How Can We Improve Child Care Safety in the United States Research Paper

How Can We Improve Child Care Safety in the United States - Research Paper Example As a result, children spend more time outside home rather than with their parents. Most of the child care service providers in the US operate under unlicensed and unchecked contexts where the caregivers often lack formal training in the discipline. Since these services are more convenient and less expensive for the parents, they prefer sending their children to neighborhood childcare centers. There have been many well documented cases of children getting injured while in day care centers including falls, poisoning, drowning, electric shock, and so on (Runyan and Gray et al., 1991). A large number of children attend organized group child care and a significant number of them get injuries while in the day care. Hence, the safety of children in child care has become a public health concern. After the instance of child care issues and safety concerns, several legislative efforts have been made. Although no formal federal regulations existed previously except for a few centers, regulation s and licensing procedures now exist to provide a standard for child care center and their safety. Several bodies of pediatricians and other social workers exist that work to improve the safety and standards of child care. ... egivers therefore they must be trained in order to educate and aid healthy growth of children (â€Å"Stepping Stones to Caring for Our Children†, 2013). Advocacy Efforts Several legislative efforts were made since the documentation of child care injuries and diseases in day care centers. Now child care laws and licensing regulations and standards exist. These provide specific rules and requirements for quality standards and licensing of child care centers. Each state has a different rule or procedure for child care even though most of these regulations coincide. The government of US has defined a broad set of disease and injury prevention improvements, medication requirements, and so on, as a general policy. The US government also raises child care awareness among people, aids research and publication in the field, and funds the training of child care professionals (Office of Child Care, 2013). Although the US government has been keen on financing early child care and developm ent, several public notions has inhibited the thoughtful federal government gesture. Many people believe that raising their own child is a matter between the parents and the child and therefore should involve no government intervention. Also, a public view which supports only mother care is against the federal financing of child care. Such attitudes towards government financing of child care has obstructed the consistency of federal financing. However, such values have shown a decline particularly after the increase of employed women in the US workforce (Cohen, 1996). Initially, only state governments enforced child care laws except a few federally regulated child care centers (Runyan and Gray et al., 1991). Now, the US government has its own separate Office for Child Care that provides guidelines

Managing Financial Resources Essay Example for Free

Managing Financial Resources Essay SUMMARY RESULTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The proposed refrigerator manufacturing and sales project for Tesca Works, Inc. is a financially complicated project which on the surface, given the increase in energy costs and customer demand may seem like a winning proposition. However, when we delve further into the details of the financial projections along with projections of the future of the refrigerator market we are able to make a confident recommendation to Mr. Burton and the executive staff at Tesca Works, Inc. Using the information provided by the Tesca team we were able to create a comprehensive capital budget and cash flow analysis for the proposed refrigerator project. Through our analysis we found that the cost of capital of the project to be 13.487% and a Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) to be at a value of 9.70%. Factoring in the WACC into our projections we found that if the demand maintains at an average rate the project will be at a positive Net  Present Value of $5,997,505.31 with an IRR of 13.21%, a profitability index of 8.84, and an approximate payback period of 6.84 years. Please see Exhibits below for a snapshot of the capital budget and NPV values. This information seemed to be very promising for the project in general. However, our continued analysis showed the project to be very sensitive to the sales price per unit of the refrigerator. We used the average demand scenario to produce a sensitivity analysis and found that with just a 5% decrease in the sales price of the refrigerator the NPV quickly dipped into a negative value thus showing the project to be extremely sensitive to the sales price of the refrigerator. Our scenario analysis also exposed a strong probability of the project giving a negative Net Present Value and giving a probable low Internal Rate of Return of only 4.01%. This is mainly due to the projects sensitivity to the sales price of the refrigerator and the potentially lower sales in the event of weak demand for the product. Because of the high probability for a very low IRR and negative NPV we are recommending that the project be rejected. The information we have uncovered through detailed financial analysis showed that the project is far too sensitive to lower demand and lower sales prices per unit. This is especially true for a lower sales price for the refrigerator. We found that even a small decrease in the sales price of just over 1% would cause the project’s NPV to become negative, even with an average unit sales demand. There may be potential for an average or strong demand in the marketplace, however there is too much risk to recommend project acceptance. A decision to move forward with the project would be mainly based on a ‘gut-feeling’ rather than on sound financial reasoning. Thus it is our official recommendation that Tesca Works, Inc. reject the project. 1) IMPORTANCE OF ENERGY COST SITUATION The question of energy cost being a factor of the decision to move forward with this project is of critical importance. This is because whether or not consumers are inspired to purchase a new appliance may be spurred by  increases in energy costs as well as possible tax benefits or rebates from power generating companies. Some consumers may be aware of the benefits of energy efficient appliances which may cause an increase in the normal demand for refrigerators. Tesca is in a unique position to be able to offer high efficiency refrigerators to the United States public at a time when the public is looking to reduce their use of electricity and other utility costs. When we look at the graph above it can be seen that the cost of electricity has steadily increased over the last 10 years. The price per kilowatt hour has increased almost 50% in 10 years (EIA, 2014). Thus to the consumer the price of energy is a big concern and the costs will most likely continue into the future. There is potential for an increased demand to replace aging inefficient appliances that are causing increased electrical bills for consumers. The energy cost and potential benefits to the consumer are of importance when determining the future of this project. The project is forecast to be of a positive value if the demand for refrigerators is at an average or strong demand from consumers. However, the realization of a high or average demand is mainly based on ‘gut-feeling’ rather than on sound financial information. There are too many variables in the marketplace that could cause demand to be weaker than projected. Such variables as a weak economy or recession could cause sales to drop which in turn would cause the project to lose its value quickly. 2) What is the project’s cost of equity? What is the appropriate discount factor to use for evaluating the refrigerator project? As seen in Exhibit I below, the project’s cost of equity (COE) is calculated to be 13.487%. We found this value by using the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) formula by adding the treasury note yield with the beta value, then taking the market return rate and subtracting the treasury note yield. We then multiply those values together to attain the cost of equity value of 13.487%. This means there is a rate of return on investment of 13.487%. The Beta for Tesca Works, Inc. is fairly consistent with their competition. Tesca’s beta value is at 1.3 which means that Tesca’s value has been more volatile than the market. While this means there is more risk when investing in Tesca there is also a greater possibility for higher rates of  return. Exhibit I also shows the table used to calculate the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) or discount factor which we used to evaluate this particular project. We used the following formula to calculate the WACC for this project. We know that the higher the weighted average cost of capital the less likely it is that Tesca will be creating value for its investors. The WACC helps us to determine if a company is creating value and presents the minimum return to satisfy investors and creditors. 3) Which of the two compressors should be used in the refrigerator if you decide to go ahead with the project and why? As seen in Exhibit II we determined that the CM-004 compressor should be used for this particular project. We came to this conclusion by finding the present value of the five year compressor warranty and adding that to the cost of the compressor. We used the weighted average cost of capital as the rate in our present value calculations. While the TS-L12 has a less expensive purchase price it has a more expensive warranty cost for the five year warranty period thus making it a more expensive overall compressor. When we use the present value calculations on both compressors, factoring in the warranty, we found that the present value of the CM-004 is $18.21 less expensive than the TS-L12 compressor. This makes the CM-004 compressor 4% less expensive to purchase for the warranty life of the compressor. It was important to take calculate the present values of both compressors to get an accurate comparison of the costs of the two compressors for the five year warranty costs of each compressor. While on the surface the TS-L12 may have seemed less expensive the overall cost in present dollars was higher when we factored in the value of the five year warranty on both compressors. 4) Forecast the project’s cash flows for the next twenty years. What assumptions did you use? Once we selected the appropriate compressor to use we were able to plug in  certain input values into our equations to create a cash flow projection for the entire project lifetime. We used the weighted average cost of capital value found in our earlier calculations as one of our input values. We also found the present value of the refrigerator, see Exhibit IV, by using the input values given in the financial information from Tesca such as the labor, parts, and compressor costs. We found the cost of the refrigerator to be $1,269.36, see Exhibit III. ASSUMPTIONS MADE: Certain assumptions were made when calculating the projected cash flows for the refrigerator project. We assumed inflation would remain at 2.5% and used that value to increase the sales price, variable cost, and administrative fixed costs each year. Please see Exhibit IV for a breakdown of the inputs used for the cash flow projections. This allowed us to gain a more a more realistic forecast of the project’s potential cash flows for the entire project. We also used the average demand as our base projections for the project. This is because the average demand scenario has the highest probability of 45%. We used straight-line depreciation with regard to depreciating the investment in the project over time. We detailed the first three years of the project, years zero through two with the appropriate investment amounts during each of those years. Since production and sales did not begin until year three we were able to make an assumption of potential tax returns on the invested dollars for years one and two. We used the tax rate of 25% to calculate the tax returns along with the taxable amounts for all years. See the attached spreadsheet for the detailed cash flow projections. We also assumed that since the refrigerators could be produced for a total of 20 years the entire life of the project would span from year zero through year 22. This is because the production of the refrigerators could not begin until year three, thus making the projects timeline from year zero through year 22. With this information and assumptions we found that when the units are in production and being sold the project will yield a positive annual cash flow. The working capital was found by taking the 11% and carrying it over  for each year. We used the initial Net Operating Working Capital (NOWC) found in year two then calculated the difference using 11% of the difference of the sales each year and calculated that for the entire life of the production. 5) Use the appropriate capital budgeting techniques to evaluate the project. As seen in Exhibit V we used the appropriate capital budgeting and performance measures to evaluate the life of the project. Exhibit VI displays the results of the capital budgeting analysis. We found the NPV for the average demand scenario to be $5,997,505.31 which is a positive value for the project given the average demand inputs. The Internal Rate of Return was calculated as 13.21% which, again, is a positive value and could provide for a nice rate of return on the project since it is higher than the weighted average cost of capital and the market return rate. The profitability index was found to be at a value of 8.84. Because the profitability index is higher than 1.0 that shows that the project present value is greater than the initial investments in the project. We then calculated the number of years for a payback on the initial investments in the project. We found that the simple payback of the initial investments would take 6.48 years for the average demand scenario. In simple terms, and if we only used the average demand assumptions, this project would seem to provide positive net results for Tesca. Using the average demand inputs the NPV, IRR, Profitability Index, and Payback Years are at an acceptable level. However, as we will cover in later sections, when we include probability analysis of the other demand scenarios we find that the project is less than desirable. 6) Use the average demand scenario to evaluate the sensitivity of the project’s NPV with respect to sale price of the refrigerator and the cost of the compressor.  We used the average demand scenario to produce a comprehensive sensitivity analysis of the project. We utilized three variables when conducting our sensitivity analysis, the sale price of the refrigerator, the cost of the compressor, and the project’s weighted average cost of capital. We included the weighted average cost of capital as an extra variable to get further details on the sensitivity of the project. We used a scale of 5% increments from -25% to 25% which allowed us to produce a sensitivity analysis with adequate details. Please see Exhibits VIII and IX for the numerical details and sensitivity graph for the project. The sensitivity analysis uncovered the following critical information with respect to how sensitive the NPV of the project was to the given variables. Sales Price Sensitivity We found that even a small decrease in the sales price of the refrigerator of just over 1% caused the project’s NPV to become negative. The graph in Exhibit IX shows the steep sensitivity line with respect to the change in the sales price per unit. Even with an average sales demand, if the price dropped to 15% which is approximately the same sale price of our weak demand scenario the NPV was substantially below zero at a negative value of $-57,667,920. With each 5% increment the NPV values sometimes increased or decreased at a rate that doubled or more because of the projects extreme sensitivity to the sales price of the refrigerator. The profit margin on the refrigerator of 19.41% and markup of only 24% does not leave much room for a price reduction in the sales price of the refrigerator. The data also points to a wide range in NPV with respect to the sales price of the units. There was a total range of over $212 million for the sensitivity of the sales price per unit. This d ata leads to the discovery that the project is extremely sensitive to the sales price of the refrigerator. Compressor Cost Sensitivity The project was not as sensitive to the cost of the compressor, however, it did not take a large percentage increase in the cost of the compressor to throw the NPV of the project into a negative value, just over 5%. Exhibit IX’s graph shows the sensitivity lines for the project. The compressor sensitivity is not nearly as steep as the price sensitivity per unit. Because the cost of the compressor affects the profit margin on each refrigerator the lower the cost of the compressor the better the NPV because  of the increased profit margin per unit. 7) Based on the scenario and sensitivity analysis you performed above, comment on the overall riskiness of the project. Based on the scenario and sensitivity analysis we were able to determine that the project is of a high risk nature. There are several factors that make this project such a high risk which include the narrow profit margin per unit, the uncertainty of the future market, the high cost per unit, and the high administrative costs. Through a scenario analysis we analyzed the three potential demand scenarios for this project. We used the weak, strong, and average demand scenario variables to formulate the probabilities for the project. We found that the probability of the NPV is a significant negative value of $-6,300,213, see Exhibit VII for details of the scenario analysis. We also found that the probable IRR of the project was very low at 4.01%. Given the low IRR probability of 4.01% that means it is significantly lower than the SP 500 market return of 11% and barely a point higher than the 10-year treasury note yield of 2.71%. The low probable internal rate of return is another red flag for the riskiness and viability of the refrigerator project for Tesca Works, Inc. The weak demand scenario produced significant negative values for the NPV and the internal rate of return (IRR). The weak scenario also produced a non-existent payback period within the 20 year production lifecycle of the project. With each scenario the selling price and unit sales were changed, however, the high cost of each unit and administrative costs remained the same, thus adding to the risk of the project since it is highly reliant on an average or strong demand and higher sales prices per unit. While the project has the potential of a very high NPV, IRR, and payback period with a strong demand, the projects sensitivity to price and market demand make this a very risky project to undertake at this time. If there were ways to increase the profit margin or decrease the fixed costs of the project that may help decrease the risky nature of this particular project. 8) Would you recommend that Tesca Works accept or reject the project? What is the basis for your recommendation? We would not recommend this project for Tesca Works, Inc. Our recommendation is for Tesca management to reject the project. Our analysis has shown this project to be too sensitive to market shift and too risky to undertake at this time. While there is excitement across the country for more energy efficient appliances, we feel that the project poses some significant risks for Tesca. The successful outcome of the project truly relies on the demand from consumers. Their demand will determine the selling price and sales volume of the refrigerator units. If this demand is barely below the average demand we will see a negative NPV for the project and thus a negative result for Tesca Works, Inc. Recent economic history in the United States has shown the economy to be unstable and may not provide an average or strong demand for the product. While we feel the energy costs across the country could be of significant importance for a project of this nature we do not feel that there is enough lee way in the profit margin of the project to be economically feasible should demand be lower than anticipated. Our analysis showed the project to be very sensitive to the sales price per unit value of the refrigerator. We used the average demand scenario to produce a sensitivity analysis and found that with just a 5% decrease in the sales price of the refrigerator the NPV quickly dipped into a negative value thus showing the project to be extremely sensitive to the sales price of the refrigerator. Our scenario analysis also exposed a strong probability of the project giving a negative Net Present Value and giving a probable low Internal Rate of Return of only 4.01%. This is mainly due to the projects sensitivity to the sales price of the refrigerator and the potentially lower sales in the event of weak demand for the product. The project’s profit margin is too close to allow for market demand fluctuations which would cause the project to have a negative net present  value. If Tesca were to offer the refrigerator at a higher sales price this would yield a stronger profit margin and may alter the recommended rejection of this project. As we discussed the project is far too sensitive to changes in the sales price of the refrigerators. Even with an average demand of sales volume, if we reduce the sales price we begin to see a negative NPV for the project. Thus, the project is too sensitive to minor changes in the profit margin of the refrigerators. Which is why we are recommending a rejection of this project for Tesca Works, Inc.

Cerebral Pasy vs Muscular Dystrophy :: essays papers

Cerebral Pasy vs Muscular Dystrophy Muscular dystrophy is a rare inherited muscle disease in which the muscle fibers are unusually susceptible to damage. The muscles, primarily the voluntary muscles, become progressively weaker. In the late stages of muscular dystrophy, muscle fibers often are replaced by fat and connective tissue. There are several types of muscular dystrophy. The various types of the disease affect more than 50,000 Americans. Many are associated with specific genetic abnormalities.The most common muscular dystrophies appear to be due to a genetic deficiency of the muscle protein dystrophin. These types of the disease are called dystrophinopathies. They include: Duchenne's muscular dystrophy. This is the most severe form of dystrophinopathy. Duchenne's muscular dystrophy affects young boys. Signs and symptoms of the disease usually appear between the ages of 2 and 5. Children with the disease fall and have difficulty getting up off the floor. By late childhood, most are unable to walk. Most die by their late teens or early 20s, often from pneumonia, respiratory muscle weakness or cardiac complications.  ·Becker's muscular dystrophy. This is a milder form of dystrophinopathy. It generally affects older boys and young men, and progresses more slowly, usually over several decades. Duchenne's and Becker's muscular dystrophy are passed from mother to son through one of the mother's genes. The disease can "skip" a generation until another son inherits the defective gene. In some cases of Duchenne's and Becker's muscular dystrophies, the disease arises from a new mutation in a gene rather than from an inherited defective gene. Other types of muscular dystrophies can be handed on from generation to generation and affect males and females equally. Still others require a defective gene from both parents. Signs Are:  · Muscle weakness  · Apparent lack of coordination  · Inability to elevate your arms over your head  · Progressive crippling, resulting in loss of mobility Diagnosis:  · Blood Tests-Damaged muscles release enzymes such as creatine kinase (CK) into the blood. High blood levels of CK suggest a muscle disease such as muscular dystrophy  · Electromyography- Electrical activity is measured as you relax and as you gently tighten the muscle. Changes in the pattern of electrical activity can confirm a muscle disease. The distribution of the disease can be determined by testing different muscles.  · Muscle Biopsy-A small piece of muscle is taken for laboratory analysis. The analysis distinguishes muscular dystrophies from other muscle diseases  · Genetic Testing-This can be done simply by a small blood sample for laboratory testing to see weather there is a abnormal gene Cerebral Pasy vs Muscular Dystrophy :: essays papers Cerebral Pasy vs Muscular Dystrophy Muscular dystrophy is a rare inherited muscle disease in which the muscle fibers are unusually susceptible to damage. The muscles, primarily the voluntary muscles, become progressively weaker. In the late stages of muscular dystrophy, muscle fibers often are replaced by fat and connective tissue. There are several types of muscular dystrophy. The various types of the disease affect more than 50,000 Americans. Many are associated with specific genetic abnormalities.The most common muscular dystrophies appear to be due to a genetic deficiency of the muscle protein dystrophin. These types of the disease are called dystrophinopathies. They include: Duchenne's muscular dystrophy. This is the most severe form of dystrophinopathy. Duchenne's muscular dystrophy affects young boys. Signs and symptoms of the disease usually appear between the ages of 2 and 5. Children with the disease fall and have difficulty getting up off the floor. By late childhood, most are unable to walk. Most die by their late teens or early 20s, often from pneumonia, respiratory muscle weakness or cardiac complications.  ·Becker's muscular dystrophy. This is a milder form of dystrophinopathy. It generally affects older boys and young men, and progresses more slowly, usually over several decades. Duchenne's and Becker's muscular dystrophy are passed from mother to son through one of the mother's genes. The disease can "skip" a generation until another son inherits the defective gene. In some cases of Duchenne's and Becker's muscular dystrophies, the disease arises from a new mutation in a gene rather than from an inherited defective gene. Other types of muscular dystrophies can be handed on from generation to generation and affect males and females equally. Still others require a defective gene from both parents. Signs Are:  · Muscle weakness  · Apparent lack of coordination  · Inability to elevate your arms over your head  · Progressive crippling, resulting in loss of mobility Diagnosis:  · Blood Tests-Damaged muscles release enzymes such as creatine kinase (CK) into the blood. High blood levels of CK suggest a muscle disease such as muscular dystrophy  · Electromyography- Electrical activity is measured as you relax and as you gently tighten the muscle. Changes in the pattern of electrical activity can confirm a muscle disease. The distribution of the disease can be determined by testing different muscles.  · Muscle Biopsy-A small piece of muscle is taken for laboratory analysis. The analysis distinguishes muscular dystrophies from other muscle diseases  · Genetic Testing-This can be done simply by a small blood sample for laboratory testing to see weather there is a abnormal gene

Barry Sanders :: Sports Athletes Essays

Barry Sanders Barry Sanders arguably the best back ever to play the game of football. Barry is not one of those players who is just out there to make money, he loves the game and is always trying his hardest when he is out there. Barry Sanders was born July 16th, 1968 in Wichita, Kansas. He grew up in a family being one of eleven other children. When Barry was a kid he was considered to be too short to play football well at the college level. In fact, his 1,417 yards rushing in his senior year of high school wasn't enough to impress college recruiters. One recruiter told Barry's coach, "We don't need another midget." Only two colleges offered Barry a football scholarship. Barry accepted a scholarship from Oklahoma State University and the rest is now history. Here are some of Barrys career achievements that he has done in the short time he has played the game. Which has made him such the over achiever that he is. 1988, won the Heisman Trophy Award for best player in the nation. 1989, lead the NFC in rushing and was Rookie of the Year. 1992, became the Lions' All-Time leading rusher. 1994, rushed for the fourth best NFL season record of 1,883 yards and included a 237 yards in week 11 vs. Tampa Bay. In 1996, became the first player in NFL history to rush for over 1,000 yards in his first eight seasons, won the NFL rushing title, selected to the Pro Bowl for the eighth time and became the first player to rush for over 1,500 yards in three consecutive seasons. Sanders continues adding to his extraordinary numbers on the field. He has run for 1,300 yards and now stands seventh among the NFL’s all-time rushers with 11,472, having surpassed Ottis Anderson, O.J. Simpson and John Riggins. He’s 128 yards behind Kansas City’s Marcus Allen, Sanders’ boyhoodhero when he was growing up in Wichita, Kan., and Allen was a Los Angeles Raider. Next year, providing he keeps up this trend of 1,000-yard seasons, Sanders will pass Franco Harris (12,120), Jim Brown (12,312) and Tony Dorsett(12,739) and slide into third place behind Eric Dickerson (13,259) and Walter Payton (16,726). Sanders is the first player in league history to rush for at least 1,000 yards in eight straight seasons, and Thursday he was named to his eighth straight Pro Bowl. â€Å"Anytime he touches the ball, it’s a highlight reel,† says Allen, now in his 15th NFL season.

What Makes a Good Parent

To my mind, the right answer to the question â€Å"What makes a good parent† is not easily obtainable. You should spend a lot of time in contemplation before reaching to it. And still there is no guarantee that finally you will get it. Since many people have different opinions on raising a child there may be thousands absolutely different answers to one and the same question, a rather tricky one, I would say. To tell you the truth, after I asked myself the same question, several things went through my mind. What kind of parent will I be?How will I raise a child? Can I be a good parent? What turns ordinary people into good parents? Panic overtook me and I felt an overwhelming desire to rush to the local bookstore to purchase loads of parenting books and magazines to learn how to become a good parent or call to my mom. But, after thorough thinking I looked at the problem with fresh mind. First of all it’s quite normal to wonder how good a parent you are. Perhaps you're wo rried that going out to work or being a lone parent will affect your child (if the situation is such).You may worry about whether you're being firm enough, or whether you're giving your children what they need. We all hope to get it right and give a good balance of loving care and clear boundaries. Secondly, people are not born with good parenting skills; Parenting is a skill that is learned over a period of time. A good parent learns from their environment and passes what they have learned down to their children. Thirdly, a good parent is a person who is patient, kind, considerate, understanding, and helpful, a good listener, and a disciplinarian at the proper times.Wisdom and patience are always helpful, too. Sometimes all you need to do is listen, while at other times you might have to step in and take action. And moreover, parents have their special healing powers – a kiss and calm words can soothe cuts, bruises and disappointments, (this very point I remember from my own experience, while being a child). Parenting is a twenty-four hour a day job. Anyone who has been there will tell you that it can be absolutely chaotic at times. This is when your good parenting skills are developed to their fullest potential.Being a parent means creating a loving, safe environment for your children as they grow from baby to toddler, right through to the teenage years. You'll need different skills for each stage, but at all times your child will depend on you. You'll become the expert on your child and on what they need to grow into happy, healthy adults. Loving your child, with no strings attached, is the most important thing you can do. But you'll also have to make a huge number of decisions about the best way to bring up your child. This responsibility brings joy and excitement, but it can also be overwhelming, frustrating or even boring at times.Most people manage these emotional and practical challenges with a mixture of love, help from relatives and friends, g ood advice, common sense and just luck. To my personal viewpoint, the first step in becoming a good parent is to realize that you are not perfect. No one is. You are going to make mistakes, some big, some small. The important thing is to realize what the mistake is and not repeat it. There's no one right way to parent and no perfect parent out there with all the answers. We all make mistakes. We all make bad decisions. There are times that we want to be selfish and put ourselves before our children.The sign of a good parent is one that chooses to make their decisions with their children involved. True, there are some guiding ideas – all children need love and affection, to be kept safe and given limits on how they act, to be warm, fed, clothed and to have the opportunity to learn. To tell you the truth the best resource for successful child rearing is our own parents. For example, we should ask ourselves these questions; †¢ How did my parent raise me? †¢ Do I have g ood morals and values? †¢ Did I have a happy childhood? †¢ What method of discipline was used? †¢ How attentive were my parents?These are very important questions, and when we answer these questions, one or more of the answers may be negative. However, this is where common sense takes over. There will be things about the way we were raised that we liked and disliked. The areas that we did not like about the way we were raised can be turned around when we raise our own children. This is how, I think, we can develop into a good parent. Right now I would like to give some tips on how to become a good, loving parent. To tell you the truth, I am a little bit afraid to sound superficial, as I am not a parent yet. But, from another ide, I had enough experience of being a child. So, now when I am in my early twenties I can evaluate the way I was brought up by my parents. It is true, the older we are – the more we can understand our parents. Well, let’s pass on t o the tips: †¢ Recognize your child for the individual that they are. No two children are alike, and even though they may resemble you, they are not you. You may have a child that loves sports and one that can’t stand to be outdoors. We should consider the individuality of each child as a blessing and pursue ways to expand on that. †¢ Discipline your child.That is not to say that you have to spank your child or beat them unmercifully. Choose the method that works best for your child. You are the adult in your relationship and should be the master manipulator. †¢ Be involved in the schooling. Ask questions regarding how your child is performing and interacting with other students. Make sure that you are checking homework, but not doing it for the child. Ask your child questions about his/her day and find out what he likes and dislikes about his learning experience. †¢ Celebrate the small things in a positive way. A good parent: Shows a child consistent and loving discipline.Is supportive, excited and interested in what the child is doing (and wants to do). Allows a child to dream big dreams Teaches a child how to communicate in constructive, loving ways. Teaches a child how to deal with fear. Knows that the child's safety and well-being comes first. Does hard things if it will help the family. Is willing to learn from others — including the child. Knows when to let a child become an adult. Doesn't ever stop trying to become a better parent. It goes without saying, being a good parent is a hard demanding task, but at the same time so interesting and fascinating.Being a parent means passing all the stages of your child formation, such as the early hours of the morning when small children are refusing to sleep or teenagers are still out having fun. And what is more, at all these stages you must possess different skills and be an expert for your child; that is where high tolerance and endless patience are needed. The message I want to put across to the reader is that a loving, safe environment for our children as they grow from baby to toddler, right through to the teenage years is the best tool in upbringing a complete individual with his own self.The love of a family is life's greatest blessing. A great responsibility lies on parents, as it is they who are guarantors of protection, positive emotions and safety. Being a parent will probably be the most rewarding thing you'll ever do – and the toughest responsibility. The joy of holding your newborn baby as he or she looks at the world for the first time can be magical. To my mind, having a child opens you up to emotions that are almost impossible to imagine in advance. And one more thing we should remember for ever, when we feel confident and positive, our children are more likely to feel that way, too.

True Reasons We Love Super Bowl

True Reasons We Love Super Bowl Super Bowl is the most popular show among Americans. In a bit more than a week the whole nation will be glued to the screen to see the game. And there is a number of reasons for that! Loving NFL is a long lasting tradition, so nobody actually asks questions like Why watch Super Bowl? or Why do you like Super Bowl? or (God forbid) What is Super Bowl? However, we decided to bring these wonderful Super Bowl things together to make your week of game anticipation even more exciting. This post is also for Super Bowl haters. You still time to change your mind start loving Super Bowl (because in week its going to be too late!) Bringing Folks Together Okay, maybe there’s a fair amount of other things going on in this world that need more attention. And yes, it would be nice if we saw the same passion and fervor for civil rights and personal liberties these days. But at least this magical game, when the best of the best go head to head and the commenters are flipping out, brings people together in sports bars and living rooms across the land. Chanting, cheering, stumbling around, and pretty much going quasi-insane for a few hours. It’s good fun. And listen, Super Bowl parties run the whole gauntlet from two dudes in their boxers in their dorm room eating Cheetos from the vending machine on the first floor†¦to blockbuster block parties and after-parties that literally anger the gods. It proves that whether you want it or not football is a part of our national heritage†¦a part of the DNA, to be more precise. Special Food Chips and dips, wings and BBQ feasts, casseroles galore Super Bowl food comes in many different nuances of class and sophistication. There’s your cheap and dirty munchies finished off with piss beer and then all the more â€Å"adult† parties where they take some time to make decent grub: gourmet sandwiches, tiny sirloin burgers, high-brow quesadillas, etc. If you get invited to one of these parties start counting your blessings! The food rocks no matter what though. And, while the game’s going it doesn’t matter if it’s the most fattening food in the known galaxy. Halftime Commercials Rule Corporations pull out all the stops, it’s madness! Throughout the rest of the year most commercials are like Super Villain fingernails carving words into chalk boards. Then suddenly, this one spellbinding game comes around and almost all the commercials are either super-deep thinker-pieces, or funny as hell. According to superbowl-commercials.org (yep, there’s a website for everything), here are a couple big hits from 2014: NSA – Smile, We Know When You’re Not (youtube.com/watch?v=NcAEjvT-Ri8#t=97) A commercial like this can only happen during a Super Bowl. AXE – Make Love, Not War (youtube.com/watch?v=UIecNEIaPao) It makes sense during the Super Bowl, everything does. Oh man, then you’ve got the halftime show, which, let’s be honest, is pretty hit or miss. Some years it’s dull or you’re laughing all over the place. But some years, wow, the show knocks your socks off and typically delivers some controversy to boot! In case you’re wondering, the Billboard list of the Best Half-Time shows claims these are the top 3 so far: Prince, in 2007: â€Å"But the explosive coda was Purple Rain, which had the stadium full of testosterone-pumped football fanatics waving their arms and howling in falsetto.† U2, in 2002: This was the mega-heart-wrenching tribute to 9/11 set when the wound was still very deep and fresh for the nation. Madonna, 2012: This got some pretty mixed reviews. But that’s the beauty of it, there are winners and losers in every aspect of the game, even in terms of entertainment. Rivalries Are Fun True, it’s not so cool when these rivalries get out of hand and people riot after football games. But to be honest, sports rivalries are much safer than wars, battles, revolutions, civil upheaval, geopolitical struggles, and all the other sorts of violent ways people create to release some steam. The Super Bowl let’s people who love the game really beat up a few pillows, scream at TVs, throw controllers, pull out a little hair, tear a jersey or two, and stomp around like they’ve got the last of their savings account riding on the game. Great Success Stories We follow NFL for the whole year. We know the players and all about them what coffee they drink, how their girlfriends look like and their football career, of course. We know the strengths and weaknesses of each team. And one day here they are on the field. The struggle begins. Each move counts. Each moment can be decisive. One big winning or a big failure. Fans rage. Thats the atmosphere where the legends are born. These stories are remembered and passed from generation to generation. These stories inspire. So, each Super Bowl is legendary and cant be missed for anything on earth. And that’s why we love the Super Bowl! Are there any reasons you like Super Bowl that we didnt mention! Agree or disagree with us in the comments!

Definitions and Discussions of Medieval Rhetoric

Definitions and Discussions of Medieval Rhetoric The expression medieval rhetoric refers to the  study and practice of rhetoric from approximately A.D. 400 (with the publication of St. Augustines On Christian Doctrine) to 1400. During the Middle Ages, two of the most influential works from the classical period were Ciceros De Inventione (On Invention) and the anonymous Rhetorica ad Herennium (the oldest complete Latin textbook on rhetoric). Aristotles Rhetoric and Ciceros De Oratore werent rediscovered by scholars until late in the medieval period. Nonetheless, says Thomas Conley, medieval rhetoric was  far more than a mere transmission of mummified traditions that were poorly understood by those who transmitted them. The Middle Ages are often represented as stagnant and backward . . ., [but] such a representation fails dismally to do justice to the intellectual complexity and sophistication of medieval rhetorics (Rhetoric in the European Tradition, 1990). Periods of Western Rhetoric Classical RhetoricMedieval RhetoricRenaissance RhetoricEnlightenment RhetoricNineteenth-Century RhetoricNew Rhetoric(s) Examples and Observations It was Ciceros youthful, schematic (and incomplete) treatise De inventione, and not any one of his mature and synthetic theoretical works (or the even fuller account in Quintilians Institutio oratoria) that became the shaping influence on so much medieval rhetorical teaching. . . . Both the De inventione and the Ad Herennium proved to be excellent, coherent teaching texts. Between them they conveyed complete and concise information about the parts of rhetoric, topical invention, status theory (the issues upon which the case rests), attributes of the person and the act, the parts of a speech, the genres of rhetoric, and stylistic ornamentation. . . . Oratory, as Cicero had known and defined it, had declined steadily during the years of the [Roman] empire under political conditions that did not encourage the forensic and judicial oratory of earlier periods. But rhetorical teaching survived through late antiquity and into the Middle Ages because of its intellectual and cultural prestige , and in the course of its survival it took on other forms and found many other purposes.(Rita Copeland, Medieval Rhetoric. Encyclopedia of Rhetoric, ed. by Thomas O. Sloane. Oxford University Press, 2001) Applications of Rhetoric in the Middle Ages In application, the art of rhetoric contributed during the period from the fourth to the fourteenth century not only to the methods of speaking and writing well, of composing letters and petitions, sermons and prayers, legal documents and briefs, poetry and prose, but to the canons of interpreting laws and scripture, to the dialectical devices of discovery and proof, to the establishment of the scholastic method which was to come into universal use in philosophy and theology, and finally to the formulation of scientific inquiry which was to separate philosophy from theology.(Richard McKeon, Rhetoric in the Middle Ages. Speculum, January 1942) The Decline of Classical Rhetoric and the Emergence of Medieval Rhetoric There is no single point when classical civilization ends and the Middle Ages begins, nor when the history of classical rhetoric ends. Beginning in the fifth century after Christ in the West and in the sixth century in the East, there was a deterioration of the conditions of civic life that had created and sustained the study and uses of rhetoric throughout antiquity in courts of law and deliberative assemblies. Schools of rhetoric continued to exist, more in the East than in the West, but they were fewer and were only partially replaced by study of rhetoric in some monasteries. The acceptance of classical rhetoric by such influential Christians as Gregory of Nazianzus and Augustine in the fourth century significantly contributed to continuation of the tradition, though the functions of the study of rhetoric in the Church were transferred from preparation for public address in law courts and assemblies to knowledge useful in interpreting the Bible, in preaching, and in ecclesiastical disputation. (George A. Kennedy, A New History of Classical Rhetoric. Princeton University Press, 1994) A Diverse History [A]s the history of medieval rhetoric and grammar reveal with special clarity, all the significant original works on discourse which appear in Europe after Rabanus Maurus [c. 780-856] are merely highly selective adaptations of the old bodies of doctrine. The classical texts continue to be copied, but new treatises tend to appropriate for their purposes only those parts of the old lore which are of use to the one art. Thus it is that the medieval arts of discourse have a diverse rather than a unified history. The writers of letters select certain rhetorical doctrines, the preachers of sermons still others . . .. As one modern scholar [Richard McKeon] has said in relation to rhetoric, in terms of a single subject mattersuch as style, literature, discourseit has no history during the middle ages. (James J. Murphy, Rhetoric in the Middle Ages: A History of Rhetorical Theory from St. Augustine to the Renaissance. University of California Press, 1974) Three Rhetorical Genres [James J.] Murphy [see above] outlined the development of three unique rhetorical genres: ars praedicandi, ars dictaminis, and ars poetriae. Each addressed a specific concern of the era; each applied rhetorical precepts to a situational need. Ars praedicandi provided a method for developing sermons. Ars dictaminis developed precepts for letter writing. Ars poetriae suggested guidelines for composing prose and poetry. Murphys important work provided the context for smaller, more focused studies of medieval rhetoric.(William M. Purcell, Ars Poetriae: Rhetorical and Grammatical Invention at the Margin of Literacy. University of South Carolina Press, 1996) The Ciceronian Tradition Conventional medieval rhetoric promotes highly formalized, formulaic, and ceremoniously institutionalized forms of discourse. The major source of this static richness is Cicero, the magister eloquentiae, known primarily through the many translations of De inventione. Because medieval rhetoric is so extensively committed to Ciceronian patterns of amplification (dilatio) through the flowers, or colores, of figured speaking that decorate (ornare) the composition, it often appears to be a ponderous extension of the sophistic tradition in a moralistic framework. (Peter Auski, Christian Plain Style: The Evolution of a Spiritual Ideal. McGill-Queens Press, 1995) A Rhetoric of Forms and Formats Medieval rhetoric . . . became, in at least some of its manifestations, a rhetoric of forms and formats. . . . Medieval rhetoric added to ancient systems its own generic rules, which were necessary because documents themselves had come to stand in for the people as well as for the Word that they meant to convey. By following articulated patterns for greeting, informing, and taking leave of the now-distant and temporarily removed audience, the letter, sermon, or saints life acquired typical (typological) forms.(Susan Miller, Rescuing the Subject: A Critical Introduction to Rhetoric and the Writer. Southern Illinois University Press, 1989) Christian Adaptations of Roman Rhetoric Rhetorical studies traveled with the Romans, but educational practices were not enough to keep rhetoric flourishing. Christianity served to validate and invigorate pagan rhetoric by adapting it to religious ends. Around AD 400, St. Augustine of Hippo wrote De doctrina Christiana (On Christian Doctrine), perhaps the most influential book of its time, for he demonstrated how to take the gold out of Egypt to fortify what would become the Christian rhetorical practices of teaching, preaching, and moving (2.40.60). The medieval rhetorical tradition, then, evolved within the dual influences of Greco-Roman and Christian belief systems and cultures. Rhetoric was also, of course, informed by the gendered dynamics of medieval English society that isolated nearly everyone from intellectual and rhetorical activities. Medieval culture was wholly and decidedly masculine, yet most men, just like all women, were condemned to class-bound silence. The written word was controlled by clergy, the men of the cloth and the Church, who controlled the flow of knowledge for all men and women. (Cheryl Glenn, Rhetoric Retold: Regendering the Tradition from Antiquity Through the Renaissance. Southern Illinois University Press, 1997)