of an individual (Williams, Perillo Brown, 2015). Organisational Performance Aetna Inc. values the needs of different communities and building trust among the employees helps to a great extent in augmenting the organizational performance. The Fit and Adaptation perspective refers to the communication between employees of problem as well as solution by bridging the gap between diverse communities within the organizational culture. (Austin Pinkleton, 2015). The participation of the employees will prove to be an effective tool that can be brought about by the help of leaders who would help in performance management. TomaÃ… ¾evi?, Seljak Aristovnik, 2016). The role of the leader in shaping and reinforcing culture The role of the leader is paramount in shaping culture. A strong leader will ensure effective communication with employees, manage change effectively and promote loyalty among employees in order to build a strong culture (Daft, 2014). Managing Culture I believe that culture can be managed. The need of values is of crucial importance in managing culture and focus should be laid the requirements of the customer. The employees should be given importance and articulated values like quality and value should be promoted among the organizational culture (Janda, 2014) References: Austin, E. W., Pinkleton, B. E. (2015).Strategic public relations management: Planning and managing effective communication campaigns(Vol. 10). Routledge. Babnik, K., Breznik, K., Dermol, V., Trunk irca, N. (2014). The mission statement: organisational culture perspective.Industrial Management Data Systems,114(4), 612-627. Bourne, H., Jenkins, M. (2013). Organizational values: A dynamic perspective.Organization Studies,34(4), 495-514. Daft, R. L. (2014).The leadership experience. Cengage Learning. Gunkel, M., Schlaegel, C., Rossteutscher, T., Wolff, B. (2015). The human aspect of cross-border acquisition outcomes: The role of management practices, employee emotions, and national culture.International Business Review,24(3), 394-408. Janda, K. B. (2014). Building communities and social potential: between and beyond organizations and individuals in commercial properties.Energy Policy,67, 48-55. Shockley-Zalabak, P. (2014).Fundamentals of organizational communication. Pearson. TomaÃ… ¾evi?, N., Seljak, J., Aristovnik, A. (2016). The interaction between occupational values and job satisfaction in an authoritative public administration organisation.Total Quality Management Business Excellence, 1-16. Williams, B., Perillo, S., Brown, T. (2015). What are the factors of organisational culture in health care settings that act as barriers to the implementation of evidence-based practice? A scoping review.Nurse education today,35(2), e34-e41.

Martin Luther Protestant Reformation Essays - Pentarchy, Pope

Martin Luther Protestant Reformation The Protestant Reformation: What it was, why it happened and why it was necessary. The Protestant Reformation has been called the most momentous upheaval in the history of Christianity. It was a parting of the ways for two large groups of Christians who differed in their approach to the worship of Christ. At the time, the Protestant reformers saw the church- the Catholic church, or the universal church- as lacking in its ways. The church was corrupt then, all the way up to the pope, and had lost touch with the people of Europe. The leaders of the Reformation sought to reform the church and its teachings according to the Scriptures and the writings of the Apostles. They sought to simplify the church by returning to its roots, roots long lost by the Catholic church at the time, or so the reformers believed. After the fall of the Roman Empire, life in Europe declined rapidly into the Dark Ages. The Dark Ages were a time of misery and darkness. There were only two socioeconomic classes: the very rich nobility or the very poor peasants. Small kingdoms popped up everywhe re, and were constantly at war with one another. Whole libraries were destroyed, and the only people who remained literate were the clergy of the Christian church. Life became such a struggle to survive that, for a period of five hundred years, very little artwork or literature was produced by the whole of Europe. Eventually, around the year 1000, the conditions in Europe began to get better. This marked the beginning of the Middle Ages. The Crusades began as an effort to revitalize the spirits of the people. However, things still weren't very good. Plagues ravaged the land, carried by rodents and destroying whole villages. With this all around, the people began to talk of witches and devils and evil spirits. The religious stories of the time, as seen in the sculpture of every church built during this time period, was of the Last Judgement and the tortures of Hell. This was the time of tall, sweeping Gothic cathedrals adorned with gargoyles and devils. Everywhere the people looked, they saw death, and it became the sole thought in their minds- that and what came after death. With the spreading literacy among the clergy and nobility of the times came new literature. For hundreds of ears the only literature that had existed were those books saved from the destruction of the Dark Ages by the church and the monasteries. Now, scholars began to write new books- all of it, of course, religious in nature. One of the most influential books of the time was The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis. The book gave clear and simple instruction for modeling a Christian spiritual life on that of Christ (The Volume Library, 1950. However, the way that it did this was to present the mind set of a sober awareness of death and a general view that life is a veil of tears (Carmody, 331). While The Imitation was not the progenitor of the mood for the next several hundred years, it certainly contributed to it. Everything in life became a form of suffering in imitation of Christ. It soon became that even the tiniest act or motion during church service became a holy symbol of p art of Christ's pain. This was also the time of the greatest pilgrimages in history. People all over Europe travelled great distances to experience even the most insignificant of relics. Soon, the possession of relics became a kind of competition between churches and monasteries, denoting their popularity and piety. With the collection of relics came an increase in the size and wealth of the church which housed them. This led to an obsession for money and materialism within the church, which grew tremendously over the next few hundred years. It went so far as the selling of indulgences, which was basically the buying off of one's time spent in purgatory before ascending to heaven. As the Renaissance began, the clergy itself began collecting artwork and lavish decor not only for the church for their private offices. With this trend towards materialism came an obsession with the acts performed during Mass rather

Comparing the Viscosity of Water and Engine Oil essays

Comparing the Viscosity of Water and Engine Oil essays Comparing the Viscosity of Water and Engine Oil The viscosity of both water and engine oil was determined. The method used involoved filling a bottle with water first and measuring the time a marble took to travel from one point to the other using a stopwatch. This was repeated for the engine oil. It was found that engine oil was more viscous than water. The minor discrepancy found in the results was due to the reaction time often existent when using a stopwatch. The aim of the experiment was to compare the viscosity of water and that of engine oil by means of a bottle, a marble and a stopwatch. The bottle was filled first with water and then its viscosity was determined. Then it was filled with engine oil and also its viscosity was calculated. Different liquids have different densities. This means that some liquids are denser than others. The density of a liquid is the extent to which its composing molecules are packed together. Density, r, is the mass of a liquid in relation to the volume it occupies. It can be measured using the formula below: where r is density, m is the mass of the liquid and v is its volume. Therefore, it follows that once the density of any liquid is determined, its viscosity index can be known. Another method of determining the viscosity of liquids is by comparing the flow of these liquids. Determining the viscosity index is very important for mechanical engineers because it allows them to design the right kind of viscous oil for the appropriate mechanical function. In the present experiment, the second method is used to determine the viscosity of both water and engine oil by calculating the time a glass marble takes to travel from one point in a bottle to the other using a stopwatch.. A clear plastic bottle about 444 mL capacity or slightly larger, with a tightly fitting cap; ...

You Can Buy Our Book On The Kindle Now

You Can Buy Our Book On The Kindle Now You Can Buy Our Book On The Kindle Now You Can Buy Our Book On The Kindle Now By Daniel Scocco The Kindle fans out there can now buy our book on that platform. Just visit the official Amazon page, and youll be able to purchase and download it immediately. If you end up buying we would appreciate if you could write a review on Amazon, as these help to give credibility to the book. You can also buy it as a PDF download if you prefer, by clicking here. How To Get Your Book on The Kindle I was surprised regarding how easy it is to get a book for sale on the Kindle store. The process took literally five minutes, and after 24 hours of review period the book was already live and available for sale. One small problem I faced was to get the formating right though. Simply uploading a PDF document wont work. Luckily one of our readers, Ray Fowler, emailed us offering his services. He converted our PDF into the .mobi format used by the Kindle, and when I uploaded it to Amazon it worked like a charm. Ray told me he is willing to give a 10% discount to all DWT readers looking for eBook conversions, audio book productions and so on. Just check his services page for more details or to get in touch with him. It will be interesting to see how the Kindle sales compare with the standard PDF sales, so Ill probably write a post updating you guys soon. 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 General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:What Is Irony? (With Examples)English Grammar 101: Verb Mood20 Classic Novels You Can Read in One Sitting

Cause and Effect of not Studying for an Exam Essay

Cause and Effect of not Studying for an Exam - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that some students cannot study for exams because they fall ill and find it hard to study for exams. They are generally good at studies but sometimes their physical health does not let them study properly. The effect of such approach towards exams is also fewer marks and low grades. However, their marks are not as bad as of those who take less interest in studies. Such students can hope to get average marks because they already have a good understanding of concepts because they study regularly. They have a good passion towards studies which does not let their marks go much down because of illness. The paper tells that some students do not study for exams because they do not have complete notes of their course material. The effect of such approach towards exams is also fewer marks. Such approach shows lack of interest in note-taking and more towards learning through hearing. Learning through hearing does not always work well for students becau se students need to have some note to revise before exams. They cannot remember everything that they hear in class. Therefore, lack of interest in note taking results in low grades in exams.

Professional Ethics in Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Professional Ethics in Education - Essay Example To what extent should teachers use their power? Cases of teachers misusing their powers have risen. Some teachers may use their powers to exercise their personal interest. For instance, a teacher may favor a specific student for financial support or relationship favors. In an argument by Ryan (2012), many favors students do for teachers are not willingly. They do the favors in fear of consequences they might face. This is an example of misuse of power by teachers. However, in recent years, student bodies have been established which are aimed at minimizing cases of teacher ­- student manipulation. Another power experience in teaching is the ability to make decisions without being questioned. Sometimes teacher make decision without the consideration of the students needs. This is a breach to the rights of the students. In decision making all the concerned parties should be part of the deliberation (Higgins, 2011). With teachers taking advantage of their power and make decisions students have the right to protest the decisions. In every school there should be other bodies which help I the decision making in schools. With the neutral party, fairness and consultation is guaranteed (Robinson, 2005) The management of power among teachers should be recommended. With growing concerns on the ethics of teachers, stakeholders should ensure the code of ethics I teaching profession is followed to the letter. Management of these powers means that teachers’ responsibilities and rights should be controlled. The rights of the students should also be outlined. To oversee the adherence to the rules, there should proper consequences for any breach (Higgins, 2011. With the outline of the rights of students the power in the teachers’ hands will be well managed. It will also give students’ the voice to air their grievances without manipulation by the teachers. The management of the teachers will

How You Plan to Collect Data on Customers Essay Example for Free

How You Plan to Collect Data on Customers Essay How you plan to collect data on customers, competitors and the market environment and why you think this will be useful. How do you propose to use this market research to understand the behaviour of customers, competitors and the market environment? Market research is a crucial factor to do for any organisation in order to make their business successful. In the case of STUDENTAL, it is a new product from Sainsbury’s. Therefore, Sainsbury’s have to do all the market research on customers, competitors and on market environment in point of fact. For this task, I have to collect data on customers, competitors and the market environment. To collect data on customers I am going to prepare some questionnaires and ask Customers questions regarding STUDENTAL. This will help me to get the true analysis from customers straight away. This will be more accurate than information collecting from other sources like internet and magazine. I have included a variety of questions to the questionnaire and I am sure that this will help me in understanding behaviour of customers towards energy drinks. In addition, I am also going to observe customers by going in to Sainsbury’s and other supermarkets. I will observe their buying attitudes towards energy drinks. This will help me to make suggestions to the future developments of STUDENTAL. Through observing and asking questions to customers, we will be able to analyse their likes, dislikes and attitudes towards energy drinks. We will able to apply this information to the STUDENTAL. To collect data on competitors, I am going to do a research on internet. There are many competitors for STUDENTAL. This includes the bigger brands like, Lucozade, Red Bull, Boost and Power Ade. I will check for the price and product descriptions of the competing products. Through this, we will be able to understand the similarities and non-similarities of STUDENTAL and other products. Internet research will be useful to identify similar drinks sold by ASDA and Tesco. This will help Sainsbury’s to make any further changes to the product to compete effectively with other supermarkets. Another useful method of collecting information on competitors will be doing a SWOT analysis, Boston Matrix and Product Life Cycle. SWOT analysis will be able to find out STUDENTAL’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. With the help of Boston Matrix, we will be able to understand and recognize the competing brands. To collect data on market environment, I am going to do a research on the packaging of STUDENTAL’s competitors. Using a PESTE-G will also help to find the necessary information on market environment. PESTE-G focuses on Political, Economical, Social, Technological and Green Issues. By doing a PESTE-G analysis, I will be able to understand all the external issues, which affects STUDENTAL and Sainsbury’s. The questionnaire used for collecting information from customers is attached and results obtained will be presented in the form of pie charts and bar charts as appropriate. Questionnaire STUDENTAL Please tick one box for each question. 1. Your GenderMale Female 2. Age groupUnder 16 16 19 20 – 25 20 – 25 25 – 40 40 over 3. Where did you first hear about STUDENTAL? In store From friends Advertisements On TV 4. How would you describe the taste of your favourite energy drink? Bitter Sweet Bitter Sweet Bland 5. Which of the following drink do you buy? LucozadeRed bull Powerade Other 6. From where do you buy energy drinks? Supermarkets Sports shop Gym/fitness club Other 7. What price (per litre) do you think would be right for STUDENTAL? Under  £1.00 £1.00  £1.30  £1.30 –  £2.00 £3.00 and over 8. What price do you usually pay for these. Lucozade ______Coca-cola _______ Redbull ______ Boost _______ Don’t know _______ 9. What kind of drink do you think the STUDENTAL is? Energy drink Health Drink Social drinkChildren’s drink 10. If you bought STUDENTAL, would the packaging be important to you? YesNo 11. Does it matter if the packaging is recyclable? YesNo 12. How often do you drink energy drinks? DailyTwice a week Once a weekmonthly 13. When do you drink energy drink? MorningWith Lunch When Excising When working Thank you for filling out this questionnaire Sebil To get the data on customers, I have asked customers 13 questions. To make it more effective, I asked questions to a both Males and Females. I also made sure to ask the questions to a mixture of people from different age groups. 1. Firstly, the question was about surveyed people’s gender. I asked the questions to 25 people. It included 15 Males and 10 Females. This indicates that people from both gender groups have been engaged in this survey. The above charts shows that 40% of total participants were Females and 60% of them were Males. 2. The second question was about the surveyed people’s Age Group. There was a mixture of people from different age groups. However, a large percentage of people were from the 16-19 age group. I think this will help Sainsbury’s, as STUDENTAL’s direct target market is peoples from 16-19. The above chart represents the age group of the people who participated in the survey. 16% of total participants were under 16. There were 54% of people from 16-19 age group. 22% of total participants were between 20-35 age. 8% of them were above 40 years old. This indicates that a mixture of people from all age groups participated in this survey. This will definitely help Sainsbury’s in the case of market research. 3. I asked the people about STUDENTAL after the second question. I asked them, where did you first hear about STUDENTAL? This question was to check whether they know about the product already or not. 80% of surveyed people said that they heard about the product from their friends. 20% of them said, from store. 4. How would you the taste of your favourite energy drink? This question was to understand people’s favourite taste. From the chart above, we can we clearly see that about 30% of people like bitter taste, 40% of them like sweet, 20% of them like bitter and sweet and finally, 10% of them like bland taste. Sainsbury’s may make STUDENTAL’s taste bitter or sweet as from the chart we can understand that most of the people like sweet and bitter taste 5. Which of the following drink do you buy? This question asked to find out the popular brand among the public. In addition, when STUDENTAL will be launched that popular brand will be the main competitor with STUDENTAL. The chart above represents the participators’ favourite energy drink. 30% of total participants like Red Bull Energy Drinks while 40% of th`em said that they like Lucozade. 6. From where do you buy energy drinks? This question was asked to know the place from customers buy energy drinks. About half of the people are buying their energy drinks from supermarkets. This is a very good signal for Sainsbury’s as they are going to sell STUDNTAL at their stores. 7. What price (per litre) do you think would be right for STUDENTAL? This question was asked to find out how much money people would spend on STUDENTAL when it is available in supermarkets. 40% of total participants thinks that STUDENTAL’s price will well be right if it is under  £1.00. Another 40% thinks that the price will be right if it is between  £1.00 and  £1.30. This indicates that the current price of STUDENTAL is high and there will be only very few customers who are willing to buy STUDENTAL at a cost of  £13.9/litre. 8. What price do you usually pay for energy drinks? This question will help to find out the people’s buying behaviour. The above chart shows that how much money they are spending on energy drinks. 44% of them are spending  £1.00 to  £1.50 for energy drinks. 36% of them are only prepared to spend less than  £1.00. As the chart indicates, people are not willing to buy energy drinks for higher prices. Therefore, Sainsbury’s must have to adjust the price accordingly. 9. What kind of drink do you think the STUDENTAL is? The above chart shows the answers for the question, what kind of drink do you think the STUDENTAL is? Most of the people do not know that STUDENTAL is an energy drink. I think this is due to the name STUDENTAL. It does not have the power to represent an energy drink. 10. If you bought STUDENTAL, would the packaging be important to you? This was one of the important questions asked to the participants. 90% of them said that they do care about the packaging of STUDENTAL. 11. Does it matter if the packaging is recyclable? This was another important question included in the questionnaire. 70% of participants said that they do care about the packaging and they want it to be recyclable. 12. How often do you drink energy drinks? The above chart shows that 10% of total participants consume energy drinks daily, 30% of them consume it twice in a week, 40% of them consume it weekly and 20% of them consume energy drinks monthly.

The History of Corn Essay -- Vegetables History Historical Essays

Prior to the European encounter with the â€Å"New World,† corn played a central role in both the lives and diets of Native Americans. Numerous religious rituals and beliefs revolved around corn. Still today, corn continues to be a constant presence in the lives and diets of all Americans. Corn touches us in ways we might not even realize. Most of us eat corn everyday whether we consume corn in its natural form or in meats, soft drinks, or sweets. From thousands of years ago to the present day, corn has sustained and continues to sustain human life. Maize and corn can be used interchangeably. Maize was the term used by the Tainos who greeted Columbus in the Caribbean. Its literal meaning is â€Å"that which sustains life.† Maize soon became part of the Spanish vocabulary and then spread to other European languages. The word corn is actually a generic term for grain as used in Old English. American-style English has adapted the word to refer exclusively to maize. This usage continues today. There are hundreds of varieties of corn, however, there are just five basic families: flint, dent, popcorn, soft corn, and sweet corn. Flint corn was the type preferred in the northern states and was used in cornmeal that made dense breads and johnnycakes. It is a low yielding corn and because of demand, dent corn is replacing its production. Dent corn gets its name from its dimpled kernels. It is now the most commonly grown commercial corn and produces the traditional southern starchy sweet cornmeal. Popcorn is one we are all familiar with. When heated in hot oil, its starchy inner core bursts through it shrinking outer skin. Soft corn is not grown on a commercial scale, but is grown by specialists. It is the corn that was m... ... of microwave popcorn during commercial breaks of our favorite shows. The power is right at our fingertips. Though corn has always been part of the American diet, it has infiltrated areas of food and other goods that seem unlikely for it to belong. It can be altered to be present in both foods and products not for human consumption. Corn really can be labeled as the crop that built America. It definitely has many uses. Some could argue that it has too many uses. Works Cited: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Maize in Human Nutrition. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2011. Fussell, Betty. The Story of Corn. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, INC., December 15, 2004. Wallace, Henry A. and William L. Brown. Corn and Its Early Fathers Revised Edition. Ames, Iowa: Iowa University Press, 2012.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Computers Essay

Computers are a mainstay in most homes, allowing individuals and families to access the Internet from home and complete a myriad of other tasks through the use of computer software. There are advantages and disadvantages to using home computers depending on how you use them. As computer hardware becomes faster, easier and more cost effective to develop, home computers also become more affordable for consumers. It is constantly becoming easier to put computers in the average American home, since both desktop and laptop computers come in such a wide range of price points. One of the greatest advantages of home computers is that they are affordable by the average family. A great advantages of home computers is that they allow individuals and families to achieve a variety of tasks at home. Families can use word processing programs for homework, spreadsheets to manage bills, and the Internet for social networking and entertainment. While students can use computers at home, and adults at work, the convenience of being able use a computer at home is a great advantage in itself. Many businesses also allow their employees to work from home via computer, thus saving travel expenses to and from the office, as well as saving company resources. Disadvantages With use of the Internet for online shopping and Internet banking, home computers offer the potential for identity theft. If you share your information online, such as your name, address, phone number or banking information, then there always is a chance that your information is at risk. This is an important consideration to make if you plan on using your home computer to access the Internet. The technology industry is constantly changing and evolving, and technology can become outdated quickly. If you are only looking for a system that will get you online and let you do basic tasks, then this is not as much of a concern. If you are looking for a comprehensive gaming system or one that can handle a variety of tasks at once, then it can become expensive to keep up with the latest hardware advances, making some computer systems a money drain.

Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story Chapter 27~28

Chapter 27 Bridging the Boredom Half past midnight. He stood at the top of the southwest tower of the Oakland Bay Bridge, some fifty stories above the gunmetal-cold bay, thinking, Jump or dive? He wore a black silk suit and he paused for a moment, regretting that the suit would be ruined. He liked the feel and flow of silk on his skin. Oh well. Two miles away Jody was walking up Market Street wishing that she could just get drunk and pass out. I wonder, she thought, if I found someone who was really drunk and drank his blood? No, this damn system of mine would probably identify alcohol as a poison and fight the effects. So many questions. If only I'd remembered to ask them. She stopped at a phone booth and called Tommy at the store. â€Å"Marina Safeway.† â€Å"Tommy, it's me.† â€Å"Are you still mad?† â€Å"Not mad enough, I guess. I just wanted to tell you to stay in the store until after daylight. Don't go outside for any reason. And stay around the other guys if you can.† â€Å"Why? What's the matter?† â€Å"Just do as I say, Tommy.† â€Å"I cleaned up the loft. Mostly, anyway.† â€Å"We'll talk about it tomorrow night. Stay at home until I wake up, okay?† â€Å"Are you still going to be pissed?† â€Å"Probably. I'll see you then. Good-bye.† She hung up. How could he be so smart sometimes and so ignorant other times? Maybe the vampire was right, a human could never understand her. She suddenly felt very lonely. She ducked into an all-night diner and ordered a cup of coffee as rent on a booth. She still could enjoy the smell of coffee, even if she couldn't keep it down. She opened the paper she had bought from the bum with her cosmetics bag and began to read through the personals. â€Å"Men Seeking Women,† â€Å"Women Seeking Men,† â€Å"Men Seeking Men,† â€Å"Women Seeking Women,† â€Å"Men Seeking Small Fuzzy Animals†; there was a wide selection of categories. She scanned over the more mundane entries until her eye settled on one under â€Å"Support Groups.† â€Å"Are You a Vampire? You don't have to face your problem alone. Blood Drinkers Anonymous can help. Mon.-Fri. Midnight. Rm. 212 Asian Cultural Center, Non-Smoking.† It was Friday. It was midnight. She was only ten minutes from the Asian Cultural Center. Could it be this simple? The first thing she noticed when she walked into room 212 of the Asian Cultural Center is that all of the people sitting in a circle in molded plastic chairs, all twenty of them, were giving off heat signatures. They were all human. She was backing out of the door when a pear-shaped woman in a leotard and black cape intercepted her and took her hand. â€Å"Welcome,† said the woman. She sported a set of rather wicked-looking fangs that caused her to lisp. â€Å"I'm Tabitha. We're just getting ready to start. Come on in. There's coffee and cookies.† She led Jody to an orange plastic chair and urged her to sit down. â€Å"It's hard the first time, but everyone here has been where you are.† â€Å"Not bloody likely,† Jody said, wiping a speck of Tabitha's spittle from her cheek. Tabitha pointed to a plastic medallion that hung from her neck by a heavy silver chain. â€Å"See this chip? I've been clean and bloodless for six months. If I can do it, so can you. One night at a time.† Tabitha squeezed her arm, then threw her cape over her shoulder, turned dramatically, and stalked across the room to the cookie table, her cape billowing behind her. Jody looked at the other occupants of the room. All were talking, most were sneaking looks at her between sips of coffee. The men were all tall and thin with protruding Adam's apples and bad skin. Their dress ranged from business suits to jeans and flannel. They might have been a chess club out for the evening if not for the capes. To a man, they wore capes. Four of seven had fangs. Two sets of four were made of glow-in-the-dark plastic. Jody focused on two of them whispering in the corner. â€Å"I told you, this is a babe-fest. Did you see the redhead?† He sneaked a look. His partner said, â€Å"I think I saw her at Compulsive Cleaners last week.† â€Å"Compulsive Cleaners, I was going to try that. How are the odds?† â€Å"Lots of gay guys, but a few babes. Mostly they smell like Pine Sol, but it's hot if you like latex gloves.† â€Å"Cool, I'll check it out. I think I'm going to quit going to Adult Children of Alcoholics, everybody's looking to blame, no one's looking to get laid.† Jody thought, I don't know if I want to hear quiet desperation this clearly. She changed her focus to the women in the room. A six-foot-two brunette woman in a black choir robe and Kabuki-like makeup was complaining to a washed-out blonde wearing a tattered wedding dress. â€Å"They want to be tied up, I tie them up. They want to be spanked, I spank them. They want to be called names, I call them names. But try and drink a little of their blood, and they scream like babies. What about my needs?† â€Å"I know,† said the blonde. â€Å"I asked Robert to sleep in the coffin one time and he left.† â€Å"You have a coffin? I want a coffin.† Christ, Jody thought, I've got to get out of here. Tabitha clapped her hands. â€Å"Let's get the meeting started!† Those who were standing found seats. Several men tried to shove their way into the seats next to Jody. A skinny geek with peanut-butter breath leaned in to her and said, â€Å"I was on ‘Oprah' on Halloween. ‘Men who drink blood and the women who find them disgusting. If you want, you can come by my place and watch the tape after the meeting.† â€Å"I'm out of here,† Jody said. She jumped up and headed for the door. Behind her she heard Tabitha saying, â€Å"Hi, I'm Tabitha and I'm a bloodsucking fiend.† â€Å"Hi, Tabitha,† the group said in chorus. Outside Jody looked up and down the street wondering which way to go, what to do. She paused by a phone booth, realizing that there was no one she could call. Tears welled in her eyes. Why even bother to hope? The only person who had the slightest idea how she felt was the vampire who had made her. And he had made it clear that he wasn't interested in helping her – the evil fucker. I should set him up with my mother, she thought, then the two of them can look down on humanity together. The thought made her smile. Then the phone rang. She looked at it for a second, looked around for someone else who would answer it, but except for a guy standing by his car a couple of blocks away, the street was empty. She picked up the phone. â€Å"Hello.† A man's voice said, â€Å"I thought you would show up here eventually.† â€Å"Who is this?† Jody asked. The man sounded young, his voice was unfamiliar. â€Å"I can't tell you that yet.† â€Å"Okay,† Jody said. â€Å"Bye.† â€Å"Wait, wait, wait, don't hang up.† â€Å"Well?† â€Å"You're the one, aren't you? You're real. I mean, you are a real vampire.† Jody held the phone away, stared at the receiver as if it were an alien object. â€Å"Who is this?† â€Å"I don't want to tell you my name. I don't want you to be able to find me. Let's just say that I'm a friend.† â€Å"That's how most of my friends are,† Jody said. â€Å"They don't tell me their names or how to find them. It keeps my social calendar pretty clear.† Who was this guy? Who could possibly know that she was here, right now? â€Å"Okay, I guess I owe you something. I'm a med student at†¦ at a local college. I did some research on one of the bodies†¦ one of the bodies of the people you killed.† â€Å"I didn't kill anyone. I don't know what you're talking about. If I am who you think I am, how did you know I'd be here? I didn't even know I would be here until an hour ago.† â€Å"I've been waiting, watching every night for a couple of weeks. I had a theory that you wouldn't have any noticeable body heat, and you don't.† â€Å"What are you talking about? No one notices anybody's body heat.† â€Å"Look up the street. By the white Toyota. It's running, by the way. If you make a move to come toward me, I'm gone.† Jody looked more closely at the person up the street standing by a white car. The car was running. The man was holding a cell phone and looking at her through some very large binoculars. â€Å"I see you,† she said. â€Å"What do you want?† â€Å"I'm looking at you through infrared glasses. You're not giving off any body heat, so I know you're the one. My theory was right.† â€Å"Are you a cop?† â€Å"No, I told you, I'm a medical student. I don't want to turn you in. In fact, I think I might be able to help you, if you're interested in being helped.† â€Å"Talk,† Jody said. She held her hand over the phone and focused on the guy by the car. She could hear him talking into the cell phone. â€Å"They gave one of the cadavers to our department after the coroner was done with it. It was a male, about sixty years old, the third victim, I think. I noticed that there was a clean spot on his neck, as if it had been washed. The coroner hadn't put that in his report. I took a tissue sample and put it under a microscope. The tissue in that area was living. Regenerating. I cultured it and it started to die, until I added something on a hunch.† â€Å"What?† Jody asked. She didn't know what to think. This man knew she was a vampire, and strangely, she felt an urge to attack. Some protective instinct wanted her to hurt him. Kill him. She fought to stay calm. â€Å"Hemoglobin. I added some human hemoglobin and the tissue started to regenerate again. I ran it through the sequencer. It's not human DNA. It's close, but not human. It doesn't produce heat, doesn't seem to burn fuel the same way that mammalian cells do. The coroner said that he was the one that had drained the blood from the body, but he'd never done that before. And I knew that the guy had been murdered. I made a guess. I saw the ad in the Weekly for a vampire support group, so I've been watching.† Jody said, â€Å"Suppose I believe what you're saying. Suppose I believe that you believe this bullshit, how could you help me? Supposing I wanted to be helped?† â€Å"My major is gene therapy. There's a chance I could reverse the process.† â€Å"This isn't science. I'm not saying that you're right about your theory. There are a lot of things that you don't know, that can't be explained by science. If you don't know that by now, you will. What you're talking about is magic.† â€Å"Magic is just science that we don't know yet. Do you want me to help or not?† â€Å"Why would you want to do that? As far as you know, I kill people.† â€Å"So does cancer, but I still work on it. Do you have any idea what kind of competition there is for jobs in my field? It's an all-or-nothing field. I could end up getting my PhD and giving saccharine enemas to rats for five bucks an hour. What I learn from you would put my resume at the top of the stack.† Jody didn't know what to say. Part of her wanted to drop the phone and go after him. Another part wanted to accept his help. She said, â€Å"What do you want me to do?† â€Å"Nothing yet. How can I get hold of you?† â€Å"I can't tell you that. I'll call you. What's your number?† â€Å"I can't tell you that.† Jody sighed. â€Å"Look, Mr. Scientific Genius, figure out something. And by the way, I really didn't kill those people.† â€Å"Then why are you even listening to me?† â€Å"I guess this conversation is over. Get in your car and get comfortable with asking rats to bend over. Good-bye.† â€Å"Wait, we could meet somewhere. Tomorrow. Someplace public.† â€Å"No, it has to be at night. Someplace private. You could have cops everywhere.† She watched him as she talked. He had put the binoculars down and she could see that he was Asian. â€Å"You're the killer here. Would you meet you someplace private and dark?† â€Å"All right. Tomorrow night. Seven o'clock, at Enrico's on Broadway. That public enough for you?† â€Å"Sure. Can I bring a blood-sample kit? Would you let me?† â€Å"Would you let me?† she asked. He didn't answer. â€Å"Just kidding,† she said. â€Å"Look, I don't want to hurt you, but I don't want to get hurt either. When you leave here, drive like hell and take an indirect route home.† â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Because I really didn't kill those people, but I know who did, and he's been following me. If he's seen you, you're in danger.† The line was quiet for a minute, just the ghost voices of a cellular connection. Jody watched the Asian guy watching her. Finally he cleared his throat. â€Å"How many of you are there?† â€Å"I don't know,† she said. â€Å"I know that all of the victims don't change. It couldn't work. The geometric progression would have the entire human race turned to vampires in a month.† He sounded more confident now that he had brought the conversation back to science. â€Å"I'll tell you what I know tomorrow. But don't expect much. I don't know much. Or I'll tell you now if you want to talk face to face, but I don't think it's a good idea to talk about this with you on a cell phone.† â€Å"Yeah, you're right. Not now, though. Not here. You understand, don't you?† Jody nodded, exaggerating the gesture so he could see. â€Å"The longer you stand there, the better chance you have of being seen by†¦ by the other one. Tomorrow night, then. Seven o'clock.† â€Å"Will you be wearing that dress?† Jody smiled. â€Å"Do you like it? It's new.† â€Å"It's great. I didn't think you would be a woman.† â€Å"Thanks. Go now.† She watched him climb into the Toyota, the cell phone still in hand. â€Å"Promise not to try and track me down?† â€Å"I know where you'll be tomorrow night, remember?† â€Å"Oh yeah. By the way, my name's Steve.† â€Å"Hi, Steve. I'm Jody.† â€Å"‘Bye,† he said. He disconnected. Jody hung up the phone and watched him drive away. She thought, Great, another one to worry about. It hadn't occurred to her that her condition might be reversible. But then, the med student didn't know about how the body had turned to dust. Science indeed. Jump or dive, he thought. The silk suit whipped about his legs in the chill wind. The tower's aircraft warning light flashed red across his face and he could see heat swirling off it, dissolving over the bay. His name was Elijah Ben Sapir. He stood five feet ten inches tall and he had been a vampire for eight hundred years. In human life he had been an alchemist and had spent his time mixing noxious chemicals and chanting arcane incantations trying to turn lead into gold and tap the secret of eternal life. He hadn't been a particularly good alchemist. He had never been able to pull off the gold transformation, although by a bizarre miscalculation of chemistry he did manage to invent Teflon some eight hundred years before DuPont would find a use for it. (It should be noted, though, that archaeologists recently uncovered a Viking rune stone in Greenland that mentions a Jew who entered the palace of Constantine the Magnificent in 1224 selling a line of nonstick hot pokers for the Emperor's torture chamber and was promptly given the bum's rush to the city gates. The accuracy of the story has been questioned, however, as it begins, â€Å"I never believed that your letters were true until Gunn er and I†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and goes on to recount the sexual exploits of two Vikings and a harem of brown-skinned Byzantine babes.) Ben Sapir's search for eternal life had been somewhat more successful. Granted, it came with the side effects of drinking human blood and staying out of sunlight, but he had gotten used to that. It was the loneliness that he couldn't abide. Perhaps, after all these years, it would end. He was afraid to hope. It had been a hundred years since a fledgling had lasted this long. She had been a Yanomamo woman in the Amazon Basin and she had hunted the jungle for three months before she returned to her village and turned her sister. The sisters declared themselves gods and demanded sacrifices from the village. He found them by the river feeding on an old woman, and he took no pleasure in killing them. Perhaps the redhead, perhaps she would be the one. Dive, he decided. He leaped away from the tower, jackknifed into a dive, and plunged fifty stories to the black water. The challenge was to avoid changing to mist before hitting the water. That was too easy. The impact of the water ripped the clothes off his back; the stitching of his shoes exploded with the pressure. He surfaced, naked except for one sock that had strangely survived the impact, and began the long swim back to his yacht thinking, I shouldn't have saved her from the sunlight. I must be desperate for entertainment. Chapter 28 Is That a Blackjack in Your Pocket? Tommy booted the Emperor out of the store at dawn. It had been a long night trying to keep the crazed ruler away from the Animals while throwing stock and trying to figure out the logistics of his meeting with Mara, all while under the influence of Dr. Drew's polio weed, which seemed to affect the part of the brain that motivates one to sit in the corner and drool while staring at one's hands. When the shift ended, he declined the Animal's invitation for beers and Frisbee in the parking lot, swiped a baguette from the bread-delivery man, and caught the bus home, intent on going straight to bed. He knew his plan was foiled when Frank, the biker/sculptor, met him outside their building holding a familiar-looking bronze turtle. â€Å"Flood, check it out.† Frank held up the turtle. â€Å"It worked!† â€Å"What worked?† Tommy asked. â€Å"Thick electroplating process. Come on in, I'll show you.† Frank turned and led Tommy through the roll-up door into the foundry. The foundry took up the entire bottom floor of the building, here was a huge furnace making a muffled rumbling sound. There were several large pits filled with sand, and plaster-of-Paris molds lay in them in various states of completion. In the back, near the only windows, stood wax figures of naked women, Indians, Buddhas, and birds, waiting to be cut up and placed in plaster of Paris. Frank said, â€Å"We've been doing a lot of statues for people's gardens. Buddhas are big with the koi-pond types. That's what we needed the turtles for. Monk already sold one of them to a woman in Pacific Heights for five hundred bucks. Sight unseen.† â€Å"My turtles?† Tommy said. He looked more closely at the bronze turtle Frank was holding. â€Å"Zelda!† â€Å"Can you believe it?† Frank said. â€Å"We did them both in less than eight hours. Lost-wax process would have taken days. I'll show you.† He led Tommy to the other side of the shop where a short, portly man in leather and denim was working beside a tall Plexi-glas tank filled with a translucent green liquid. Frank said, â€Å"Monk, this is our neighbor, Tom Flood. Flood, this is my partner Monk.† Monk grunted, not looking up from a compressor that he seemed to be having trouble with. Tommy could see how he had gotten his name. He had a large bowl-shaped bald spot with a fringe of hair around it: the Benedictine version of Easy Rider, Friar Tuck on wheels. â€Å"This,† said Frank, gesturing toward the ten-foot tank, â€Å"as far as we know, is the biggest electroplating tank on the West Coast.† Tommy didn't know quite how to react. He was still stunned by seeing the bronze likeness of Zelda. â€Å"That's just spiffy,† he said finally. â€Å"Yeah, dude. We can do anything we can find. No molds, no wax carvings. You just dunk and go. That's how we did your turtles.† Tommy was beginning to get it. â€Å"You mean that that is not a sculpture? You covered my turtles with brass?† â€Å"That's it. That liquid is supersaturated with dissolved metal. We sprayed the turtles with a thin metal-based paint that would conduct current. Then we attached a wire to them and dipped them in the tank. The current draws the metal out of the water and it fuses to the paint on the turtle. Leave it a long time and the coating gets thick enough to have structural integrity. Voila, a bronze garden turtle. I don't think anybody's ever done it before. We owe you, man.† Monk grunted in gratitude. Tommy didn't know whether to be angry or depressed. â€Å"You should have told me you were going to kill them.† â€Å"I thought you knew, man. Sorry. You can have this one, if you want.† Frank presented the bronzed Zelda. Tommy shook his head and looked away. â€Å"I don't think I could look at her.† He turned and walked away. Frank said, â€Å"C'mon, man, take it. We owe you one. If you need a favor or something†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Tommy took Zelda. How would he explain to Jody? â€Å"By the way, I've turned your little friends into statues.† And this right after they'd had a big fight. He slunk up the steps feeling completely lost. Jody had left him a note on the counter: Tommy: Imperative that you are here when I wake up. If you go out you are in serious, life-threatening trouble. I mean it. I have some very important things to tell you. No time now, I'm going to go out any second. Be here when I wake up. Jody â€Å"Great,† Tommy said to Peary. â€Å"Now what do I do about Mara? Who does Jody think she is, threatening me? What does she think she's going to do if I'm not here? I can't be here. Why don't you keep her busy until I get home.† Tommy patted the chest freezer and an idea came to him. â€Å"You know, Peary, scientists have frozen vampire bats and thawed them completely unharmed. I mean, how would she know? How many times has she thought it was Tuesday when it was really Wednesday?† Tommy went to the bedroom and looked in on Jody, who had made it to bed, but not in time to change out of her black dress. Wow, Tommy thought, she never dresses like that for me. She looked so peaceful. Sexy, but peaceful. She'll be angry if she finds out, but she's angry now. It won't really hurt her. I can just take her out tomorrow morning and put her under the electric blanket. By sundown she'll be thawed out and I'll have handled the Mara thing. I can tell Mara that I'm involved. I can't start something new until this is finished. Maybe with the extra time, Jody will have chilled a little. He smiled to himself. He opened the lid of the freezer, then went into the bedroom to get Jody. He carried her into the kitchen and laid her in the freezer on top of Peary. As he tucked her into the fetal position he felt a twinge of jealousy. â€Å"You guys behave now, okay?† He tucked a few TV dinners around her nice and snug under her arms, then kissed her on the forehead and gently closed the lid. As he crawled into bed he thought, If she ever finds out about this, she's really going to be pissed. Tommy had been asleep three hours when the pounding started. He rolled out of bed, stumbled across the dark bedroom, and was blinded when he opened the door into the loft. He was just regaining his eyesight when he opened the fire door and Rivera said, â€Å"Are you Thomas Flood, Junior?† â€Å"Yes,† Tommy said, bracing himself against the doorjamb. â€Å"I'm Inspector Alphonse Rivera from the San Francisco Police Department.† He held up a badge wallet. â€Å"You're under arrest† – Rivera pulled a warrant from his jacket pocket – â€Å"for abandoning a vehicle on a public street.† â€Å"You're kidding,† Tommy said. Cavuto stepped through the door and grabbed Tommy by the shoulder, whipping him around as the big cop pulled his handcuffs from his belt. â€Å"You have the right to remain silent†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Cavuto said. Two hours later Tommy had been processed, probed, and printed, and as Cavuto had expected, Tommy's fingerprints matched those on the copy of On the Road that they had found under the dead bum. It was enough for them to get a search warrant issued for the loft. Five minutes after they entered the loft a mobile crime lab was dispatched along with a forensics team and two coroners' trucks. As far as crime scenes went, the loft in SOMA was the mother lode. Cavuto and Rivera left the crime scene to the forensics team and returned to the station, where they took Tommy from a holding cell and put him in a pleasantly pink interrogation room furnished with a metal table and two chairs. There was a mirror on one wall and a tape recorder sat on the table. Tommy sat staring at the pink wall, remembering something about how pink was supposed to calm you down. It didn't seem to be working. His stomach was tied in knots. Rivera had done dozens of interrogations with Cavuto and they always took the same roles: Cavuto was the bad cop, and Rivera was the good cop. Actually Rivera never felt like the good cop. More often he was the I-am-tired-and-overworked-and-I'm-being-nice-to-you-because-I-don't-have-the-energy-to-be-angry cop. â€Å"Would you like a smoke?† Rivera asked. â€Å"Sure,† Tommy said. Cavuto jumped in his face. â€Å"Too bad, punk. There's no smoking in here.† Cavuto took great pleasure in being the bad cop. He practiced in front of the mirror at home. Rivera shrugged. â€Å"He's right. You can't smoke.† Tommy said, â€Å"That's okay, I don't smoke.† â€Å"How about a lawyer then?† asked Rivera. â€Å"Or a phone call?† â€Å"I have to be at work at midnight,† Tommy said. â€Å"If it looks like I'm going to be late, I'll use my call then.† Cavuto was pacing the room, timing his path so he could wheel on Tommy with every statement. He wheeled. â€Å"Yeah, kid, you're going to be late, about thirty years late, if they don't fry you.† Tommy pushed back in his chair with fright. â€Å"Good one, Nick,† Rivera said. â€Å"Thanks.† Cavuto smiled around an unlit cigar and backed away from the table where Tommy sat. Rivera moved up. â€Å"Okay, kid, you don't want an attorney. Where do you want to start? We've got you hands-down on two murders and probably three. If you tell us the story, tell us everything, about all the other murders, we might be able to waive the death penalty.† â€Å"I didn't kill anybody.† â€Å"Don't be cute,† Cavuto said. â€Å"We found two bodies in your freezer. We've got your fingerprints all over a book that we found under a third body outside your apartment. We've got you staying at the motel where we found a fourth body. And we've got you with a closetful of women's clothing and eyewitnesses that put a woman near where we found a fifth body†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Tommy interrupted, â€Å"Actually, there's only one body in the freezer. The other is my girlfriend.† â€Å"You sick fuck.† Cavuto drew back as if to hit Tommy. Rivera moved to restrain him. Tommy cowered in his chair. Rivera led Cavuto to the far side of the room. â€Å"Let me take this for a minute.† He left Cavuto grumbling to himself and went to the seat across from Tommy. â€Å"Look, kid, we've got you cold, so to speak, on two murders. We've got circumstantial evidence on another. You are going to jail for a very long time, and at this point, the death penalty is looking pretty good. Now if you tell us everything, and don't leave anything out, we might be able to help you out, but you have to give us enough to close all the cases. Do you understand?† Tommy nodded. â€Å"But I didn't kill anybody. I put Jody in the freezer, which I admit is inconsiderate, but I didn't kill her.† Cavuto growled. Rivera nodded in mock acceptance of the story. â€Å"Fine, but if you didn't kill them, who did? Did someone you know force you into this?† Cavuto exploded, â€Å"Oh Christ, Rivera! What do you need, a videotape? This little bastard did it.† â€Å"Nick, please. Give me a minute here.† Cavuto moved to the table and leaned over it until his face was next to Tommy's. He whispered, raspy and gruff, â€Å"Flood, don't think you can use a wiggle and a wink to get yourself out of this. That might work down on Castro, but I'm immune to it here, you got me? I'm going to leave now, but when I come back, if you haven't told my partner your story, I'm going to cause pain. Lots of it, and I won't leave a mark on you.† He stood up, smiled, then turned and left the room. Tommy looked at Rivera. â€Å"A wiggle and a wink?† â€Å"Nick thinks you're cute,† Rivera said. â€Å"He's gay?† â€Å"Completely.† Tommy shook his head. â€Å"I would have never guessed.† â€Å"He's a Shriner, too.† Rivera tapped a cigarette out of his pack and lit it. â€Å"Looks can be deceiving.† â€Å"Hey, I didn't think you were allowed to smoke in here.† Rivera blew smoke in Tommy's face. â€Å"You had two people in your freezer, and you're giving me shit about smoking.† â€Å"Good point.† Rivera sat down and leaned back in the chair. â€Å"Tommy, I'm going to give you one more chance to tell me how you killed those people, then I'm going to let Nick back in here and I'm going to leave. He really likes you. This room is soundproof, you know.† Tommy swallowed hard. â€Å"You're not going to believe me. It's a pretty fantastic story. There's supernatural stuff involved.† Rivera rubbed his temples. â€Å"Satan told you to do it?† he said wearily. â€Å"No.† â€Å"Elvis?† â€Å"I told you, it's supernatural.† â€Å"Tommy, I'm going to tell you something I've never told anyone before. If you repeat it, I'll deny I said it. Five years ago I saw a white owl with a seventy-foot wingspan swoop out of the sky and pluck a demon off a hillside and take off into the sky.† â€Å"I heard that cops get the best drugs,† Tommy said. Rivera got up. â€Å"I'm going to bring Nick in.† â€Å"No, wait. I'll tell you. It was a vampire. You can thaw Jody out and ask her.† Rivera reached over and turned on the tape recorder. â€Å"Now slow down. Start at the beginning and go until we walked you into this room.† An hour later Rivera met Cavuto behind the one-way mirror. Cavuto was not happy. â€Å"You know, I'd rather you just threaten that I would beat him up.† â€Å"It worked, didn't it?† â€Å"There's nothing there we can use. Not a thing. If he sticks with that story he'll get off on insanity. It's too wild. I want to know how he got the blood out of the bodies.† â€Å"The kid thinks he's a writer. He's showing off his imagination. Let's let him sit awhile and get something to eat. I want to find the Emperor.† â€Å"That wacko?† â€Å"He's been reporting seeing a vampire for weeks. Maybe he saw the kid doing one of the murders.†

Free Essays on Battle Of Midway

The article â€Å"Return to the Battle of Midway† by Thomas B. Allen is a summary of the battle. While Allen tells of the events, he also tells of the stories behind the events. It is interesting to note that the stories came from both sides of the war. Allen found himself on Ballard’s ship, Ballard was the man that found the Titanic, and the people that he interviewed were actually shipmates. They were looking for the Yorktown, a ship that had been sunk by the Japanese. Taisuke Maruyama was in charge of the airplane that bombed the Yorktown. He recalls how he didn’t want to die before dropping the torpedo. The other three survivors on Ballard’s ship aside from Surgi were Harry Ferrier, Yuji Akamatsu, and Haruo Yoshino. They had all been in the air during the battle. They attacked the Arizona and the Oklahoma respectively. Two months later they were on their way to attack the naval base at the Island of Midway. The Japanese were getting ready t o lead a major offensive, spearheaded by four aircraft carriers supported by eleven destroyers, two battleships and three cruisers. As the Japanese sailed toward Midway, they believed that they would be able to surprise the Americans, but in fact, the Americans were ready with the Hornet, the Yorktown, and the Enterprise. Thanks to the American cryptanalysts, the Navy was not taken by surprise. These code breakers sent messages that they knew the Japanese could decipher. American carriers met at â€Å"point Luck† and got ready for battle. The Americans were outnumbered and hoped to find the Japanese first for the upper hand. They found them, and just like American intelligence had expected, the Japanese attacked Dutch Harbor followed by the attack on Midway. Because of this Japanese planes found themselves within a swarm of heavy antiaircraft fire. Even so, the Japanese zeros killed most of the American fighters. American ships were sent to attack Japanese ships, with ... Free Essays on Battle Of Midway Free Essays on Battle Of Midway The article â€Å"Return to the Battle of Midway† by Thomas B. Allen is a summary of the battle. While Allen tells of the events, he also tells of the stories behind the events. It is interesting to note that the stories came from both sides of the war. Allen found himself on Ballard’s ship, Ballard was the man that found the Titanic, and the people that he interviewed were actually shipmates. They were looking for the Yorktown, a ship that had been sunk by the Japanese. Taisuke Maruyama was in charge of the airplane that bombed the Yorktown. He recalls how he didn’t want to die before dropping the torpedo. The other three survivors on Ballard’s ship aside from Surgi were Harry Ferrier, Yuji Akamatsu, and Haruo Yoshino. They had all been in the air during the battle. They attacked the Arizona and the Oklahoma respectively. Two months later they were on their way to attack the naval base at the Island of Midway. The Japanese were getting ready t o lead a major offensive, spearheaded by four aircraft carriers supported by eleven destroyers, two battleships and three cruisers. As the Japanese sailed toward Midway, they believed that they would be able to surprise the Americans, but in fact, the Americans were ready with the Hornet, the Yorktown, and the Enterprise. Thanks to the American cryptanalysts, the Navy was not taken by surprise. These code breakers sent messages that they knew the Japanese could decipher. American carriers met at â€Å"point Luck† and got ready for battle. The Americans were outnumbered and hoped to find the Japanese first for the upper hand. They found them, and just like American intelligence had expected, the Japanese attacked Dutch Harbor followed by the attack on Midway. Because of this Japanese planes found themselves within a swarm of heavy antiaircraft fire. Even so, the Japanese zeros killed most of the American fighters. American ships were sent to attack Japanese ships, with ...

Top 5 ACT Reading Strategies

Top 5 ACT Reading Strategies The ACT Reading test is, to many of you students out there, the most difficult of the three  multiple-choice tests on the exam. It contains four passages of approximately 90 lines in length with 10 multiple-choice questions following each passage. Since you only have 35 minutes to read each passage and answer the questions, its necessary that you use some ACT Reading strategies to boost your score. Otherwise, your scores will land somewhere in the teens, which is not going to help you get a scholarship. Time Yourself You will not be able to have your cell phone during the test, so bring a watch that has a silent timer, silent being the key word. Since youll be answering 40 questions in 35 minutes (and reading the passages that go along with them) youll need to pace yourself. Some students who take the ACT Reading test have reported only being able to finish two of the four passages because they took too long to read and answer. Keep an eye on that watch! Read the Easiest Passage First The four ACT Reading passages will always be arranged in this set order: Prose Fiction, Social Science, Humanities, and Natural Science. However, this doesnt mean that you have to read the passages in that order. Choose the passage thats easiest to read first. For instance, if you happen to like stories, then go with Prose Fiction. If youre a little more scientific-minded, then choose Natural Science. Youll have an easier time answering questions about a passage that interests you, and doing something right builds your confidence and sets up you for success in the next passages. Success always equals a higher score! Underline and Summarize When youre reading the passages, be sure to quickly underline important nouns and verbs as you read and jot down a brief summary of each paragraph (as in two-three words) in the margin. Underlining important nouns and verbs not only helps you remember what youve read, it also gives you a specific place to refer to when youre answering the questions. Summarizing is key to understanding the passages in their entirety. Plus, it allows you to answer those What was the main idea of paragraph 1? types of questions in a flash. Cover The Answers If youve gotten the gist of the passage, then rely on your memory a little bit and cover up the answers to the questions when you read them. Why? You may just come up with the right answer to the question and can find the match inside the answer choices. Since ACT writers include tricky answer choices to test your reading comprehension (a.k.a. distractors), the wrong answer choices can often trip you up. If youve thought of the correct answer in your head before reading them through, youll have a higher likelihood of guessing correctly. Review Reading Basics You will be tested on whether or not you can find the main idea, understand vocabulary in context, detect the authors purpose, and make an inference. Youll also need to be able to quickly and accurately find details inside the paragraphs, kind of like a word search! So, before you take the ACT Reading test, be sure to review and practice those reading concepts. Youll be glad you did! Summary Practicing with ACT Reading strategies is key for successful usage. Do not go blind into the test. Practice these reading strategies at home with some practice exams (purchased in a book or online), so you have them firmly under your belt. Its much easier to answer questions when youre not being timed, so master them before you get to the testing center. Good luck!

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 327

Assignment Example ers will have a problem if they knew that the state or local government collecting political action money for the union since they will not be able to identify any fund that belong to the state and used by the local government. There is no basis in which in which the taxpayers will use to reduce the challenge (Law and Ian, 241). The funds that the state uses to support the union will not be easily identified in regard to money that is collected from the union. Distinguishing between state employees and local government employees will also be a problem. Basis for Supreme Court ruling in favor of the state was due to argument of the state that a political subdivision is a subordinate unit of the government and this could allow the state to perform delegated functions of the government (Law and Ian, 67). The local government is seen to have no privilege under the federal constitution and the state thought it could not involve in collecting political money. It is also not clear whether the state allocates funding used in the local

Computer laws in US. Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Research Paper

Computer laws in US. Computer Fraud and Abuse Act - Research Paper Example Just like any other invention, computers have two sides; the positive and the negative side. The positive side is where business flourish, scientists do more invention and government offer better services while on the other hand, it gives criminals an extra tool to commit more crimes and get away with it. Computer crimes have been on rapid increase since the advent of intern. Internet has facilitated the criminal activities as a means of access other people’s computers regardless of geographical location. Crimes such as cyber-stalking, child pornography, fraud and scams, hacking copyright violations, malicious code are some of the computer crimes that are now easily committed because of the internet. Compute crimes are unavoidable to organizations that use IT in delivering their services and products. Computer professional therefore should ensure that there are frameworks put in place to protect and face these challenges through laws. This paper will identify and detail some o f the computer laws put in place by US federal legislation. Computer laws face greater challenge because of the dynamic nature of computer crimes because of the new and evolving technologies. The wire fraud statute was the first law in the US used to prosecute computer criminals. This law prohibited the use of communication wires that are used in the international commerce with an attempt to commit a fraud. This law is still in place and is used to date to prosecute computer criminals.... The challenges with the initial structure of CFAAA was that to successfully prosecute fraud charges, one must provide evidence that the suspect gained unauthorized access into the computer system (CFAA, 1986). Have a clause that touched on the method of entry into the computer system rather than focusing on the computer usage was a loophole for crimes committed by insiders. An employee within the company who has legal access to the computer can also commit a crime using the computer. Since it will not be proved that he/she had illegal access, then such person will not be prosecuted. CFAA was modified for the second time in 1994 so as to deal with the act of malicious code such as viruses, worms and other programs designed with an aim of changing or damaging data on the computer (Title 18 U.S.C section 1030). This amendments enhanced the law because initially it focused on the access to the computer system without looking at how the computer system was used. The law was now able to pr osecute those who executed illegal or malicious programs on computers with indention of causing damage to data or the computer. There are several acts that have been passed to add strength or deal with loopholes in CFAA. The National Information Act (NIIA) was enacted in 1996 to protect computer systems against those who access them using other people’s authorization. Penalties under CFAA Offense Minimum sentence Maximum sentence Getting national security information 10 year 20 years Unauthorized access in government computer 1 year 10 years Knowing access and damage 1 year 10 years Knowing access and reckless damage 5 years 20 years Trafficking in passwords 1 year 10 years Extortion involving threats of damage computer 5 years 10 years Theofel v. Farey-Jones in 2003 is a

Human Karyotyping (Biology) Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Human Karyotyping (Biology) - Lab Report Example Any deviation in the normal pattern could be ruled out as a change that affects health and development of the individual. It is evident that human cells normally contain 23 pairs of chromosomes. Hypothesis: If there is an increase or decrease in the number of chromosomes, the process is called aneuploidy; it directly affects the development of the organism. These changes occur as a result of non disjunction of chromosomes during the process of meiosis. As a result one of the daughter cells receives either extra or insufficient chromosomes. Variables: The common form of aneuploidy is trisomy, which implies the presence of three copies of the chromosome in cells in place of normal two copies. In Klinefelter’s Syndrome where the sex chromosome is present in extra copy resulting in XXY, where as if the trisomy occurs in autosome like in the case of Down Syndrome trisomy of 21st chromosome occur and if this trisomy occur in 13th chromosome then it results in Trisomy 13 Syndrome resulting in cell with 47 chromosomes instead of usual 46. Methods: Cut the homologous chromosomes. Arrange then on construction paper in descending order of their size. Glue them when arranged as in the figure A. any additional chromosome is found match with its homologue to find out which chromosome is having additional copy. Arrange all the pairs of chromosomes with shorter end towards top and longer one towards the bottom. Mark them with the marker pen; rule out the genetic condition of the Karyotype. Raw data: chromosomes condense during the process of cell division and are therefore visible under light microscope. In Karyotype cells are stained with Giemsa dye. Dark and light band pattern is observed. Metacentric chromosomes have centromere in the center or near the central part of the chromosome. Acrocentric: the centromere is near the end of the chromosome. Telocentric: centromere is terminally located. Chromosomes

Sports Influence On Psychology Of People Media Essay

Sports Influence On Psychology Of People Media Essay For many years, sports have been valued by many societies in the world. Many people continue to indulge in various sports today either singularly or as a part of a team. Sports have always influenced the history of a nation as well as the psychology of the people in that nation, playing both constructive roles as well as damaging roles. Many people may think that sports are all about winning or losing, however sports is deeply engraved in people psyches and to some it dates back to when they were young and hence it is bound up in many people geographic and social identities. It is through sports that some people have been able to indulge themselves in vicarious achievements and euphoric collective experiences. Many studies have shown that there is a lot of emotion when people try to win for their team or for themselves which in return affect their psychology as well as that of their fans. This paper therefore, analyzes the psychological influence of sports to citizens of United Kingd om. The formation of a nations identity is dependent on the various social activities of its citizens including the social practice of sports. This is because many people like discussing about sports events as they go along with their daily activities both at the workplace and at their home. Studies have shown that there is so much influence on the workers performance based on the performance of their favorite team. It has been found out that there is a lot of impact of sporting failure and success on the UK workplace. Many people get psychologically affected when their team win or loses. It has also been found out that the conversation regarding sports that people have in their workplaces can have a positive impact in boosting their morale as well as improving their productivity and motivation. This means that sports in general shapes the lives of many citizens in UK. Also, people usually construct various perspectives and meaning while watching sports event which greatly influence thei r social belief, self concept and most certainly their nations identity. That is, key social practices including sports and the related events will be discussed and recounted in compelling ways by a large group of people through various mediums from media forms to everyday conversations, leading to the formation of certain ideas in their minds, which in turn leads to the formation of social beliefs and thereby nations identity (Encyclopaedia Britannica). Studies have found that a nations identity is governed by the memories and stories that people hold in common and certainly sports is one of them. This can also be proved by the fact that sports impact goes beyond the day to day social environment. For example Englands win in the 1996 World Cup affected both the economy and the politics of the region. It is during this time that Harold Wilson claimed his victory which was largely attributed to the teams performance and the wave of euphoria and goodwill that the citizens had due to t he team victory. Equating sports or sports teams to a nation as well as its identity, thereby peoples psychology as well as social practices began in 1908, with the launch of the Olympics as a pan-national event, with the entry of many countries and their official patronage. The twelve-year old Olympic Games had informally taken on the role of a multinational sporting event at which nations represented themselves with their best athletes (Smith and Porter 2004). With many countries participating in that Olympics, media coverage and importantly political patronage certainly built the discourse, that nations will normally represent themselves through their sportspeople in various events such as the Olympics. When nations are represented by sportspersons, the activities of the sportspersons on and off the field will in turn form or change or reinforce or even challenge the psychology of those nations, and ultimately their social practices and nations identity since many people like to be associated with a particular team or a sports person. In the society today many young people like identifying themselves with some sports people which greatly influence their personality which is very vital in determining a nations identity. This trend has sometimes led to violence in sports especially when people (fans) identifying themselves with a particular sport lose a match. In many sports fans are full of emotions as they try to win for their team. These high emotions are catalyst to sports violence. More often than not you will find angry fans screaming and yelling to the coaches when they fill that he is letting down their team. Many riots have also been experienced when a team loses an important match. These riots are characterized by fighting among players, dumpsters, mobs overturning cars and many other bad behaviors. The reason for this is due to the psychological attachments that exist between people of a nation and sports. Through identifying with a certain group individuals are abl e to improve and maintain their self esteem (Balisunset, 2009). As a result, sports acts as a powerful source of identification through which people identify themselves with a team or an individual in a team and hence become heavily invested in the results of a given competition. This means that people are affected psychologically when their team loses leading to frustrations. These frustrations lead to anger and the only outlet to his anger is through violence (Murphy, 2005). Many people may think that sports violence is just a simple matter but in some cases it reflects the violence that happens in the society and that is why violence mainly occurs when a crowd is made of a heterogeneous mix. This means that the fans may be using spot violence as a scapegoat to their society dissatisfaction. This means that many occurrence of sports violence may be signifying that something is wrong and immediate actions need to be taken. Contrary to sports violence, sports sometimes have very good impacts to citizens of a nation especially when national team wins an important match. Many people are very happy after a national team wins and this is known to have a positive impact in boosting the morale of citizen. Consequently, this has an impact on peoples approach to work and lifts up their mood hence making them productive in their work. This just shows how sports psychologically influence people lives (International Society of Sports Psychology, 2006). Research has a lso found that talking sport acts as one of the ways of breaking down barriers existing between employees and their customers. The influence of sports is so big to an extent that it can break or make a relationship between a manager and his team. A study conducted in 2006 in UK revealed that 71% of men and 68% of women said that both the employers and employees learn valuable lessons from sports. People get to learn the importance of working as a team, importance of being dedicated to ones team, importance of collective responsibility, what makes a good team player and how to develop ones talents and maximize performance. As a result, we can say that sports success or failure in a nation has influences both social and economic factors of that nation. This is because sport is woven into people day to day life and hence plays a very crucial role in creating bonds between people and ultimately impact productivity of a nation (Social Issue Research Centre, 2006). The influence of sports on psychology of people can also be seen by the way people bask in reflected glory. This is rooted to one element of social identity theory which is psychological distinctiveness. According to this theory, individuals desire their identity to be both distinct from and positively compared with people of other groups. This theory is concerned with identifying when and why an individual identify with a particular group and behave as a part of that group. According to this theory an individual social behavior can exist on a spectrum from purely intergroup to purely interpersonal. By identifying oneself with successful people a person self esteem get boosted. This is the reason why people like identifying themselves with successful teams and sports personality. It is for this reason that you will find people pulling out their old tee shirts and old sweatshirts after a big win, and proudly display their team logos. Also after a team wins a championship the sale of t heir products also goes up until another team wins the following year. This is what is called basking in reflected glory which is labeled by social psychologists as BIRGing. A study conducted I 1976 by supported this phenomena by showing how university students wear their university affiliated clothing the Monday morning after winning a football match during weekend. In doing so the student sought to have success of their team linked to them by wearing school identifying attire. The students are also like using the pronoun we after a victorious athletic weekend than when their team lost. By basking in reflected glory an individual self esteem gets enhanced by identifying with another persons success. They try to receive this glory by doing nothing tangible to help a person or a team get this success. Individuals are more likely to bask in reflected glory when their public image is threatened so as to counter any threats to their self esteem. Also the extent to which a person is comm itted to a team dictates the degree in which he can distance himself from the team lose. According to social identity theory those individuals who are strongly allied to a team are not likely to distance themselves, and to ensure that their self esteem is not threatened they will try to attribute the failure to other things and not the team itself. For those who are not closely allied to the team, the loss makes them to engage in phenomena known as CORFing. This refers to cutting off reflected glory which is characterized by distancing oneself from a losing team as much as possible. This can be done by either using different language to describe the game after defeat. For example the fans begin using the words they lost instead of we lost. Fans can also CORF by blasting, which is a form of indirect self enhancement used when one feels that his or her self esteem is threatened. This clearly shows how sports influence an individual psychology. Many of the international sports, which are being played all over the world, originated or were first played in their modern form in Britain. Team games such as soccer, rugby, and cricket, and sports such as rowing, athletics and boxing, were formalized, codified and modernized in the elite schooling institutions of Britain (its public schools) and the ancient universities. (Tomlinson). These sports diffused into the social gamut of UK as well as the minds of the British people both in the urban as well as rural communities, with the factor of Britishness exhibited by these sports. In those times, sports played in Britain influenced the British socio- psychological ideologies like fair play, an ideal of British manhood. Likewise, sports for women were developed to fit with the ideals of Victorian femininity. Different sports have different combination of representation which influences the social psychological beliefs of single British identity or separate national identities. In football (American soccer), the four nations of the UK are separately represented. In cricket, England and Wales play as one team. In rugby union, the countries are split into England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, with Northern Ireland and Eire providing a joint team (Polley 1998). This being the case, the social psychological beliefs of British identity gets changed or modified according to the occasions and circumstances. This means that an individual will identify with a particular team based on the situation at hand i.e. people from one nation will support the group identity of being British in some occasions, but their cognitive dissonance reverts back to them, and thus alleviating their dissonance by changing their stance to support their own national identity. For example, English sports followers could s upport a Scottish athlete who represent Great Britain in the Olympics, but could revert to their anti-Scottish stance, when the national football teams of England and Scotland meet in a friendly or in a World Cup. The reason for this is that individuals have a tendency to identify to the team the truly belong to when faced with a situation like that one. This is because one will have grown up being attached to a particular team and thus there is no way he/she will support another team when the national team is playing. Another perspective about changing their support or their affiliations in sport can be witnessed when one British team fails at a major event, while another British team succeeds, providing the people someone to back. The London-based media is also experienced in this kind of support. When an England team fails to qualify for a major tournament, the media quickly appropriates other British or Irish teams as ours' (Smith and Porter 2004). Cognitive dissonance is displa yed at times when there are differences between an individuals actions and his or her beliefs. This contradictory display occurs often among sports fans in England, as they may believe to have a British national identity, yet their actions prove otherwise. These actions, which oppose their beliefs, are a form of relieving the cognitive dissonance that they have. Football as a sport has been known to unite people across UK rather than divide. Most of the football fans have a strong commonality. The role played by football either socially or culturally is dependent on historical factors. These historical factors include whether the national team or a major side has won an important tournament at a particular time in the past or whether the sport was played traditionally by lower or upper class. The rivalry between teams also plays a major role in defining the sports characteristics. This influences how individuals at different with each other and how they relate a sport in their country and the support they give to teams at the international, national, regional and local level. This means that people in a given country with strong regional and local identities relate differently with those people in countries where regional identity is not important. A good example of this is demonstrated in countries like Sweden where allegiance to local team s is stronger than that associated with the national side. As in any society, British women, till the late 20th , were prevented from actively participating in many societal activities, thereby psychologically subdued.This social belief was further reinforced through sports with early womens traditions, as they were effectively suppressed by male establishments, such as football and both rugby codes. (Smith and Porter 2004). Although, women tried to have pre-eminent positions in society and even fulfill roles of leadership, with Britain being ruled by numerous successful Queens, it was not the case in all spheres of the society. Women were suppressed and deprived of the process of leadership in many facets of social life, sports being one of those facets. Likewise, the social psychological aspect of class factor was also influenced by sports with certain team games, particularly Rugby and cricket which were viewed as games of the upper class.This meant that one grew up believing that certain types of sports belonged to a certain group of peo ple. With this belief people of certain region did not psychologically give attention to some sports that they did to those sports where they felt to be part of the team like in football. With the initiation of the Industrial Revolution, many people started getting employment and became part of the revenue earning group. Even then, their incomes were not optimal and thus there lopsided class factor. This class factor was further imbued in the peoples mind as well as part of their social setup through sports. With certain sports played only by a certain class of people, sports indirectly promoted class differences. England rugby team remains remarkably homogenous: white, educated, middle-class, while Cricket has a rather upper class flavor as in the habits of male upper class Englishness, cricket embodies gentlemanly qualities (Malcolm, 2001). This shows how sports can be effectively be used to divide citizens of a nation by promoting class difference and notion that some types of sp orts are suited to a given group of people. Fortunately this notion is slowly fading away with and people are beginning to accept sports like rugby which initially belonged to a chosen few. Beliefs about having distinct and separate national symbols or identities particularly separate National Anthems have been in existent for some time among the countries of the United Kingdom. For example there have been many debates of whether English should have their own national anthem for many years. English have retained British national anthem for sporting events while Scots and Welsh have claimed their own national anthem. Problems however arise when England plays against either Scotland or Wales, during this time the opponents national anthem has to be played twice. Unfortunately, those debating about this issue in the past only considered the political ramifications of England having their own national anthem thereby neglecting the psychological implication of playing God Save the Queen. Researchers have found out that there are a number of factors that affects the psychology of those involved in sports during any competition. Some of the psychological factors include confid ence, belief, being prepared, sense of identity and ability to perform under pressure. One of the major factors that affect the performance of an individual in sports is a sense of identity. This is because its through having a sense of identity that our values are impacted on us, consequently affecting the individual motivational levels. In addition to that it also impact on an individual sense of purpose and a will to go an extra mile for ones nation. Singing national anthems by the respective teams at sporting events are always viewed as a psychological strategy by the coaches and other people to promote a sense of identity within the team, and also to motivate and fire up them. It also falls under the psychological process of self-esteem in that an individuals self esteem is raised when he or she knows that he/ she belongs somewhere. With self-esteem being a key process that works as a catalyst for many human actions, the national anthems can also work on the self-esteem of any countrys citizens (Kimiecik Harris, 2005). Behavioral psychologists believe that self e steem acts as a positive reinforcement to an individual thereby motivating a person to perform well in his or her actions. The national anthems are known to psychologically fire up sports teams and this will psychologically impact the people who are watching the event in the stadium as well as in their Televisions. This psychological association to their national anthems in turn defines their social beliefs and will lead to various impacts. For that to happen, the view among the English people is that they should have an appropriate national anthem, different from God Save the Queen. The Scots and the Welsh dont get fired up by God Save the Queen so why should the English? With this social belief, sections of the population are even coming up with options for a separate and distinct National Anthem for the English. This reason for all this fuss about national anthem is that both players and fans want to have a sense of belonging before any match which greatly influences their mind i nto having a conviction that the victory is theirs. Studies have found out that the perception of ones mind regarding something influences greatly the outcomes of an event. For example there is no way a team will win a match if they do not have a conviction that the victory is theirs. This conviction is achieved by raising the self esteem of the players and their supporters which in turn motivate them in claiming the victory. To do this coaches have had to apply some psychological techniques like anxiety management in sporting activities so as to improve the performance of the players (Pozzi, 2004). Influx of Asian migrants and people from other regions of the world led to the ethnic diversification of the UKs population. However this diversification has also resulted in the development of a variety of national identities, with different social psychological beliefs. Even after living in Britain for many years and interacting with the British society, British people of Asian origin still exhibit psychological allegiance and support to their parent country. This is clearly demonstrated during sports events when teams from their parent countries are involved. This means that there is an element of conformity, but point is that when Asians first came to the U.K they had they had two options: one being they could integrate themselves into society which may have proven to be difficult or they could stay segregate themselves and chose not to identify with the Britain. Although, it is not illegal or criminal to do so and it is their personal choices, the social beliefs of the British p eople is that it is morally wrong and unpatriotic to ignore and avoid the British identity. For example, when Indian or Pakistani or even Bangladeshi cricket team tours England and plays the English cricket team, the people belonging to those countries are seen psychologically associating with those countries and maximally supporting them, ignoring England.In 1990, the Conservative politician Norman Tebbit famously posited the test match test. Which side do the Asians cheer for? Its an interesting test. Are you still harking back to where you came from or where you are? (Korinman and Laughland 2007). This rather harsh remark clearly brought out the focus on how sports reinforce the social psychological belief that British people of Asian origin are still attached to their homeland and thus avoid British identity. This was further reinforced by the comments of the former England cricket captain, Nasser Hussain. He said: It was disappointing to see a sea of green shirts with the names of Pakistani players instead of ours. It reminded me of when we played India at Edgbaston [in Birmingham] in the World Cup in 1999. It was like an away game because so many people supported their side. (qtd. in Majumdar and Mangan 2004). However, these beliefs can also be challenged when one looks from another perspective. That is, the above comment was actually made by a British man of Indian origin, which clearly shows that some British Asians have indeed integrated into the British society, even rising to the status of national captain. Thus, the social psychological belief that Asians have not psychologically integrated into the British society could be challenged, as many British of Asian origins have taken the British identity and support their home team. Sports have also been found to have a lot of influence in the well being of citizens. Current research suggests that sports enhance emotional or psychological well being of an individual and thus it is being used as an additional therapy in treating citizens with psychological disorders in UK. It has been found out that there is a positive relationship between sports and emotional well being of an individual. Sports participation in general alleviates some of the psychological problems people are facing in the modern world. In adults sports have been found to improve their moods hence alleviating many types of depression they have. This has also been found to be the case in children and adolescents who participate in sports because they tend to have reduced behavioral and emotional problems (Martin, 2007). The reason for this is that sports provide an environment where individuals can socialize freely thereby forgetting some of the problems they face in their day to day activities. S tudies also suggest that organized sports influence development of crucial behaviors like stress management, cooperation, positive attitude towards achievement, unselfishness, appropriate risk taking, and the ability to tolerate life frustrations and delayed gratification. It is through playing with others that children get to learn how to build cooperative relationships and the ability to meet their needs in order to belong. In addition to that they are able to learn important cooperation skills as they perform specific team role and work together when playing (NASPSPA, 2007). It has also been found out that youths who participate in sports have less behavioral problems and this has been supported by empirical studies. An example of this study is the one conducted in 1994 in UK and it found out that many youths who participated in sports behaved well in classrooms, earned better graded, dropped out of school less frequently, had fewer behavior problems at home and attended school on regular basis. On the contrary those youths who did not participate in sports were likely to engage in violent behaviors like fights in schools, drug abuse, they were also more likely to become teen parents and consequently the school dropout rates for nonparticipants was high. This shows sports have a very big influence in molding a bright future for citizens in a particular nation since it trains them to be responsible, creative and cooperative. In conclusion we have been able to learn how sports influence the psychology of people in a given nation. We have seen how sports help in improving and individual self esteem through identifying oneself with a successful team. Through this individuals are able to live vicariously through someone else, making them to bask in glory when that person or a team wins. This effect is also transferred in work places where good performance of a team influences the performance of the workers which means that sporting success and failure has a lot of impact on the UK workplace. We have also seen that sports play a very important role in developing a nation identity as well as helping children to grow up to be responsible citizens in future.