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

Descartes - Essay Example There must be a proper procedure of metaphysical verification through which the mind can get certain of what it thinks and there must be strong emphasizing proofs for his. But later on refuting has own arguments to some extent, Rene argues that since he is certain about the fact that he is thinking about something, so he can conclude on this tautology that man is something which has the ability to think. Existence of God is one of the most important and centric circle of attention for the mediator. He builds the proofs for the existence of God by building an argument based in the human mind processes. He says that the human mind of packed with the idea of existence of God and if by any means this idea is created then it must be created by God himself. Humans are weak and don’t have powers to illusion the minds so impeccably so this lead to the fact that this idea of God’s existence is injected in the human minds by the God himself which depicts the existence of God. ... He argues to get rid of all the dogmas and really believe. In this paper, one out of six meditations will be summarized and discussed. Explanation In the sixth meditation, concerning the Existence of material things, and the real Distinction between Mind and Body, Rene tries to explore the hidden phenomena in the clear distinction of one’s self with external events and object along with the strong emphasis to prove that things outside self and God exists. While discussing the credibility of mind-body dualism, meditator argues that the human behind always feel the internal needs for something that are triggered by the external factor but this cannot be felt outside the body for example he says that he can feel heat, pressure, tickling and hunger within his body but he cannot feel these physical characteristics and happening outside his body. He asks a series of question and says why is human body self centric and why we cannot feel the physical variants of other people (Descart es and Stanley, 193). The main argument which is built by the meditator is that human body and body yare not interdependent and they can exists without each other for example he says that human body has a certain characteristic of extension which is inherent in it. The human body gets extended with the passage of time but the human mind is not extendable and remains of the same size this means that this basic characteristic of extension does not co-exist in the human mind and body so human mind and exist without body and work on its own. The meditator then argues that the human mind and body are dependent upon the physical objects and substances which do not only cause the triggering of internal demands of the human mind and body, they also play a colossal role to satisfy

Residential Housing Essay Example for Free

Residential Housing Essay KB Home, one of the major housing companies in the market made a statement telling the public that they do not see housing sector to stabilize by this year. Number of housing companies has been acquiring great losses by the end of 2005 as disposable income of consumers’ declines as the consequence of lowering down of per capita income in the economy. According to the President and Chief Executive Officer of KB Home, Jeffrey Mezger, they have suffered to a staggering loss of nearly $10 per share during the first quarter of 2007 (Steverman 1).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Deutsche Bank’s economists, Peter Hopper, said that the housing correction works sluggishly just like a ‘slow-motion train wreck’ which made worse the housing sector of the economy. Moreover, the said loss of KB Home worse than what they have expected. Analysts expects around $7 loss per share which is very far from the $10 per share loss accounted last quarter. Therefore, with the further worsening of the stock prices in the stock market, this only means that there will be no improvement in the coming first quarter of 2008.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To make the situation worse, there has been a rumor in the market regarding the bankruptcy of Countrywide which supplies loans and mortgages worth 2 million and 9 million respectively. Countrywide suffered from 25 percent losses as of January 8 of this year. Meaning, there would be a shortage on the supply of loan and mortgages in the financial market just in case Countrywide is really approaching to bankruptcy. Moreover, the shortage of supply of loans and mortgages in the economy will only worsen the purchasing power of the consumers, giving way for a further deterioration of demand to housing industry.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One possible reason behind the turmoil in the housing industry would be the oversupply of homes in the market creating a pressure for its prices to decline. By the time price level of housing units starts to decline, profitability of housing companies begins to deteriorate giving way for experiencing a low return on investment in the next quarter. Driven by speculation, investors will start to pull out their stocks in the housing sector causing stock prices to turn down. In this regard, the connection between the oversupply of housing unit in the market with the deterioration of stock prices is already established. Moreover, it is not only the oversupply of housing units in the market that caused the instability of the housing sector. The growing competition also adds up to the growth of the problem. At the end of the day, market analysts still believes that housing sector will not recover this year based from the current degree of losses that housing companies and financial institutions had experienced on the last quarter of 2007. Analysis   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is true that the turmoil in the housing sector started during the last quarter of 2005 when consumers have high disposable income. During then, consumers spent more in the housing market attracting the housing companies to produce more house units next quarter. By the start of the first quarter of 2006, per capita income of consumers starts to decline giving them a limited disposable income for housing sector. At this point, the housing industry experienced oversupply of housing units since companies did not anticipate the deterioration of consumer’s disposable income. The said oversupply caused the price level of the housing companies to decline causing the return on investment to depreciate which later on forced stock holder to withdraw their stocks in the market. The increasing competition in the housing sector also add up to the lowering down of housing unit prices since companies in this industry starts to compete each other through price competition. Meaning, housing companies tries to lower down the prices of their home units in order to attract more customers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The negative effects of eh oversupply of housing units will not be that severe if there is only adequate number of financial institutions that will provide loans and mortgages to uplift the purchasing power of the consumers, therefore, improving the demand on the housing industry. But the problem now would be, even financial lenders is also having a hard time providing loans and mortgages due to the low income level of consumers in the market which imposes the threat of bankruptcy   to the financial lenders.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It would be best if the government would start making action by offering low interest rate on credit. The federal bank must structuralize a special credit scheme for housing sector customers, e.g. low interest rate on borrowing or longer payment period, in order to solve the problem of over supply on the said industry.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another way by which the government could solve this instability of housing sector would be to provide financial aids to Countrywide which, as what have already pointed out during the first part of the paper, plays a major role in uplifting the purchasing power of consumers though provision of loans and mortgages that can be used in purchasing housing units. The said government aid may be in the form of monetary of fiscal Moreover, the government could also increase the wage rate of the workers in the economy in order to improve the current level of disposable incomes of consumers in the market. By the time the disposable income of consumers increase, they will now have enough money to purchase housing units which will solve the problem regarding the oversupply of home units. Works Cited Steverman, Ben â€Å"Housing: A Fresh Jolt of Bad News.† 8 January 2008. Business Week. 11 February 2008 http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/jan2008/pi2008018_503594.htm?chan=search.

The Effects of Education Mandates in Schools :: Teaching Education Essays

The Effects of Education Mandates in Schools There has been a recent "surge" of education mandates being passed. These new mandates have had a major effect on the productivity of public schools and have forced some schools to change their methods in terms of how and what they teach. The "surge" of education mandates began with the implementation of Title I. in 1965. Almost every piece of education legislation since then has been to improve or update Title I. "Title I, Part A provides funds to state departments of education and in turn to local school districts to provide quality learning opportunities for students in low-income schools to meet challenging academic standards."(No Subject 8). It also funds programs to strengthen all core subjects including the arts (8). In order for educational agencies to receive these grants, they must "meet the requirements of four separate funding formulas: Basic Grants, Concentration Grants, Targeted Grants, and Education Finance Incentive Grants."(8). The most recent mandate dealing with Title I is the No Child Left Behind Act enacted in 2001. This act deals with student achievement standards by holding schools accountable for the achievement of their students. The NCLBA uses standardized tests to chart the success of students. If students are not meeting standards, the school is required to offer tutoring, which is funded by the state with Title I grant money. From the national government’s view, the No Child Left Behind Act helps schools use available resources more efficiently, thus giving the students a better education. â€Å"President Bush knows students can succeed if they are using the best materials, proven lesson plans and textbooks aligned with state standards.† (Investing 1). The common view is that â€Å"solid research equals solid results.† (1). They also believe that there are some key characteristics to reliable research. The characteristics are as follows: * Scientific Method- A hypothesis is formulated then tested. * Replicated- Several studies are done and have similar results. * Generalized- The study findings can be applied to a broad range of students. * Meets Rigorous Standards- â€Å"The studies design, measures, and interpretation of results meet rigorous standards of peer review.† (1) . * Convergent Findings- Results found by using different approaches are the same.

A Brief Evaluation of A Law Enforcement Stress Website

Research method has come a long way as technology zooms forward to the cyber-space era.   From the pulp pages of the hard-bound books in the library, comes the digitally encrypted data compressed into what we call cyberspace.With just the click of the mouse button, one can access information readily available through the internet.   Search engines like yahoo and Google made researching faster since it presents  hundreds of related topics of the subject being researched online.There is no need to go to the library just to borrow three books at a time.   The listings searched in the search engine tool are websites developed by programmers and the content can be reliable or not.   The important point of researching online is convenience and wide array of resources will always be made available.A Brief Evaluation of A Law Enforcement Stress WebsiteThere are a lot of websites that can aid researchers about law enforcement stress, but only a few can actually give full details on the subject based from the US government.   Upon searching the topic about law enforcement stress using the Google search engine, one can come across a title from the National Institute of Justice that when you click on it, it opens an Adobe Acrobat file  and shows the full text of a published book written by Peter Finn and Julie Esselman Tomz.It contains fourteen chapters tackling the subject starting from its definition and how was the program formulated, until aiding the researchers  to other resources related to this subject.This book is not only about law enforcement stress for officers, but it is about the program development of stress programs for officers and their families too.   This is a very handy compilation of the program by the US government that is easily accessed through the internet and compiled into a readable .PDF file so the book can be  downloaded  and printed for reference.   It provides illustrations and forms needed for this program in its appe ndices.This is government material that's why  everybody  can access it without the need to go to the local library and saves researchers time and money.   For those who are researching about this topic, this is a one-stop shop where all related information is available, because endnotes are provided aside from the appendices.For those looking for newer updates, they cannot rely on this however, because this provides the 1996 sources and research data.   One has to go to other websites to look for the latest research and evaluation done about this program though.The leads and contact information included in this book can still provide details that can guide the researchers for the latest updates about this program.   This website is a highly recommended legal source of information about the law enforcement stress program.ReferencesFinn, P., Tomz, J. E.   December 1996.   Developing a Law Enforcement Stress ProgramFor Officers and Their Families.   Department of Justi ce.   August 21, 2008. [http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/163175.pdf].  

Changing the Culture at British Airways

Changing the Culture at British Airways 1. Problems you identified from the case Macro: The first problem changing the culture at British Airways was the merger of the BOAC and BEA. In 1971, the Civil Aviation Act became law and the board was to control policy over British Airways but both BOAC and BEA remained autonomous, each with its own chairman, board, and chief executive. This caused a split within British Airways throughout the 1970s and in the mid-1980. The second problem BA faced was the threat of privatization. In 1984 the government passed legislation that made BA a public limited company.The third was productivity was bad compared to other leading foreign airlines. The fourth was poor service. Poor customer service to the employees and customers led to reduced passenger numbers and high fuel costs. This created a reduction in profit (Jick & Peiperl, 2011, pp. 25-29). Micro: The first problem BA had that is not obvious was the change in the organization and culture. There need to be a more institutionalize change. New culture fosters a strong commitment to service. Also, the lack of unity and loyalty caused the airline to not be focused. There was a lack of recognition.This caused a lack of unifying corporate culture. Also, training needs for managers were needed. Organizations need to change to adapt to the changes inside and outside the organizations (Jick & Peiperl, 2011, pp. 28-35) 2. Causes BA will have these problems because they merge two companies with very different style of management, government regulations. They lost millions because of the mindset the management had which questioned why the need for change if we’re making a profit. The lost was great also because people were operating effectively and not efficiently.They believe that if you’re providing service at no cost to taxpayers then you’re doing well and the cost of paying a high price for advance technologies. There was not enough management time devoted to m anaging the changing environment because it was all focused inwardly on resolving industrial relations problems, on resolving organizational conflicts. Both companies had done its share of pioneering. BA needs to be reorganized to have shared desires. This resulted in a financial crises and downsizing of employees (Jick & Peiperl, 2011, p. 35). 3.Organizational Systems Affected Structural: The Leadership indicated that BEA was concerned with building an airline infrastructure than it did in profit. This was reflection a de-centralized leadership style and BOAC was concerned with the jet airliner which was focusing on the task. The merger caused BA to be very controlled with a lot of rules and regulations. Privatization by the British government made BA a public limited company. (Jick & Peiperl, 2011, pp. 26, 34). Psychosocial: Employees expressed their pleasure on being treated with respect.When the merger took place, both BEA and BOAC will have to be loyal to each other and unite. A greater challenge is to change the mindset of employees at all levels. The mindset is a shared way of thinking and behavior within in an organization. They are reflected in accepted behaviors and attitudes. The mindset becomes very powerful in gaining unity and focus within the organization. It provides a common focus and increases the intensity of the work being done (Jick & Peiperl, 2011, p. 39). Technical: BA will have to cut cost and drive customer service.The technological innovation plays and important role. If everyone works together there would be a more cohesive environment and the ability to manage change. When other airlines were not considered and competition was not a factor, BA was successful economically but there were no satisfaction with customer service (Jick & Peiperl, 2011, p. 26). BA need to encourage workshops was great within the organization, having done this customer assessment of the competitors allowed the employees from thinking more about the internal company policies and practices and more time interacting with the customers.Customer may become involved in product design. The more interaction between the customer and employees, the more a customer views is reflected on the organization (Jick & Peiperl, 2011, pp. 40-41). Managerial: BA Managers would have to be very proactive and have a need for change. They made Lord King the Chairman in 1981 and he recognized that a major cooperate change was needed. The leaders at BA must manage through principles. A change was needed in the culture. The leader must articulate and communicate the principles to be successful (Jick & Peiperl, 2011, p. 9). Goals and Values: The BA would have to have contribute to its customers, investors encourage a shared vision and values, enable employees to act by encouraging greater cutomer and cost consciousness, adaptability initiative, accountability, and teamwork. To accomplish these goals, managers will have to model the way (Jick & Peiperl, 2011, p. 50 ). 4. Alternative Solutions One alternative solution to changing the culture at BA is to not resist the change and take an untraditional approach.The greatest effort would be overcoming the mindset of employees at all levels of an organization. Another alternative is managers don’t have to micro-manage. It creates a negative environment. BA focus was primarily on cutting cost and driving customer service. This is a difficult challenge. BA would have been more successful if they would have put the people before the task (Jick & Peiperl, 2011, p. 39). 5. Recommendations and Implementation Plans BA needs to change to adapt to the changing internal and external environment through a restructuring of their organization.They should start out there merger with a vision statement and uniting as one complete team. They need to move with the times, out with the old and in with the new. With the globalizations and technology, organizations have moved from mechanical to a gradual approac h. The mindset of the employees at all levels of the organization need to be changed. BA also needs to analyze their organization through the eyes of the customer perspective. The more interaction between customers and employees the more a customer perspective is instilled within the organization.There need to be work-groups such as self-manage work teams. BA needs to be reflexive and learn from their past (Jick & Peiperl, 2011, p. 42). Training needs to be implemented. There must me a willingness to change for all employees and managers. BA will have the ability to become re-energized and meet the needs of the customers through innovation and being resourceful (Jick & Peiperl, 2011, p. 50). References Jick, T. D. , & Peiperl, M. A. (2011). Managing Change: Cases and Concepts, Third Edition . New york: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc..

Transition Words

Transition Words Transition Words Transition Words By Maeve Maddox A frequent fault of inexperienced writers is a tendency to present thoughts and ideas without showing connections between them, or without making their significance clear to the reader. Transition words and phrases keep the reader on track by showing relationships between ideas and information. Consider the following paragraph: People who adopt a dog need to teach it basic commands.  Basic obedience keeps the animal safe and prevents it from becoming a danger. Many pet owners fail to teach their dogs to obey. They should always consider the need to train their puppies to obey. The writer of this paragraph sees value in training a dog in basic obedience, but a reader might wonder what connection there is between basic obedience and the dog’s safety or dangerous behavior. Transitions are needed to show these connections. The paragraph revised: People who adopt a dog need to teach it basic commands in order to keep it safe and prevent it from harming others. For example, a dog that won’t come when called might run into the street and be hit by a car. A dog not trained to keep from jumping on people could cause injury by knocking someone down. Unfortunately, many pet owners fail to teach their dogs to obey, and, as a result, the animal becomes a nuisance or danger to family and strangers alike. To avoid undesirable behavior in their pets, dog owners should always consider the need to train puppies in basic obedience. Here is a list of transition words grouped according to the types of transition they can be used for: To add information: and, not onlybut also, also, moreover, furthermore, in addition, again, besides, equally important, what’s more, too To give examples: for example, for instance, specifically, in particular To show contrast: but, however, on the other hand, otherwise, instead, in contrast To show concession: yet, nevertheless, however, although, even though, despite the fact that, despite To show similarity: likewise, similarly, in the same way To show result: so, as a result, therefore, thus, as a consequence, consequently To indicate time or sequence: first, second, finally, meanwhile, immediately, thereafter, soon, finally, previously, formerly, next, following this, after, soon, therefore To offer conditional thoughts: or, whetheror, ifthen To explain or emphasize: in fact, actually, in other words, namely, obviously, in any case, naturally, certainly, unquestionably To offer alternatives: or, eitheror, neithernor To compare: on the other hand, on the contrary, by comparison, compared to, balanced against, visvis, although, in contrast To prove: because, for, for the same reason, obviously, evidently, in fact, in any case To conclude: in conclusion, in brief, on the whole, to conclude, as I have shown Some transition words, like also, and, or, like, as for, and further are unobtrusive, directing the reader without distracting. Others, like albeit, jump out at the reader and must be used sparingly. Still other transitions cast doubt on the credibility of the writer. Here are some transitions often seen in freshman compositions. They are perhaps best avoided: in all honesty, to tell the truth, to put it briefly, be that as it may, last but not least, to get back to the point, to make a long story short. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Fly, Flew, (has) FlownFlied?30 Baseball Idioms5 Erroneously Constructed â€Å"Not Only . . . But Also† Sentences

Analysis of Raymond Carvers What we talk about when we talk about love

Analysis of Raymond Carvers What we talk about when we talk about love Introduction What we talk about when we talk about love by Carver explores the subject of love. Love is a word that one hears in everyday life. People talk about loving their parents, cars, pets, movies, books, ice scream, children, spouses and so forth. However, the love is different in each instance and the concept of love puzzles many people. In the contemporary pop culture, the word love has been over used and it is not easy to tell what the word actually means. Love means different things to different people.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Analysis of Raymond Carvers What we talk about when we talk about love specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Types of love Physical love Nick and Laura is a couple who got married recently. They met in the course of their professional duties and have been married for eighteen months. The kind of love they exhibit is physical. It is the kind newly married couples express to each ot her and it seems that this is a remarkable period in their love life. They behave very affectionately towards each other â€Å"I touched the back of Lauras hand. She gave me a quick smile. I picked up Lauras hand. It was warm, the nails polished, perfectly manicured. I encircled the broad wrist with my fingers, and I held her (Carver 390). In return, Laura bumps her husband’s knee with hers to urge him to speak. On the contrary, they seem to have a hollow relationship, which Mel describes as virtual perfection. For instance, Nick says that they enjoy each other’s company and Laura is an easy woman to be with. Obviously, the couple are friends and lovers and this would be an ideal situation for any couple. However, there is a bad ring to it because every thing that comes easy goes easy. The physical attraction is bound to end at some point in their relation then what? Spiritual love Conversely, the old couple Mel describes has a kind of spiritual love. The old man is v ery disappointed because he is unable to see his wife due to the bandages on his face. The couple contrasts the couples in the kitchen who do not seem to have such kind of love that goes way beyond the physical. The kind of love the old couple has seems like it will last until death unlike for the couples sipping their gin who view it as something that can be disposed when no longer convenient. Transitory love There is the myth of eternal love. In many romance movies and novels couples fall in love and live happily forever. However, the reality of the contemporary love is far from the concept of eternal love. People keep moving from one marriage to another. Each time they marry someone they claim they are in love. The Couples in the story are in their second marriages after the failure of their first ones. Each person claims to have loved his or her former spouse. For example, Mel says he once loved his first wife Marjorie maybe even more than his own life but now hates her and wish es if she would die. He also says that if one of them was to die he was sure the other would remarry after mourning for a while. One then wonders what love is if today, you love somebody and tomorrow you loath them.Advertising Looking for essay on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Brutal love Terri was married to Ed, a barterer. He abused her physically and threatened to kill her for staying with Mel. Yet she claims that he loved her. According to her, the abuse Ed unleashed on her was a sign of love but her current husband disagrees and says that kind of love does not exist because love does not try to kill. Ed seems to be dependent on Terri and feels very vulnerable when she is away hence his attempted suicide. The kind of love they had was unhealthy. When a person becomes too dependent on another and very possessive, the results can be disastrous and today, many homicides have been committed in the name of love. So what can we call the love that kills? Conclusion The two couples attempt to talk about love ends up in circles because they do not come to a consensus on what real love is. Each person has a different definition of love and this applies today. For instance, some people endure domestic violence because they believe the bartering occurs due to love. In addition, many couples are in search of real love but it remains elusive as that of the couples who take gin that gives them a false sense of love. At the end, they are left hungering for something deeper than they have as they realize that the gin only gives them an illusion of love. Work Cited Carver, Raymond. What we talk about when we talk about love. New York: Harvill Press, 1996.