Health Leads Essay

As recently mentioned, there will be a health focus to a workshop on climate change in Melbourne this weekend that is being put on by the Green Institute. One of the speakers is Senator Richard Di Natale, the Greens health spokesperson, who writes below that we need to focus more on the underlying causes of poor health. On related themes, don’t miss this New York Times article which profiles an organisation working on the social causes of poor healt. Health Leads trains about 1000 volunteers each year to staff resource desks in the waiting rooms of hospital clinics or health centers in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, New York, Providence, R.I., and Washington. At these sites, doctors now regularly â€Å"prescribe† a wide range of basic resources — like food assistance, housing improvements, or heating fuel subsidies — which the Health Leads volunteers â€Å"fill†, by applying their problem solving skills to identify resources anywhere they may be availa ble. Health Leads was co-founded by a Harvard University student, Rebecca Onie, in 1996 and up until a year ago, she thought that the organisation’s biggest obstacle would be getting doctors to pay attention to patients’ social needs. But the organisation now gets so many referrals from doctors that it has waiting lists. According to the report, Health Leads offers a model of how to develop a workforce to systematically address the social causes of illness The real crisis in health Not many people give up a career in medicine to become a politician. However, I still have the same goal: the good health of Australians. Australia’s health care system isn’t bad. We spend less on health care than many other countries, about 9% of GDP (less than half of that spent in the USA), but most of us get access to high quality care when we need it. But we are also one of the most hospitalised nations in the world, with more overnight beds per capita than any other OECD country. And even with the relatively high rate of hospitalisation, 60 per cent of our population is overweight, half the teeth of Australians aged 35-44 have some decay and alcohol abuse is costing our economy billions each year and rising. Australia isn’t having a health crisis. We’re having a preventative health crisis. The cost of a hospital bed is considerable, but we’re failing to invest in measures that prevent people from needing that bed in the first place. Dental health is a prime example of the opportunity we have to transform our health system through better preventative measures. Currently, 650,000 Australians are on public dental care waiting lists, and dental admissions are the highest cause of acute preventable hospital admissions. Illness due to untreated dental disease is costing us dearly. Yet less than 20 per cent of dental care is currently funded by the Government, compared to nearly 80 per cent of general medical services. For alcohol abuse and obesity as well, there are many preventative measures we can take to reduce the enormous costs to our economy each year. In addition to publicly funded dental care, I will be working towards a phase-out of alcohol and junk-food advertising during sports broadcasts, a more rational alcohol taxation system and better food labelling regulations. It doesn’t take much imagination to see how a small investment in prevention can save us large costs in cure. And with greater preventative health measures, we have more opportunity to address the social inequalities in health in Australia. Health isn’t just a physical condition. If you have less income and less education, you are more likely to have poorer health. Beyond genetic make-up, behaviour and access to medical care, social inequality is still a strong determinant of health. This is especially acute when it comes to the health of Indigenous communities. Climate change is emerging as a major health issue, and once again, those who are more likely to suffer health problems due to climate change are those on the lower end of the socio-economic scale. During heatwaves and other extreme weather events, we have seen that the poor, the elderly and children are most affected. Already, our changing climate is creating a rise in vector-borne diseases, such as Dengue Fever, Malaria and Ross River Fever, and increasing rates of gastroenteritis will also take a heavier toll on the most vulnerable.

Juvenile Justice Subsystems Essay

The role of the police is to enforce the law and maintain order in the community. In 2000, there were approximately 18,000 police agencies employing more than one million full-time sworn and non-sworn personnel. They are intimately involved in juvenile justice issues, they mostly operate locally, and are thus in close proximity to towns and neighborhoods. For juvenile offenders and victims, local police are often their first contact with juvenile justice authorities. The reason for this is simply stated: Juvenile offenders who break the law are frequently taken to the police as a first option, or the police may apprehend them while observing them committing an offense. Youths who have been victimized or whose welfare is at risk are likewise referred to police custody—for their own protection. The Judicial Subsystem The judicial component of the juvenile justice system is composed of many of the same personnel as found in the adult system. These include judges, administrators, prosecutors, and defense counsel. It is a civil (rather than criminal) system, so there is also a significant amount of participation by social workers, probation officers, case managers, and other professionals whose primary duty is to inform and advise the court on the status of each juvenile. The Corrections Subsystem Juvenile correctional institutions are regulated under state law and must comply with state and federal mandates for the humane treatment of youths who have been consigned to locked or other residential facilities. The underlying mission of juvenile corrections is to treat and rehabilitate youths. Although many facilities are highly restrictive, and confinement conditions can approximate those found in some adult facilities, it is the duty of this subsystem to â€Å"correct† the behavior of offenders.

Analytical Essay on Film Essay

With reference to at least TWO films from the film list, discuss the way that new digital technology has had an effect on film form and/or exhibition Digital technology has transformed the way we have our cinematic experiences has evolved (DreamWorks). With evolving technology the cinema has taken leaps and bounds in expanding the vision of a director to showcase his talent . Keeping the perspective of technology in our view ,we move on to explain its impact on two very popular blockbuster movies of our time a) The Gladiator directed by Ridley Scott and b) The Avatar directed by James Cameroon. Gladiator is a historical epic film directed by Ridley Scott. The movie depicts the life of loyal Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius. He is shown to be betrayed by the Emperor’s ambitious son, Commodus, who happens to murders his father and thus seizes the throne. Reduced to a state of abject slavery, Maximus is seen to rise through the ranks of the gladiatorial arena to avenge the Emperor and the murder of his family. Gladiator is a movie of the kind upon which Hollywood has carefully built its reputation but unfortunately very rarely makes anymore: the spectacle. Replete with larger-than-life characters, wonderful scenery, set design of amazing grand scale, and storytelling of epic nature, Gladiator is designed not just to entertain, but to enthral. It draws audiences in and immerses them in a reality that is not their own. A boisterous reaction is expected every time the protagonist defies the odds and wins a conflict, or changes the tide of battle in his favour. This is filmmaking on a grand scale (The Tech). Use of virtual reality to recreate scenes of Roman arcade has been extensively used in this movie. The entire city of Rome has been digitally recreated for this movie with entire effective reconstruction of ancient setting. It is as if the entire city has been recreated with complete recreated spaces with the characters moving in and out of the spaces.. The virtual reality created makes it surreal and thus gives the movie a more of life experience bringing parts of history into the present context. . The initial battle scene in which Maximus is leading an army to quell a rebellion has also showed wonderful use of fast paced camera technique. Read Also:  Analytical Essay Rubric This technique of capturing more frames in a given shot has made sure that the scenes have been beautifully captured and the exact imagery is being provided to the audience. The colossal fire power and the destruction ,along with the fast paced weapon movement has been because of the use of technology . Careful looking at the scenes we would realise that they start with a very fast movement of the weapon sword or axe but then it gradually slows down as the weapon comes close to the body of the individual . This carefully magnifies the annihilating power of the weapon. The heads roll slowly, the bodies tumble as if the characters are in trance. The very nature of death has been magnified with the use of digital technology. One of the most dramatic use of technology in the movie has been the recreation of the entire Roman empire. The cities, the decoration, the costumes of the characters are such that they look like pulled straight out of the old times of the Roman Empire. The entire set of Roman buildings and the grandeur involved has been exquisitely created out of digital technology. The entire set of war arenas, the prisons where the slaves are kept have been remarkably lit and crafted using digital technology. One of the other important features present with the movie is the surrealism of the flashback scenes. The flashbacks have been move from immediate fast paced scenes. to the slow paced scenes. This the director has used to differentiate between reality and dreams involved. One of the most amazing scenes of surrealism used in the movie is that of Maximum dreaming about his wife and children . Out of extreme pain he shuts his eyes, the camera there moves out of focus. Then gradually he moves into a slow surreal dream which has been exquisitely captured by the cameras. One of the other striking features of use of technology in the movie has been the arcade battle scenes between the Gladiators and the slaves. The quick jabs of the axes, the thrust of the spears and the movement of the fast axes has been captured remarkably well. It is interesting to note that even the tigers used in the movie have been digitally created. The battle scenes with the tigers are a visual treat making the battle scenes even more deadly and thus visually appealing. One of the other marvels of the battle scenes is the way the moving chariots have been captured. The camera focuses in and out carefully out of the rolling giant wheel . Then there is an obstruction and out of extreme slow motion the chariot swings into the air . It lands and the places is strewn with bodies . The scenes have been made even more gory with blood and rattles bones almost filling up the entire scenes. Everything however digitally recreated . One of the major crowd puller in Gladiator is its action scenes (Film Review). Thanks for the presence of digital technology the movie have done justice to Roman grandeur. One of Scott’s greatest achievements with the epic Gladiator is not in keeping the pacing of a 2 1/2 hour movie tight nor is choreographing a spectacular battle scene, but it with creating a second-century Rome that looks entirely credible and powerfully stunning in its detail. Ancient Rome has always been one of the most romanticized civilizations in the history of mankind, however rarely has it been brought to life with the grandeur as that in this film. The Coliseum, for example, has been resurrected to its full glory (largely through the use of digital technology). Gladiator consistently looks good, although, during some of the fights, rapid cutting creates a sense of disorientation and confusion This movie is also helped with the fact Ridley Scott is at the helm of affairs (). He has as always been a fine visual stylist; in this movie he fantastically uses ample digital effects to re-create the complete world of Ancient Rome in its full living glory on the screen. Carefully looking at the shots of Coliseum, perfectly intact and brimming with crowds of spectators, are breathtaking. Moreover, Scott has perfectly staged half a dozen elaborate action sequences like this is the Apocalyptic end , pulling out all the stops, and filling the screen with swords and tigers and chariots, visually amazing. The use of digital technology is also carefully amplifies in the movie Avatar. Being one of the very first movies to use SFX technology and extreme high speed camera. The movie was a visual treat with 3-D viewing. Interestingly the entire movie sequences have been recreated out of use of beautiful 3-D techniques. Avatar has used a lot of innovative visual effects. The work on the film was delayed because the visual effects to be used had to be researched carefully and developed to reach the required level of expertise. Photorealistic computer-generated characters were used by the director they were , created by the thorough use of the new motion-capture based animation technologies which Cameron had been developing for straight 14 months leading up to the date of release of December 2006 The innovations used in the movie encompassed the introduction of a new system for lighting up of gigantic areas like Pandora’s jungle, a motion-capture stage or â€Å"volume† six times larger than any previously used, and an improved method of capturing facial expressions, enabling full performance capture. To implement the new method of facial expression the artists used skull caps fitted with camera that were positioned very close to their faces These cameras captured images and information that were later transmitted to computers. Thus this new method allows filmmakers to transfer 100% of the physical performances of the actors and thus helping to digitalize them and thus to codify as per the requirement. Moreover this kind of camera technique also allowed the actors to have multiple angles for each performance. One of the most technically challenging part was when computer generated forms interacted with human forms, where proper attention had to be paid to the lights used between the forms and the shadows that are formed. The digitization used in the movie was so humongous that at a time around 900 people were employed for the computer graphics section. The extent of data to be used was so huge that a new cloud computing system called Garia (Digital Asset Management) was created by Microsoft to manage the data stored. It helped the technicians to co-ordinate all the different stages of digitization. A special server was specially designed to handle the graphic requirement of the movie. Special texturing and paint software system called Mari was also used to automate the rendering processes. A lot of other companies like The Foundry and Industrial Light and Magic worked along with Weta to create the battle sequences of the movie Thus James brought a different world of virtual reality into light with this movie based on his entire new set of camera and filming system. The fictional planet of Pandora was thus brought to life with the co creations of James and his team . Thus it was a movie based on virtual cameras and stereoscopic cameras of the order no other movie had ever used. The 3D effects thus allowed the viewers to almost immerse in the world of Pandora(Avatar Review). Specifically made by Vince Pace and filmmaker James Cameron, the Pace-Cameron System combines a modified type of stereoscopic 3D camera, a virtual camera and performance capture staging. Utilizing a virtual camera Cameron helped to film computer generated scenes in real time. For this movie, using the technology the director can jolly well look through the virtual camera and see the world of Pandora and its computer generated characters. He can manipulate staging, camera angle direction and manipulate commands to both the live and CG actors in the film. The augmented-reality view makes pulling the live action and the computer generated elements together giving a seamless look to the final project. Thus the entire sequence helps to make more of a realistic virtual world .Thus one could see the overwhelming response received by the movie . It was probably for the first time in the movie that characters used Lycra sensor suits on a sensory stage. The effects thus were enthralling and visually splendid. Thus the Lycra based sensors made sure that every bit of information about the movement of the artists are tactfully captured and thus exhibited. Avatar thus introduced an entire new era of filmmaking that has now become a sort of benchmark for all movie makers. It takes the concept of virtual reality to an entirely new level full of graphic images and actions that were developed using state of the art software’s and packages that were specifically developed for this movie. Thus one can jolly well say that Avatar proves that computer graphics are not meant to produce lifeless actions but their very motto is develop actions and sequences that are closer to reality and thus closer to being believed. Avatar had received a special audience response being even translated to vernacular languages across the globe . It added the perfect icing on the cake of Cameron’s movie ,thus portraying his love for technology and his love for taking cinematic experience by use of technology to all new level all together. His repertoire of movies if closely looked has been nothing short of splendid with iconic cult movies of the status of Terminator and Titanic. Each of his movie depicts the careful use of technology sometimes profoundly ground breaking to heighten the effect of film making and thus give a visual delight to the audience. Thus Avatar carries this tradition forward with Pandora and the Navy’s both the concepts although completely out of the world are made more believable by the superb use of technology specifically developed and crafted for the movie. Nonetheless Avatar is an icon in the world of sci-fi movies. It is also a digital visual treat for the audience.

Marketing Professional Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Marketing Professional Practice - Essay Example No doubt, all activities guzzle resources and produce wastes and, consequently, have a possible to injure the environment. Furthermore, tourism is no exemption: the worldwide environment is the source of the entire material inputs feeding the tourism subsystem and is the sink for every its wastes. Tourists' per capita expenditure of resources, multiplied by tourist numbers, provide the total flow of resources or throughput from the worldwide environment to the tourism subsystem then back to the worldwide environment as waste. Such throughput growth in the past, and at the present, sees lots of tourism firms and organizations, tourism purpose planning authorities and tourists themselves acting in environmentally-damaging ways. Such injure is, though, only one of the grave issues facing tourism purpose authorities: in addition sociocultural changes, happen from acculturation and commodification processes, pursue from tourism growth and both sets of changes have to be impartial with how the donation of tourism to the destination financial system can be maximized in terms of jobs and the material normal of living of the host population. Furthermore, these issues are the majority marked in destinations catering for mass tourism. If mass tourism continues to operate at there levels transporting great numbers of holiday-makers over substantial distances to restricted and concentrated destinations and hopeful them to eat at high levels further damage will occur. No doubt, stress here is on tourism's communication with the physical environment and the question asked is 'whether present tourism operations and activities can be made more environmentally well-matched' Background Literature Search About Perth In Singapore Singapore & the Marine Environment If we analyzed then we come to know that the island city-state of Singapore is home to 4 million people inside a restricted area of around 700 square kilometers. No doubt, the country has a flourishing, financial system and is home to the world's third main petroleum refinery, as well as vivacious chemical, pharmaceutical and electronics sectors. No doubt, Singapore has a steamy climate and is bounded by the rich biodiversity of flora and fauna of Southeast Asia. Furthermore, both the earthly and marine environments in Singapore have undergone fundamental transformations over past decades to house Singapore's fast urban growth. In exacting, coastal environments, counting mangrove and coral reefs have been at length modified via land recovery and port growth activities. According to the experts group who has particular interest in the hazard to Singapore's coastal atmosphere from contagion derived from both marine and earthly sources. I have conduct analysis to determine the fate and sharing of inorganic (heavy metal) and organic contaminants (pesticides, flame retardants etc) in marine ecosystems and linked food chains. No doubt, all experts are interested in the growth of techniques for the bioremediation of hydrocarbons derived from the spillage of oil in the marine atmosphere. A Statistical And Trend Analysis Of Singaporean Travellers To Perth Survey Methodology National Visitor Survey (NVS) If we analyzed then we come to know that telephone interviews are conducted by means of Australian residents

American Consumer Culture Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

American Consumer Culture - Research Paper Example This leads to the many topics which arise when studying American consumer culture. One of the major impacts of American consumer culture is its association to materialism. The critics and the advocate of the American consumer culture believe that materialism, which has a close association to the culture, has the disadvantages and advantage respectively, on the economy. The realization of materialism as a major topic in American consumer culture makes it inevitable to discuss the roots of materialism and its impact throughout the American history. In his book, Lawrence Glickman asserts that consumerism has been treated as excessive materialism classified as a moral danger and a popular culture (Glickman, p. 1). Materialism refers to the act of individuals in the society stressing on the importance of the physical possession than they do to the spiritual. The major thesis statement for the article, American consumer culture causes individuals to care more about their personal possessio n than their internal well-being. Impact materialism in American history Benefits The impact of materialism is much evident in the American society where consumer culture has a strong foundation. History shows that materialism saved America from overproduction. It is true that America is one of the strongest economy in the world hence it is easy to associate it to materialism. Materialism can thrive in the economy because there is much resources to support the needs of the consumers. Consequently, materialism proves useful to American economy since the consumers have the urge of purchasing more and more allowing supply and demand to occur naturally. In chapter 5 of Lawrence volume collection, Durning asserts â€Å"materialism is caring about things and taking care of them meaning it isn’t necessarily a bad thing† (Glickman, p. 78). Durning is right owing to the present state of America which consumption drives it current economic system. Further, materialism have also contributed to the American economy being self sustaining and self regulating since the consumers are much interested in buying the products in the market. It is true that a product can only exist in the market if the consumers are willing to buy hence the benefit of materialism. History shows that after the World War I American society feared the emergence of overproduction since the consumers had no desire in buying the products . The only remedy was to train the society into being materialistic with subsequent desire to buy the products. There was need for shaping a new mentality whereby the desires of man would overshadow their needs hence the birth of materialism (Bussinessinsider, 2013). It is acknowledged that consumer culture is a very important recipe for economic growth, it make the people to perceive spending as a way of obtaining happiness and satisfaction that can be very helpful in the times of economic recession as they will continues to spend cushioning the economy f rom experiencing the pinch in a significant way. Consumer culture makes spending be a bonding experience, for example doing shopping together with the friends, peers, and age mates, it brings about a strong bonding culture (McLaren, and Torchinsky 57). Drawbacks One of the major disadvantages of materialism arising from consumer culture is its effect in causing poorer well-being. The people with high materialistic nature often appear to possess goal orientation that may ultimately impact the society negatively. Don Campbel in

Marketing Analysis Paper Term Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marketing Analysis - Term Paper Example The North Face in the marketing of Men’s Steep Tech Apogee jacket has exploited these two marketing strategies. The North Face products wide spread and availability in most of the shop outlets has made them realize a substantial sale and realize favorable competition against their competitors. The different Apogee jackets designs are available in most of the cloth shop outlets in towns and US cities. The products have also been distributed to other continents like Asia and Europe to make their products be global. At the same time, customers have been motivated by the direct attention that they receive from the sales agent and representatives (Zucker, 2010). The queries of the customers and those who miss to get their desired products design can make a special request to the company and have their products delivered within the duration demanded. One of the customers attested that the sales representative gave him attention for about 20 minutes, something that was of more impact on the customer’s loyalty (Hondo, 2011). To ensure that the jackets are availed in overseas markets, the company has engaged in direct shipping of the jackets. North Face opened their stores in overseas areas where their brands were sold and advertised to the target customers (Butcher, 2009). The company to ensure that the product price is not adversely affected to the customer incurs the shipping cost. The company has also established stores in different regions including Asia and Europe where there retailers can access their products and break the stock for the customer’s to obtain their demands. It is also important to note that the, need to make a product accessible at the customer convenience is a necessity in having the retention and acquisition of completely new customers. The use of technology and online sites to create awareness of the existence of the company’s products is also a strength in marketing the product. The North Face advertises its product s online using twitter, face book and other social network sites that are accessed by a wide number of the targeted market (Miller, 2010). Through the online sites, the customers are able to get accurate and exact information on the availability of the product at the nearest outlets. This has realized a reduction in the marketing cost and a reduction in the product cost for it to realize a high sales level. The other strategy that was used in the promotion of the product entailed the sending of messages as a direct promotion strategy. The strategy was not very widely used given the customers reservation on whether to give their details. Moreover, North Face supported various sporting activities in which the company’s brand was marketed with the company name being advertised as the core sponsor. This therefore made the company’s jackets be identified with the sports fan. At the same time, the company’s brands were sold in such times and places to the customers. I n addition, North Face paid for advertisements in magazines circulating in the cities (Hartline, 2010). All this advertisement strategies and promotion tools were geared towards creating awareness on the places where the apogee jackets are sold and the brands that were in stock. In availing the different product designs, North Face ensured that they considered market segmentation

CIS 333 discussions Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

CIS 333 discussions - Coursework Example One of the biggest attacks on mobile operating systems today as noted by researchers at Silicon Valley Security Company is the malware called WireLurker (Perlroth, 2014). It targets the Apple mobile and desktop users. The malware is designed in a way that unauthorized people can access the data from the devices. The security company confirmed that this is a malware affecting the Apple iOS mobile users in China (Perlroth, 2014). The devices become infected with the malware if they connect their devices to Macs through the USB wires and in cases where mobile users have altered their devices and installed software that Apple has not authorized. In china’s case of malware attack on Apple mobile devices it is important for the device users to avoid the risk by not using unauthorized software applications. Users should also prevent the transfer of the malware from the Macs to the mobile devices which occurs when using the USB wire. Users who have altered their devices by jailbreaking or those updating their devices from unknown sites should accept that it is a risk and the consequence is stolen information. Users of Apple mobiles can mitigate this risk by using the mentioned preventative measures. After the attack on Sony in November last year, the company had to face new attacks in December after the company computer systems were breached (Barnes & Perlroth, 2014). The latest breach exposed the company’s executive compensation documents and had more movies pirated (Barnes & Perlroth, 2014). If I was an IT security professional at Sony, I would join a team of other IT engineers at Sony to work with security encryption companies to ensure that more is done beyond having everyone with the same VPN passwords. Tang Yan, a former employee at NetEase and now the founder of Momo, a dating application in China was accused of lack of professional ethics

To answer the past exam for sample exam,2002and 2003 Coursework

To answer the past exam for sample exam,2002and 2003 - Coursework Example e speed, flexibility in contrast, a more SE like T2 contrast (compared to FSE),   better slice efficiency (that is, more slices per TR),   and can be flexible with respect to resolution by using segmentation.   As you would have gathered by constructing the table in question 3, speed is of course the main advantage, and opens up the area of functional rather than anatomical imaging.    All sequences must be fat suppressed due to chemical shift, and the presence of geometric distortions are the two big potential problems.   Obviously if you want to image or measure fat, then EPI is not the sequence for you.   Also if the patient has braces and you want to image their brain with EPI that is also not going to work - either due to susceptibility distortions or B1 in homogeneities, depending upon what the braces are made of.   Also there are some areas where the susceptibility is so great that no degree of segmentation will completely remove the distortion - like the areas at the base of the brain close to the sinuses. 3.   Constant phase encoding EPI:   to obtain evenly spaced points in ky, data is split into two, 1D FT at each kx, phase shifted to a grid, 2nd FT at each ky, both halves added together applying the Fourier Transform Shift theorem. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Spiral scanning methods (square and circular):   Points in k space are also not collected uniformly in time (that is, in the line by line method we are familiar with).   The square method is, however, evenly spaced in k-space, therefore just needs reordering.   Circular spiral scanning points are separated uniformly in RADIAL space, but not in the 2D space we are used to.   Either a non-Fourier reconstruction is used (that means you dont need points on a 2D grid) or the data needs to be interpolated to fit a grid. Badwidth is inversely propotional to the sampling line. The number of Pixels reslting from a shift in phase error is dependent upon the phase per pixel of bandwidth. The change in frequency gives a rise

There is a real danger of a house price bubble in London. Discuss Essay - 11

There is a real danger of a house price bubble in London. Discuss - Essay Example House price increase in London indicates that property dealing in London is not a sustainable one. London house prices are becoming unaffordable by citizens as well as immigrants (Ogonna, Chris and Charles, 2013). The house prices are currently eight times higher than that of salary of first time buyer. It has been observed that house prices have a significant impact on economy and banking sector of a geographical region. Increase in house prices clearly denote that middle income group is not being able to purchase a house in London or nearby locations (Tyson, 2003). On the other hand, increased house prices in London are not only a problem for this region but shall also have an impact on surrounding regions. The house price bubble is well represented in figure 1. It is clearly evident that demand towards real estate is significantly high in London. Domestic and overseas demand in London is high so as to sustain real estate selling. People having normal wages are not able to afford f lats or residential places in London. First-time buyer average increased to  £159,804 in the previous financial year. A speculative bubble shall be formed in the coming years due to high prices of houses in London. It is a real danger since maximum percentage of individuals would not be able to afford such high priced houses (Telegraph Media Group Limited, 2015). This might adversely affect economic conditions due to lack of residential places in the region. The argument is based on increasing gap between wages and house prices. Individuals need to possess sufficient funds in order to afford housing property. Market demand in real estate sector of London is triggered through prices bid by investors and buyers being inclined towards purchasing real estate properties. In the present scenario, price of a house in London is approximately 600,000 pounds. Other region in UK accounts for low prices much below pre-crisis peak and hence there seems to be a little danger

American History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

American History - Essay Example Whatever the cause of one of the fiercest wars in American history, it is worth noting that the event is a good example of interconnection between economics, politics and race. The North was very different from the south in terms of the economy and this in turn affected the politics of the day with the central question being the place of slavery in the economy. Slavery on the other hand, was a strong indicator of racism in America as it was a sign of white supremacy which the Southern whites fought hard to keep. These slaves were very vital to the prosperity of the Southern economy and affected the politics of the day as it gave the slave owners the right to control politics (Egnal, 2009). These large plantation owners required slaves to tend to their cotton plantations thus were against abolition of slavery whereas the North most dependent on industries had no need for slaves thus advocated abolition. The aim of this paper is to show how politics, economics and race are interconnect ed. To achieve this, the paper will discuss one historical event where these issues are interconnected: the civil war. More so, it will discuss the causes of the war to show that it was a result of politics, economics and racism manifested in slavery. ... It is this high population that led to election of Abraham Lincoln as president in 1860 even without support from the south. As such, the north sought labor for its manufacturing sector and it was in form of free labor. This was due to the capitalistic economy and republican ideals which favored liberal policies as opposed to slavery. The north advocated for rapid economic modernization which entailed imposition of tariffs, internal improvements at the expense of government and introduction of a national bank (Engle, 2001). The north also had iron and coal deposits as well as enough water for moving the economy thus were favored by the tariffs. On the other hand, the south did not have minerals and as such relied on agricultural production to drive the economy especially cotton plantations. The cotton produced would be sent to the north for manufacturing as there were no industries in the south. Owing to this fact, the south was against introduction of a national bank and internal im provement at federal expense as it only favored the north (Egnal, 2009). There were few plantation owners and few small farmers in the south thus the plantation owners controlled the economy of the south. Due to the expansive plantations owned by the whites, extensive labor was needed and this was sourced from slavery. Slaves were brought in from Africa and these were considered inferior than whites hence prevalence of racism. The southern economy was dependent on slave labor hence the quest for secession to avoid the outcome of the abolitionist movement that was cropping up in the north. The civil war thus was prompted by the differences in the economies of the two regions and

Anti Social Personality Disorder Essay Example for Free

Anti Social Personality Disorder Essay Anti-social personality refers to a psychological disorder in which a person lacks the ability to feel emotions such as empathy, remorse, and guilt. These people are often referred to as psychopaths and are dangerous to society because of their violent nature and abilities to overlook what is usually perceived as â€Å"wrong† or â€Å"immoral†. Genetics vs. the Environment. This disorder can come from the conditions of one’s home environment or someone can be genetically predisposed to develop symptoms when crossing with an environmental trigger. Either way, this disorder develops with a combination of physical, genetic, and environmental factors (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2015). Many studies have been done to help determine if children at risk for Anti-social personality disorder are more likely to develop symptoms in an adoptive environment or if that environment would protect them from developing it. Researchers have concluded that the adoptive family environment combined with the biological risks make anti-social personality disorder prevalent in adoptees (Haimowitz, 2011). In other words, it takes a combination of factors to create this particular type of monster. Environment. Criminologist Nathalie Fontaine of Indiana University studies the tendency toward being callous or unemotional- signs of anti-social personality disorder- in children between 7 and 12 years old. Her research showed that these traits aren’t fixed, and can change in children as they grow. So, if psychologists identify children with these risk factors early on, it may not be too late (Moskowitz, 2011). This study supports the idea that, although a person might hold the physical or genetic predisposed factors to develop this disorder, it takes an environmental trigger for the patient to actually begin showing symptoms. Environmental triggers for the disorder could be anything from the death of a loved one during childhood to a violently abusive parent. People diagnosed with Anti-social personality disorder typically have criminal behavior in their lives either from a parent, role model, or having a criminal record themselves. One long-term  study followed 1,795 children from ages 3-23, testing aspects of their growth and development. 137 of these children became criminal offenders by the age of 23. Among the tests that were done on the participants, one measured their responses to fear by associating a stimulus-noise or object- with a punishment such as an electric sh ock or loud sound. After measuring these children’s involuntary reactions through the skin, researchers found a significant lack of fear in the 137 children that became criminals later in life compared to the other 1,568 participants (American Journal of Psychiatry, 2010). Most people are aware of the Little Albert experiment conducted by behaviorist John Watson in 1920. Watson studied a child-Little Albert- by placing him in a room and exposing him to various stimuli including a white rat, white rabbit, and a monkey. The child of course showed joy when being around the cute fluffy animals; the first time. Watson then let the rat back in to the room and this time, when Albert touched he rat, Watson banged a hammer on a metal pipe, making a loud noise and causing the baby to cry. He did this server more times until the child began crying at the sight of the rat, exhibiting fear of the creature itself because he had then associated the loud, scary sound with the rat. This is the way you would expect a child to react, seeing how its human nature. Well, in psychopathic nature, it is more likely that the patient would still relate the noise to the stimuli, but instead would attempt to free themselves of the noise by doing what seems most logical- getting ri d of the rat. This is why children that come from an abusive home are more likely to develop personality disorders than the average child- they relate the abusive behavior to the abuser and instead of exhibiting fear, they seek revenge and closure. Most serial killers have a specific type of victim and this is because their victims are similar to their original abuser and killing them gives temporary satisfaction; but it wears off so they need to seek more, like a drug. The environment in which a child is raised can greatly influence the kind of person the child grows into and what they are able to justify based on what they were exposed to in their childhood. Genetics. In 1998, 8,045 twins were tested using a questionnaire about personality traits common in disorders like antisocial personality. Researchers found that 2/3 of the variations in traits common in personality disorders are explained by genes (Masui, 2011). The character traits and temperament relating to  anti-social personality dis order- violence, narcissism, ignorance, can all be passed down from a parent and the existence of such traits do not imply the development of disorder. The development might begin, however, if the parent acts in these ways toward their child, giving them an environmental trigger. Physical Differences. In one recent study, scientists compares 27 people with severe antisocial personality disorder- psychopaths- with 32 non-psychopaths. In the psychopaths, the researchers observed deformations in another part of the brain called the amygdala- the seat for human emotion- and found that the psychopaths showed a thinning of the outer layer of that region of the brain and an 18 percent reduction in volume compared to that of the average human inability to learn from reward and punishment and also have little response to stress. In Japan, a study was done to support the idea that psychopaths do not respond to reward and punishment, showing a difference in the prefrontal cortex- judgment and panning portion of the brain- in psychopaths compared to the average human brain. In this study, 145 University students in Japan took the 26 question Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale test where they were asked to rate their level of agreement on statements relating to their lives. The 20 students who scored the highest on the test were put in a group labeled as the â€Å"high psychopathy group† (variable) while the 20 who scored the lowest on the test were placed in the â€Å"low psychopathy group† (Control). When presented with various tasks and given reward for one and punishment for another, the researchers found the highly psychopathic showed no change in the proficiency with which the tasks were completed, whether they were offered reward for doing well or threatened with punishment for doing poorly. On the other hand, the control group showed a faster accomplishment rate with the tasks when promised a reward. This study goes to show that people with anti-social personality disorder lack the section of their brain that tells them to respond to incentive. As the aforementioned information supports, I am able to conclude that the three main factors of anti-social personality disorder- Environmental, Genetic, and Physical differences- are all needed for the disorder to develop and grow to its full destructive quality. References Mayo Clinic Staff. Antisocial Personality Disorder. Definition. Mayo Clinic, n.d. Web. 04 Jan. 2015. Haimowitz, Avi G. Heredity versus Environment: Twin, Adoption, and Family Studies. Twin, Adoption, and Family Studies. Rochester Institute of Technology, n.d. Web. 05 Jan. 2015. Moskowitz, By Clara. Criminal Minds Are Different From Yours, Brain Scans Reveal. LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 04 Mar. 2011. Web. 05 Jan. 2015.

Communication & Crisis Essay Example for Free

Communication Crisis Essay Many disasters happen around us that we have no control over, nor do we know what the impact will be of these disasters long term and short term. On the environment surrounding us as well as what it may do to our health. Working as the director of health for my region it is my job to stay on top of such issues. Keeping an eye out for such emergencies that may endanger us in our everyday living space and most of all our health. I want to go through how I might deal with such situations and how I would address it head on. While at the same time keeping the public informed without overwhelming them as well as looking at who I would collaborate with to make this situation resolve in the smoothest and best way possible. The issue that has come to my attention is water contamination in a certain area. This contamination is life threatening and needs to be acknowledged and dealt with accurately and promptly. As I am the director of emergency health situations I see myself and the mediator and problem solver between the public (people) and media. Those two things are there for each other but if you are not too careful they can harm each other; giving out too much information or not enough or sometimes the wrong information can be harmful to all parties involved. Having such a situation on had you need to talk to the right people and receive all the right information. I would first go to the areas that have been affected and gather all the proper data and forms that show what chemicals are incorrect causing this contamination. I need this information for hard copy evidence so when I contact the media or speak in public I will have all the proper information. I will also get the CDC involved if they are not already involved. They will be conducting the proper tests and research to discover what the contaminated bacteria is. They will also have the proper protocol in containing it, as well as seeing the damage it has done to people who have ingested it and come in contact  with it. Finding an antidote will be another task they will have. In such a situation you will also get in contact with the proper news channels; national and local. Having my statements ready giving the media and public the help and information that they need. Communicating in any situation has its advantages and setbacks. Working in such a high pace and high stress industry makes communication that much more important and not to mention difficult. Being in the health care industry means you work and deal with a lot of the same people consistently. This at times can be a good thing. You build relationships with them you become accountable to one another, you even learn each other’s communications styles; you become comfortable with them, in some cases they even become your second family. Having that crutch that comfort in such a high stress and high demand career is needed. As I said befor you become accountable to one another and the team work/bond is unbreakable unparalleled. This kind of bond is desperately needed in such careers. Especially when you are dealing with millions of people’s lives, they always count on me as director of emergency health. Providing them with the best and most accurate information, help and solution to our health care crisis, that is no easy task and I cannot do it on my own. I use me organizations from the inside and outside; to give my best and keep our environment safe and clean. This same relationship is needed in any high profile type of career i.e. chief of medicine of a hospital the president of the United States. They all need to have great communication skills with their organizations and network of people. On the other side of the spectrum you can have communication issues that can do more damage than the crisis itself. You not only need to have basic communication skills with your staff and organizations but as we just finished discussing a great understanding and relationship with each other. If someone in the organizations you deal with miscommunicate on purpose for their own personal gain, whether that be to give themselves an advantage or just to give you a disadvantage, that may hinder your ability to protect yourself and the issue you are trying to solve. Giving you more steps to complete, possibly even making you back track. Making sure you have a good relationship and communication relationship with all the organizations you  deal with inside your office and outside is key. Even if you only deal with them occasionally or if you deal with them on a regular basis. Communicating in a non-crisis situation verses a crisis situation can have its differences. The main importance is no matter the situation your communication should be using the basic knowledge of conversing. Communication in a non-crisis is a little more relaxed, yes you still have things to get across to each other and they are somewhat important; but for the most part your emotions are not running high you have yourself composed and thinking rationally. The stakes aren’t usually as high it’s not a life or heath situation. A crisis situation the emotions are running high, you are frazzled thinking a million miles a minute. Dealing with this type of communication crisis at work should be handled with a calm clear and patient mind frame. We obviously know listening is key in any situation especially a crisis situation. I tend to be the listener when it comes to these situations and just in general. Most likely you will have most of the people in the room (people dealing with the crisis) trying to do the talking and not listening and we know communication is not just talking. I’ve learned from experience that you need to be understanding and patient with everyone in the situation, if you want to get anywhere with solving the issue or just communicating what you mean you need to take a minute and just breathe. Personally I have been in such similar situations before and it really makes a difference if you are the one with a cool head. This way of dealing with things can go for a non-health care setting and a health care setting. I am going to give you a personal story that just so happens to be in a health care setting. About 5 years ago my grandmother was hospitalized she had leukemia and lung cancer as well as a case of pneumonia which is why she went to the hospital. While at the hospital she was infected with MRSA. Once she was diagnosed with MRSA our family went into crisis mode because the doctors told us the prognosis was not good at all. She basically had maybe weeks to live. She was put on life support hoping the MRSA was clearing up and my uncles went into their â€Å"communication mode†. There are 7 brothers including my father and they are all stubborn Armenian men who have the worste communication skills ever. The wives know not to get involved too much because if was their mothers life hanging in the balance;  and none of them have any medical background to really understand what is going on and if they should pull the plug of keep her alive with the machines. As we all know doctors can only tell you so much, my sister and I are the listeners of the family and we are the vice of reason when it comes to most anything. We both just so happen to be the only two with medical backgrounds I am a nurse and she is in her medical resid ency. We had to use our knowledge and better communication skills to inform them and really show them that my grandmother was not coming out of this after we had our what I call â€Å"crisis family meeting† they decided to pull the plug that evening and my grandmother passed. In any situation whether it be medical, personal or work related communication is the same. Something that we are just now getting comfortable using in everyday life as well as crisis situations is modern technology for communicating. This is a useful tool that we still need to learn how to properly use it in such crisis situations. Sending out mass email and text messages to keep the public informed, is one of the best ways we can use social media to alert the public of ever changing crisis management issues. This has just recently eveolved into something we use in this capacity. When hurricane Katrina hit we still only used news and it was a â€Å"wow† new idea to check in with loved one over facebook and twitter because all other forms of communication such as phones were down. How 5-10 years makes a world of differences. Finishing off this paper about communicating during a crisis and how you might communicate during a non-crisis be different. How you should and could deal with people that you need to communicate during a crisis. How it really is important and how much of a new role social media is playing in crisis management. Writing this paper really made me think about how important it is to properly communicate with each other whether it’s for work or social. Being a good communicator is a bog key in all parts of life. References de Pre , A. (2005). Communicating about health: current issues and perspectives. : The Mcgraw-Hill. Fulk, J., Schmitz, J., Ryu, D. (1995, February ). Congnative elements in social construction of communication technology.Manegment Communication Quarterly , 8(3).

Effect of Teacher Empowerment on Student Learning Outcomes

Effect of Teacher Empowerment on Student Learning Outcomes The question that faces educational leaders in Pakistan is how to select and implement appropriate educational reforms that will move schools toward greater effectiveness and provide enhanced learning and work environments for both students and teachers. A vast literature addresses the importance of leadership in school organizations.(Leithwood, 1992; Pounder,2006; Merideth, 2007). However this leadership has to be distributed not only to the principal but to the other stakeholders that are the students and the teachers above all. Although these arguments have been largely mounted in western countries, they also have significance in the Pakistani setting. A supportive school organization typically is not present in Pakistani schools, where internal politics, lack of resources, disinterest in pupil learning and school improvement by management result in demotivating and ignoring the teachers. (UNESCO: Situation Analysis of Teacher Education in Pakistan) According to Pounder (2006), research on the subject of leadership has focused mainly on administrators, principals and district superintendents. Only recently the research focus has moved towards leadership of individuals in other roles, namely teachers. Research indicates that teacher quality, and supportive school organization and management, significantly influence school improvement, and eventually pupil learning. The bottom line, however, is that school improvement is about school learning. Student learning is the most important part of schooling (Harris, 2004) Teacher empowerment has become a popular term widely seen in many discussions on school restructuring or educational reform. Research on teachers professional growth, school organization, school leadership, or educational innovation all consider teacher empowerment as the term which is considered to be synonym and compatible to teacher leadership. According to Viviane et al (2008) the leadership dimension which is strongly associated with the positive outcomes is that of promoting and participating in teacher learning and development-that is empowering teachers, for enhancing students learning outcomes. This literature review will consider an important issue within the focus area: what impact teachers have on the students learning outcomes when they are empowered? The questions guiding this research are; Why is teacher empowerment emphasized upon in recent educational innovation? What does teacher empowerment mean? What is the role of administrators in empowering teachers? How can students benefit from the idea of teacher empowerment? WHAT DOES TEACHER ENPOWERMENT MEAN? Teachers are established as instrumental stakeholders in planning, implementing, and assessing curriculum. They may benefit from undertaking leadership roles.( Stone, Sandra J. (1995) Though faced with an enormous pressure of high level of expectations and demands, they can successfully integrate their knowledge and understanding with new leadership vision, and eventually into the learning experiences of their students.( Blase, J. and Blasà ©, J. 2001) Sheppard, B; Hurley, N; Dibbon, D,(2010) recognize a very positive impact of school leaders on student learning however they establish an indirect link between, the effects of school leadership and students. Their research is directed at identifying the leadership variables that influence student learning, teacher morale and enthusiasm being one of them.. Grant, C. et al (2010),discusses the restricted role of teacher leadership. He believes that although teachers possess the ability and vision of shared leadership, they are rarely involved in activities beyond their classrooms. Some collaboration with other teachers in curricular and extra-curricular activities is seen but there was substantially less teacher leadership in relation to school-wide as well as community issues. Paula M. Short (1994) defines empowerment as a process whereby school participants develop the competence to take charge of their own growth and resolve their own problems. Empowered individuals believe they have the skills and knowledge to act on a situation and improve it. Empowered schools are organizations that create opportunities for competence to be developed and displayed. She adds: Teacher empowerment is a complex construct. While empowerment generally is associated with site-based management and shared decision making Involvement in decision making, teacher impact, teacher status, autonomy, opportunities for professional development, and teacher self-efficacy. School improvement is not possible without the empowerment of teachers. Teachers who are empowered have the power to make decisions about curriculum, pedagogy and assessment, they become risk takers by experimenting with new ideas, reading new books, and attending and planning professional development activities. (McCarty, 1993). Heads and school leaders must provide assistance to provide sovereignty and freedom of movement to the teachers They also need to develop ways that promote teacher participation in the decision- and policy-making activities of the school. Empowerment is considered to be as important an attribute as are mutual trust, support and recognition to bring about a sense of professionalism, leading to the development of leadership qualities in teachers. (Mujis Harris, 2003).She suggested that teachers can develop into transformational leaders in their schools if all aspects of the system are re-aligned and re-examined. The responsibility of the administration and superintendent has been highlighted by many researchers in order to bring about this transformation. (Pounder, 2006) The leadership of the principal is necessary but not sufficient. Teachers make a big difference. How can teachers skills be developed? What professional difference will they make? Teachers need to work together and trust each other. It is very important that leadership is shared. (Harris, 2006) Teachers have an extraordinary opportunity to exercise leadership because they are the most powerful influence, next to students, on other teachers practice (Darling-Hammond, 2003). York-Barr and Duke (2004) reported, In this day of high accountability, the need and potential for teacher leadership as well as the press for results, has probably never been greater. Because teacher leaders work within a system that either supports or acts as a barrier to its success, the roles of administrators are important to review According to these researchers, teacher leadership is the process by which teachers, individually or collectively, influence their colleagues, principals, and other members of the school communities to improve teaching and learning practices with the aim of increased student learning and achievement. Such team leadership work involves three intentional development foci: individual development, collaboration or team development, and organizational development. Empowered teachers and children become risk-takers, collaborators and self-evaluators.(Stone and Sandra, 1995) They emerge as intrinsically motivated, responsible and independent individuals. WHAT IS THE ROLE OF PRINCIPALS IN ENPOWERING TEACHERS? A variety of research articles and their findings are present in the field of education in USA and UK. Most of them agree on the key leadership roles assumed by the school principals to help teachers to develop as professionals who are confident and committed, possess specialized knowledge and expertise, collaborate with colleagues and undertake leadership roles both within and outside their classes.( Harris, A. and Lambert, L. 2003) Principals are the promoters of a environment which results in a paradigm shift of powers from those at the top of pyramid to those who are working in close collaboration with the learners- that is the teachers. This mode of shifting responsibilities and power to teachers results in shared decision-making, which is essential to school reform and to the changing demands in a global world. Results of various studies indicate that teacher empowerment is most closely related to principals social attractiveness (perceived similarity to teachers) and trustworthiness (perceived willingness to suppress ones own self-interest for the benefit of the school (Blase, J. and Blasà ©, J. 2001). The role of the leaders is to facilitate the development of teachers so that they will have the power and ability to determine important things about their work and schools. As indicated above, recent development on school reform, organizational studies, teachers professional development, and school leadership all point to the importance of teacher empowerment. Empowerment is not easy and it can not be accomplished in a short span of time. However, it can invoke real thinking and learning as well as meaningful action. If teachers are directly involved in leading the improvement effort they, would act as leaders without occupying any formal leadership roles. (Ghamrawi N.2010,). Schools need to cultivate this largely untapped resource for change and improvement in schools by providing teachers with leadership opportunities, appropriate training, and professional support empowerment in short. (Rizvi M.,2008) .An active and effective teacher leader can directly impact the school, its teachers and most importantly the students. There seems little doubt that both district and school leadership provides a critical bridge between most educational-reform initiatives, and having those reforms make a genuine difference for all students. Such leadership comes from many sources, not just superintendents and principals. But those in formal positions of authority in school systems are likely still the most influential. Efforts to improve their recruitment, training, evaluation and ongoing development should be considered highly cost-effective approaches to successful school improvement. School principals have an important role to play in building teacher leadership capacity by promoting teacher leadership learning teams, helping them clarify their vision, and encouraging them to develop habits that will enable them to make the most of their collaborative efforts. Many researchers have tried to develop a link between the distributed leadership of school heads and principals and consider it an important step towards empowering the staff. (Harris, 2003). They consider that the leadership of the principal is necessary but not sufficient. The principal is also more likely to be seen by staff as a source of instructional advice, which suggests that they are both more accessible and more knowledgeable about instructional matters than their counterparts in otherwise similar lower achieving schools Ash and Persall (2000) also in agreement to the view that principals must create an environment that supports collaboration among teachers; provides time for teachers professional development; and recognizes, rewards, and celebrates the concept of the teacher as leader The crucial role of principal is evident from the survey reports of The American Teacher: An Examination of School Leadership (2009) which reports that many teachers fear their chances to influence decisions about their profession are eroding. Teachers believe that principals spend more time on reporting and compliance than on guiding and motivating teachers, but principals report that the reverse is true. Principals must change this perception so that teachers feel empowered as school leaders. IMPACT OF TEACHER EMPOWERMENT ON STUDENTS Empowerment is important for children, as well. If empowerment changes how teachers view their work, empowering children should improve their view of learning. The foundations needed for empowering teachers and children include respect, validation and success. Once empowered, the individual changes. Research confirms the important influence of the classroom teacher on student achievement (Leithwood et al, 2010). A key issue, then, is how the quality of teaching and learning within individual classrooms can be influenced and improved. They argue that educational leadership has a key influence on the quality of teaching and learning and thus student achievement Motivated, engaged students are central to lasting school improvement. It is a mistake to think that reform done to students by well meaning adults will be successful, since in the end it is students who must do the learning. Students can play an important role in school improvement when they are asked to do so and conditions created to allow them to do so. Until 1960s it was widely believed that schools made little difference to student achievement, which was believed to be largely predetermined due to heredity, family background and socioeconomic context. Opinion on the effect that schools, teachers and educational leaders can have on student outcomes has also fluctuated. The influence of educational leadership on teacher and student performance has generally been underestimated, and that measured direct effects of leadership, which some researchers have found to be very low, are outweighed by indirect and antecedent effects such as school history, context and organization, with school climate acting as an intermediate variable between leadership and classroom achievement (De Maeyer et al., 2007), As noted, school leadership traditionally focused on the principal but today it is recognized that there can be many leaders in a school, including deputy principals, heads of department, program and committee chairs and teachers; it is agreed and seen as desirable that leadership is distributed. Student and community leadership also need to be recognized. Studies show school leaders can improve student learning by enhancing the conditions or status of selected variables on the four paths, i.e., rational, emotions, organizational and family. Leithwood (2010) points out that school leaders and leadership researchers should be guided directly by existing evidences about school, classroom and family variables with powerful effect on student learning, when taking decisions about school improvement. In America endeavors are being made towards developing educators professionally with programmes like learning forward by National Staff Development Council with slogans like every educator engages ineffective professional learning every day so every student achieves Students are considered important ultimate stakeholders .While doing research on the effect of teacher control on series of outcomes Ingeroll (2007) concluded that these outcomes are directly connected to the distribution of power and control in schools. Schools fostering empowerment have fewer student misbehavior problems, show more teacher collegiality and co-operation among teachers and administrators. Donaldson (2006) views teacher leadership cultivates the will and the ability to improve practice by three streams .i.e. by attending to the quality of relationships, by keeping purposes and goals in mind and by focusing on improving children learning. This is how a close bond is established between the empowerment of self and its impact on students learning. CONCLUSION The pendulum has swung for teachers as change agents from the days of relative powerlessness when teachers were cast not only in a passive role but frequently in the role of active obstructionists (Charles, 1971). The educational research has come a long way in establishing theories through evidences and findings. Contrary to the discussions so far, most teachers are known to become disengaged from leadership roles. (Gronn, 2003) discusses the disengagement of school leaders-the shunning of leadership roles by potential candidates (i.e. teachers). He argues that the main cause is the amplification of professional work, describing the new work orders of educational leadership as long hours, endless demands, punishing pace and continual frustration-hardly an attractive proposition for those considering taking up leadership roles. The positive role of principals in fostering the transformation of teachers to participants in decision making ventures cannot be ignored. Similar observations have been recorded by Gokà §e (2009) in Turkish schools, where a significant difference was found between the opinions of teachers and school principals. Teachers expect principals to show more effective behaviour in the change process. Bush (2008) in an editorial quotes Leithwood et al.s (2006) assessment that leadership is second only to classroom teaching as an influence on pupil learning leading to the inevitable conclusion that head teachers, principals and senior staff should undertake specific preparation for the distinctive role of educational leadership and management., then, and only then can the teachers feel empowered to exercise control over the different domains in and outside the classroom. In a study conducted by Rhodes and Brundrett (2008) emerging from the focus group phase, empowerment, support and controlled risk taking, were endorsed by heads to contribute towards effective in-house leadership development .. A culture of trust and collaboration is essential, as is a shared vision of where the school needs to go.. In the developed and emergent teacher leadership schools, barriers to teacher leadership were mainly external to the school (Daniel Muijs and Alma Harris2007).They suggest that developing teacher leadership is not an easy process. It is closely related to re-culturing as it means a fundamental shift in the purposes and practices of the school Literature in favour of the role of teacher as a change agent in transforming learners includes James S. Pounder (2006), according to whom the third wave emphasizes that teacher leadership is a process rather than a positional concept. A fourth wave of teacher leadership could include transformational classroom leadership as one of the defining qualities of a teacher leader and could embrace both school and university contexts. According to Leithwood, K., et al (2004): There seems little doubt that both district and school leadership provides a critical bridge between most educational-reform initiatives, and having those reforms make a genuine difference for all students. Such leadership comes from many sources, not just superintendents and principals. But those in formal positions of authority in school systems are likely still the most influential. Efforts to improve their recruitment, training, evaluation and ongoing development should be considered highly cost-effective approaches to successful school improvement. In contradiction to the various theories put forward by the renowned researchers like Leithwood et al (2004) and Gronn (2003), and beliefs adopted by agencies like the National College for School Leader ship (NCSL) in England, David Hartley (2009) in the book Distributed Leader ship According to the Evidence, suggests a casual relationship between distributed leader ship and pupil outcomes. He suggests two outcomes of distributed leadership which we assume form the predecessor of empowerment of teachers; one being the organizational variable, the other effect is that upon pupils achievement. According to the co-authors of the book, there is no clear correlation between the pattern of leader ship distribution in the qualitative data and the student test results evidence. This is a notoriously difficult matter to measure, for it is not easy to isolate the direct effect of distributed leader ship as an independent variable as the policy-makers have been ahead of the evidence in their en dorsement of distributed leader ship as a means to bring about the effective school The optimistic views presented by the renowned authors opens many a venues for further researches in this context.. Teacher leadership research is well established in the USA and Canada and, in the last decade, it has become a focus of research activity in the UK. However, in Pakistan teacher leadership is relatively unknown as an area of research although, UNESCO and the World Bank are funding studies to develop strategies for teacher education and professional development. We have still to go a long way to recognize and change the mind-set of our school heads and principals to empower the teachers and include them in decision making and policy making activities. Muijs and Harris (2003), summaries the concept of teacher leadership, empowerment, and its governing factors as below, and accept that there is still a need for research in the UK. In summary, teacher leadership is centrally concerned with forms of empowerment and agency which are also at the core of distributed leadership theory It is concluded that teacher leadership could have beneficial effects on school improvement, school and teacher effectiveness and teacher motivation and retention, but that the right conditions need to be in place in order for teacher leadership to flourish. The lack of research on teacher leadership in the UK is noted. More than a decade ago, findings by Pounder, D.G. et al.(1995), pointed towards the lack of obvious leadership relations between levels-school district, school, and classroom-and their effect upon multiple measures of school performance. Much research has been undertaken since then, still the latest review of literature shows that there is a need to fill the void existing between a direct impact of teacher empowerment and the enhancement of students learning. We have to look further for measurable success indicators in order to produce quantitative results in support of the myriad of qualitative results that establish the positive association between teachers empowerment and student achievement.

Life In A Reinassiance City Essay -- essays research papers

Life in A Renaissance City “…the most varied forms of human development are found united in the history of Florence, which in this sense deserves the name of the first modern State in the world, “ (Burckhardt)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Florence was the birthplace of the renaissance and the perfect example of a renaissance city. The city was founded during the Roman Empire but didn’t become important until the time of the renaissance. They had guilds, the patronage system, spectacular architecture, and was the home to some of the most important and influential renaissance figures and artists. (Beers)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  All of the occupations were controlled by a guild. Guilds were a group of people that belong to the same professions and set a standard set of guidelines. Everyone belonged to a guild, not just the rich. A poor person would serve as an apprentice to a guild member. The more important guilds were the silk and cloth traders as well as bankers and judges. Lesser guilds were the butchers, blacksmiths and masons. (Bynog) “In the early history of Florence, there were battles between the guilds, which involved ransacking the city. This demonstrates how important the guilds were. They were more than just corporations or labor unions,'; (Bynog). The 12 guilds that controlled trade were the key to Florence’s commercial success. This was because the wealthy members of the guilds usually held go...

Internet Addiction Disorder Essay -- Internet Addiction Essays

The World Wide Web is an intriguing information highway. Its beginnings only date back to the 1990’s, but it has quickly become a major staple in our lives. As with anything there is a good and bad side. Americans and people around the world are becoming more and more reliant on using the internet for their informational, academic, social, entertainment, organizational, and connectional needs. Along with all of the good that this has brought a new disorder is arising, internet addiction disorder. Although internet addiction disorder has not been added as of yet to the DSM hopes by the researchers are high that it will be added in the future editions. Much research has been done to understand the complexities of the disorder. Most of the research has been done on youth and young, college age adults because they seem to be the most vulnerable. Our young people are growing up with the internet and rely on it much more than older adults at the present. They seem to have more of an interest in things of a technological nature (Chou, Condron & Belland, 2005). Through the research predictors of internet addiction disorder are being examined. Scales are being developed to help in diagnosis. Diagnosis criteria are being formulated. Patterns in and researched. There has been an international congress to discuss the disorder and what is being done for treatment around the world. This paper will review the information on research findings, diagnostics, and the treatments that are being used. It will also examine information as to the very nature of the internet what seems to give it the power to pull people into addiction. Explaining Internet Addiction Some researchers say that internet addiction is similar to gambling addiction (Chou... ...2010). Internet addiction or excessive internet use. American Journal Of Drug & Alcohol Abuse, 36(5), 277-283. doi:10.3109/00952990.2010.491880 Yen, J., Yen, C., Wu, H., Huang, C., & Ko, C. (2011). Hostility in the real world and online: The effect of internet addiction, depression, and online activity. Cyberpsychology, Behavior & Social Networking, 14(11), 649-655. doi:10.1089/cyber.2010.0393 Young, K. (2014). Reflections on the first international congress on internet addiction disorders- cultural and clinical perspectives. Retrieved from http://netaddictionrecovery.blogspot.com/ Zhang, H., Jiang, W., Lin, Z., Du, Y., & Vance, A. (2013). Comparison of psychological symptoms and serum levels of neurotransmitters in shanghai adolescents with and without internet addiction disorder: A case-control study. Plos ONE, 8(5), 1-4. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0063089

Cultural References in Ah Mah :: mah

Cultural References in Ah Mah  Ã‚     Ã‚   In almost every piece of literature there can be found references to the author’s or the narrator’s culture. Having an understanding of this culture can help one better understand a literary work. Reading a work that contains references to a culture can also spark interest and inspire the reader to learn more about the culture that is represented in the work. One such piece of literature is the poem "Ah Mah," written by Shirley Geok-lin Lim. This poem contains many references to Chinese culture that are very interesting and inspire curiosity. By researching the culture of China, one can better understand the references to it in "Ah Mah." Then, the poem has more meaning to the reader than if he did not posses any knowledge about Chinese culture. "Ah Mah" is a poem about the author’s grandmother. The author, Lim, describes her grandmother in detail and explains how her grandfather "bought" her grandmother. Lim describes her grandmother as a very small and thin woman (10-11). She gives the impression that her grandmother had a hard life even though it appears that the family had enough money. The fact that the family is Chinese is also very apparent due to the many references to Chinese culture that are made as Lim describes aspects of her grandmother’s life. The first aspect of the grandmother’s life that is a reference to her culture is the mention of silk. In the poem, Lim states that her grandmother "tottered / in black silk" (7-8). This reference may seem unimportant at first glance. However, if one has knowledge of the country of China, it becomes apparent that silk is important. Silk has been a major resource in China since ancient times. A route called the Silk Road was an important path followed by traders who traded goods with the Chinese for raw silk. Silk has been abundant in China for a long time and it was a more common fabric there before it was popular in other places. Silk fabric was still considered a sign of status in China, but it was more easily found there than in other parts of the world ("Chinese Culture"). Another reference to Silk in the poem that is more indirect is "Soochow flower song girl," which is referring to the grandmother (Lim 12). Soochow is a city in China that is also known as Suzhou or Wuxian city.

Health Care Reform Research Proposal

Bailey 1 UNIV 4995 Senior Project Research Proposal September 23, 2010 Health Care Reform Benefits Everyone It feels good to be able to make a doctor’s appointment and get health screens or prescriptions as needed without the hassle of being rejected because lack of health insurance. I, unlike millions, am employed full time by a major company that has this option. A very close friend of mine, who is paralyzed from the waist down had been covered by his mother’s health insurance through her employer for many years.Last year, she came of retirement age and the insurance company informed them that Jimmy will no longer be covered and need to seek other options. Until President Obama’s Health Care Reform Bill, Jimmy was denied coverage numerous times because of his â€Å"pre-existing conditions. † How could a country so rich, deny a person who needs medical insurance? We needed a change and this Bill was indeed the answer.The Health Care Reform Bill is much ne eded and relevant to society because it will extend health care to those with pre-existing conditions like those of Jimmy’s’. It will also extend coverage to seniors and make prescriptions more available to them. The Bill will also increase the age of coverage to young adults who are currently on their parents’ policies. There are much of Americas population who are uninformed or just do not approve of the Health Care Bill.Many may question the tax increase on citizens for Medicare or have questions Bailey 2 regarding the countries’ deficit. Some may ask, â€Å"Why is it fair to pay extra for people who smoke or people who are unhealthy? † And finally, many republicans, rich or wealthy Americans object this bill mostly because they feel they are taxed the hardest and are punished for being wealthy. With support for research, I will address all of these issues.With charts and data from the US Bureau of Statistics, I will retrieve information that wi ll back facts that the Health Care Reform Bill will benefit our country more than it will hurt it. I will research articles and interviews from politicians and regular American citizens (wealthy, middle, and poor) to prove we are on the right track. Our country needs our support. I plan to visit local libraries to obtain reference information to give a more in-depth analysis on changes the bill has brought about.With the proper support, I can identify facts that the Pro’s definitely outweigh the Con’s. I am writing to all the Americans who do not support this bill and to Americans who are not informed of how important it is. I want to shed light on this subject and hopefully answer questions of people who are sketchy about politics in general. The burning question remains â€Å"How will the Health Care Reform Bill affect me? † My goal in this paper is to answer questions and inform â€Å"the people† that this bill will benefit us all and should be support ed.

American Immigration History Essay

American immigration history can be viewed in four epochs: the colonial period, the mid-19th century, the start of the 20th century, and post-1965. Each period brought distinct national groups, races and ethnicities to the United States. During the 17th century, approximately 175,000 Englishmen migrated to Colonial America.[11] Over half of all European immigrants to Colonial America during the 17th and 18th centuries arrived as indentured servants.[12] The mid-19th century saw mainly an influx from northern Europe; the early 20th-century mainly from Southern and Eastern Europe; post-1965 mostly from Latin America and Asia. Historians estimate that fewer than one million immigrants—perhaps as few as 400,000—crossed the Atlantic during the 17th and 18th centuries.[13] The 1790 Act limited naturalization to â€Å"free white persons†; it was expanded to include blacks in the 1860s and Asians in the 1950s.[14] In the early years of the United States, immigration was fewer than 8,000 people a year,[15] including French refugees from the slave revolt in Haiti. After 1820, immigration gradually increased. From 1836 to 1914, over 30 million Europeans migrated to the United States.[16] The death rate on these transatlantic voyages was high, during which one in seven travelers died.[17] In 1875, the nation passed its first immigration law, the Page Act of 1875.[18] The peak year of European immigration was in 1907, when 1,285,349 persons entered the country.[19] By 1910, 13.5 million immigrants were living in the United States.[20] In 1921, the Congress passed the Emergency Quota Act, followed by the Immigration Act of 1924. The 1924 Act was aimed at further restricting the Southern and Eastern Europeans, especially Jews, Italians, and Slavs, who had begun to enter the country in large numbers beginning in the 1890s.[21] Most of the European refugees fleeing the Nazis and World War II were barred from coming to the United States.[22] Immigration patterns of the 1930s were dominated by the Great Depression, which hit the U.S. hard and lasted over ten years there. In the final prosperous year, 1929, there were 279,678 immigrants recorded,[23] but in 1933, only 23,068 came to the U.S.[13] In the early 1930s, more people emigrated from the United States than to it.[24] The U.S. government sponsored a Mexican Repatriation program which was intended to encourage people to voluntarily move to Mexico, but thousands were deported against their will.[25] Altogether about 400,000 Mexicans were repatriated.[26] In the post-war era, the Justice Department  launched Operation Wetback, under which 1,075,168 Mexicans were deported in 1954.[27] First, our cities will not be flooded with a million immigrants annually. Under the proposed bill, the present level of immigration remains substantially the same†¦. Secondly, the ethnic mix of this country will not be upset†¦. Contrary to the charges in some quarters, [the bill] will not inundate America with immigrants from any one country or area, or the most populated and deprived nations of Africa and Asia†¦. In the final analysis, the ethnic pattern of immigration under the proposed measure is not expected to change as sharply as the critics seem to think. — Ted Kennedy, chief Senate sponsor of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.[28] The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, also known as the Hart-Cellar Act, abolished the system of national-origin quotas. By equalizing immigration policies, the act resulted in new immigration from non-European nations, which changed the ethnic make-up of the United States.[29] While European immigrants accounted for nearly 60% of the total foreign population in 1970, they accounted for only 15% in 2000.[30] Immigration doubled between 1965 and 1970, and again between 1970 and 1990.[31] In 1990, George H. W. Bush signed the Immigration Act of 1 990,[32] which increased legal immigration to the United States by 40%.[33] Appointed by Bill Clinton,[34] the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform recommended reducing legal immigration from about 800,000 people per year to approximately 550,000.[35] While an influx of new residents from different cultures presents some challenges, â€Å"the United States has always been energized by its immigrant populations,† said President Bill Clinton in 1998. â€Å"America has constantly drawn strength and spirit from wave after wave of immigrants [†¦] They have proved to be the most restless, the most adventurous, the most innovative, the most industrious of people.†[36] An analysis of census data found that nearly eight million immigrants entered the United States from 2000 to 2005, more than in any other five-year period in the nation’s history; 3.7 million of them entered without papers.[37][38] Since 1986 Congress has passed seven amnesties for undocumented immigrants.[39] In 1986 president Ronald Reagan signed immigration reform that gave amnesty to 3 million undocumented immigrants in the country.[40] Hispanic immigrants were among the first victims of the late-2000s recession,[41] but since the recessionâ₠¬â„¢s end in June 2009, immigrants posted a net gain of 656,000 jobs.[42] Over 1 million immigrants were granted legal residence in 2011. ————————————————- Contemporary immigration Until the 1930s most legal immigrants were male. By the 1990s women accounted for just over half of all legal immigrants.[46]Contemporary immigrants tend to be younger than the native population of the United States, with people between the ages of 15 and 34 substantially overrepresented.[47] Immigrants are also more likely to be married and less likely to be divorced than native-born Americans of the same age.[48] Immigrants are likely to move to and live in areas populated by people with similar backgrounds. This phenomenon has held true throughout the history of immigration to the United States.[49] Seven out of ten immigrants surveyed by Public Agenda in 2009 said they intended to make the U.S. their permanent home, and 71% said if they could do it over again they would still come to the US. In the same study, 76% of immigrants say the government has become stricter on enforcing immigration laws since the September 11, 2001 attacks (â€Å"9/11†), and 24% report that they p ersonally have experienced some or a great deal of discrimination.[50] Public attitudes about immigration in the U.S. were heavily influenced in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. After the attacks, 52% of Americans believed that immigration was a good thing overall for the U.S., down from 62% the year before, according to a 2009 Gallup poll.[51] A 2008 Public Agenda survey found that half of Americans said tighter controls on immigration would do â€Å"a great deal† to enhance U.S. national security.[52] Harvard political scientist and historian Samuel P. Huntington argued in Who Are We? The Challenges to America’s National Identity that a potential future consequence of continuing massive immigration from Latin America, especially Mexico, might lead to the bifurcation of the United States. The population of illegal Mexican immigrants in the US fell from approximately 7 million in 2007 to 6.1 million in 2011 [53] Commentators link the reversal of the immigration trend to the economic downturn that started in 2008 and which meant fewer available jobs, and to the introduction of tough immigration laws in many states.[54][55][56][57] According to t he Pew Hispanic Center the total number of Mexican born persons had stagnated in 2010, and tended toward going into negative figures.[58] More than 80 cities in the United States,[59] including Washington D.C., New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, San Diego,San Jose, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Detroit, Jersey City, Minneapolis, Miami, Denver, Baltimore, Seattle,Portland, Oregon and Portland, Maine, have sanctuary policies, which vary locally.[60] ————————————————- Effects of immigration Demographics The Census Bureau estimates the US population will grow from 281 million in 2000 to 397 million in 2050 with immigration, but only to 328 million with no immigration.[77] A new report from the Pew Research Center projects that by 2050, non-Hispanic whites will account for 47% of the population, down from the 2005 figure of 67%.[78] Non-Hispanic whites made up 85% of the population in 1960.[79] It also foresees the Hispanic population rising from 14% in 2005 to 29% by 2050.[80] The Asian population is expected to more than triple by 2050. Overall, the population of the United States is due to rise from 296 million in 2005 to 438 million in 2050, with 82% of the increase from immigrants.[81] In 35 of the country’s 50 largest cities, non-Hispanic whites were at the last census or are predicted to be in the minority.[82] In California, non-Hispanic whites slipped from 80% of the state’s population in 1970 to 42.3% in 2008.[83][84] Immigrant segregation declined in the first half of the century, but has been rising over the past few decades. This has caused questioning of the correctness of describing the United States as a melting pot. One explanation is that groups with lower socioeconomic status concentrate in more densely populated area that have access to public transit while groups with higher socioeconomic status move to suburban areas. Another is that some recent immigrant groups are more culturally and linguistically different than earlier group and prefer to live together due to factors such as communication costs.[85] Another explanation for increased segregation is white flight.[86] â€Å"The lesson of these 236 years is clear – immigration makes America stronger. Immigration makes us more prosperous. And immigration positions America to lead in the 21st century.† President Obama, July 4, 2012 A stronger GDP means a better standard of living for Americans.Immigrants start small businesses.Immigrant-owned businesses create jobs for American workers.Immigrants boost demand for local consumer goods. More than 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or a child of immigrants. According to thePartnership for a New American Economy these companies employ more than 10 million people worldwide and generate annual revenue of $4.2 trillion. Immigrants innovate as scientists and engineers.Immigrants develop cutting-edge technologies and companies.Immigrant scientist and engineers positively impact wages.Fixing our broken immigration system is critical to bilateral trade and U.S. exports. Fixing our broken immigration system will help increase international travel and tourism to America. merica’s immigration system is broken. Too many employers game the system by hiring undocumented workers and there are 11 million people living in the shadows. Neither is good for the economy or the country. Together we can build a fair, effective and common sense immigration system that lives up to our heritage as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. The President’s plan builds a smart, effective immigration system that continues efforts to secure our borders and cracks down on employers who hire undocumented immigrants. It’s a plan that requires anyone who’s undocumented to get right with the law by paying their taxes and a penalty, learning English, and undergoing background checks before they can be eligible to earn citizenship. It requires every business and every worker to play by the same set of rules. The Know Nothing movement was an American political movement that operated on a national basis during the mid 1850s. It promised to purify American politics by limiting or ending the influence of Irish Catholics and other immigrants, thus reflecting nativismand anti-Catholic sentiment. It was empowered by popular fears that the country was being overwhelmed by German and Irish Catholicimmigrants, whom they saw as hostile to republican values and controlled by the pope in Rome. Mainly active from 1854 to 1856, it strove to curb immigration and naturalization, but met with little success. Membership was limited to Protestant males. There were few prominent leaders, and the largely middle-class membership fragmented over the issue of slavery. The most prominent leaders were ex-President Millard Fillmore (the party’s presidential nominee in 1856), Massachusetts Congressman Nathaniel P. Banks,[1] and former congressman Lewis C. Levin. Social Irish immigration was opposed in the 1850s by the nativist Know Nothing movement, originating in New York in 1843. It was engendered by popular fears that the country was being overwhelmed by Irish Catholic immigrants. In 1891, a lynch mob stormed a local jail and hanged several Italians following the acquittal of several Sicilian immigrants alleged to be involved in the murder of New Orleans police chief David Hennessy. The Congress passed the Emergency Quota Act in 1921, followed by the Immigration Act of 1924. The Immigration Act of 1924 was aimed at limiting immigration overall, and making sure that the nationalities of new arrivals matched the overall national profile. After the September 11 attacks, many Americans entertained doubts and suspicions about people apparently of Middle-Eastern origins.[citation needed] NPR in 2010 fired a prominent black commentator, Juan Williams, when he talked publicly about his fears on seeing people dressed like Muslims on airplanes.[127] Racist thinking among and between minority groups does occur;[128][129] examples of this are conflicts between blacks and Korean immigrants,[130] notably in the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, and between African Americans and non-white Latino immigrants.[131][132] There has been a long running racial tension between African American and Mexicanprison gangs, as well as significant riots in California prisons where they have targeted each other, for ethnic reasons.[133][134] There have been reports of racially motivated attacks against African Americans who have moved into neighborhoods occupied mostly by people of Mexican origin, and vice versa.[135][136] There has also been an increase in violence between non-Hispanic Anglo Americans and Latino immigrants, and between African immigrants and African Americans.[137] A 2007 study on assimilation found that Mexican immigrants are less fluent in English than both non-Mexican Hispanic immigrants and other immigrants. While English fluency increas es with time stayed in the United States, although further improvements after the first decade are limited, Mexicans never catch up with non-Mexican Hispanic who never catch up with non-Hispanics. The study also writes that â€Å"Even among immigrants who came to the United States before they were ï ¬ ve years old and whose entire schooling was in the United States, those Mexican born have average education levels of 11.7 years, whereas those from other countries have average levels of education of 14.1 years.† Unlike other immigrants, Mexicans have a tendency to live in communities with many other Mexicans which decreases incentives for assimilation. Correcting for this removes about half the fluency difference between Mexicans and other immigrants.[138] Religious diversity Immigration from South Asia and elsewhere has contributed to enlarging the religious composition of the United States. Islam in the United States is growing mainly due to immigration. Hinduism in the United States, Buddhism in the United States, and Sikhism in the United States are other examples.[139] Since 1992, an estimated 1.7 million Muslims, approximately 1 million Hindus, and approximately 1 million Buddhists have immigrated legally to the United States. Os Imigrantes e as Religià µes A maior religià £o dos EUA à © o cristianismo, cerca de 78,4% da populaà §Ãƒ £o à © cristà £. Tradicionalmente a maioria dos americanos eram majoritariamente protestantes, mas pela primeira vez em 2011 o grupo atingiu porcetagem menor que metade da populaà §Ãƒ £o. Ainda assim os americanos continuam sendo de maioria protestante somando 48% ou ainda ma maioria crentes 51% somando afiliaà §Ãƒ µes mà ³rmons. O cristianismo foi introduzidos durante o perà ­odo da colonizaà §Ãƒ £o europeia. O cristianismo à © uma das religià µes que mais cresce nos EUA. Isto se deve, entre outros fatores, pelo elevado nà ºmero de imigrantes latino-americanos e filipinos que o paà ­s recebe a cada ano. A regià £o com a maior concentraà §Ãƒ £o de catà ³licos à © o Nordeste, que apesar de ter sido colonizada por puritanos, recebeu grande nà ºmero de imigrantes catà ³licos europeus (principalmente alemà £es, irlandeses e italianos) a partir da segunda metade do sà ©culo XIX. O Norte, à ¡rea de forte influà ªncia da Igreja Batista, por outro lado, à © a regià £o com a menor porcentagem de catà ³licos. Os  Ingleses, Alemà £es, Escoceses, Holandeses, Noruegueses entre outros do norte europeu introduziram o Protestantismo, enquanto os franceses, espanhà ³is e irlandeses trouxeram o Catolicismo. Apesar de seu status de religià £o mais difundida e mais influente nos EUA, o Cristianismo està ¡ num declà ­nio relativo contà ­nuo. Quando o nà ºmero absoluto de cristà £os foi levantado de 1990 a 2001, a porcentagem cristà £ da populaà §Ãƒ £o caiu de 88.3% para 79.6%. O Judaà ­smo à © a quarta maior preferà ªncia religiosa nos EUA. Os judeus atuais està £o presentes nos EUA desde o sà ©culo XVII, embora a imigraà §Ãƒ £o em grande escala nà £o tenha ocorrido atà © o sà ©culo XIX, em maior parte por causa das perseguià §Ãƒ µes na Europa Oriental. O CIA Fact Book estima que 1% dos americanos pertencem a esse grupo. Aproximadamente 25% dessa populaà §Ãƒ £o vive em Nova York. O Budismo entrou nos EUA durante o sà ©culo XIX com a chegada dos primeiros imigrantes da à sia Oriental. O primeiro templo budista foi estabelecido em San Francisco em 1853 pelos chineses-americanos. Ao longo do sà ©culo XIX, missionà ¡rios budistas do Japà £o vieram aos EUA. Simultaneamente a estes processos, certos intelectuais dos EUA ficaram interessados pelo budismo. O sà ©culo XX foi caracterizado por uma continuaà §Ãƒ £o das tendà ªncias do sà ©culo XIX. A segunda metade, pelo contraste, viu uma emergà ªncia de correntes principais do movimento budista que tornou-se uma massa e um fenà ´meno religioso social. Estimativas do nà ºmero de budistas nos Estados Unidos variam de 0.5% a 0.9%. No que diz respeito a histà ³ria do Islà £ nos EUA, ainda que muito pequena, a populaà §Ãƒ £o muà §ulmana aumentou extremamente nos à ºltimos cem anos. Boa parte do crescimento foi por causa da imigraà §Ãƒ £o e pela conversà £o. Atà © um terà §o dos muà §ulmanos americanos sà £o africanos que se converteram ao Islà £ durante os à ºltimos setenta anos. A imigraà §Ãƒ £o muà §ulmana aumentou em 2005, assim como mais pessoas de paà ­ses islà ¢micos se tornaram residentes legais permanentes nos EUA do que qualquer ano, nas duas dà ©cadas anteriores. A estimativa de muà §ulmanos nos EUA à © de 2,35 milhà µes (0,8% do total da populaà §Ãƒ £o). A primeira vez que o Hinduà ­smo entrou nos Estados Unidos nà £o està ¡ claramente identificado. No entanto, grandes grupos de hindus emigraram da à ndia e de outros paà ­ses asià ¡ticos desde o Ato pela Imigraà §Ãƒ £o e Nacionalidade de 1965. Durante as dà ©cadas de 1960 e 1970, o fascà ­nio pelo Hinduà ­smo contribuiu para o pensamento New Age. Atualmente, as estimativas de hindus nos Estados Unidos sugerem um nà ºmero de quase 800.000 pessoas, ou cerca de 0.4% do total da populaà §Ãƒ £o. A religià £o hindu està ¡ em crescimento nos Estados Unidos, nà £o sà ³ graà §as a imigraà §Ãƒ £o, mas tambà ©m devido a conversà £o de muitos ocidentais. Place of birth for the foreign-born population in the United States Top ten countries| 2010| 2000| 1990| Mexico| 11,711,103| 9,177,487| 4,298,014| China| 2,166,526| 1,518,652| 921,070| India| 1,780,322| 1,022,552| 450,406| Philippines| 1,777,588| 1,369,070| 912,674| Vietnam| 1,240,542| 988,174| 543,262| El Salvador| 1,214,049| 817,336| 465,433| Cuba| 1,104,679| 872,716| 736,971| South Korea| 1,100,422| 864,125| 568,397| Dominican Republic| 879,187| 687,677| 347,858| Guatemala| 830,824| 480,665| 225,739| All of Latin America| 21,224,087| 16,086,974| 8,407,837| All Immigrants| 39,955,854| 31,107,889| 19,767,316|