The Importance Of The American Dream - 773 Words

The American dream has changed drastically thru our history. Back in the 1950 and 1960 the American dream was to have the house with the white picket fence and the 2  ½ kids. Now the dream for a lot of people is to be able to pay their bills and maybe have enough money to go out for a nice little dinner that you did not have to cook yourself. The American dream is dead, it is because the concept has changed from the idea that everyone can improve their life through hard work to the idea that everyone can become a millionaire through virtually no work. The United State at one point used to have everything you needed to make this dream happen. But since jobs have been moving over sees we have lost all of that. The American Dream is so†¦show more content†¦But doing this, this gives the poor more jobs to do causing them to fall behind in other tasks making them poorer by the second. Even though the poor are the people whom do the most work in the world, 40% of Americas money goes to the rich while only 1% goes to the poorer population (academic.udayton.edu). As the rich get richer, the poor get poorer widening the gap between the two more and more every day, this very second. Celebrities and local millionaires own the world. They run the businesses and the passion that gives the poor jobs. So as much as the poor hate the rich, they end up working for them in the end, less likely to become them. This is a psychological truth that causes much stir among the poor and possibly some of the rich. As a rich person, you are less likely to make contact and accept that the poorer are around you. Its the same concept for the poor to the rich. Its hard to accept the truth, especially when it comes to terms with your social class. But to the rich, owning the world isnt an issue. The cement that should hold our society together is the supposed peace of mind that the government will give in the form of aid to the less fortunate. This financial assistance includes low cost living facilities, money for food, and most importantly, healthcare. Another hot issue on Capitol Hill is the funding of social security. It is my belief that social security should not be tampered wit h at all, becauseShow MoreRelatedThe Importance Of The American Dream918 Words   |  4 Pagesthere are some individuals who want the American dream, such as non-Americans. Even though immigrants essentially founded the American dream as the thirteen colonies expanded, current bans preventing entry from certain countries and regulations attempting to deport others seem to rip that dream out of their grasp. Contrary to popular beliefs, the American dream is not the white picket fence vision we were taught in high school history. Instead, the American dream is the desire to live comfortably withinRead MoreThe Importance Of The American Dream1547 Words   |  7 PagesThe American Dream, an ideal first defined by James Truslow Adams in the 1931 novel Epic of America. Adams (1931) defined the dream as, The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone... (p. 214). The dream of our ancestors has not changed with the passage of t ime, but achieving the dream has become much more difficult for the average American. Reviewing data compiled the last few decades paints a bleak picture, wage disparities haveRead MoreThe Importance Of The American Dream918 Words   |  4 Pageswork through the American Dream, but for one American, Lilly Ledbetter, success has not always come that easily. While working for GoodYear, Ledbetter learned that she was earning less money than her male counterparts. In addition, she was being sexually harassed by her coworkers and punished with poor reviews when she did not comply with their suggestions. As a result, even though Ledbetter worked just as much, if not more, than her male co workers, she was not rewarded as the Dream promises. ThereRead MoreThe Importance Of The American Dream1321 Words   |  6 PagesFormer First Lady, Michelle Obama, eloquently summarized the American Dream at the Democratic National Convention in 2012. â€Å"Barack knows the American Dream because hes lived it...and he wants everyone in this country to have that same opportunity, no matter who we are, or where were from, or what we look like, or who we love. And he believes that when youve worked hard, and done well, and walked through that doorway of opportunity...you do not slam it shut behind you...you reach back, and youRead MoreThe Importance Of The American Dream916 Words   |  4 Pages During the 21st century, there has been a realignment of both social classes and habits due to the events of the last 20 years that make the American dream of the second half of the 20th century impossible to attain. According to Dictionary.com, the American dream is the ideals of opportunity, freedoms, and equality for all Americans. The Am erican dream can no longer be attained for many reasons, but one big reason would be that people of this generation’s interests are not the same of those ofRead MoreThe Importance Of The American Dream1363 Words   |  6 Pages its possible to achieve the American dream.† -Tommy Hilfiger. What is the American dream? How is it possible to achieve the American dream if there are large corporations ruining it for the companies trying to reach such dream? The American dream consists of the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. What about those who are starting a new business whose dream is to become a large organizationRead MoreThe Importance Of The American Dream1231 Words   |  5 Pageswanted to be successful and powerful. The American Dream or the idea that everyone in the U.S. has an equal opportunity to succeed has been around since 1931. The problem with the American dream today is that in reality people don’t have the same opportunities as they used to. The American Dream may actually just be a dream with no real evidence to prove it’s true. Rana Foroohar, author of â€Å"What Ever Happened to Upward Mobility,† discusses why the American Dream isn’t the same as it used to be and howRead MoreThe Importance Of The American Dream1057 Words   |  5 Pagesthis country today don’t believe that the American dream is alive. Fifty-nine percent of those polled in June agreed that â€Å"the American dream has become impossible for most people to achieve. More and more Americans believe there is â€Å"not much opportunity† to get ahead†(Alternet). Many adults of the middle and lower classes American population no longer the American dream is no longer attainable because most if not all of the key elements of the American dream are no longer attainable. With financialRead MoreThe Importance Of The American Dream1732 Words   |  7 PagesTo achieve the American Dream, one must work hard and have the dedication to be successful. There are myths relating to this dream leaving lower class members to wonder if the dream exists for them. People in lower class are told if they want to be successful they must put in hard work and true effort. Once they do, they see that they are remaining in the same position they started in. In â€Å"Class of America-2012,† Gregory Mantsios states the ideas of class in the US and explains them. One myth addressedRead MoreThe Importance Of The American Dream1628 Words   |  7 PagesThe American Dream, an ideal first defined by James Truslow Adams in the 1931 novel Epic of America. Adams (1931) defined the dream as, The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone... (p. 214). The dream of our ancestors has not changed with the passage of time, but achieving the dream has become muc h more difficult for the average American. Reviewing data compiled the last few decades paints a bleak picture, wage disparities have

Developmental studies Free Essays

string(124) " comparative advantage and consequently domestic barriers should not be imposed on the purchase of goods produced overseas\." At the beginning of the twentieth century underdeveloped countries began to look for the ways to diminish their dependency on agricultural exports and to bring on an industrial revolution. The situation which evoked this need was critical. The problem was that the underdeveloped countries developed mainly the policies of supporting primary commodity exports. We will write a custom essay sample on Developmental studies or any similar topic only for you Order Now Transportation policy was used in the infrastructure for delivering the export crop to the harbour. The research institutions specialized in agriculture worked only on improving crops for export, for example, sugar cane, coffee, cotton, etc.  while crops for domestic consumption, for instance, beans or manioc corn, potatoes, left with little or even without expenditure. As a result some of the underdeveloped countries had to follow the policy of import substitution to induce industrialization. Import substitution industrialization will be the goal of study of this paper. This economic policy will be investigated in the frames of an economic term with the necessary characteristics and also in a wider meaning as the experience of the countries of East Asia and Latin America. In the process of research different points of view, both pro and contra, will be cited in order to shed the light on positive and negative aspects and cover the field broadly. In the conclusion of the paper the main findings will be summed up. The term of import substitution can be defined as an economic process and as a policy strategy. As a process import substitution relates to the situation â€Å"where regions (more precisely, existing or new economic activities within regions) take up the production of goods or services which formerly were imported, but, for whatever reasons, now can be viably produced within the region (e.g. as a result of population increases leading to increases in demand or as a result of productivity increases resulting in greater competitiveness. †(Economic Geography Glossary, 1999) Import substitution industrialization (ISI) as the economic strategy means encouraging the development of domestic industry by limiting manufactured goods import. The need of ISI implementation arouses from the belief that there is a potential comparative advantage in some of the industries of developing countries, but these industries are too weak yet to compete with foreign well-established ones. Thus, in order to allow infant industries to establish themselves and to realize their potential, and consequently to be able to compete internationally, governments should support the initial period of their development. The protection of government implies temporary measures such as using tariffs or import quotas to start industrialization in the country. As a policy strategy import substitution can be used to achieve the following goals: 1) to utilize the capacities which are underused; 2) to fight unemployment in the regions; 3) to protect infant industries. The policy of import substitution industrialization, according to the definition provided by the encyclopaedia, is â€Å"a trade and economic policy based on the premise that a developing country should attempt to substitute products which it imports, mostly finished goods, with locally produced substitutes. †(Wikipedia, 2005) The theory of import substitution has much common with the theory of mercantilism. Both the theories promote minimal imports and high exports as the means of inducing the growth of national wealth. In order to implement the policy of import substitution industrialization, the following three main tenets must be pursued: 1) protective barriers to trade, which can be set up in the form of tariffs. Tariffs or custom duties are applied to the goods which are imported and in this way they artificially protect domestic industries from competition with foreign companies; 2) a particular industrial policy, which orchestrates and subsidizes production of the substitutes; 3) a monetary policy, which will keep the domestic currency overvalued. Monetary policy is implemented by setting reserve requirements and changing some interest rates directly or indirectly. The chief tools of monetary policy are operations in open market. In open market money circulates through the selling and buying of deferent foreign currencies credit instruments, or commodities. Such sales or purchases create a certain base currency which leaves or enters market circulation. Usually open market operations are aimed at achieving a specific short term interest rate target. However, monetary policy may also target a certain â€Å"exchange rate relative to some foreign currency or else relative to gold. † (Wikipedia, 2005) Equally important is to note that import substitution as economic protectionalizm can have negative outcomes. Stutz pointed out that â€Å"This form of economic protectionism helped some countries industrialize in the past but involves economic risks. † (Stutz and Souza, 1998) The risks of import substitution meant by Stutz are potential inefficiencies and higher prices. Successful implementation of this policy as a rule needs massive expenditure on infrastructure. Additionally, import substitution is accompanied by the establishment of state firms in the areas of industry which are thought to be too risky or too large for the private sector (or example, steel, aircraft) or estimated to be too important to be owned by foreign firms (or instance, oil). The policy of import substitution industrialization was argued by the advocates of absolute free trade theory. Generally, free trade becomes possible when the flow of services and goods between countries is not taxed. In particular, the economists who supported free trade policy stated that economic strategy would become successful only under the following conditions: 1) international trade in services must be without trade barriers, or tariffs; 2) international trade of goods must not be free from any possible tariffs (namely taxes on imports) or trade barriers (for example, quotas on import); 3) the free movement of international labor; 4) the free movement of international capital; 5) the absence of any economic protectionalizm, implemented by trade-distorting policies (for instance, subsidies, regulations taxes, or laws), which gives an advantage to domestic firms, factors of production, and households over foreign ones. Thus, it becomes obvious that free trade proponents advocated the policy which totally contradicted the fundamental tenets of import substitution industrialization. On the other hand, free trade proponents suggested that a foreign subsidy should be considered as another of comparative advantage and consequently domestic barriers should not be imposed on the purchase of goods produced overseas. You read "Developmental studies" in category "Papers" Free trade economists pointed out that unlimited imports will be beneficial for domestic consumers which overweighs the loss of domestic producers. Thus, the lower prices of foreign subsidies can be considered as net positive. Therefore, the domestic society where any import restriction is applied becomes â€Å"a whole worse off than it would be with unlimited imports. † (Wikipedia, 2005) Anyway, the viewpoints of the both theories – import substitution industrialization and absolute free trade – were checked in the process of their implementation and in real life experience. In the period from 1930 to 1940 the policy of import substitution industrialization was adopted in many underdeveloped countries of Latin America. The driving force which precipitated the acceptance of import substitution idea was the Great Depression which took place in 1930s. According to article Concern with Policy-relevance in the Latin American School of Economics authored by Bianchi, â€Å"Import substitution was a necessary condition for peripheral growth, in association with structural reforms in the economy. The focus should be placed on the strenghtening of the domestic market, which was seen as the crucial element of an inward-looking model of development. † (Bianchi A. M. , 2003) Later on, in the 1950s Raul Prebisch, the prominent Argentine economist, expressed his belief that the only way to succeed for developing countries was to build forward linkages domestically and to create industries which would work on primary products already produced by the countries themselves. The policy of tariffs would help the domestic industry to prosper. By implementing the policy of import substitution industrialization in the period from 1950 to 1970 a number of Latin America countries, in particular Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, attempted to reach positive results and to increase their national wealth. The success of the policy in these countries was based on either high living standards or large populations. However, poorer and smaller countries, for example, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, were not successful in adopting import substitution policy. Also it is notable that the countries which succeeded in import substitution industrialization managed to change the structure of their governments. Thus neo-colonialism collapsed and was replaced by democratic way of governing. Nationalization turned banks and utilities into public property and returned to nation some of the companies previously owned by foreigners. A case of implementation of import substitution industrialization can be examined with the help of the example of Brazil. Brazil was the country which carried the policy of import substitution industrialization later than other underdeveloped countries. The economists in Brazil carefully analyzed its effects and were planning the industrial development of the country while the other countries started import substitution mainly by accident. It is important to note that Brazil initially had all the chances for success in the policy of import substitution, since its population goes up to 170 million, which makes Brazil the fifth largest country in the world. Also Brazil is the fifth largest country by its land area. And finally, Brazil is rich in forest reserves, minerals, navigable rivers agricultural land, and hydroelectric capability. The development of Brazilian economy in the period from 1950 to the 1970s confirmed the most optimistic views. Brazil with its rich resources and reserves was called â€Å"the land of the future†. In 1950 Brazil attempted to establish the largest industry of motor vehicle having practically no sufficient basis. Thirty years later aircraft of Brazil were working on commuter airlines on the United States. Brazilian shoes spread everywhere. Moreover, Brazil opened up the richest iron mine in the world and Brazilians found out the capital city on the place where previously had been a roadless jungle and built the network of roads going deep into Amazon. When the oil prices rose and began threatening the development of Brazil economy, Brazilians launched huge hydroelectric projects to operate the growing industries of the â€Å"Golden Triangle†, which included Sao Paulo Rio de Janeiro, and Belo Horizonte and required the new automobiles to run on rum instead of gasoline. At the beginning of the 1980s even pessimists agreed that Brazil was â€Å"the country of future†, however added â€Å"and always will be†. The growth of Brazil stopped, when it was almost close to ripening. The modern cities in Brazil coexist together with miserable shanty-towns surrounded with open sewers. The roads are shared by modern vehicles and hand carts. The wages of Brazilian executives are the highest in the world, but at the same time average workers hardly reach subsistence level. Some economists call Brazil â€Å"a Switzerland within an India. † Other economists consider that the case of Brazil brightly illustrates economic growth without economic development. Economist Celso Furtado characterized the state of Brazilian economy in the following way: â€Å"The Brazilian economy constitutes a very interesting example of how far a country can go in the process of industrialization without abandoning its main features of underdevelopment: great disparity in productivity between urban and rural areas, a large majority of the population living at a physiological subsistence level, increasing masses of unemployed people in the urban zones, etc. † (Development policies, Catching Up, Sec 2, Chap 14) By the 1950s the industrial development by means of import substitution had been already a planned process in Brazil. New industries were protected from the foreign competition with the help of a number of methods. Basic industries (for example, steel, electrical power, petroleum reining) became either fully owned by state or received direct subsidies. Law of Similars aimed at putting high tariffs (sometimes tariffs went up to 300%) on imported goods as soon as any domestic firm somewhere in Brazil started manufacturing something ‘similar’. The industries considered high priority always could be credited under favorable terms by a national development bank. For some period of time, the government even set multiple exchange rates in order to lower the cost of imported capital equipment while the price of imported finished goods was kept expensive. One of the growing Brazilian industries in the mid of twentieth century was motor vehicles. The government hoped that foreign financing would help to expand Brazilian firms which were already producing motor parts, bus bodies, truck and so on and soon would turn them into real vehicle manufacturers. But this approach had to be changed for the government of Brazil faced the reluctance of American government to extend loans and the disapproval of the firms from Europe and the USA who owned a critical technology. The world famous giants – Fiat General Motors, Mercedes Volkswagen, and Ford – were threatened to lose their markets in Brazil if they did not manufacture vehicles within the country. It is important to note that modern manufacturing, in particular the production of appliances, motor vehicles, TVs and so on is a complex process that requires substantial knowledge and skill. Final assembly became possible in Brazil since it was the last stage of production and required the least skill. So, launching modern industries Brazil could start with final assembly and gradually came to more complicated â€Å"backwards†, which included more difficult procedures. For example, Volkswagen could start importing complete parts, such as engines, wheels etc. and assemble them in Sao Paulo plant. The tariffs allowed Volkswagen to sell 1960 30% Brazilian Beetle for twice what Europeans would pay even if the quality was not that high. Eventually, most of the parts became produced in Brazil and the quality of assembly improved. Gradually, the competition from Brazilian Fiats, Fords, and Chevrolets pushed the price down. In this way, Brazilian motor vehicle industry became more and more efficient and even in the 1970s Brazil exported subassemblies and parts to America and to the European countries. By 1980 Brazil started exporting entire vehicles. When import substitution industrialization was implemented in Latin America, the drawbacks of the policy soon revealed themselves. In Brazil as well as in other Latin America countries import substitution model led to foreign ownership in all the sectors in industry except those occupied by state enterprise. When the interests of foreign firms were threatened by Brazilian taxes, environmental or labor legislation, American, German, Italian, British Japanese or French owners were quick to call on their state departments. In particular, the Department of the United States defined one of its key objects as establishing favorable â€Å"business climate†. This meant undermining Brazilian government. Thus, in 1964 some Brazilian generals, being encouraged by American officials, made an attempt to overthrow constitutional government of their country. Another drawback of import substitution industrialization revealed in the fact that this policy led to huge foreign debts. It was not accidental, that Brazil and Mexico ran into debts in order to cover the expenses of their infrastructure development. The development of infrastructure needs a large number of hard currency imports. If infrastructure grows and increases exports together with hard currency earnings, a country can borrow in dollars. Then, under such condition, the country has to earn dollars in order to make the interest payments. But import substitution requires borrowing in dollars for the purpose of economic development of the domestic production that will not necessarily expand exports. By the end of the seventies the countries of Latin America faced the problem: Where to go next? And the next logical step was to export the goods which had been already produced efficiently. By the middle of the eighties Brazil became the largest exporter of shoes and coffee, among ten major exports to America, six were manufactured projects. Nevertheless, the expansion of manufactured goods made Brazilian economy vulnerable to retaliatory tariffs. Moreover, in the 1980s Brazil as well as other underdeveloped countries of Latin America did not manage to pursue the next layer of import substitution ( in particular, microchips, computers, capital equipment), although they attempted to create open markets for their manufactured consumer goods. Unlike the nations of Latin America, the majority of East Asian nations rejected the policy of import substitution industrialization. Due to this, as many economists think, East Asia had its superior performance in the seventies and the eighties of the twentieth century. Generally speaking, the Asian growth had started before World War II in Japan. The process of Asian growth included three groups of countries whose economic â€Å"miracle† began at different times: 1) Japan (after the Second World War); 2) The â€Å"four tigers†: Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore (the sixties of the twentieth century); 3) Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, China (from the 1970s to the 1980s) In fact, by rejecting import substitution industrialization Asian nations managed to avoid some negative results of this policy. First, their economies were not dragged by inefficient industries. Second, East Asia did not have to implement policies benefiting industrial workers at the expense of those working on the farms. This was crucial for Asian countries because farmers made up the majority of their population. In addition, in order to diminish the cost of industrialization, the cost of food needed to be kept artificially low. And also, East Asia attempted to prevent the appearance of rent seeking behaviours, which resulted from the usage of the licensing schemes for import substitution strategy and which usually increased inefficiency of economics. High tariffs on manufactured goods, which were imposed by many countries in order to create their manufacturing bases, forced multinational companies to assemble or produce them locally. For example, manufacturers of motor industry exported vehicles for local assembly. Their vehicles were delivered ‘completely knocked down’ and the local assembly resulted in poorer quality and higher expenditures in comparison with those imported already built up. Moreover, the local assembly of identical products only duplicated resources and reduced economies of scale, which became increasingly inefficient for manufacturers. On the whole, at the beginning of 1980s the policy of import substitution industrialization began to fail both in Latin America and in those Asian countries where the policy was adopted. Generally, it happened because the governments involved in the policy started to overspend reserves in order to keep the stability of currency. The governments in Latin America defaulted on their debts and had to turn to the help of the International Monetary Fund. Another process which contributed to the failure of import substitution was globalization. However, some economists think that the collapse of the policy of import substitution industrialization â€Å"should not necessarily be taken as an endorsement of globalization. † (Wikipedia, 2005) Such point of view was supported by the fact that some countries of East Asia also used high tariff barriers while rejecting the rest of the strategy of import substitution. This mixed policy was focused on investment and subsidies on the industries which would produce goods for export. As a result, these Asian countries managed to create competitive industries. However, irrespective of all their achievements, the policies described above also proved to be inefficient and later led to many problems during Asian financial crisis. The closing period of import substitution industrialization was in 1989 when the Washington Consensus as a set of policies designed to promote economic growth in the countries of Latin America was presented by John Williamson. The Washington Consensus included reforms which continued the policy of import substitution industrialization offering a modernized version of its tenets. In particular, the Washington Consensus proposed the following: 1) the discipline of fiscal policy; 2) tax reform. It flattened tax curve: the tax rates on high tax brackets were lowered and the tax rates on the low tax brackets were raised. Also it suggested lowering the marginal tax rate; 3) Competitive exchange rates; 4) Trade liberalization by means of low and uniform tariffs which would replace quantitative restrictions; 5) Reduced limitation for foreign direct investment; 6) Privatization of state enterprises; 7) Deregulation, which implies â€Å"abolition of regulations that impede entry or restrict competition, except for those justified on safety, environmental and consumer protection grounds, and prudential oversight of financial institutions† (Wikipedia, 2005) 8) Property rights must be legally secured; 9) Public spending should be redirected toward the investment of health, education, and infrastructure; 10) â€Å"Interest rates that are market determined and positive (but moderate) in real terms. † (Wikipedia, 2005) In the nineties the Washington consensus was being disputed. The critics of the reforms argued that they would lead vulnerable countries to crisis instead of helping to overcome it. Naomi Klein and Noam Chomsky claimed that the neoliberal policies of the Washington consensus would lead to the exploitation of labor market of an underdeveloped economy by a more developed one. (Wikipedia, 2005) Privatization of state industries, deregulation, and tax reform were seen by the opponents as the reforms which would ensure the development of the layer of local monied elite who would pursue local interests and try to maintain local status quo. Jorge Taiana, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Argentina, also disapproved the Washington consensus saying that such policies never had a real consensus and nowadays â€Å"a good number of governments of the hemisphere are reviewing the assumptions with which they applied those policies in the 1990s,† adding that governments are working on a development model which would ensure productive employment and guarantee the generation of real wealth. (Wikipedia, 2005) Another economist Duncan Kennedy in the article for The Boston Review stated that the Washington Consensus completely opposed the initial tenets of import substitution industrialization and more favoured American political interests: â€Å"In the form promoted by the United States, ISI was as hostile to free-market economics as to Communism. The overarching idea of the Washington Consensus was to wipe out every aspect of ISI: the Washington Consensus is both that free markets are good and that ISI [Import substitution industrialization] was bad. Developing countries were to develop through integration into the world commodity and capital markets, with policies of deregulated private enterprise, foreign investment, and open economic borders. † (Kennedy D. 2003) All in all, taking into consideration the mistakes of the previous experience and the criticism of the economists, the developmental policy of import substitution industrialization has never been returned since the time of the Washington Consensus. Thus, in the paper import substitution industrialization as a process and as a policy was investigated. It was found out that import substitution pursues three main goals: utilization of underused capacities, reducing unemployment and infant industries protection. The implementation of the policy of import substitution industrialization is based on three tenets: particular monetary and industrial policies, and protective trade barriers. However, it turned out that success and efficiency of import substitution industrialization was doubted by the proponents of absolute free market. Potential risks of import substitution were also visible while careful theoretical analysis and pointed out by economists. The underdeveloped countries of Latin America and East Asia implemented the policy of import substitution industrialization. It occurred that the potential risks and the negative aspects found out by the proponents of absolute free market constituted the drawbacks of the policy and finally became the chief factors of its failure. However, the major part of East Asian countries rejected the policy and experienced economic growth. The example of Brazil demonstrated that the policy of import substitution industrialization can stimulate economic growth for some period of time, but its drawbacks (first of all high expenditures and inefficiencies) pose real obstacles for continuous and strong economic development. 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Challenges of Globalization free essay sample

A paper which discusses policies undertaken by Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and Japan to face the challenges of globalization. This paper discusses the globalization trend in the Southeast Asian region, highlighting policies undertaken by Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and Japan. Each country is examined in detail, using recent statistics and research to support the discussion. Also discussed are the obstacles they face in adopting these policies. Globalisation can be defined as the ongoing economic, technological, social, and political integration of the world that began after the Second World War. However, there are also institutional and social changes that are taking place within the geographic borders of nation states, though these are much more difficult to quantify. Institutional changes include modifications in policy, in industrial organization, and in the administration of laws and regulations that govern the behavior of economic agents. Globalization is impacting the institutional framework in both developing and industrial countries; it is changing the way in which governments view their developmental role in society (ADB, 2001, p. We will write a custom essay sample on Challenges of Globalization or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 161). This essay aims to discuss the globalization trend in the Southeast Asian region, highlighting policies undertaken by Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and Japan. It also discusses the obstacles they face in adopting globalization.

The Growing Threat Of Computer Crime Essay Example For Students

The Growing Threat Of Computer Crime Essay Running head: THE GROWING THREAT OF COMPUTER CRIMEThe Growing Threat of Computer CrimeDiana RitterBaker College of CadillacMay 9, 2001Abstract Computers have been used for most kinds of crime, including fraud, theft, larceny, embezzlement, burglary, sabotage, espionage, murder, and forgery, since the first cases were reported in 1958. One study of 1,500 computer crimes established that most of them were committed by trusted computer users within businesses; persons with the requisite skills, knowledge, access, and resources. With the arrival of personal computers to manipulate information and access computers by telephone, increasing numbers of crimeselectronic trespassing, copyrighted-information piracy, vandalismhave been committed by computer hobbyists, known as hackers, who display a high level of technical expertise. For many years, the term hacker defined someone who was a wizard with computers and programming. It was a challenge to all hackers, and an honor to be considered a hacker. But when a few hackers began to use their skills to break into private computer systems and steal money, or interfere with the systems operations, the word acquired its current negative meaning. With the growing use of computers and the increase in computer crimes, early detection, deterring computer crimes, and new laws regulating and punishing these computer crimes are necessary. Without it, chaos will be the end result. The Growing Threat of Computer Crime Do you think your company’s computer systems are secure? Think again. Billions of dollars in losses have already been discovered due to computer crimes. Billions more have gone undetected. Trillions more will be stolen, most without detection, by the emerging master criminal of the twenty first century The computer crime offender. What’s worse yet is that anyone with a computer can become a computer criminal. Crimes such as embezzlement, fraud and money laundering are not new. However, each of these crimes now has a new partner in crime-the computer. Crimes that have become unique due to the availability and widespread use of computers include:a. unauthorized use, access, modification, copying, and destruction of software or data;b. theft of money by altering computer records of theft of computer time;c. theft or destruction of hardware;d. use or conspiracy to use computer resources to commit a felony;e. intent to obtain information or tangible property, illegally through use of the computer. (Fraud Survey Results, 1993)Although incidents in this second category of crimes do present a serious problem, embezzlement is by far the major threat to small businesses. This is evident by the frequency of reports in the local media. Cash is the most vulnerable asset as it is the easiest for the perpetrator to convert to personal use. Firms most vulnerable to theft of money are firms that must rely on one individual to perform the duties of office manager and bookkeeper. Having more than one e mployee in the office provides an opportunity to effect certain internal controls, particularly separation of duties. Small business owners should review their insurance coverage for employee dishonesty. While there are no standards to determine precisely the amount of coverage necessary, the marginal cost of adding an extra $1,000 of coverage decreases as the coverage increases. A business owner should consult with an insurance agent and err on the side of caution, just to be safe. Although theft of money is a major subject when speaking of computer crime, there are also many other areas to be concerned about. Some of the computer crimes for the 21st century will include:Communication crimes (cellular theft and telephone fraud). Low-tech thieves in airports and bus terminals use binoculars to steal calling card access numbers. Thieves will park their vans along busy interstate highways and use specialized equipment to steal cellular telephone access codes from the air. This is just the tip of the â€Å"iceberg†. We will write a custom essay on The Growing Threat Of Computer Crime specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Business. Most banking today is done by electronic impulse. Therefore, access to business computers equals access to money (and lots of it). Convicted computer hacker, John Lee, a founder of the infamous â€Å"Master’s of Deception† hacker group stated that he could change credit card records and bank balances, get free limousines, airplane tickets, and hotel rooms (without anyone being billed), change utility and rent rates, distribute computer software programs free to all over the internet, and easily obtain insider trading information. Imagine†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦this is just one person. Think of all the hundreds of â€Å"hackers† that are out there. Computer stalking. One type of computer criminal rapidly emerging is the â€Å"cyber stalker†. One such stalker, the pedophile, surfs the net looking to build relationships with young boys or girls and then sets out to meet them in person to pursue his/her sexual intensions. This type of activity also leads to sellers of child pornography over the internet. Virtual crimes. Stock and bond fraud is already appearing on the internet. Stocks and bonds that appear on the market are actively traded (for a short period of time) and then disappear. These stocks and bonds are nonexistent-only the electronic impulses are read. One must note, however, no matter how clever the hacker, the most serious security threat in most enterprises is password theft. Password stealing is the â€Å"holy grail† of hacking. Once a username/password combination has been found, the hacker has free rein to exploit that user account. Firewalls, intrusion detection systems, encryption, and other countermeasures are powerless. Here, hackers an get a hold of a valid user name and password, plus the right URL or dial up number, and can use these to steal your sensitive data. Hackers can also use programs such as â€Å"sniffers† to steal your sensitive data. These programs look for particular information such as passwords or credit card numbers in which the hackers turn around and use to their benefit. Last year, a so-called â€Å"sniffer† was used to steal more than 100,000 credit numbers which were stored on the server of an internet service provider. The top ten types of high tech criminal activity are reported as:1. Virus infection 83%;2. Abusive use of the internet 69%;3. Laptop theft 58%;4. Unauthorized insider use 40%;5. Telecommunication fraud 27%;6. Information theft 21%;7. Network break-in 20%;8. Sabotage 14%9. Financial fraud 12%10. Active wiretap 4%. (Computer Security Institute for the FBJ)As you can see, computer crime isn’t limited to any one area or business. And nothing boosts awareness of computer security better than a few widely publicized breaches. In 1998, a federal prosecutor charged a former employee of Forbe’s Inc with sabotaging Forbes computers. The accused sought revenge after his dismissal in 1997 by tying up one of Forbe’s computer lines, from his home telephone, for a total of 55 minutes. The company stated it was like putting Krazy Glue in the telephone line. Estimated damage $100,000. In 1999, despite Microsoft’s claims that it took â€Å"advanced† skills to create a hack in its free, web-based Hotmail service, which exposed millions of user’s accounts. Security experts said the hack was actually very â€Å"user friendly† and easily shared. In August, 2000, Supermarket great â€Å"Safeway† had failed to get its web site up and running two weeks after a suspected hacker attach led to its closure. The sight was shut down after numerous shoppers received an email hoax telling them to shop elsewhere. In 1994-95, an organized crime group headquartered in St. Petersburg, Russia, transferred 10.4 million dollars from Citibank into accounts all over the world. Russian hacker, Vladimiv Levin, was charged with fraud and convicted by a federal grand jury in New York. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison and ordered to pay $240,0 00 restitution to Citibank. In February 2000 it was reported that hacker attacks on sites such as Yahoo and Ebay resulted in losses of 1.2 billion dollars. The attacks were initiated by hackers who penetrated insecure servers hosted by large organizations like universities and research institutions. These sites were plagued by â€Å"denial of service† attacks. (routers connecting the site to the rest of the Internet have been flooded with so much fake traffic that the router becomes unable to cope. Once this is achieved, genuine users find themselves unable to get connected). Other sites affected by â€Å"denial of service† include CNN, Zdnet, Buy.com, and ETRADE group. These sites experienced slowdowns in service of 45 minutes up to 5 hours. With the never-ending threat to computer security, there are several different programs available to help guard your valuable information. The following is an overview of some of these programs:SilentRunnerTM. SilentRunnerTM is an internal network security tool and is designed to detect and report network threats that originate from inside your network. SilentRunnerTM is a passive, multi-functional software tool that monitors network activity in real time, producing a virtual picture of network usage and vulnerabilities. Because SilentRunnerTM is passive and does not introduce additional traffic on a network, it remains undetected by network users, without violating a company’s privacy codes. It works as a complement to external devices, such as firewalls and intrusion detection, and provides the highest level of internal security available in the industry. Omniguard/ITA (Intruder Alert). Omniguard/ITA is a real time, security event monitor that enables security manages to detect suspicious activities and prevent security breaches before they occur. Omniguard/ITA monitors multiple streams of security audit trail information across the network, analyzes this data in real-time based on site-specified ru les and responds automatically to critical events. If Omniguard/ITA system detects a significant threat, it can notify the security administrator by flashing a message on the management console, sending an email or beeping a pager. Cisco Secure IDS (formerly NetRanger). Cisco Secure IDS is an enterprise-scale, real-time intrusion detection system designed to detect, report, and terminate unauthorized activity throughout a network. Cisco Secure IDS is an ideal solution for companies who need to know if their network us under attack from internal or external sources. Real Secure Manager is an intrusion detection system with capabilities within a familiar network and systems management environment. All RealSource management options include real-time views of suspicious activity, such as external and internal attacks or internal misuse, real-time alarm management through propagated display of network security activity, Realsecure online help for incident response and detailed informatio n abut events, secured communications between the Realsecure manager and all Realsecure engines and agents, and control functions are authenticated, verified, and encrypted using RSA, Certicom Elliptical Curve, or user-selected algorithms. NFR security offers several different options in security products. The NFR Intrusion Detection System (NFR IDS) comprises several products that operate independently or together as an integrated suite with a common administration, architecture, interface, data formats, management, and analysis and reporting tools. Each product can operate as a stand-alone system, and as part of a distributed configuration serving large or geographically dispersed organizations. NFR IDS includes NFR Network Intrusion Detection (NID), NFR Secure Log Repository (SLR) and NFR Host Intrusion Detection (HID). NID monitors networks and subnets and raises alerts when known attacks and anomalous activity are detected. NFR SLR is NFR’s secure log storage and managem ent systems, NFR HID monitors servers and workstations and raises alerts when known attacks and anomalous activity are detected. There are also programs available that will protect your home computer from security breaches caused by hackers. One such program is called Freedom Internet Privacy Suite 2.0. Standard features include a personal firewall (especially for those with DSL and cable modems), form filler (to speed up and secure online registrations and transactions), cookie manager (to prevent websites from tracking your activities), ad manager (controls ads and speed up browsing), keyword alert (to prevent personal information from leaving your computer), as well as offering untraceable encrypted email (to secure and privatize your email) and anonymous browsing and chat (to go online undetected). Unfortunately, most computer crimes are discovered by chance, particularly in small businesses. .u12d0f4927317c1047a389b506acbd0ad , .u12d0f4927317c1047a389b506acbd0ad .postImageUrl , .u12d0f4927317c1047a389b506acbd0ad .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u12d0f4927317c1047a389b506acbd0ad , .u12d0f4927317c1047a389b506acbd0ad:hover , .u12d0f4927317c1047a389b506acbd0ad:visited , .u12d0f4927317c1047a389b506acbd0ad:active { border:0!important; } .u12d0f4927317c1047a389b506acbd0ad .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u12d0f4927317c1047a389b506acbd0ad { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u12d0f4927317c1047a389b506acbd0ad:active , .u12d0f4927317c1047a389b506acbd0ad:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u12d0f4927317c1047a389b506acbd0ad .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u12d0f4927317c1047a389b506acbd0ad .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u12d0f4927317c1047a389b506acbd0ad .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u12d0f4927317c1047a389b506acbd0ad .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u12d0f4927317c1047a389b506acbd0ad:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u12d0f4927317c1047a389b506acbd0ad .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u12d0f4927317c1047a389b506acbd0ad .u12d0f4927317c1047a389b506acbd0ad-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u12d0f4927317c1047a389b506acbd0ad:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Salem witch trials EssaySome means of detection include suspicious employees, physical inventory shortages detected by an audit, an error made by a greedy associate, an employee living a lifestyle obviously beyond what could be supported by his income and other resources, and disgruntled employees. Hiring and firing practices, effective employee training, and managing disgruntled employees properly can help make crime less likely to occur. Most people imagine a â€Å"hacker† as an anonymous cyber-intruder writing endless lines of code to penetrate a system from outside. But half of the unauthorized system intrusions involve insiders who have, or had legitimate acces s to the system. In addition, hacking has entered the mainstream, spurred by downloadable â€Å"hacking tools† that can enable even computer novices to launch devastating cyber-assaults. A hacker must also find an vulnerability human or technical that he then exploits to circumvent security measures. â€Å"Social Engineering†, tricking staff into providing information that can help establish access, often entails posing as a member of the computer or MIS department to obtain passwords from unsuspecting employees. As previously stated, hackers also employ â€Å"sniffers† and other software prog5rams to gain access to victim systems. Nobody can predict which companies will be attacked and businesses want to know, how serious is the threat? In truth, know one knows. A system isn’t immune to attack just because the information inside has little value. And, any attack brings obvious costs: lost computer time, employee hours spent on investigation or repairs, l ost revenues for e-commerce firms. One key point in fighting computer crime is to design an effective compliance program. An effective compliance program addresses both human and technical vulnerabilities, and protects against both outside and inside attacks. Background and security checks should be performed on key computer network personnel, including outside contractors who build or service the network. All personnel, from the CEO to the stock clerk must understand the risks of social engineering and learn what to do in the event of attack—whom to notify, and how to preserve evidence that may prove useful to company counsel or law enforcement. There are six strategies to follow in deterring computer crime:a. making the crime less likely to occur;b. increasing the difficulty of successfully committing the fraud;c. improve detection methods;d. prosecuting and incarcerating perpetrators;e. using forensics accountants; andf. reducing the losses. (Allen 1977)When all else fails †¦..call in the law. Hackers, or those committing crimes via the computer can be charged with fraud, invasion of privacy, embezzlement, and many other charges through your local law enforcement office. However , there are at least 26 states that have laws specific to computer crime (Arkansas, Kentucky, Michigan and Vermont are among some of the states that do not have specific laws regarding computer crime). In fact, let’s take a look at a few of these laws. In Texas, s. 33.03 â€Å"Harmful Access† states:(a) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally or knowingly andwithout authorization from the owner of the COMPUTER or a person authorized tolicense access to the COMPUTER:(1) damages, alters, or destroys a COMPUTER, COMPUTER program or software,COMPUTER system, data, or COMPUTER network;(2) causes a COMPUTER to interrupt or impair a government operation, publiccommunication, public transportation, or public service providing water orgas;(3) uses a C OMPUTER to:(a) tamper with government, medical, or educational records; or(b) receive or use records that were not intended for public disseminationto gain an advantage over business competitors;(4) obtains information from or introduces false information into a COMPUTERsystem to damage or enhance the data or credit records of a person;(5) causes a COMPUTER to remove, alter, erase, or copy a negotiableinstrument; or(6) inserts or introduces a COMPUTER virus into a COMPUTER program, COMPUTER network, or COMPUTER system. .uf397a74d8548e86ff1d721752210d4f7 , .uf397a74d8548e86ff1d721752210d4f7 .postImageUrl , .uf397a74d8548e86ff1d721752210d4f7 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uf397a74d8548e86ff1d721752210d4f7 , .uf397a74d8548e86ff1d721752210d4f7:hover , .uf397a74d8548e86ff1d721752210d4f7:visited , .uf397a74d8548e86ff1d721752210d4f7:active { border:0!important; } .uf397a74d8548e86ff1d721752210d4f7 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uf397a74d8548e86ff1d721752210d4f7 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uf397a74d8548e86ff1d721752210d4f7:active , .uf397a74d8548e86ff1d721752210d4f7:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uf397a74d8548e86ff1d721752210d4f7 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uf397a74d8548e86ff1d721752210d4f7 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uf397a74d8548e86ff1d721752210d4f7 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uf397a74d8548e86ff1d721752210d4f7 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uf397a74d8548e86ff1d721752210d4f7:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uf397a74d8548e86ff1d721752210d4f7 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uf397a74d8548e86ff1d721752210d4f7 .uf397a74d8548e86ff1d721752210d4f7-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uf397a74d8548e86ff1d721752210d4f7:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Drop The Bomb? (Better Version) EssayAn offense under this section is a:(1) felony of the second degree if the value of the loss or damage caused bythe conduct is $20,000 or more;(2) felony of the third degree if the value of the loss or damage caused bythe conduct is $750 or more but less than $20,000; or(3) Class A misdemeanor if the value of the loss or damage caused by theconduct is $200 or more but less than $750. In Iowa, one of the laws â€Å"on the books† is noted as:716A.2 Unauthorized access. A person who knowingly and without authorization accesses a computer, computer system, or computer network commits a simplemisdemeanor. In the Hawaiian state Legislature, house bill 524, House Draft 1, was passed, to update the laws relating to prohibited computer activity, nearly a decade after the laws were created. One of the provisions includes unauthorized computer access in the first degree: when a person knowingly access a computer or system without authorization in order to obtain information for commercial or private gain, to advance any other crime, to take information valued at more than $5,000 or if the information is already protected against unauthorized disclosure. The violation is a Class B felony punishable by up to ten years in prison. Unauthorized computer access in the second degree is classified as a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison, and a third-degree violation is a misdemeanor. In conclusion, computer crime needs to be prevented and halted through increased computer network security measures as well as tougher laws and enforcement of those laws in cyberspace. If new laws and enforcement of those laws are not soon established, along with heightened security measures, the world will have a major catastrophe as a result of computer activity. The world is becoming increasingly dependant on computers, and the crimes committed will have greater and greater impact as the need for computers (or use of) rises. The possible end of the world was narrowly averted, but was caused by a computer crime. The United States defense computer system was broken into, and the opportunity existed for the hacker to declare intercontinental nuclear war; thus leading to death of the human race. Another event like this is likely to occur if laws, enforcement of the laws and security of computers are not beefed up. The greatest creation of all time, the computer, should not lead to the destruction of the race that created it. ReferencesAbreu, E.M. (1999, September). Experts find Microsoft Hotmail hack easier than claimed. Company Business and Marketing. Bernardo, R. (May 4, 2001). State law moves to address technology crime. Honolulu Star-BulletinCisco Secure IDS (2001). . Available: http://www.cisco.comEaton, J.W. (1986). Card-carrying Americans. Privacy;, Security, and the national i.d card debate. United States of America: Rowman Littlefield. Farrow, R. Power, R. (2001). Five vendors some no-nonsense questions on IDS. CSI Intrusion System Resource Goodwin, B. (2000, August ). Safeway site is still down after hack attack.. Company Business and Marketing. Network ICE Corporation (1998-2000). Password theft . Available: http://www.netice.comNiccolai, J. (02/11/2000). Analyst puts recent hacker damage at $1.2 billion and rising . Available: http://www.nwfusion.comn/newsReal Secure (2001). . Available: http://www.securehq.comSchindler, D.J. (2000, March). E-Crime and what to do about it. Los Angeles Business Journal. SilentRunnerTM. SilentRunnerTM . Available: http://www.silentrunner.com/about/index.html. Teach, E. (1998, February). Look whos hacking now. CFO, The Magazine for Senior Financial Executives. Computers and Internet

Hope Is the Thing with Feathers Analysis Essays

Hope Is the Thing with Feathers Analysis Essays Hope Is the Thing with Feathers Analysis Paper Hope Is the Thing with Feathers Analysis Paper Essay Topic: Thomas Gray Poems Emily Dickinson might be called an artisan, since most of her poems have fewer than thirty lines, yet she deals with the most deep topics in poetry: death, love, and humanity’s relations to God and nature. Her poetry not only impresses by its on going freshness but also the animation. Her use of language and approachness of her subjects in unique ways, might attribute to why â€Å"Hope is the thing with feathers† is one of her most famous works. Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts on December 10, 1830. Born to Edward Dickinson and Emily Norcross Dickinson, she was the second of three children. Her brother was named Austin, and her sister was named Lavina. Her father, Edward, was a Whig lawyer, who served as treasurer of Amherst College. He was also elected to one term in Congress. Up until Dickinson was ten, she lived in a mansion, built by her grandfather. She often was seen as frail by her parents; therefore, kept home from school. The religious faith that resided in the Dickinson household was one called evangelical Calvinism. Evangelical Calvinism is a belief that humans are born totally depraved and can be saved only if they undergo a life-altering conversion, in which they accept the vicarious sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Habegger n. p. ). Neither Emily nor Lavina married; however, when Austin married, him and his wife lived next door to his parents. Emily Dickinson excelled in subjects such as Latin and the sciences. After determining that Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (the college she was going to at the time and is now Mount Holyoke College) was uncongenial, she left the college. Her writing mostly consisted of letters until she was in her mid-20s. The poetry of Ralph Waldo Emerson was the first poetry Emily Dickinson had the pleasure to be introduced to by one of her father’s law students, Benjamin F. Newton. The works of Elizabeth Barret Browning played a formative role for Emily, confirming the idea of female greatness and stimulating her ambition. Restricting social activity, she cultivated epistolary relationships with a few people. In 1855, Edward, Lavina, and Emily left the house and headed to Washington D. C. On return the sisters made a trip to Philadelphia, where the poet heard the preachings of Charles Wadsworth. Seventy years later, Emily’s niece, Martha Dickinson Bianchi, claimed that Emily had fallen in love with Wadsworth, who was married. Later Bianchi believes that Dickinson grandly renounced him. This story is not credited because there is no evidence that the minister returned the poet’s love (Habegger, n. p. ) After Wadsworth’s death in 1882, Emily remembered him as â€Å"My Philadelphia,† â€Å"My dearest earthly friend,† and â€Å"My shepherd from ‘Little Girlhood’ (Habegger n. p. ). Events such as: a bitter Norcross family lawsuit, financial collapse of local railroad that had been promoted by her father, and a religious revival that renewed the pressure to â€Å"convert†- made the years 1857 and 1858 deeply troubling for Dickinson and promoted her withdrawal. In 1862, Dickinson wrote to Thomas Wentworth Higginson. She sent him four of her poems asking ‘Are you too deeply occupied to say if my verse is alive? ’ (Pearson Education). Although he didn’t encourage her to publish her work, she still continued to write poetry in her own style. Emily Dickinson’s was probably one of the most private literary careers. One poem, A Valentine, was in the Amherst College Indicator in February 1850. Another Valentine was published in the Springfield Republican newspaper in February 1852. Various times throughout the 1860s, Republican would print four or more of her poems, out of the nearly forty poems she sent to Samuel Bowles, one of the papers editors. Among the four were three of her most famous works: I taste a liquor never brewed, Safe in their Alabaster Chambers, and A narrow Fellow in the Grass. Another poem was published in 1866 in a New York journal called The Round Table. Success is counted Sweetest was the last poem published which was in 1978. Over her entire lifetime, Emily Dickinson only published eight of the 1,775 poems she is known to have written. Emily Dickinson died May 15, 1886. After her death, Lavina found manuscripts of her sisters poems and looked to Mabel Loomis Todd for help in the publication. Much poetry still unpublished, a quarrel over real estate led to an estrangement, both in possession of a portion of the manuscripts. The love affair between Mabel Loomis Todd and Austin, Dickinson’s brother, not only affected the families of both but also the posthumous editing and publishing of Emily’s poetry (Pearson Education). Dickinson used imagery and metaphor to help describe why hope is the thing with feathers. In the first stanza, the metaphorical image of a bird is given as an abstract idea of hope. By giving hope feathers, Dickinson created an image of hope in our minds. The last three lines of the fifth stanza she metaphorically describes what a person who destroys hope feels like. â€Å"And sore must be the storm. † â€Å"That could abash the little bird. † â€Å"That kept so many warm. †(Essortment). Someone who destroys hope with a storm of anger and negativity feels the pain they cause in others. Dickinson uses a powerful image of a person abashing the bird of hope that gives comfort and warmth to most. In the second stanza, â€Å"That perches in the soul,† is an example of imagery that is used to desribe hope. That particular line is used to imply that hope perches or roots in our soul. The soul is the shelter for hope. The imagery of a bird’s continuous song is used in the third and fourth stanzas, â€Å"And sings the tune without words,† â€Å"And never stops at all,† to represent eternal hope. Also Dickinson uses a line from the fifth stanza,†And sweetest in the gale is heard,† to describe that a gale’s song of hope is the sweetest in the wind. Emily Dickinson’s poem form and use of voice is one that is very unique. Her dramatic monologues, always with herself as personas, portray rich complexities of human emotion- elation and depression, faith and doubt, hope and despair. Although her unusual word usages and oblique approaches to a subject call for multiple readings and multiple interpretations, her direct, first-person voice makes a lot of her poetry easily accessible. Although Emily Dickinson did not use an exact rhyme (see, tree), she still used forms of rhyme, yet they weren’t regularly used by modern poets. Her poetry shows what fine effects can be accomplished with these rhymes. Dickinson worked with identical rhyme (sane, insane) often. She also worked with eye rhyme (though, through), and vowel rhyme (see, buy) (Dickinson Oerview). The word trick most people believe Dickinson used is very effective because it expands contexual possibilities, increases the reader’s awareness, and deepens the emotional experience poems recreate. The content and ideas being discussed in the poem are really understandable. The idea of hope in â€Å"extremity† and hope in the â€Å"chillest land/And on the strangest sea,† is a quite abstract way of distinguishing the world. There is a definite comparison within the poem between hope on one side expressed with words like â€Å"warm,† â€Å"soul,† â€Å"sweetest,† and pain of life expressed in words like â€Å"storm,† â€Å"gales,† â€Å"chillest. † (Gray, n. p. ) Although there is a clear struggle between these two elements, it is clear which one comes out above as the voice of hope can still be heard through the gales and storms. Throughout the poem, it is clear that whatever the battles we may confront, hope conquers through in the end.

Steps to a Successful Family Reunion

Steps to a Successful Family Reunion With some creativity and advance planning, you can organize and plan a memorable family reunion that everyone will talk about for years. Who Is Family? It may seem obvious, but the first step for any family reunion is to decide who is family. Which side of the family are you inviting? Do you want to include only close relatives or all descendants of Great Grandpa Jones (or another common ancestor)? Are you inviting only direct-line relatives (parents, grandparents, grandkids) or do you plan to include cousins, second cousins, or third cousins, twice removed? Just remember, every step back on the ancestral tree adds a ton of new potential attendees. Know your limits. Create a Guest List Start by assembling a list of family members, including spouses, partners, and children. Get in touch with at least one person from each branch of the family to help you track down contact information for each person on your list. Make sure to collect email addresses for those that have them - it really helps with updates and last-minute correspondence. Survey Attendees If youre planning to include a lot of people in your family reunion, consider sending out a survey (by postal mail and/or email) to let people know that a reunion is in the works. This will help you gauge interest and preferences, and ask for help with the planning. Include possible dates, proposed reunion type, and a general location (discussing possible costs early on can discourage a positive response), and politely ask for a timely response to your questions. Add the names of interested relatives who return the survey to your reunion list for future mailings, and/or keep them up-to-date on reunion plans via a family reunion Web site. Form a Reunion Committee. Unless this is a get-together of five sisters at Aunt Maggies house, a reunion committee is almost essential to planning a smooth, successful family reunion. Put someone in charge of each major aspect of the reunion - location, social events, budget, mailings, record-keeping, etc. Why do all the work yourself if you dont have to? Select the Date(s) Its not much of a reunion if no one can attend. Whether you plan your family reunion to coincide with a family milestone or special day, summer vacation, or a holiday, it helps to poll family members to avoid time and date conflicts. Since family reunions can encompass everything from an afternoon barbecue to a large affair lasting three or more days, youll also need to determine how long you plan to get together. A good rule of thumb - the farther people have to travel to reach the reunion location, the longer the reunion should last. Most importantly, remember that you wont be able to accommodate everyone. Choose your final date(s) based on whats best for the majority of attendees. Pick a Location Aim for a family reunion location that is most accessible and affordable to the majority of people you want to attend. If family members are clustered in one area, then select a reunion location thats nearby. If everyones scattered, then choose a central location to help cut down on travel expenses for far-flung relatives. Develop a Budget This will determine the scale of the food, decorations, accommodations, and activities for your family reunion. You can choose to have families pay for their own overnight accommodations, bring a covered dish, etc., but unless you have another source of income, youll also need to set a per-family registration fee to help with decoration, activity, and location costs. Reserve a Reunion Site Once youve chosen a location and set a date, its time to select a site for the reunion. Going home is a big draw for family reunions, so you may want to consider the old family homestead or other historic site connected to your familys past. Depending on the size of the reunion, you may be able to find a family member who will volunteer to have it at their home. For larger reunions, parks, hotels, restaurants and community halls are a good place to start. If youre planning a multi-day reunion, then consider a resort location where people can combine reunion activities with a family vacation. Choose a Theme Creating a theme for a family reunion is a great way to interest people and make them more likely to attend. It also makes things more fun when it comes to being imaginative with food, games, activities, invitations, and just about every other aspect of the reunion. Family history themes are especially popular, as are reunions which celebrate a very special family members birthday or anniversary, or the familys cultural heritage (i.e. Hawaiian luau). Determine the Menu Feeding a large group of people with different tastes is perhaps one of the trickiest parts of planning a reunion. Make it easy on yourself by selecting a menu that relates to your theme, or perhaps one that celebrates your familys heritage. Organize a group of family members to prepare the food for the family reunion or, if you have a large group and your budget allows, find a caterer or restaurant to do at least part of the work for you. A tasty menu makes for an unforgettable family reunion. Plan Social Activities You dont need to occupy everyone all the time, but planned activities and ice-breakers at your family reunion will provide an easy way for people who do not know each other well to comfortably spend time together. Include activities that will appeal to all ages and further family knowledge of shared heritage. You may also want to award prizes for special distinctions such as oldest family member or longest distance traveled to attend. Set the Stage Youve got a bunch of people, now what do you plan to do with them? Its time now to make arrangements for tents (if an outside reunion), chairs, parking decorations, programs, signs, t-shirts, goodie bags, and other reunion-day requirements. This is the time to consult a family reunion checklist! Say Cheese! While many family members will no doubt bring their own cameras, it helps to also make plans to record the overall event. Whether you designate a specific relative as the official reunion photographer or hire a professional photographer to take photos or videos, you should prepare a list of the people and events that you want to be recorded. For spontaneous moments, purchase a dozen disposable cameras and hand them out to volunteer guests. Dont forget to collect them at the end of the day! Invite the Guests Once you have most of your plans in place, its time to invite the guests by mail, email and/or phone. Youll want to do this way in advance to make sure and give everyone time to get it on their calendar. If youre charging admission fees, mention this in the invitation and set an advance deadline by which at least a percentage of the ticket price is required (unless youre wealthy enough to cover all of the costs yourself and can wait until the actual reunion for reimbursement). Tickets purchased in advance also means people will be less likely to cancel at the last moment! This is also a good opportunity to ask people, even if they cant attend the reunion, to provide family trees, photos, collectibles and stories to share with other family members. Fund the Extras If you dont want to charge admission fees for your reunion, then youll need to plan for a little fundraising. Even if you do collect admissions, fundraising can provide money for some fancy extras. Creative ways for raising money include holding an auction or raffle at the reunion or making and selling family hats, t-shirts, books, or reunion videos. Print up a Program Create a program that outlines the lineup of scheduled reunion events to provide to family members as they arrive for the reunion. You may also want to send this out via email or your reunion Web site in advance of the reunion as well. This will help serve as a reminder to people of activities which may require they bring something with them, such as a photo wall or family tree chart. Decorate for the Big Day The big day is almost here and now its time to make sure it goes smoothly. Create catchy, easy-to-ready signs to point arriving guests to registration, parking, and important locations such as bathrooms. Purchase or make a guest book to collect signatures, addresses, and other important information, as well as serve as a permanent record of the reunion. Purchase pre-made name badges, or print your own, to facilitate mixing and mingling between unacquainted family members. Family tree wall charts are always a big hit as reunion attendees always want to know where they fit into the family. Framed photos or printed posters of common ancestors or past family reunions are also popular. And, if you want to know what everyone thought of all your reunion planning, print up some evaluation forms for people to fill out as they leave. Keep the Fun Going Designate a volunteer or volunteers to create and send out a post-reunion newsletter with stories, photos, and news items from the reunion. If you collected family information, send along an updated genealogy chart as well. This is a great way to get people excited about the next reunion, as well as include less fortunate family members who were not able to attend.

ADD and ADHD Behavior Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

ADD and ADHD Behavior - Research Paper Example (Hermann et al, 2007).The completely unproven and highly questionable diagnosis known as Attention Deficit Disorder forms the basis of administering dangerous stimulant drugs to millions of children around the world each year. The stimulant drugs are known to modify behavior by compromising human health.Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a popular sub type of Attention Deficit Disorder and they are nothing more than inventions which are a result of politics and conflicting world economics.The absurdity of the invented disease is reflected by its absurdity of the diagnostic criteria listed in DSM-IV. Moreover, the proof of the nonexistence of ADD and ADHD is provided by the fact that there are absolutely no physiological or organic findings to substantiate the existence of this invented disease.The symptoms of ADD and ADHD are childhood behaviors, ranging from normal to non-complaint, and these symptoms themselves reflect the non existence of the disease.Despite the fact that the validity of ADD and ADHD is spurious, the number of children and young adults being diagnosed with the invented diseases are skyrocketing.Unfortunately, the number of diseased individuals is rising with the passage of each year.Apart from the rising number cases, another depressing aspect of the disease is that a considerably large number of diagnosed children and young adults are treated by administering dangerous stimulant drugs.... Unfortunately, the absence of intervention in the use of diagnosis and stimulant drugs, the popular and seductive concept of ADD will continue to flourish which will inevitably continue to throw innocent children and young adults into a deep floundering sea of fear and isolation. (Jacobs, 2004). Popularity of ADD & ADHD A staggering number of children and young adults are diagnosed with ADD or ADHD each year. The increased popularity of the invented disease amongst health professionals has resulted in more and more children receiving dangerous stimulant drugs. The paradoxical effect of stimulants on children has been revealed by strenuous clinical studies conducted by clinicians around the world. Unfortunately, the commencement of treatment strategies involving stimulant drugs has not been wavered by the surfacing of paradoxical effect of these drugs on children and young adults. According to health professionals, ADD and ADHD continues into adulthood and is responsible for criminal behaviors. However, such claims have no reality in my opinion because the disease simply has no organic or physiological findings. There is no proof of the existence of the disease therefore; health personnel are unable to justify their claims that adulthood criminal behavior is a consequence of ADD and ADHD in childhood. (Jacobs, 2004). Dangers of Stimulant Drugs Ritalin (methylphenidate) and dexamphetamine are pharmacologically similar to cocaine and are two of the most popular drugs for administration in ADHD. The drugs have significant effects which are similar to the ones mediated by cocaine. The chief effects of stimulant drugs used in the treatment of ADHD and ADD are that they cause the patients undergoing therapy to

Martin and Malcom & America A Dream or A Nightmare Essay

Martin and Malcom & America A Dream or A Nightmare - Essay Example Martin and Malcolm both had similar philosophical thinking. They were both religious leaders who took a political position in campaigning for black civil liberties groups. It is uncommon for religious leaders to assume political role, and Individuals still find it strange that Malcolm and Martin engaged themselves in America’s politics. Secondly, Martin and Malcolm base their ideology on a supernatural being. They have common theoretical thinking as they both believe in the existence of a super natural being. Martin believes that God is an all complete God that finished work of creation alone, while Malcolm believes that his God is a reachable God who invites mankind to help in completing his creation work. Martin and Malcolm both advocated for civil rights using their religious principles that human beings were religious creatures, and thus should be awarded the freedom and the dignity they deserve. 1They both considered that God is the only being who rob human beings of thei r rights. They believe that he is the divine force that is behind all deeds on the planet. Martin and Malcolm had different political approaches in their civil right pressure groups and fight for the African American freedom. They both had their individual ways of fighting and supporting the civil rights pressure groups. They were communitarians who selflessly advocated for the rights of the African American and additional minority groups in America. Martin used his religious philosophies in fighting for freedom, while Malcolm was not anything close to that, and attained his philosophies through surrender. Martin achieved his philosophies through agape. 2Martin believed in a diplomatic society as he derived his teachings from Gandhi. He believed the only approach to attain equality in America was through peaceful negations and manifestations. He did not believe in the race factor and was strong

Economics and Environmental Hazards Essay Example for Free

Economics and Environmental Hazards Essay In the 21st century, global warming, littering, waste, and temperature rises have been the subject of focus for many scientists. While examining the many causes of global warming, scientists found fossil fuel emissions and CO2 emissions to be a major cause. Although Earth is known as the Blue Planet for its vast water sources, much of that water is saltwater. Only 3% of the Earth is fresh water, and 70% of that is in glacial ice, unreachable by most. Thus, only 0. 5% of the Earth is made of usable freshwater. This limited amount of water is unsuitable for the world’s expanding population. Much of this water, however, can be easily conserved by switching from bottled water to tap water. Through using tap water and conserving plastic, we can save 27 times the amount of water we currently are saving, and use water sources wisely so as to not run out. Literature Review In the 1930s, the subjects of global warming, water, and lack of resources for fossil fuels became concern for Americans. The New York Times ran their first global warming article in 1929, when it first was considered a myth. Now that global warming has become a major concern for people, we realize how much we have wasted nature’s resources- especially water. Although 75% percent of the Earth is made up of water, less than 1% is drinkable and accessible by people. Countless blogs, websites, newspapers, and academic journals, such as the Journal of Dental Association (2003) and BioMed Central (2009), describe how our thoughtless actions have led to water depletion. Through processing, we waste 26 liters of water to get 1 liter of bottled water. The bottles are made in China using crude oil and transported thousands of miles on oil-eating machines, causing the ozone layer to melt. There are now seldom disputes to the existence of ozone depletion, and media uses print and internet to support the cutting down on bottled water. Bottled Water: Economics and Environmental Hazards. Thousands of years ago, water was a gift from the gods, to be saved and cherished. It allowed ancient civilizations to grow into structured societies, and gave people the ability to survive on domesticating animals and growing plants. Today, in the modern world, water is often taken for granted, and has become a daily thing of our lives. We see water fountains everywhere, and bottled water can be purchased in bulk. However, at the current rate we are using water, freshwater amounts are likely to decimate. This gift from the gods has brought environmental harm to the world and wasted the money of thousands of people. Thus, in order to protect the environment and save our own money, we must make good choices and switch from excessively using bottled water to using tap water. One of the top reasons people often buy bottled water is because of the convenience it provides (Ferrier, 2001, pp. 118-119). Easy life is what the entire economy runs on, as we have seen from the declining economy. As income lessens, people are reverting back to an older lifestyle of doing things themselves instead of purchasing services and goods. While bottled water may taste better because of chemicals that companies add in, it also costs significantly more. A New York Times reporter calculated that eight glasses of New York City tap water were about 49 cents a year, but 8 glasses of bottled water would be 2,900 times more expensive- as much as $1,400 per year. Because water is something that every household needs, it is reasonable to conclude that by switching to bottled water, families could cut their water expenses in half (Helm, 2008) and America as a whole could save. The high costs of purchasing bottled water are often due to the processing that bottled water must go through and the costs of shipping and plastic. Instead of drinking water from a local river or other water source, people choose to drink water shipped from Fiji, where extra charge is added for shipping. The plastic that is used to make the bottle also adds charge. A replacement for this kind of convenience is drinking from the bottles and then continuously refilling them to save your money and the environment. According to the Container Recycling Institute, 85% of water bottles in the United States end up in landfills (cited in Aslam, 2006). Unfortunately, plastic takes up to 1,000 years to decompose and the fuel emissions that delivery trucks emanate destroy the ozone layer. Even more smog and smoke is given off by the manufacturing plant, contributing to global warming, evaporation of our current freshwater supply, and melting/mixing of glacial freshwater and ocean water. About 70% of freshwater is in glacial ice, and as a result of temperatures rising, the freshwater melts, mixing in with saltwater and becoming undrinkable until further chemical processing. Another common myth about bottled water is that it is healthier. A study conducted by University of Birmingham researchers found that â€Å"†¦The majority of participants believed that bottled water has some health benefits but that they were not necessarily significant or superior to the benefits provided by tap water† (BioMed Central, 2009). The participants, users of the university’s sports center, stated that the health benefits of bottled water were negligible, and it was taste and convenience that truly motivated them to buy bottled water. Some research even suggests the opposite- that bottled water is less beneficial to health than tap water. While communities actively add in fluoride – a cavity fighter- to the water supply, the majority of bottled water contains little to no fluoride (Rugg-Gunn, 2003). Many large water companies currently undergo processes such as distillation and/or osmosis – both remove all fluoride from the water (American Dental Association, 2003). Since we now know that bottled water is not healthier than other water sources, we must reflect again on the numerous drawbacks of bottled water. Landfills continue to grow and grow, leading to larger emissions of ozone-depleting gases (Sarma, 2002). Birds and other small animals choke on plastic, mistaking it for food, and also die as a result. The ecosystem is dying as a result. The world works as a whole, a cycle, a circle. The consequences of our actions will always come back to bite us, or in the case of water, our posterity when they have low water supply. Conserving water today will benefit people later. In addition, as we become closer and closer to high UV radiation exposure and losing our ozone layer, scientists are frantically trying to build labs, gather money, and conduct extensive research about how to conserve the environment and water. By not procrastinating, and saving plastic and water resources now, we will save great amounts of money. The exotic island of Fiji is known for its pure, fresh, crisp water, even to Americans who live thousands of miles away. A 16 ounce bottle of Fiji water currently costs from $1. 50 to $2. 50. At a rate like that, when we are at the edge of the Great Lakes and other vast water sources, but purchase water from the other side of the world, our money is being sold away to foreign countries. Most of 2. 7 million tons of plastic used for bottling and packaging come from China (Aslam, 2006). The result is a national economic breakdown, not only in the water industry, but in all industries, since people cannot cut down on the amount of water they need to drink. It takes 63 million gallons of oil per year to manufacture water bottles (Niman, 2007). That is not only more water than Fijians themselves drink that we are buying, but also 63 million extra gallons of oil and plastic that we toss away. Ironically, one third of Fijians are in destitution and lack the amount of water they need. Because one liter of bottled water uses 26 liters of water, one kilogram of fossil fuel, and one pound of CO2 (Thangham, 2007), little is left for the Fijians in destitute. This is true for not only Fiji waters, but all waters in the world. In 2007, Fiji, one of the world’s most popular drinking water sources, became the first bottled water company to release its carbon footprint -85,396 metric tons of CO2eq (Corporate Social Responsibility, 2008). Imagine the carbon footprint total for the world, or even the United States. Perhaps American water companies have not released their carbon footprints because of how overwhelmingly large they are. If we could cut down on how much bottled and imported water we drank, we could preserve a large amount of water for the future.

Essay on Death and Sorrow in Mary Shelleys Frankenstein :: Frankenstein essays

Death and Sorrow in Frankenstein Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is filled with death and sorrow. They occur in almost every aspect of the book. The four "squares" of the book, Walter, Victor, the monster, and the cottagers, all suffer from them at one time or another. Some perceive Frankenstein as a horror story; however, in actuality it is a book of tragedy and despair. Every page reveals more misery than the page before. Thus, death and sorrow are inevitable in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Walter has an interesting turn of events towards the end of the book. He is forced to abandon his quest to the North Pole, he is faced with the monster and must hear the monster's plans for self-destruction, he has to watch idly as his new friend, Victor, passes from this world. He has such noble dreams and aspirations, but they are all brought to a halt because of his chance meeting with Frankenstein. Or, was his expedition doom from the start because of the nature of wanting to do what no other man had done? Was it his ambition that led him to untimely failure? The evidence from the text proves that possibly he was never meant to surpass his peers and obtain the glory that he pursued. Victor experiences very little joy at all after the creation of the monster. He suffers from numerous bouts of depression, he most tolerate the deaths of his brother, best friend, and wife, all of which were murdered at the hands of the monster. His friend Justine is executed because of the death of William, for which she is falsely accused and convicted. His father also dies after the murder of Elizabeth, Victor's ill-fated bride. With so much death surrounding his life, how is it possible that Victor could still be cognizant of his actions when he decides to pursue the monster and end its violent fury? He can't. Victor's mind is so clouded by the sorrow and pain of his past that he is blinded to the fact that he is attempting to destroy a creature with far greater physical strength and speed than any mortal. Much of his conflict appears to be created by the monster, when in fact the torment comes from Victor's own hands because he himself created and gave life to the monster. The monster lived in a world of eternal turmoil and strife.

Experimental Psychology Stroop Effect Essay

The research assessed in this article discusses the Stroop effect. The Stroop effect occurs when our selective attention fails and we are unable to attend to some information and ignore the rest. This study tests the Stroop effect by presenting the participant with a congruent or incongruent word and the participant is asked to type the color of the word or the actual word in a series of trials. In this research, it has been found that participants had faster reaction times for congruent items and slower reaction times for incongruent items. In addition, participants had faster reaction times when asked to type the word and slower reaction times when asked to type the color. Racing Horses and the Stroop Effect We have the ability to attend to the things we’re looking for; however, sometimes this ability of selective attention becomes compromised. Where’s Waldo is a game that tests one’s ability to selectively attend to a stimuli; you must find Waldo in an overly crowded picture that attempts to hide him. If one’s selective attention becomes compromised, one would either not be able to locate Waldo or would take a long amount of time to locate Waldo. We can study this phenomenon of selective attention via the Stroop effect. According to J. R Stroop, â€Å"it takes more time to name colors than to read color names (1935). † In addition, it is faster to name the color for congruent items than incongruent items. Congruent items include items such the word â€Å"red† in the color red; incongruent items include items such as the word â€Å"blue† in red ink. In a basic Stroop experiment, participants are provided with a list of congruent words and a list of incongruent words and are asked to name the color of the word or the actual word itself. Having a big Stroop effect indicates that one’s selective attention has failed. In Stroop’s original version of the experiment, results demonstrated that when participants were asked to name the color of the ink of an incongruent item, there was an increase in ink naming time. However, when the participants were asked to name the word, incongruence of the ink to the word did not have an effect on the amount of time it took to read it (Dunbar & MacLeod, 1984). In Kevin Dunbar & Colin M. MacLeod’s paper, they refer to what is known as the horse race model (1984). This horse race model attempts to explain the Stroop phenomenon as a race between two responses. The first response, which always seems to win the race, is the response to the word; the second response is the one to the color of the ink. The horse race model states that color naming is slower than word naming because words and colors have different processing times; when the faster process finishes, it’s result can interfere with the slower process. â€Å"The simplest hypothesis, consistent with all the evidence, is that the interference occurs after naming (Morton & Chambers, 1973). Words interfere strongly with color naming; in an incongruent trial, one identifies the word first, the identification of color of the word only comes later and there is a need to overcome the incorrect response, which causes a slight delay in response time. The purpose of this experiment is to further test the horse race model of the Stroop effect. In this experiment, the two independent variables are congruency, whether the items are congruent or incongruent, and task, participants will be asked to name the color of the item or the word. Results will be measured by how long it takes participants to respond in each condition. There are several predictions made about this replication of the Stroop experiment: firstly, we predict that there will be a main effect of congruency; we expect an overall Stroop effect. Secondly, we predict that there will be a main effect of task; we expect that participants should be faster to type words than colors. Finally, we predict an interaction between congruency and task; we expect that the Stroop effect will be larger for typing colors than for typing words. Method Participants Twenty-one undergraduate, male and female students were recruited from an experimental lab class at the City University of New York Brooklyn College. Materials and Design In this within subjects design, we used a 2 (Congruency: Congruent vs. Incongruent) x 2 (Task Type: Naming color vs. Naming word) factorial; the dependent variable measured was reaction time. The stimuli were presented on a seventeen inch computer monitor and participants were given a standard keyboard for their responses. The stimuli used were four words: red, green, blue, yellow; and four colors: red, green, blue, yellow. For the independent variable of congruency, there were four possible congruent items and twelve possible incongruent items. For the independent variable of task, there was one block of forty-eight trials asking the participant to type the word and one block of forty-eight trials asking the participant to type the color. The order of each block was randomly determined by the computer for each participant. Half of the participants did the word naming then color naming; the other half did color naming then word naming. Each trial begins with the presentation of a fixation cross in the center of the screen, visible for 500 milliseconds. The fixation cross is removed and immediately followed by the word and color stimulus; this stimulus remained on the screen until a response was typed and the participant pressed the spacebar key. There are four possible responses: red, green, blue, and yellow. Responses are given by having the participants type the word into the keyboard. Immediately after the response, the stimuli were removed from the screen and the next trial appeared 500 milliseconds after the participant pressed the spacebar. Procedure Participants were given instructions by the experimenter, separated into groups, and sent randomly to different rooms which held the computers they would be using for this experiment. Each participant was given a total of ninety-six trials; there was one block of forty-eight trials asking the participant to type the word and one block of forty-eight trials asking the participant to type the color. The order of each block was randomly determined by the computer for each participant. Half of the participants did the word naming then color naming; the other half did color naming then word naming. The participants were prompted to read the instructions on the screen and enter their initials prior to starting the experiment. Once the experiment begins, there is a fixation cross displayed for 500 milliseconds. Following the fixation cross, the task cue and stimuli were displayed at the same time until the participant responded. After the participant responded and pressed the spacebar key, they were prompted with another trial. After each participant completed the experiment they were instructed to return to the classroom where they were debriefed by the experimenter and allowed to leave. Results The results of this experiment are presented in Figure 1. The mean for the naming color/congruent condition is 1044. 57ms; the mean for the naming color/incongruent condition is 1210. 62 ms; the mean for the naming word/congruent condition is 838. 05 ms; and the mean for the naming word/incongruent condition is 862. 24 ms. The mean reaction times (RTs) from each condition were submitted to a 2 (Task type: name word vs. name color) x 2 (Congruency: congruent vs. incongruent) within-subjects ANOVA. The main effect for task was significant, F(1,20) = 62. 48, MSE = 1616576. 0, p < 0. 05; this shows that participants had a faster RT when asked to name the word (M = 850. 14 ms) as opposed to when asked to name the color (M = 1127. 60 ms). Mean RTs were faster for word than color naming. In addition to a main effect of task, there is a significant main effect of congruency, F(1,20) = 22. 65, MSE = 190000. 30, p < 0. 05; this illustrates that participants had a faster RT when the items were congruent (M = 941. 31 ms) than when the items were incongruent (M = 1036. 43 ms) Mean RTs were faster for congruent items than incongruent items. Finally, we found a ignificant interaction between congruency and task type, F(1,20) = 42. 43, MSE = 105648. 11, p < 0. 05; this interaction demonstrates that there is a greater difference between the means of congruent and incongruent items when asked to name color than there is between the means of congruent and incongruent items when asked to name the word. Discussion We predicted a main effect of congruency which is, in fact, what we see from our results. We see this main effect due to the Stroop effect, which states that it is faster to name the color for congruent items than incongruent items. In addition, we expected to see a main effect of task type and that the word task will produce faster RTs than the color task; which is precisely what we have found. We can explain this finding with the theories of the horse race model. It has been found, through earlier research, that reading words is a faster process than color naming because reading is an automatic process (Dunbar & MacLeod, 1984). We predicted to see that naming the color will intensify the Stroop effect whereas naming the word will minimize the Stroop effect; we have found exactly this in our results. These outcomes can be explained with the horse race model as well. The horse race model assumes two things: first, words and colors have different processing times; color naming is slower than word naming. Second, the Stroop effect is asymmetrical: when the faster process is finished, the result of that process can interfere with the slower process. Words interfere strongly with color naming; however, colors interfere weakly with word naming. MacLeod’s (1991) study explained: This speed difference is seen as particularly critical when two potential responses (e. g. , one from a word and one from an ink color) compete to be the response actually produced. The time cost of this competition is â€Å"interference. This general interpretation is referred to as response competition occurring at the end of a horse race, because the two codes are seen as racing to control final output. (p. 187) One of the flaws of this experiment is that it is possible that not all participants are proficient in the placement of keys on a computer keyboard; this would affect the reaction time for theses participants as they would need extra time to find the keys. Another flaw is that we didn’t take into account typing errors and the program used did not record error rate. This could mean that we have not successfully measured one of the items we attempted to measure. We attempted to see if there was a difference in processing time between the task of naming the word and the task of naming the color. Since we did not take into account typing errors and error rate, it is possible that a participant could have responded quickly with an incorrect response and therefore caused the RT time to be quicker. The greatest defect of this experiment is the sample size, 21 participants. In future studies it is recommended that this experiment be run with at least 30 participants who can comfortably recognize the keys on a standard computer keyboard. In addition to a larger sample size, perhaps changing the colors and the names of colors (from red, green, blue, and yellow to, for example, pink, purple, orange, grey) would yield a smaller or larger Stroop effect. Another change that can be experimented with is age. MacLeod (1991) references a study done by Lund (1927) which finds that â€Å"children younger than reading age were faster on color naming than word reading. † Perhaps there may be difference between children that are younger than reading age, children who have just recently learned the alphabet, and/or children who just recently learned to read. Also, could there be a difference between children, adolescents, middle-age, and/or old-age? MacLeod (1991) also references a study conducted by Ligon (1932) that tested the â€Å"differential-practice concept† in children between the ages of about 5-14. Ligon found that practice and training did improve RTs for both color naming and word naming tasks, however, â€Å"the difference between the skills remained unchanged. † A final suggestion for future research would pose this question: would we find similar results if ran such a study with adults?