Negative Utilitarianism: An Overview

Most utilitarian theories deal with producing the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people. Negative utilitarianism (NU) requires us to promote the least amount of evil or harm, or to prevent the greatest amount of suffering for the greatest number. Proponents like Karl Popper, Christoph Fehige and Clark Wolf argue that this is a more effective ethical formula, since, they contend, the greatest harms are more consequential than the greatest goods. Karl Popper also referred to an epistemological argument: â€Å"It adds to clarity in the fields of ethics, if we formulate our demands negatively, i. e. if we demand the elimination of suffering rather than the promotion of happiness. †(Karl R. Popper,1945) Most forms of utilitarianism hold that we ought to do that which maximises the good and minimises the bad. There is some disagreement about what the good and the bad are– whether the good is people being happy and the bad is people being unhappy, or the go od is people getting what they want and the bad is people not getting what they want, or whatever–but most utilitarians agree that whatever the good and the bad are, we ought to bring about as much of the former and as little of the latter as is possible. Negative utilitarians disagree. Negative utilitarians are concerned only with minimising the bad. They don't think we ought to maximise the good and minimise the bad, and that when we must choose between the two we must weigh the difference that we can make to the one against the difference that we can make to the other; rather, negative utilitarians hold just that we ought to minimise the bad, that we ought to alleviate suffering as far as we are able to do so. Suppose that I have a choice to make: I can either make the happiest man in the world even happier than he already is, or I can alleviate some of the suffering of the unhappiest man in the world. Suppose further that the difference that I can make to the happy man is much greater than the difference that I can make to the unhappy man. Most utilitarians would say that in this case I ought to help the happy man. As I can make a greater difference to the life of the happy man than I can make to the life of the unhappy man, it is the happy man whom I should help. Negative utilitarians disagree. Negative utilitarians hold that it is more important to alleviate suffering than it is to promote pleasure, and that I should therefore always choose to alleviate suffering rather than promote pleasure when forced to choose between the two. In most supporters of moderate NU the preference to survive is stronger than the wish to be freed from suffering, so that they refuse the idea of a quick and painless destruction of life. Some of them believe that, in time, the worst cases of suffering is defeated and a world of minor suffering can be realized. The big problem with negative utilitarianism is that it appears to require the destruction of the world. The world contains much suffering, and the future, presumably, contains a great deal more suffering than the present. Each of us will suffer many calamaties in the course of our lives, before those lives finally end with the suffering of death. There is a way, however, to reduce this suffering: we could end it all now. With nuclear weapons technology, we have the capability to blow up the planet, making it uninhabitable. Doing so would cause us all to suffer death, but death is going to come to us all anyway, so causing everyone to die will not increase the suffering in the world. Causing us to die now, though, will decrease the suffering in the world; it will prevent us from suffering those calamaties that were going to plague us during the remainder of our lives. Destroying the planet, then, will reduce the suffering in the world. According to negative utilitarianism, then, it is what we ought to do. That, though, is surely absurd. Negative utilitarianism, therefore, is false.

The Help of Technology to the Stock Market

The purpose of this research paper is to prove that technology has been good for the stock market. Thanks to technology, there are now more traders than ever because of the ease of trading online with firms such as Auditrade and Ameritrade. There are also more stocks that are doing well because they are in the technology field. The New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ have both benefitted from the recent technological movement. The NYSE says they â€Å"are dedicated to maintaining the most efficient and technologically advanced marketplace in the world.† The key to that leadership has been the state-of-the-art technology and systems development. Technology serves to support and enhance the human judgement at point-of-sale. NASDAQ, the world†s first fully electronic stock market, started trading on February 8th, 1971. Today, it is the fastest growing stock market in the United States. It alo ranks second among the world†s securities in terms of dollar value. By constantly evolving to meet the changing needs of investors and public companies, NASDAQ has achieved more than almost any other market, in a shorter period of time. Technology has also helped investors buy stocks in other markets. Markets used to open at standard local times. This would cause an American trader to sleep through the majority of a Japanese trading day. With more online and afterhours trading, investors have more access to markets so that American traders can still trade Japanese stocks. This is also helped by an expansion of most market times. Afterhours trading is available from most online trading firms. For investing specialists, technology provides operational capability for handling more stocks and greatly increased volumes of trading. Specialists can follow additional sources of market information, and multiple trading and post-trade functions, all on â€Å"one screen† at work or at home. They are also given interfaces to â€Å"upstairs† risk-management systems. They also have flexiblity to rearrange their physical workspaces, terminals and functional activities. Floor brokers are helped with supports for an industry-wide effort to compare buy/sell contracts for accuracy shortly after the trade. They are also given flexibility in establishing working relationships using the new wireless voice headsets and hand-held data terminals. The ability to provide new and enhanced information services to their trading desks and institutional customers is provided. They have a comprehensive order-management system, that systematizes and tracks all outstanding orders. Technology gives a market†s member organizations flexibility in determining how to staff their trading floor operations as well as flexiblity in using that market†s provided systems, networks and terminals or interfacing their own technology. They are given assurance that their market will have the systems capacity and trading floor operations to handle daily trading and in billions of shares. Member organizations get faster order handling and associated reports to their customers, along with speedier and enhanced market information. They also have a regulatory environment, which assures member organiztions that their customers, large and small, can trade with confidence. Technology also allows lower costs, despite increasing volumes and enhanced products. Companies listed on the NYSE are provided with an electronic link so they may analyze daily trading in their stock, and compare market performance during various time periods. The technology also supports the visibility of operations and information, and regulated auction-market procedures, which listed companies expect from their â€Å"primary† market in support of their capital-raising activities and their shareholder services. Institutions get enhanced information flow from the trading floor, using new wireless technologies, as to pre-opening situations, depth of market, and indications of buy/sell interest by other large traders. Also supported are the fair, orderly, and deeply liquid markets which institutions require in order to allocate the funds they have under management whether placing orders in size for individual stocks (block orders) or executing programs (a series of up to 500 orders usually related to an index). For institutional investors, technology gives information on timely trades and quotes and makes them available through member firms, market data services, cable broadcasts and news media. They also are provided with a very effective way of handling â€Å"smaller† orders, giving them communications priority and full auction market participation for â€Å"price improvement† yet turning the average market order around in 22 seconds. Price continuitity and narrow quotation spreads, which are under constant market surveillence and a regulatory environment which enforces trading rules designed to protect â€Å"small investors† are also supported. There are many different kinds of equipment used on the stock market. One of these machines is SuperDot, an electronic order-routing system through which member firms of the NYSE transmit market and limit orders directly to the trading post where the stock is traded. After the order has been completed in the auction market, a report of execution is returned directly to the member-firm office over the same electronic circuit that brought the order to the trading floor. SuperDot can currently process about 2.5 billion shares per day. Another piece of machinery is the Broker Booth Support System. The BBSS is a state-of-the-art order-management system that enables firms to quickly and efficiently process and manage their orders. BBSS allows firms to selectively route orders electronically to either the trading post or the booths on the trading floor. BBSS supports the following broker functions: recieving orders, entering orders, rerouting orders, issuing reports, research, and viewing other services via terminal â€Å"windows†. The overhead â€Å"crowd† display is America†s first commercial application of large-scale, high-definition, flat-screen plasma technology. It shows trades and quotes for each stock. The display also shows competing national market system quotes. Clear, legible information is displayed at wide viewing angles. Full color and video capabilities are also provided. The â€Å"Hospital Arm† Monitor is suspended for convenient viewing by specialists. Multiple data sources that are displayed include point-of-sale books, overhead â€Å"crowd† displays, market montage and various vendor services. The list of information sources is going to continue expanding. The Point-of-Sale Display Book is a tool that greatly increases the specialist†s volume handling and processing capabilities. Using powerful workstation technology, this database sysem maintains the limit order book for which the specialist has agency responsibility, assists in the recording and dissemination of trades and quotation changes, and facilitates the research of orders. All of this serves to eliminate paperwork and processing orders. The Consolidated Tape System is an integrated, worldwide reporting system of price and volume data for trades in listed securities in all domestic markets in which the securities are traded. The Hand-Held is a mobile, hand-held device that enables brokers to recieve orders, disseminate reports, and send market â€Å"looks† in both data and image format, from anywhere on the trading floor. Intermarket Trading System is a display that was installed in 1978 linking all major U.S. exchanges. ITS allows NYSE and NASDAQ specialists and brokers to compare the price of a security traded on multiple exchanges in order to get the best price for the investor. These are the machines that have helped greatly increase the buying and selling of stocks over the past few years. There are great advantages to trading today over the situation that past traders had. The biggest beneficiaries of this new technology are investors themselves. They have all day to trade instead of trading only during market hours, they have more stocks to choose from, and the markets are very high so people are making a lot of money. In conclusion, I have discovered that the research I have done on this project has revealed what I originally thought to be true. That is that the stock market has greatly benefitted from the recent advances in technologies.

Coca Cola's Logistics System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Coca Cola's Logistics System - Essay Example However, as the number of products increased, it was not possible to load one stock keeping unit with one product. With the increase in the number of stock keeping units and retail stores, the traditional system could not be continued (Banker, 2010). The trucks carrying the Coca Cola’s products go through the various retail stores and unload. The products are delivered on the basis of order. Hence, the truck drivers work as order takers. The warehouses are stocked with exactly the amount of delivery orders. For better delivery of the products to the retailers, Coca Cola brought trucks with special facilities. The company has succeeded in having an efficient supply chain and it helps to lower its cost of distribution. It knows from experience the kind of trucks needed for its fleet, hires experienced drivers and ensures that they are extremely productive. The logistics requirements of no two businesses are similar. Therefore, logistics, which is a key component of strategy and an important ingredient of marketing, can be tailored to suit the requirements of business and by implication the customers (Fuller & Et. Al., 1993). Logistics can be an important service differentiator. Coca Cola has segmented its customers in Japan based on their logistics requirements. The segmentation is done based on the store needs and the vending machines as the customers are comfortable with. The delivery drivers deliver the products based on the store type. The company is attempting to segment the customer to save the logistics cost. However, accurate segmentation of the customer is not always possible. Some stores want accurate delivery. Coca Cola has opened a new warehouse that is operated automatically. The reason behind opening it is to save on operational cost and better management of inventory. The benefits that this warehouse provides are that it provides better on-site facilities

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 39

Assignment Example Due to limited resources accompanied by the constraint on the same, there is demand for choice hence opportunity cost in economics. In the cases presented, allocation of a square block in the heart of Toronto for a parking lot poses the greatest opportunity cost due to the demand for packing space in the city. 3. The cost of production is $(5*40+7*60+2*60+1*20) = $760. Selling price is $(400*2) = $800. The firm can therefore continue producing bread because a margin of $40 will result. The flow of factors of production to the bakery is good since it will enhance technical efficiency and effectiveness. 4. If supply decreases and demand is constant, prices will rise and quantity reduces. With lower demand and constant supply, prices fall and quantities go up. Increase in supply with constant demand leads to reduced prices by the margin of increase while quantities will flood the market. Depending on the increase in demand and supply, there will be an increase with the same proportions. If demand increases and supply remains the same, there is a constraint created hence prices go up while quantity diminishes. Increase in supply accompanied with reduced demand leads to excess goods in the market hence lowered prices with excess goods in the market. If demand increases and supply decreases, prices will drastically escalate with steep decrease in quantity. If supply decreases alongside demand, prices and quantity would follow in the same proportion (Adil & Janeen 2006pg.57). 5. If price falls and demand is inelastic revenue falls since quantity is constant. Price rise with elastic supply leads to increase in revenue with the same proportion. While in a case, when supply is inelastic, rise in prices also increases revenue (Adil & Janeen 2006pg.194). 6. Price ceilings involve the setting of prices by governments below the equilibrium price to favor the consumers while reducing supplier’s profits. Price floors involve a

The process of globalization and culture in Cape Town Essay

The process of globalization and culture in Cape Town - Essay Example People have forgotten their own culture and their own suffering. Critics take globalization as a factor which is changing their culture and imposing new cultures. What values and cultures did people adapt The high level of interconnectedness among nations, countries and cultures is referred to as globalization. The technological advancement has made the world a small place with almost every thing accessible to mankind (Globalization101, n.p). This high interaction and interdependence causes cultural mix up or cultural hybridization. Some people take consider this as a positive outcome of globalization. According to Rathkopf, globalization is the only way to a better and a more stable world. It is true, that globalization not only reduces cultural barriers but removes the negative aspects of any culture (Rathkopf, n.p). Many other people take globalization as a bargain to their culture and heritage, which is not acceptable to them. These people say that globalization is destroying their roots and their identity i.e. culture (Barlow, n.p). The globalization of products and commodities is considered to be a good thing; however this also has its own negative points. It not only declines the sales of locally made products but also disrupts the local economy. Hence it can be noted that globalization has both positive and negative outcomes. Thi... It not only declines the sales of locally made products but also disrupts the local economy. Hence it can be noted that globalization has both positive and negative outcomes. ABOUT THE REPORT This report will discuss the processes and effects of globalization in Cape Town, South Africa. The first part of the report will discuss the culture of the place and how it is organized. Moreover, how the place runs, will also be discussed. In the second part the effect of globalization on the culture of the place will be discussed. The conclusion will give an overview of what the future holds for the people in Cape Town. THE PLACE Cape Town is the provincial capital of the Western Cape and is probably one of the most beautiful cities of the world. Due to its beautiful beaches and scenery it attracts more tourists than any other place in South Africa. The total population of the city is almost 3.5 million (Statistics of South Africa, n.p). Even though this is a big number, but due to a larger area, the population density of the city is still low. Almost 80% of the households in Cape Town use electricity. Cape Town consists of almost 31% local black Africans. The rest are whites and Asians. This demography clearly states that there are more people from other nations, and hence they have their cultural influence in the area. Moreover, female population in the city is more than male population. Almost 58% of the native blacks are unemployed (Statistics of South Africa, n.p; City of Cape Town, 3-7). Almost 41% of the people in Cape Town speak Afrikaans. The rest speak Xhosa and English. Majority of the population is Christian with almost 10% having no religion at all. Cape Town can be called as the oldest city of South Africa, and it really is. Its oldest building Posthuys

Coursework A300EDN Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Coursework A300EDN - Essay Example Such a team would be managing projects from a remote station which would be realistically implemented in a different corner of the world. Such a job of this nature where I would be a team leader responsible for managing projects from a remote station also requires basic knowledge and information about doing the job correctly. As a team leader, one of the responsibilities would involve mentoring the members of the teams to access information that can help them to execute their duties. There would be need to identify at least five sources to get information relevant to the job which can be free as outlined below. The field of Information Technology (IT) is dynamic, hence it is constantly changing everyday where new innovations are taking place on a daily basis which ought to be carefully monitored. The team members should stay updated with these changes taking place in the field. Such information can be readily available from different, reliable sources which can greatly benefit the workers to gain the much needed knowledge in executing their duties. Such kind of information can be easily accessed from public libraries, professional associations, specialist website search engines, DVDs as well as trade journals. It should be noted that inspiration and motivation of the team towards a common goal would also be integral in this job profile so as to earn trust in the team. Empowering the team members with the relevant information plays a pivotal role in capacity building as a way of motivating and inspiring the team members. In most cases, knowledge is power and it can as well be gained from free information that can be acquired from public libraries. These are free and open to every members of the society where any willing person can get any information. The public libraries are very reliable in that even the most recent information

The Merchant of Venice Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Merchant of Venice - Movie Review Example It is a mixture of comedy and drama, a story about love and hate, written between 1596 and 1598. This 2004 color DVD-Video can be easily found at any DVD store or library, with English language (Dolby digital 5.1) and French subtitles, it is a delightful 131 minutes entertainment. The English screenwriter, documentary film maker and director Michael Radford born in India, in 1946, to a British father and Austrian mother. He has directed the remarkable film Il Postino (Academy award nominated director), and numerous other ones as White Mischief and Dancing at the Blue Iguana. His reputation as a director is very well recognized and the critics of his adaptation of The Merchant of Venice are superb (Michael Radford, from Wikipedia). Simultaneously, the French cinematographer Benot Delhomme makes honor to his brilliant career by enriching the film with his talent. Delhomme graduated in 1982 from Ecole Nationale Suprieure Louis Lumire, and he has an extensive list of films, such as "Trois garcons sur la route" (1983), "Artemisia" (1996), "The talented Mr Ripley" (1998) and "Miss Julie" (1999). His awards include Camerimage Golden frog nom in 1993 for "Mui du du xanh", Csar award nom 1998 for "Artemisia", and Chicago IFF Special Jury Prize 2001 for "Ni neibian jid ian" (Internet encyclopedia, 2007). The cast is remarkable. ... ude Zuleikha Robinson (as Jessica), Kris Marshall (Gratiano), Charlie Cox (Lorenzo), Heather Goldenhersh (Nerissa), Mackenzir Crook (Lancelot Gobbo), Gregor Fisher (Solanio), John Sessions (Salerio), Ron Cook (Old Gobbo), Allan Corduner (Tubal), Anton Rodgers (The Duke), and David Harewood (Prince of Morocco). The play is dated in 1594-97 and the costumes and the set are very well done. The set includes public areas of Venice, the Belmont home of Portia, the house of Shylock, a court of justice in Venice. The plot emphasizes the resentment and mistrust that divide the Jewish and Christian communities of Venice in that period. Shylock, a moneylender and usurer rich Jew, carries and old feeling of resentment against the Christian Antonio, a merchant of Venice, who has insulted him numerous times in public. But he agrees to lend 3000 ducats for three months to Antonio as a way to make friends with Christians. However, the promise involved in the money transaction is that if the money is not repaid in time, he will fine a pound of Antonio's flesh. Meanwhile, in Belmont is Portia, a rich heiress that attracts numerous suitors by her wealth, beauty and virtue. Her father had predetermined that she must marry the man that chooses the casket (1 out of 3) that contains her picture. The Duke of Moro cco and the Prince of Aragon have tried and failed by choosing the gold and silver casket respectively. Bassanio's friend Lorenzo elopes with Shylock's daughter, Jessica. She converts to Christianity and escapes from his father's house with part of his possessions. Bassanio gets in love with Portia, and after choosing the correct casket they married. Portia's maid Nerissa marries Bassanio's friend, Gratiano. In the meantime, Bassanio's ships failed to return on time for him to give

It's Beginning to Hurt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

It's Beginning to Hurt - Essay Example He gets astonished to see a young woman that his father was marrying. Although he lacks authority over his father’s choice in marriage, he commands to a great extend through his facial expression that the woman was not the best for his father. The father is the most authoritative person in the setup. He cautions his son not to send a message that can instigate his wife to leave him for his son. The father who is now a widower had earlier been a victim of infidelity in his marriage and were not ready to face the situation again. The newly wedded wife also shows some authority when she offers to embrace her stepson. The son had missed the nuptial, but heads to the reception. He was dressed in a muddy clothes after getting stuck into the mud on his way to the wedding. The mud he got stuck in acted as a cleansing agent for the admiration of his father’s wife. His stepmother embraces him in his muddy clothes as a way of showing him love and as an authority that she will love him just like her son. The three characters best demonstrates the authoritative personality in the

The theme of loneliness the most in the novel Of Mice And Men Essay Example for Free

The theme of loneliness the most in the novel Of Mice And Men Essay A guy goes nuts if he aint got nobody. Dont matter no difference who the guy is, longs he with you. I tell ya a guy gets to lonely an he gets sick. This is a very interesting definition of loneliness brought to us by Crooks, one of the pivotal characters, along with Candy and Curleys wife, whom develop the theme of loneliness the most in the novel. Steinbecks novel Of Mice and Men is set at the time of the Great Depression after the stock market crash of 1929. The currency is almost worthless and people can afford little possessions. Due to the situation, many people move from place to place to find work. This means they are never in one place long enough to form any relationships, thus being a very lonely existence: Guys like us, that live on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. George and Lennie are the two main characters of the novel, they find work in a ranch near Soledad: even the name of the small town recalls Solitude, furthermore soledad means loneliness in Spanish. Which emphasises the power and role loneliness has in the novel. Steinbeck infact emphasises loneliness, powerlessness, and isolation, and his hatred for it throughout the novel. He contrasts this with the companionship of George and Lennie. They are the only men who actually travel together,and look out for each other, and this is proved by the way everyone is suspicious of their friendship. The three characters I have chosen to describe the theme of loneliness are very jealous of the two mens friendship. They are: Crooks, Candy and Curleys wife. Crooks is a black man that is isolated because of the racist society of the early Twentieth Century. The loneliness that Crooks feels is created by the discrimination of the white ranchers towards him. Crooks does not know how to relate to other people because he is mistreated, he is disrespected and isolated: he cant participate at the daily events with the other white people, he doesnt know how to control his frustration and therefore is angry at everyone. Cause Im black. They play cards in there, but I cant play because Im Black. They say I stink. Well I tell you, you all stink to me! Moreover, no one likes living in a barn and working with horses all day long, Crooks spends all his nights reading to take shelter from society. Crooks is fascinated by George and Lennies strong friendship Well, spose, jus spose he dont come back. Whatll you do then? Crooks asks such questions, because having no friends he doesnt know how it feels. he tries in every way to seek understanding and to begin friendships with other people, he would do anything to come out of his solitude and depression. If youguys would want a hand to work for nothing Just his keep, why Id come an lend a hand. I aint so crippled I can work like a son-of-a-bitch if I want to. Crooks, too, experiences the emotional bleakness of the majority of the characters drawn by Steinbeck in this story, as shown in his jealousy of George and Lennies friendship and his desire to join in the dream of part-owning their own ranch. Crooks wants to participate in George and Lennies dream not only because he wants to leave the hostile ranch he works in but because he too wants to be involved in their friendship. Candy is an old, physically disabled swamper. He has worked on the ranch for a great part of his life, and it is on this very farm he was victim of a machinery accident which cost his hand, leaving him behind money but loneliness. His old age and his handicap make him feel useless, this thought makes him more handicapped than his missing hand. He feels like a useless old man who is wasting the last few years of his miserable life. He is haunted by the idea of losing his job because he is a cripple and that this will then further lead him to death. I got hurt four years ago. Theyll can purty soon. Jusas soon as I cant swamp out no bunk houses theyll put me on the county Candy thinks that no one wants to be his friend because he has missing a hand. He is often invited by the other people on the ranch to drink and play cards but always refuses because he has a very low self-esteem, so Candy is putting a loneliness tag on himself and not the other people. At the end he tries to make friends joining George and Lennies dream: to have their own ranch. This is one of Candys feeble attempts to make place for himself in society, and to give himself a goal in life. Ill wash the dishes an little chick stuff like that. But Ill be on your own place, an Ill be let to work on our own place. After Candy lost his dog he felt even more lonely than before, his dog was the only possession Candy actually owned and that he could take care of by himself. After his death Candy owned nothing, not one important thing. The relationship between Candy and his dog is the same as that between George and Lennie. While George had Lennie and the other ranchers had each other, Candy on the other hand had no one, and this led him to depression and loneliness. No one else in the book shared the same dreams as Candy. This is why he so desperately seeks attention from George and Lenny. He even offers them money, but as its well known money doesnt buy friendship Maybe if I give you money, youll let me how in the garden even after I aint no good at it. Curleys wife is another pivotal character and her hasty marriage to Curley proves to be another failed attempt of escaping from her own spiral of loneliness. In addition, his failure to satisfy her either emotionally or physically leads her to seek solace in the other men even those at the very bottom of the social hierarchy of the ranch. Curleys wife is a tease to everybody on the ranch. She will dress and act in a provocative way. She uses her beautiful body to attract attention; she does this so she will feel less lonely. These acts make her feel wanted and important, because she always has everyones eyes on her, but at the same it gives her a bad reputation, and so none of the ranchers wants to talk to her. This seek for attention prevents her from getting rid of the sexual image the other men have of her. Maybe you better go along to you own house now. We dont want no trouble. George sees Curleys wife as a very dangerous threat, he soon refers to her as rat trap. This shows us how radical sexism was like in the 1930s and how woman were treated in that society. Although the sympathy we at first feel for her soon diminishes due to her cruelty, and the she treats: Candy Crooks and Lennie referring to them as a nigger an a dum- dum and a lousy ol sheep moreover she dismisses their dream as Balony. Curleys wife notices how simple-minded Lennie is and takes advantage of that situation. She knows that Lennie is the only person, with whom she can discuss her problems. Her type of loneliness is caused when there is no one around you to talk to. This underlines the sexist society of the time, a society that didnt care of a womens opinion; a society that only looked at women in cat houses and brothels. Curleys wife was aware of this and tried to seek attention through her body, Maybe Curleys wife demanded too much of Lennys simple mind, more that what he could give to her: without meaning to, he kills her. Curleys wifes death can be seen both as a tragedy and as something positive because she ended all of her sufferings. All these three characters are very alike even though they have different types of solitude, because everyone tries to solve their problems in some way. All three also try to get closer to George and Lennis friendship. Solitude is an inevitable fact of life, an important phase of growth that not even the strongest people can avoid.

Mexican American Journal Entry Essay Example for Free

Mexican American Journal Entry Essay It has been 11 years since we have arrived to Los Angeles, California. I can still remember the feeling of when my father had said to us that he we would be moving to a far place to try to find better jobs for my mother and him because with the two jobs my father had and the washing and ironing of other peoples clothes my mom did was not bringing enough money to support my sisters and me and did they wanted to provide a better life for my sisters and me. Mexico was such a poor country that my parents could not see themselves make enough money to support my sisters and me, let alone see us get a better education. So my parents decide to migrate to the United States with one of my mother’s brother. We arrived in Los Angeles, California on July 16, 1931, with my Aunt Julia and Uncle Fernando. My family and I were so happy to finally arrive to the U. S. to live the â€Å"American Dream. † Soon we would find out that our dreams would come crushing down fast. After settling down, my mother decided it was time to enroll my sisters and me into school. My mother asked my Aunt Julia and Uncle Fernando what my sisters and I need to enroll into school but since my aunt and uncle did not have any children, they were unable to tell my parents the information we would need. As my mother, my sisters and I walked into the school we could notice all the â€Å"gringos† looking at us in a weird way (looking at us like we did not belong there). My mother can right away tell that there was something wrong that we would not be accepted into that school. My mom was correct, as we entered the office the school secretary told my mother that we were not welcomed there and that if she wanted to enroll us into school it needed to be in a segregated Mexican school. Walking out of the school with confusion on her face, my mother saw an elderly Mexican American woman who spoke Spanish and asked her if she knew the reason we were not accepted into the school. The woman proceeded to explain to my mother that in the past few years many Mexicans were migrating to the U. S forced by the economic and political disorder produced by the Mexican Revolution and were tempted by jobs in U. S. agribusiness and industry that many Americans feared losing their jobs to underpaid illegal immigrants. Americans could not deal with losing the jobs they had especially during this time of the Great Depression. The elderly woman proceeded to explain to my mother that Mexicans were not welcomed to California or other parts of the country, that Mexicans were discriminated against and that we only had to go to schools that were for Mexicans only, that the only language we could speak in the schools regardless if they were for Mexicans only was English. She read my mother some signs that said, â€Å"NO MEXICANS ALLOWED. † She continued to tell my mother which neighborhoods we could not enter and which we could. If we saw signs like the ones she read for us, then we should be aware that we were not wanted there. After finding an all Mexican school for my sisters and me, my parents thought the hard part was over. I would here them talking in their bed room that as long as they did not bother the â€Å"gringos† or got in there way we would not have anything to worry about but they were wrong. Shortly after being able to find jobs for themselves, I began to see my parents worried and listening to their radios all the time. They had just found out that Mexicans were being deported back to Mexico regardless of their legal status. The news stated that tens of thousands of Mexican families were arrested and sent to jail for 10 days before they were sent to Mexico by train, because of an anti-immigrant campaign that the Americans had done. Those families were not given a chance to proof if any family members were U. S citizens. Families were not given the chance to take anything with them. The news also began announcing free trains rides back to Mexico for Mexican American and Mexicans who wished to voluntarily be taken back to Mexico. I can remember seeing my mother cry because she said she did not want to return to Mexico and live in the horrible conditions we were living in before. She begged my father to do something so we did not have to return to Mexico. One day my father came home telling my mother that he had heard of migrant work camps established by the U. S. Farm Security Administration, or FSA and that they had a possibility of getting jobs there to stay in the U. S. The camps provided housing, food, and medicine for immigrant families as well as safety from any criminal elements that can take advantage of defenseless immigrants. We had the possibility of staying we were extremely happy!! Little by little more Mexicans have extended their stay as well as the places were we live at. The most popular places where Mexicans live at now are Chicago, California, and New York. We stayed in the U. S. , my sisters and I are receiving a great education and compared to Mexico, I think we are now living the American Dream!!!! Reference: Depression and the Struggle for Survival. (2005, April 20). Immigration. Retrieved August 10, 2008, from The Library of Congress. Koch, W. (2006, April 4). 1930s Deportees Await Apology. USA TODAY. Retrieved from http:www. usatoday. com.

The Great Eastern Life Assurance Company Limited

The Great Eastern Life Assurance Company Limited Great Eastern started to operate in 26 August 1908 as a branch office of The Great Eastern Life Assurance Company Limited. It has the distinction of being the oldest life insurance company in Malaysia and Singapore and it is owned subsidiary of Great Eastern Holdings Limited (GEH) and its parent company is Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (OCBC). It was transferred to a locally incorporated public company, Great Eastern Life Assurance (Malaysia) Berhad. The Chief Executive Officer, CEO of Great Eastern is Mr. Koh Yaw Hui. Great Eastern was certified as the â€Å"Oldest and Largest Life Insurer† in Malaysia by the Malaysia Book of Records in 1998. It is the largest and most established insurance company in the country with 24 branch offices nationwide and a strong service network of more than 17,000 agents. These locations include Alor Setar, Batu Pahat, Bintulu, Ipoh, Klang, Melaka, Penang and so on. The main office located at Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur. Besides that they also expand their business to China, Indonesia and Brunei. According to statistic, Great Eastern is the largest group and market leader in Malaysia and Singapore with the total assets of $45 billion and 3million policyholder. Among the 16 insurance companies in Malaysia, Great Eastern is the largest in term of assets and biggest in term of market share compare to other competitor. The slogan of Great Eastern is â€Å"Life is great!† and the mission of Great Eastern is to make life great by providing financial security, and promoting good health and meaningful relationships and their vision is to be the leading financial service provider in Asia. As a company dedicated to the people business, it always provides solution on financial planning, protection and savings to meet their customers’ needs. Generations of individuals, families and businesses have been and will continue to be assured of their financial security with the companys full range of products such as life insurance plan, investment-linked plans, mortgage protection, business protection, employee benefits, medical insurance and group health benefit schemes. Great Eastern also offers full range of products to the potential customers whether individuals, families or organizations. Great Eastern offers flexible and affordable group health benefits and protection schemes to both the corporate and public sectors employees. Customers can purchase the products and services provided by the company according to their needs through the agents. Now a day, Great Eastern is on the track to becoming the leading financial service provider in Asia. Further, Great Eastern is ready to be the only choice of financial service provider in the region and beyond in accordance of integrity, initiative and involvement. Thus, Great Eastern has introduced a variety of products to meet consumer needs. Those products may classify into several categories as life insurance, health protection, investment-link, retirement planning and saving plan. Great Eastern continues to forge ahead through the greater use of proven leading-edge technologies to improve their business processes to create a unique customer service experience, and deliver greater value to their clients. On their website, they offer e-Connect facilities to allow policyholders to obtain their policy information on-line. It will reduce the cost for searching the information. In order to smoothen the operation and better manage their enormous customer base, Great eastern has adopts many Information technology (IT) and information system (IS) from the market-leading insurer and help to transform the company operation. Different system used by different department such as top management, middle management and operational management. Every department will used different information system according to the function and operations. The information systems adopted by Great Eastern are outsourcings also in-house development. It means that they purchase the relevant software and hardware from the market most of the time to save their cost and also develop the in-house software to perform the specific job and more easily to meet the business requirement. With the help of current IT and IS, the company are able to perform their business effectively and consistency. Besides that it will also resulted in higher level of performance, reliability and scalability of company and it delivers greater value to their clients. Senior Management Team 1. Loke Kah Meng Executive V. President Head Customer Management 2. Margaret Fong Senior V. President Head Operations 3. Lee Pooi Hor Senior V. President Head Information Technology 4. Michelle Tan Yee Ming Head, Group Audit 5. Koh Yaw Hui Chief Executive Officer 6. Cheong Soo Ching Senior V. President Head Risk Management 7. Nancy Lim Senior V. President Head Human Capital 8. Chan Choong Tho Chief Investment Officer 9. Yong Chee Keong Senior V. President Head Customer Acquisition 10. Bruce Lee Executive V. President Head Finance Corporate Affairs 11. Sophia Ch’ng Appointed Actuary 12. Liza Hanim Vice President Company Secretary b) Explore and analyze the current application of IT/IS Across different levels of management Across different functional units Great Eastern is a company that we going to do research. Great Eastern is the largest insurance company in Malaysia and the business had run over 100 years with the supporting from customers. There are over 3 million policyholders for the company. The company has used sophisticate system to run the business. Great Eastern using different information technology and information system to carry their business day-to-day and they used the information system to manage the company more effectively and efficiency. Basically the company used Oracle ERP system which is Oracle E-Business Suite to manage whole enterprise. The company consist of different departments such as Finance and Accounting department, Human Resource department, Sales and Marketing department and Customer Relationship Management department. Each department used different information systems for their operations but all the systems are linked to the Oracle E- Business Suite system. Oracle E-Business Suite Financials Human Resources Projects CRM SCM There are many systems used by the company and the main information system used by the finance department is Oracle Financials (OFIN). The main user of this information system is all the personnel in Finance department. Oracle Financials (OFIN) is one of a group under the Oracle E-Business Suite and it consists of five modules or also known as Oracle Applications. The five applications of the Oracle Financials are Oracle General Ledger, Oracle Payables, Oracle Receivables, Oracle Assets and Oracle Cash Management. Besides using Oracle Financials (OFIN), the company also use other communication system and office system to run their daily business. The communication systems used by the company are E-mail, MSN, and Skype. The communication software allowed the personnel and manager interact with each other and the office they are using is Microsoft Office 2007 such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint. The application of system and software will change when it com e across different level of management. By using Oracle E-Business Suite, it helps Great Eastern to reduce the cost of automating centralizing global transaction processes and produced streamline reporting across its branch offices in Malaysia. The management said that the information maintenance cost of the company have been reduced by 35% after implemented the system. Oracle provides new solutions that help financial institutions include Great Eastern to improve customer intimacy, build competitive advantage among competitor, reduce costs by automating and centralizing the transactional processes and mitigate enterprise risk and it continues to build its financial services leadership. Great Eastern use Oracle E-Business Suite Financials to support their business is because it can meets global financial reporting such as International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) and tax requirements by using only one accounting, banking, tax and payments model. Besides that, it delivers pre-integrated financial and industry-specif ic processes and it makes Great Eastern easy to operate shared services across their businesses and regions. As it provides very consistent operation and financial information to the user, it helps the company make the correct decision on investment and business decisions with integrated performance management and business intelligence. The management of Great Eastern had divided into three categories which are executive management, middle management and operational management. The executive management includes the highest management positions in the company such as CEO and CIO, who is primarily responsible for strategic decision making also known as unstructured decisions that centre on the companys overall goals. Every decision is important and non-routine. They will determine the long term objectives, resources and policies of the organization such like where to invest, approve the capital budget and oversee the middle management. While the middle management of Great Eastern such as Finance Department manager is responsible for implementing the strategic decision such as develop a budgeting plan and investment proposal. They make semi-structured decisions which are short-range decision and will oversee operational management. The last layer in the enterprise are operational management includes all the personnel who involved in daily transaction. They need to determine how to carry out the specific tasks set by executive and middle management decision makers. They need to monitor the transaction carefully and ought to follow the procedure. In this case, the staffs of the Great Eastern need to record the transactions make by policyholders and make sure the data is correct. Oracle Applications is installed and link to the servers of a Great eastern. All the personnel from different levels of management in the company include CEO, department manager and normal employees will be given a user name and the password to link to the server. Basically, they connect to the servers in their LAN by using their browsers. The user will receive a menu to choose their responsibility before they proceed to receive another menu of functions to perform. The user may key in the data or what is happening at the company ground needs in a form in applications. In this situation the applications will not allowed to proceed further if there is any errors because the errors will be arrested at every step. The outputs will be a dozens of reports in a different format for Business Intelligence so that the users can make informed decisions based on timely information and for decision makers; they will understand better what is actually happening. The fives modules of Oracle Financials are Oracle General Ledger, Oracle Assets, Oracle Payables, Oracle Receivables and Oracle Cash Management. Oracle Financials 5 modules: Financials Assets (FA) General Ledger (GL) Receivables (AR) Payables (AP) Cash Management (CM) Oracle General Ledger Enterprise G/L Accounting Oracle General Ledger is the most scalable general ledger and the fastest in the market. It can post 40 million journal lines per hour and thus help the company cut down the time in preparing the financial report. It is the most important module which is used to manage the accounting and financial information of Great Eastern. The Oracle General Ledger will tell the company that how much profit they have generate, how much expenses they have incurred, how much assets and liabilities of the company. All the information flows from different modules into Oracle General Ledger module which manages the accounting and helps the management to make decision. Oracle General Ledger provides highly automated financial processing and real time visibility to financial results. Besides, Oracle General Ledger also can support different types of journal processing options. The system allows tailoring the chart up to 30 segments and 25 characters per segment. The user just can enter the segments they would like to enquiry then the system will show the results. Another feature of this system is the chart of account will be secured and prevent other people to access and retrieve the private data. Besides, Oracle General Ledger also can support different types of journal processing options. The user can combine journals and schedule the journals to be generated automatically and it provides spreadsheet integration for journals, reporting, budgets and currency rates. Oracle Asset Enterprise FA Assets The second module of Oracle Financials (OFIN) is Oracle Assets which is used to manage the assets of Great Eastern. The assets could be anything like laptop and computer in the company. With the help of Oracle Assets, the asset management would be automated and accounting tasks would be simplified. Standard accounting, operational, and registry reports are available to ease reconciliation and analysis. Oracle Assets allowed the user to define the depreciation rules according to the regulatory and business needs. The company can choose the method to according to the needs. Great Eastern is a global enterprise; the company is focus on the business in South East Asia. Different country used different depreciation rules to calculate the depreciation charges. As the company grows internationally, Great Eastern need an integrated, flexible system grows exponentially. In this situation, Oracle Assets supports complex reporting requirements includes worldwide financial and tax standards. Great Eastern can obey any regulatory requirements from other country by using flexible user-defined rules to calculate depreciation charge. Oracle Payables Enterprise Vendor AP The third module is Oracle Payables which is used to manage the vendors or the suppliers of the company. The transaction record or data need to enter by the operational level includes what has the company purchased from which vendor? When to pay the suppliers? Does the company pay on time? What methods they used for payment such as by credit or cash? All the transactions between the company and supplier will be record in the Oracle Payables. In the Payment Process Request window, it will show the details about the suppliers with the Great Eastern. It shows the amount, the name of vendor, date of purchased and the schedule of payments. The schedule of payments include the payment currency, amount remaining, discounts given, interest due and also total amount payable. With the help of Oracle Payables, it will optimize the payment strategies of the enterprise. The middle management is given the tools to control the cash flow, oversee the operational management to minimize the errors and the problems of overpayments. Besides that, the system also helps to eliminate the inefficiencies with the standard reports that allow the manager to eliminate the identical or double payments. Another way is Oracle Payables provides real-time, accurate cash position and speculate information so the manager can plans the payment and expenses properly. So in overall, Oracle Payables can improves the margins, infuse corporate and fiscal discipline, and optimizes business relationships between Great Eastern and their suppliers. Oracle Receivables AR Enterprise Customers The fourth module of Oracle Financials is Oracle Receivables. Basically, the information for Oracle Receivables not much different compared to Oracle payables. The difference is this system is used to manage the customers or receivables so it will tell the company that the name of the customers, items bought from the customers such as what insurance policy purchased by the customers. Besides that it would state the payment methods used by the customers and the date of payment made by customers. By using this system, it will show the credit rating of the customers due to the pass payment made by them. All the transactions between Great Eastern and their customers will be recorded in this system. In the Oracle Receivables streamlines invoice entry, it shows the name of the customers, address, contact number, policy number, types of payment, amount of premium, due date, interest due if any and etc. Besides that, it allows the company to increase their cash flow and minimize the bad debt through Oracle Receivables system and better control for the manager. Oracle Receivables allows company to go globalization. With this system, Great Eastern has the flexibility to respond to the global market needs, support any regulatory requirements and so present documents in customer’s language and also enhanced customer relationship. With the flexibility, it helps the enterprise to calculate the currency gain or loss automatically so the finance staffs they no need do the complex calculation by themselves and also able to report in multiple currencies. Oracle Cash Management CM Enterprise Bank The last module of Oracle Financials is Oracle Cash Management. It helps the company to reconcile the bank statement and it will tells that whether bank has made error not, how many bank accounts the company have and also what is the status of the bank account. It allows Great Eastern to manage the firms liquidity and control of cash. Oracle Cash Management gives the company directs access to expected cash flows from their operational systems. By using the company can analyze enterprise wide cash requirements, cash management and currency exposures more quickly, to ensure liquidity and optimal use of cash resources. As it provides flexibility in cash forecasting, in different currencies, different organization and for multiple time periods, the middle and senior management can use the system to forecast the cash flow in future based on forecasted transactions for example outstanding orders and invoices that may be create a cash flow in future. Besides that, real time cash positioning will minimize the idle cash. Real time cash positioning is important to prevent overdrafts of bank balance and helps the company manage their liquidity effectively. c) Explain how the use of such IT/IS application can help to change or manage the organization decision making and business process. Information Flow Payables (AP) Assets (FA) General Ledger (GL) Cash Management (CM) Receivables (AR) Great Eastern Finance department had used Oracle E-Business Suite to automate their general ledger and accounts payable and receivable processing, cash management and as well as their fixed assets. Oracle E-business Suite able to help the company automate budgeting, purchasing and any forecasting process include future cash flow and thus allow for online payment to the supplier or vendor. Without the information system, they have to do all financial budgeting and forecasting job manually by using the Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and it will cause time consuming and the information produced may not be accurate and limited. Each module in the Oracle Financials will talk to each other means that information from one module will flow to each other although they are stand alone software. In this case, the management is easier to retrieve different information from different area. By using standardized software, it simplifies interdepartmental sharing of data as well as information and they are able to get all the information they want. Besides that, the information system will also help to manage the enterprise risk and reduce compliance costs. All the modules will link together and it will provide sufficient reliable information for the management of Finance department to make any short term or long term decisions. For example, the Oracle Financials modules are linked to each other, the Finance manager can refer to different modules at the same time to forecast future cash flow and to control the daily transaction more effective. The manager may use the software to make a right investment decision in the business. Great Eastern used Oracle E-Business Suite to improve their budgeting and planning. The Finance manager of Great Eastern enters department budget and submits for the senior management to approve. Using the Oracle Cash Management and Oracle Assets, the user can immediately prepare the financial budget and forecast report after approved. Oracle Assets For Oracle Assets, operational management which involves Finance staffs have to enter the original cost of the assets, the useful life of the assets, and the most important step is to choose the depreciation method which the company complied with in order to calculate the accurate depreciation amount for each year. By using the Oracle Assets, it gives the company and department more accurate visibility of capital investments and therefore the middle management like Finance manager will has better control over their capital investment. Once the Finance manager inquiries for the ad-hoc report, he may use the powerful Asset Inquiry to access the information he looking for, including transaction history of the clients, financial details, depreciation profile, capital project details and financial details. The senior management of Great Eastern able to optimize their accounting and tax strategies by projecting depreciation expenses with what-if depreciation analysis. With the assist of Oracle Assets, it drives better decision making and able to optimized business processes at lowest cost. Oracle Cash Management For oracle Cash Management, the operational management will enter all the past transaction data into Oracle Cash Management for example the cash inflow and cash outflow then the system will calculate the net cash flow. The middle management they only enter the duration they going to forecast for example 3 months from now, they also need to choose the forecast currency then the system will do the calculation and forecast the future cash flow of the company. The Finance manager can base on the forecasted result and decide how to allocate the cash and how much to invest in which area to maximize the revenue of company. The user can do their budgeting and forecasting without rely on the hard copy report, because all the data will easily and quickly turns up on time which will increase the accuracy of forecast. It will also make sure the accurate information of the company’s assets between Finance department and line of business will help the manager make better decision on budgeti ng. Without the assist of the system, it may take up to 2 weeks to make the report available to the manager. After preparing the budget and forecast report, it will helps the Finance manager to have an clearer picture on how to allocate the funds in different area of investments such as shares market, bond, unit trust or deposits. In addition, Oracle Cash Management can build a cash forecast based on forecasted transactions like outstanding order and invoices. With this, the user in Finance department can analysis the past transactions from the customers and suppliers such as receipt and past payments into future. Once the budget and forecast report was approved, the budget data will be upload into Oracle General Ledger for combination. After that the budget is ready to use by the Finance department. Besides that, the month-end report also can be created within a day allowed the faster response to inquiry by the Finance manager. Oracle General Ledger Finance department staffs are using Oracle General Ledger and Oracle Cash Management to done their day-to-day business transaction include oversee the invoicing, budgeting and also company cash flow. The Oracle applications are integrated with each other, it makes the financial information more stable and reliable and stored in a single database. It gives the higher visibility to the manager into financial matters. Basically the manager will have confident in making any financial decisions because the data provided is accurate and is the latest one considered as up-to-date data. Operational management in Great Eastern Finance department used the Oracle General Ledger to enter the daily accounting transaction. The finance staffs just need to enter the correct data such as the premium amount; expenses and amount claim from policyholders then the system will help them to perform the task. Since the system performs the task in automated way, it will minimize the error make by people and increase the efficiency. For middle management, they will oversee the operational level. Since Oracle General Ledger provides flexible chart of accounts and reporting structures, the finance department manager can based on the report and make the decision. Oracle General Ledger allows the middle management to have a complete control and flexibility to design their own chart of accounts. They need to know the amount of insurance premium delay or accrue by the policyholders and send the notifications to reminder them to pay off. Furthermore, they can control the budget and expenses made by the department based on the accounting record. Oracle General Ledger also provides flexibility to the management level to response to their inquiry. The manager only enters the segment they want then the system will show the result to manager. From the result, the manager will know the balance of the account, the amount paid to the suppliers and received from customers. The senior management use Oracle General Ledger to check on the profitability revenue growth of the Great Eastern. The CEO of the company can use the system to check the balance each month because the system provides the feature of automated month-end close processing. It allows the senior management to optimize the use of resources they have such as, cash, assets and budget to generate more income for company in future. From the accounting record, Finance department will know the profitability revenue growth in the past; it will help the company to make better decision in the future and fully utilize the resources that the company has to generate higher revenue by referring to the accounting record produced by Oracle General Ledger. Oracle General Ledger’s Financial Statement Generator (FSG) improves the precisely and timeliness of financial reporting. FSG supports many output options includes PDF, HTML, text and spreadsheet outputs. In addition, the staffs are allowed to create quality reports by defining the report layouts using word processing application and leveraging formatting features like change the font size, colour and adding logo. Oracle Receivables Oracle Receivables is a module which enables the Finance department to manage all the transaction made by the customers. The staffs have to enter the information of the customers like name, policy number, date, types of purchases and amount of purchases in order to reduce the error. Oracle Receivables will do calculation with data, determine the premium amount need to pay by the policyholders and calculate the interest due if the policyholders failed to pay the premium on time. The task will be automated so it will help to reduce the personal error and provide more accurate and timely data. Based on this system, the operational management will send the notification letter to the customers and tell the customers when they need to pay the premium. Basically the information from this system will flow to Microsoft Office- Microsoft Word in preparing the notification for customers. In order to optimize customer relationships with the company and provide strategic information, Oracle Receivables allows the finance staffs to streamline invoicing and receipt. The data enter will be saved in the database and easy for user to retrieve data next time. In addition, it will let the management know the credit rating of the customers and so they will always focus on the loyal customers once they introduce new product. With the assist of Oracle Receivables, the middle management know who is unlikely to make payment on time and they will find out the solutions try to enhanced the relationship between the customers with enterprise and reducing the time and effort required to process customer payments thus resolve disputes. By using Oracle Receivables, the senior management of the company can provides variety of convenient payments to the customers to make payment like using credit card, debit card, check or cash. This will encourage timely payment and reduce their day sales outstanding (DSO). Oracle Payables Oracle Payables are deal with the transaction for suppliers. By using this system, it will tell the company when they should pay to the suppliers. Oracle Payables will show the amount, date and the name of person or organization that the company should pay on time in order to maintain a good credit rating and trustworthily form the creditor. With the help of Oracle Payables, it will optimize the payment strategies of the enterprise. The middle management is given the tools to control the cash flow, oversee the operational management to minimize the errors and the problems of overpayments. The management level can based on this system decide what types of payment they should pay first and what the payment method is. This system supports shared services functionality which promotes best practice for Great Eastern. Besides that, Oracle Payables also provide full scale support for Great Eastern including foreign currency transactions and also future date payment. So in overall, Oracle Payables can improves the margins, infuse corporate and fiscal discipline, and optimizes business relationships between Great Eastern and their suppliers. Office and communication system For Office Automation System (OAS), Great Eastern Finance department using Microsoft Office 2007 in perform their daily business. It is designed to increase the productivity of data workers in the office by supporting the coordinating and communicating activities of the typical office. The most common office tools used by the finance staffs are Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. The staffs are using Microsoft Word to prepare the report and letter or document required by the manager. Basically, the financial report of Oracle Financials will link to Microsoft Word and PDF directly so the staffs no need to prepare again the report by their own. The Finance staffs use Microsoft Excel to do some simple calculation such as the total premium amount paid by the customers, the monthly collection, interest payment and etc. Besides that, they also used Microsoft PowerPoint when there is a meeting of the department. The presenter will show the slides by using Microsoft PowerPoint to make it mor e interesting. Besides that, the company also uses communication software in order to communicate with each level of the department. The most common communication way is to use E-mail. Each staffs in the company from lowest to top management are given their own E-mail address for internal use and external use. For the internal use, the colleague can send the document, notice or information through E-mail to a

Abortion Is Wrong Essay -- Pro-Life, Argumentative Essay

Each person has their own view concerning abortion, but the majority of people have little knowledge about abortion. Abortion in teens is increasing every year, since morality concerns no longer seem to carry much weight with teens. There are many medical hazards associated with an abortion procedure. Americans feel that it is only the mother's choice whether or not to abort the fetus. The legalization of abortions occurred in 1973 after the Roe v. Wade case was won by Roe1 . Norma McCorrey, ?Jane Roe,? claimed to have been raped and filed a lawsuit against Dallas County District Attorney, Henry Wade, for not allowing Roe to get the abortion that she wanted (Radl 46). When the case went to trial on January 22, 1973 a seven to three vote allowed Roe to proceed with the abortion ( 46). Later, after the verdict, Roe stated that she was never raped and only wanted an abortion for her own convenience. On January 11,1973 Doe v. Bolton and Roe v. Wade cases ultimately stated, ?that an abortion, even when the unborn is seven, eight, or nine months old (after conception), can be performed for virtually any reason, including the mother?s emotional stress caused by her pregnancy as long as it is done by licensed physician,? (Beckwith and Geisler 49). Before 1973 the American Law Institute (ALI) held three conditions for legal abortions; rape or incest, fetus would be deformed, and women?s mental or physical health was in great danger (Radl 33). Webster?s Dictionary defines execution as, ?to put to death in accordance with a legally impose sentence,? which murder is defined as, ?to kill a person unlawfully with a malice,? (Bender and Leone 34). When people ignorantly say that abortion is murder that is an untrue statement because abortion is execution. No matter what people refer abortion to it as it is still killing a living human fetus. In Roe?s case the Supreme Court was blind to all aspects or moral limitations. About one million illegal abortions were performed in the United States in 1972 (174). The number of illegal abortion has increased to twelve million abortions a year. One woman changed history forever after a simple lie that she told just to save herself from having an unplanned child. If the law of 1959 still existed today with mandatory court cases for each abortion situation the teenagers and the women who do not desire ... ...ress, 1993. Molk, Yuda. Common Sense About Abortion: The Issue Dividing America. Washington D.C.: Common Sense Press, 1992. Mrela, Christopher K., Ph.D, Assistant Registrar of Vital Statistics. Abortion Surveillance Report: Arizona, 1984-1994. Phoenix: Arizona Department of Health Services, Public Health Services, Office of Health Planning, Evaluation and Statistics, Arizona Center for Health Statistics, 1995. Nathanson, Bernard N., M.D. The Hand of God:A Journey from Death to Life be the Abortion Doctor Who Changed His Mind. Washington D.C.: Regnery Publishing, Inc., 1996. Pollitt, Katha. ?Abortion in American History.? The Atlantic Monthly May 1997: 111-115. Radl, Shirley L. Over our Living Bodies; Preserving Choice in America. Dallas: Steve Davis Publishing, 1989. Reardon, David C. Aborted Women, Silent No More. Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1987. Roleff, Tamara L., ed. Abortion: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1997. Simon, Stephanie. ?Rural Doctors Weigh RU-486.? Los Angeles Times 26 Nov. 2000: A12. The Holy Bible: King James Version. Salt Lake City: The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-Day Saints, 1989.

Benefits of Vegetarianism :: Healthy Lifestyle Essay

More than 10 billion animals are killed for our plates each year. These animals are drugged and starved each day. Almost none of the animals ever see daylight. Majority of the mothers ever see their young. Shortly after giving birth, the mothers are sent away to cruel veal farms to feed humans their calves. Fish on aquafarms spend their entire life in filthy enclosures. Forty percent of them die because diseases and parasite infections. On some farms, conditions are so horrendous that majority of them die before they can get packaged. But that is not as alarming as what continues. Most of the innocent animals are killed so horrifically, that the poor animals which have only brought goodness, have their throats slit while they are fully conscious. More than fifteen million people in the United States of America are vegetarians. The consumption of eating meat, dairy, and eggs have been strongly linked to Alzheimer’s disease, and asthma. Meat-eaters are nine times more likely to be obese than vegetarians. Animal products clog your arteries, zap your energy and slow down your immune system. Vegetarians have stronger immune systems than their meat-eating friends, making them less vulnerable to everyday illnesses such as colds, and flues. There’s a bonus also to becoming a vegetarian - you live longer on average six to ten years! The oldest person in the world was a vegetarian - living until 117 years! Vegetarians grow taller and have higher IQs than their classmates. They are also at a lower risk for heart diseases, diabetes, and obesity. Even older people who switch to a vegetarian diet can prevent and even reverse chronic mental diseases! Meat-eating is why our teeth grow crooked, and why our jaws are small. Not very many people know exactly what part of the body they are eating. We are actually supposed to be omnivores. Compare our teeth to those of a carnivore. A carnivore’s teeth are used to tear apart meat. Ours are not. We do not have ‘canine teeth’. Animal fat is saturated fat and cholesterol, which both have been linked to various health problems, including heart diseases, and cancer. A group fifteen scientists declared that up to 40 percent of cancers are preventable. Most people think that vegetarians don’t get enough protein. But this is an old wives’ tale. Vegetarians do get enough protein. Is it possible to get enough protein on a vegetarian diet?

A Class Divided Reflection Essay

Everyone is likely to experience some form of discrimination or prejudice; as is anyone capable of acting prejudiced towards others. On April 5th, 1968, a teacher in Riceville, Iowa named Jane Elliot conducted an experiment with her third grade class that dealt with the concept of discrimination; and was documented in Peters’ 1985 ‘A Class Divided’. The exercise originally took place the day after Martin Luther King was assassinated. The documentary is an eye opener to the world of racism and discrimination. Bucher (2010) describes racism as â€Å"discrimination based on the belief that one race is superior to another† (97). According to Bucher (2010) â€Å"discrimination is defined as the unequal treatment of people on the basis of their group membership† (100). Bucher goes on to say â€Å"treatment varies because of race, age, gender, social class or any number of other dimensions of diversity† (100). ‘A Class Divided’ exposes t hat discrimination doesn’t just go to the extent to the color of skin, culture or ethnicity, but discrimination can fall into any physical characteristics, social status, having a developmental disability, simply being a woman, and in this case the color of your eyes. The concept Elliot is teaching, is that racism is a learned behavior and not part of human genetics. This blue eyed versus brown eyed people experiment establishes that thinking and acting racist is learned. She also proves it can be unlearned. She wants us to see through the myth of white superiority. How we are told to believe that racism no longer exists and that it’s not as simple as the KKK. Today racism and discrimination go much further and are more complex. It’s being able to vote; it’s the stereotypes â€Å"an unverified and oversimplified generalization about an entire group of people† (Bucher, 2010, 86), children learn growing up; it’s portraying the colored people as the bad ones and the white people as victims; it’s not having the equal rights and opportunities. Elliot’s exercise with her class shows the effects of when there is a distinguished group of superiors and inferiors. A month from now I will recall several scenes from the movie. Especially all the faces and emotions the children went through when part of the inferior group. When Mrs. Elliot told her class that brown eyed people are not to get second helpings at lunch time, one little brown eyed girl looked utterly heartbroken. The scene that I’ll probably remember most is when Ms. Elliot did the test on the adults. It was shocking and interesting to see how adults act in such a situation as being discriminated against. Another scene that stood out was when the superior group of children felt like they were in power; they completely turned on the other group with no remorse. Best friends became worst enemies, and they didn’t even think twice about it. Elliot conducted this experiment on her third grade class based on students having blues eyes or brown eyes. The first day the blue eyed children would be superiors, because blue eyed people are better and smarter than brown eyed people, thus they were given extra privileges. For example, the superior blue eyed children were entitled to seconds for lunch, but the inferior brown eyed children were not, in fears they might take too much food. The superior group received unearned privileges, defined by Bucher (2010) as â€Å"those benefits in life that we have through no effort of our own† (135), like five extra minutes at recess and being allowed to play on the playground equipment. Just as blacks were forced to use segregated restrooms and water fountains, the inferior brown eyed people could not drink directly from the fountain; they were required to use a cup. The brown eyed children were also made to wear a collar around their necks, that way, they could be told apart, just as African Americans can be discriminated against from a distance. Elliot gave recognition to the blue eyed kids on being hard working, fast learners, while the brown eyed children were found at fault and told they were not as smart. On the day blue eyed people were superior; she brings up the point that blue eyed fathers never kick their children, like one brown eyed boy’s father had done the prior week. But when blue eyed Russell forgot his glasses the following day, it had to be because he has blue eyes, since Susan, whom has brown eyes, remembered her glasses. Elliot also led the children to decide that since blue eyed Greg said he likes to hit his litter  sister, this conveys blue eyed people are naughty. From here, we witness some of superior blue eyed kids began to act arrogant and bossy to the inferior brown eyed kids. Blue eyed Russell was taunting John at recess, calling him ‘brown eyes’ and John retaliated by hitting him. After the two boys fought at recess the teacher asked if responding with violence made him feel better, he replied no. His answer goes to show that responding with violence is ineffective and a waste of time and energy. They compared it to someone calling a black man the N-word. Even academic achievement goes up when the children were in the superior group. When doing the card packs the first day the brown eyed children spent five and half minutes to go through the deck, while the superior blue eyed children spent only three minutes, the following day the superior group of brown eyed students took only two and a half minutes compared to the four minutes and eighteen seconds of the inferior blue eyed group. In the documentary the kids didn’t refuse to obey their teacher, even during the exercise, but surprisingly when doing the exercise with the adults, they also followed along with her every order. Not even one of the adults stood their ground, as Ms. Elliot kept throwing out negative comments, the adults never really argued with her. This is because if they would have argued it would have made them seem argumentative and disobedient which would have just made the situation worse. When being discriminated against, one feels hopeless. Maybe they felt as if their words wouldn’t mean anything, even if spoken. While in the prison seminar, one of the white woman said that all people face some kind of discrimination, another woman disagrees by saying that whites can’t really know what it’s like to face discrimination every day. There is no way that a white person will ever feel or know what it’s like to face the discrimination that African Americans have ex perienced. Watching ‘A Class Divided’ really brought along a lot of different feelings. First and foremost I learned from watching the kid’s scene that you work better when you feel better and when you feel confident. Ms. Elliot’s way of showing these kids about discrimination and racism was very effective and  taught the kids that no one person is different from the next, we all were created equal and it isn’t right to judge. It is important for every child to learn in the early stages of life that everybody under the sun is created equally. We may not look the same, or dress the same, some of us may have a higher social status than others, but at the end of the day we still walk the same Earth, nobody is better than the next. The biggest impact from seeing the video is that it shows how easily discrimination can be taught to a young impressionable child. As Elliot explains that we adults train our children to think this way when we past judgment and then th ey see it and grow up to be familiar with it and think of it as ordinary. Works Cited Bucher, R. D. (2010). Diversity Consciousness Third Edition: opening our minds to people, cultures, and opportunities. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall. Peters, W. (Director). (1985). A class divided. Washington, DC: PBS Video [Frontline].

The Story of Great Octopus

The octopus really all he said was wi,wi and kiss a fish but never did he ever say forever the point of a frustrated and confused member of the social order, It appears to me that we are living In a society where stupidity easily fits Into a simple, three tier, hierarchical model. Where Darwin argued that species adapt, I would argue that–at least where â€Å"civilized† culture is concerned–humanitys intellectual evolution is rapidly decreasing, therefore allowing us as a whole to adapt to a culture where the art of thinking is becoming obsolete.This author submits toyou that, due o technology and volumes of procedure protocol having been written for every Job imaginable, people have lost their ability to reason Intellectually and have essentially â€Å"dumbed down. † This, my friends. Is the curious but sad truth of the matter. Therefore, I believe that stupidity can be reasonably fitted into the following three tier, hierarchical model. Jacques Seguela w rites about political campaigns and communications not merely as an expert analyst, but as an experienced practitioner.Hence his latest book contains both insights worth heeding, but also enlivening tales of his own experience. He Is observer and participant; outsider looking In, and Insider looking out. There Is much to look at, not least In France with a Presidential election looming, and the outcome far from easy to predict. We live in a world defined by the pace of change, and whilst the velocity of that change has not always impacted upon our political institutions, many of which would remain recognisable to figures of history, it most certainly has impacted upon political communications.As Seguela writes: ‘En 5 ans le monde de la communication a plus evolue que dans les cents dernieres annees. ‘ Google, Youtube. Twitter, Facebook have quickly entered our language and changed the way we communicate, live our private lives, do business, do politics. People do not bel ieve politicians as much as they once did. Nor do they believe the media. So who do we believe? We believe each other. The power and the political potential of social networks flows from that reality.Though fiercely modern In their application, social networks In some ways take us back to the polltlcs of the village square. They are an electronic word of mouth on a sometimes global scale. This has changed the way people Interact with ach other and with their politicians. My first campaign as spokesman and strategist for Tony Blair was in 1997, three years in the planning after he had become leader of the Opposition Labour Party. Some of the principles of strategy we applied back then would certainly apply to a modern day election.But their tactical execution almost certainly would not. Politicians and their strategists have to adapt to change as well as lead it. Seguela gives some interesting insights into those who have adapted well, and those who have done less well. He clearly ad ores former President Lula of Brazil and you can feel his yearning or a French leader who can somehow combine hard-headed strategy with human empathy In the same way as a man who left office with satisfaction ratings of 87percent. Seguela probably remains best known In political circles for his role aavlslng Francols Mltterrana.Yet wneras I am trlDal Laoour, ana could not Imagine supporting a Conservative Party candidate in the I-JK, Seguela came out as a major supporter of Nicolas Sarkozy. I wonder if one of the reasons was not a frustration that large parts of the left in France remain eternally suspicious of modern ommunications techniques and styles which, frankly, no modern leader in a modern democracy can ignore. How he or she adapts to, or uses, them is up to them. But you cannot stand aside and imagine the world has not changed.If Lula is a star of this book, so too is Barack Obama. American elections are of enormous interest to all political campaign Junkies, a category in which both Seguela and I would almost certainly qualify. Much is made of Obama's use of the internet, a relatively new phenomenon in historical terms and one the young Senator used brilliantly in his quest to become President. Yet though it was an accurate expression of his modernity, underpinning its use were some very old-fashioned campaign principles.He used it to turn supporters into activists who both gave funds and also took his campaign materials and ideas and ran their own campaigns for him. Somehow he managed to make one of the most professional, most disciplined and best funded campaigns in history look like an enormous act of democratic participation. It was less command and control – the model we certainly adopted in 1997 and 2001, Labour's two landslide victories, easing off a little for our third win in 2005 – than inspire and empower. ‘ Yes we can' not yes I can'.His supporters were more than supporters. They were an active part of the campaign, an d of the message. The key to this was something that had nothing to do with politicians and everything to do with science, technology and the internet. Ask me who has had the most influence on campaigns in recent times and I might be tempted to reply Tim Berners-Lee, the man credited with gifting the web to the world. Its implications have been far reaching in virtually all aspects of our lives, politics and political campaigns foremost.The new ousehold brand names of the cyber era have not replaced good policy work, messaging and organisation. But they have become essential components of the execution of them in the campaign. Mainstream conventional media remains important and influential, not least because, bizarrely, in most democracies the broadcasters continue to let the press set their agenda for them. But a candidate who tries to stand against the tide of new media will be making a big mistake, and missing big opportunities. If it has changed so much in the last five years, h ow much more will it change in the next five years?

Hardness of Water Essay

The hardness of water was determined using the methods of titration, conductivity, and pH analysis. The mean and uncertainty of CaCO3 is 134 ±36.0 ppm. An error that could have potentially happened could be that the equivalence point was not correctly established causing inaccurate data. BACKGROUND: 1In hard water there is a high amount of mineral content present in the water. Most of the mineral content that is present in water are Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions. Even though hard water does affect a person’s health, hard water can still have harmful effects in an industrial environment, appliances in a household setting, and certain cleaning task. 2For example, when hard water repeatedly goes through pipes, the water causes deposits that eventually build up and clog the pipes. When cleaning dishes the presence of hard water can be detected when a layer of film is present on the dishes. Soap becomes less effective when hard water is present because the soap will bond with the minerals in the water. PROCEDURE: Hirko, R. Chemistry 112L General Chemistry I Laboratory, Seventh Edition; bluedoor: Minnetonka, MN, 2013 RESULTS: Table 1. Ca2+/Mg2+ in tap water via EDTA titration. Table 1 results were determined by pH analysis and EDTA titration. The moles of EDTA was found by using the EDTA concentration of 0.025 mol/L. Table 2. Conductivity probe calibration Figure 1. Conductivity of standard NaCl using conductivity probes. 1†³H2OKits.com Water Blog.† Negative Effects of Hard Water. H20 Kits, 16 Sept. 2008. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. 2†Water Hardness.† Water Hardness. Freshwatersystems, n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2013. DISCUSSION: The mean and uncertainty for CaCO3 for tap water was determined to be 134 ±36.0 ppm. For the EDTA titration trial 2 and trial 3 had the same results of 125 ppm compared to trial 1, which had a higher ppm of 150. The readings for the hardness of water for the 3 different trials are not similar and differ in values. The CaCO3 value for the volumetric data was 134 ppm, the value for NaCl was 180 ppm, and the value for 442 was 248 ppm. The hardness of water can never be definitive because the water in Brookings may be different than the water in Sioux Falls. If it was possible to always have the same amount of mineral concentration then it would be definitive. Errors that could that potentially happened is when titrating it was difficult to tell when the equivalence point actually occurred, causing more or less amount of EDTA to present. Not knowing the when the equivalence point actually occurred would cause inaccurate values because the volume would be incorrect. Another error could be that the magnetic stirrer was spinning fast enough to mix the solution properly. This would cause excess EDTA to be present causing inaccurate results. An improvement for this lab would be test different hard water sources rather than just one faucet.

Lack of interest in mathematics Essay

This paper explores the behaviour, attitudes and beliefs of primary school pupils towards mathematics in the classroom and the impact that this may have on their mathematical ability. The study focused on year 3 pupils from a local school, some of whom took part in focus groups towards the end of the project. The children completed short worksheets, which were used to stimulate a guided discussion on what aspects of mathematics the children liked and disliked. The aim of this project was to isolate possible causes of negative attitudes towards mathematics and to discuss what their implications might be. Keywords: Primary, Attitudes, Purpose, Anxiety, Confidence, Language, Reflection Introduction Mathematicians have long held a high level of respect amongst their academic peers. Yet the subject of mathematics, although revered, remains a source of anxiety and trepidation for a large number of people. Widespread negativity towards mathematics appears in many forms, from misrepresentation in the media to the social stigma that seems to surround those who are mathematically gifted. Children often set mathematics aside as a cause for concern, despite their limited exposure to it (Hoyles 1982). It is a subject unlike most others, since it requires a considerable amount of perseverance from the individual in order to succeed. A negative attitude towards mathematics could considerably reduce a person’s willingness to persist with a problem. Without the ability to persevere, mathematical development is likely to be difficult. The purpose of this project is to determine the possible root causes of these negative attitudes towards mathematics. The study focused on Year 3 pupils from a local school, some of whom took part in focus groups. Three focus groups were carried out, each consisting of four children with similar abilities. Children were selected based on observations from previous visits. Subjects were chosen if they displayed strong feelings for or against mathematics, or if they were at the extremes of the ability range. The focus groups lasted for approximately 30 minutes and were broken into two parts. Firstly, the children were given 10 minutes to attempt four questions tailored to their ability range. The questions involved symmetry, arithmetic, a word problem and a problem solving exercise. The remaining time was used to discuss what the children felt about mathematics, using the worksheet as a focal point. It is hoped that this project will provide significant insights into why many children have a pessimistic outlook on mathematics and indicate where future research is needed. Mathematics and its apparent lack of purpose Children may find the nature of mathematics difficult to cope with as its wider reaching implications can be hard to see. Experiments are carried out for the physical sciences, From Informal Proceedings 29-1 (BSRLM) available at bsrlm.org.uk  © the author – 7 Joubert, M. (Ed.) Proceedings of the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics 29(1) March 2009 pictures are drawn in art class and language skills are used in everyday interactions with other people. However, mathematics has a very formal written sense about it, where activities remain intangible to the child. From the remarks I witnessed in the focus groups, it seems that children find it difficult to make a connection between the work they do on paper and its practical applications. The following transcript is taken from the high-ability focus group: Charlie: You need to be good with numeracy, say when you’re say, shopping for something – You need to work out how much you’re paying. You don’t have to be a genius at it, but you have to be quite good at it. f you’re a shopkeeper, and someone gave you like about  £20, and something was like  £15 and they didn’t know much how much to give them back. And if you didn’t know, you should learn more in your maths. It was rather surprising to see pupils across the entire ability range unable to make connections between mathematics and its many practical uses. Counting money was the only association that they were able to make, even though it had not been covered in recent work. It is interesting that the high achievers, although mathematically gifted, could not establish any more real world applications than the low achievers. However, the low achievers present more of a concern, as motivation to improve their mathematical understanding cannot be aided by their innate ability. Certainly, the children cannot be expected to make these connections without assistance from a teacher. In fact, some believe that the most effective teachers are connectionists (Askew et al. 1997), although perhaps there is currently insufficient emphasis on the practical uses of mathematics in the curriculum. Human nature does not favour futile endeavours; if a difficult task appears to have no purpose, then few will continue to follow it through. If low achievers are unable to see the wider benefits of having strong mathematical skills, then they may lack motivation, which is vital in a difficult subject such as mathematics. Understanding the purpose of mathematics should not only help to improve motivation, but could help in the actual formulation of concepts. In 1991, Harel and Tall discussed the importance of what they called ‘the necessity principle’: From Informal Proceedings 29-1 (BSRLM) available at bsrlm.org.uk  © the author – 8 Joubert, M. (Ed.) Proceedings of the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics 29(1) March 2009 This principle states that the subject matter has to be presented in such a way that learners can see its necessity. For if students do not see the rationale for an idea (e.g., a definition of an operation, or a symbolization for a concept), the idea would seem to them as being evoked arbitrarily; it does not become a concept of the students. (Harel and Tall, 1991 41) They believed that a notion is more likely to be abstracted successfully if the learner can acknowledge the necessity of the concept. In the context of this project, the learner needs to be aware of the purpose behind their work. For young learners, understanding the practical uses of mathematics could be sufficient to both motivate them and allow the necessity principle to be satisfied. Further research is required on this issue, as its scope may be greater than previously thought. As with all the findings in this project, the data was collected from a small sample group, and so it may be difficult to generalise to a larger population. However, based on the remarkable similarities between responses in this particular classroom and the general attitude towards mathematics in our society, I would suggest that the apparent lack of purpose in mathematics is a sentiment felt by many. Self-belief and mathematical ability Nothing was more evident during the focus groups than the lack of self-belief  shown by many of the children. Low and middle achievers quickly resigned themselves to failure, without truly attempting all of the questions on their worksheet. There was a consistent association of mathematics with ‘cleverness’, as many of the children felt not only that numeracy was harder than literacy, but that to be clever you had to be good at numeracy. In effect the children were implying that someone who excels in literacy will not be perceived as being clever unless they can display a similar exemplary ability in numeracy. As a result, children who perceived themselves to be weak felt that they would be incapable of solving harder mathematical problems. A girl from the middle-ability group remarked: Faye: I’m just going to do a simple answer, which is probably wrong. While some would say that any answer is better than no answer, Faye’s decision to give up and guess occurred before she had given any real consideration to the question. This example was typical of her low confidence in mathematics; an attitude which I believe greatly misrepresents her ability. Many of the children showed signs of anxiety whilst attempting the worksheets, shuffling awkwardly in their seats, glancing at their peers with worried expressions and making negative comments about the difficulty of the current task. Previous research into anxiety and mathematics (Hoyles, 1982) indicates that a connection may lie between an individual’s perceived ability and their level of success. The absolute nature of mathematics, where there is normally only one right answer, could add considerably to a negative attitude towards mathematics. Overall, girls expressed much lower confidence than boys, even among the high achievers. They frequently attributed success and failure to external factors, such as luck and the perceived difficulty of a question. In comparison, most boys recognised that success was due to their own ability, and that failure was caused by either a lack of effort or understanding on their part. Whilst this distinction was not absolute it did apply to the vast majority of pupils that took part in the focus groups. The difference  in attitudes towards mathematics between genders has been researched in depth by many, notably Stipek and Gralinski (1991). Although girls and boys are roughly equal in the league tables at GCSE level, there is a remarkable difference in A-level and University uptake. It is quite possible that primary school experiences are alienating girls from the subject, to the detriment of their long term mathematical development. The reason for this is currently unclear and warrants further From Informal Proceedings 29-1 (BSRLM) available at bsrlm.org.uk  © the author – 9 Joubert, M. (Ed.) Proceedings of the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics 29(1) March 2009 Undoubtedly, the teacher faces an uphill struggle trying to balance a diverse range of abilities and attitudes, an ever changing curriculum and strict time constraints. However, there are several outcomes of this project that should be considered by the education community. For example, it may be worth exploring how the children perceive mathematics and its uses outside of school. By improving the understanding of the uses of mathematics, pupils will hopefully see the benefits of developing strong mathematical skills for more than just academic purposes. Likewise, low self-belief is an issue that all teachers can attempt to address. We need to dispel the notion that mathematics is a subject limited to geniuses and that children of all abilities can be successful in the subject. The structure of the lesson and the time constraints of the school day should also be up for revision, as the current lesson format may not be the most efficient. The school curriculum is often subject to repetition, some of which may be avoidable with a subtle shift in lesson structure. Conclusion It is clear that children’s attitudes towards mathematics can be influenced by a wide variety of factors. This project has gone some way to identifying what a few of these factors might be, but there is still plenty of scope for future research. In particular, children’s views on practical uses of mathematics and the difference in attitudes between genders require further study. Additionally, the importance of reflection in primary education needs to be discussed in much greater detail. References Beth, E. and J. Piaget. 1966. Mathematical Epistemology and Psychology, Dordrecht: Riedel. Hoyles, C. 1982. The Pupil’s View of Mathematics Learning. Educational Studies in Mathematics 13 (4): 349-372. Dubinsky, E. 1991 Reflective Abstraction in Advanced Mathematical Thinking. In Advanced Mathematical Thinking, ed. D. Tall, 95-102. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Harel, G., and D. Tall. 1991. The general, the abstract and the generic in advanced mathematical thinking. For the Learning of Mathematics 11 (1): 38-42. Stipek, D. and H. Gralinski. 1991. Gender Differences in Children’s Achievement-Related Beliefs and Emotional Responses to Success and Failure in Mathematics. Journal of Educational Psychology 83 (3): 361-371. Askew, M., M. Brown, V. Rhodes, D. Johnson, and D. William. 1997. Effective Teachers of Numeracy: Final Report. London: Kings College. From Informal Proceedings 29-1 (BSRLM) available at bsrlm.org.uk  © the author – 12