Monday, September 30, 2019

Criminal Acts and Choice Theories

Criminal Acts and Choice Theories CJA/204 December 13, 2011 Bob Bennett The choice theory has a substantial part to perform when contemplating the argumentation proceeding to criminal vivacity. The choice theory has its intrinsic significance while composing a plan of action for managing or decreasing crime. It is essential to recognize the theory and in what way or manner it influences the potential of an individual engaging in lawlessness and in what manner would an effort to manage crime appear supporting the choice theory. The choice theory has been brought to light from the compositions of antecedent theorists, Jeremy Bentham, and Cesare Beccaria. The affects of the choice theory determines how mankind discourages criminal activity (Schmallager, 2009). Within criminology the choice theory is also distinguished as the classical theory. The principle idea of the classical theory is that individuals cull behavior with the addition of criminal conduct. Individual powers of selection can be managed by multiple determinants such as the apprehension of castigation or the benefits achieved by committing a crime or illegal activities, which indicates that the more harsh, definite, and prompt the punishment, the better the chances to manage criminal conduct. The choice theory mentions that castigation should maintain four predominant ambitions. The first ambition is to use punishment to hamper criminal activity from occurring. A secondary principle maintains that when a crime cannot be hindered, the punishment should impel the offender to perpetrate a minor crime instead. The third ambition is to make certain that the offender applies no more violence than needed during a crime. The final objective is to counter crime as economically feasible. Rational choice is the judgment to perform a distinct kind of lawlessness or illegal activity established on the careful consideration of accessible information, combined with the element of personal judgment. The ational choice theory contains an outlook of crime that continues to be both offense and offender explicit. Offense-explicit lawlessness relates to crimes, where perpetrators will respond to selective attributes of specific offenses. Offender-explicit offenses relate to the reality that perpetrators are not easily provoked individuals who obligate him or her selves to antisocial behavior. Rather, he or she deliberate about whether they retain the prerequisi tes required for performing a lawless act that include their needs, ingenuity, talents, and apprehension level before determining to act out a crime. Choice theorists believe that criminal conduct is a personality characteristic and crime is a happening or event. Offenders recognize the freedom of mobility and privation of social restrictions. In contrast to other individuals, offender-explicit individuals have diminished self-control and seen unaffected by the intimidation of social controls. He or she is usually dealing with stress or is commonly confronted with severe personal complications or circumstances that drive them to adopt perilous behavior (Schmallager, 2009). Choice theorists have also examined the choice to perform a lawless act, regardless of its element, is contrived by the choice of location. The determination will rely upon the features of the mark and the methods available to execute the plan. It has been determined that offenders choose the location by the accessibility and ease of committing a crime with thoughts about the possibility of getting caught. Offenders pick their targets by pondering the character of the crime. A perfect example of this is how offenders will choose higher class households for burglaries or robberies, whereas he or she will select lower class households for the target of violent crimes such as in drug robberies from drug houses. Criminals learn the techniques of crimes to aid them in non-detection (Schmallager, 2009). Routine activities can be defined by the choice theory when discussing crime. Crimes rates correlate to the number of inspired criminals such as male teenagers, drug consumers, and unemployed individuals who partake in criminal activity. Most offenders commit crimes based on his or her narrow education, background, and lack of opportunities because of their education. If offenders were given the opportunities to improve themselves, he or she would not commit crimes. The rational choice theory includes the organization of crime and the molding of criminality (Schmallager, 2009). Society uses a couple of common models to decide which acts are determined to be criminal acts. The two models within the criminal justice system are consensus model and conflict model. Consensus model is defined as majority of individuals in a society who share the same values and beliefs. Criminal acts conflict with consensus values and beliefs, and here the term ‘conflict model’ comes into play. The consensus model explains that individuals within a society will agree on which activities should be considered against the law and will publish them as crimes. The consensus model assumes that a diverse group of individuals can have similar morals and beliefs. The consensus model presumes that when individuals stand together to form a society; the members will come to a fundamental agreement with the observance of shared norms, values, and beliefs. Individuals whose actions deviate from the standard norms and recognized values, and beliefs are considered to be a threat to the well-being of society, and must be punished. Societies pass laws to control and impede deviant behavior, which in return establishes boundaries for appropriate behavior within the society (Schmallager, 2009). The conflict model establishes those who reject consensus on the foundation that morals, norms, ideas, values, or behaviors are not absolute, meaning, multiple parts of society hold different ideas about value and norm systems. The conflict model carries diverse segments, which are separated into age, social class, race, and income. Those who engage in the idea of the conflict model are in a constantly struggling with one another for control of society. Those who successfully grasp control make the laws with his or her value system, and determine what is criminal and what is not (Schmallager, 2009). Resources; Schmallager, F. (2009). Criminal Justice Today, 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, N. J. Pearson/Prentice Hall

Sunday, September 29, 2019

How It Is Close?

Banco Filipino Overview: * 1964, Banco Filipino was established. * 1965, Banco Filipino set out to leave its mark as an innovator, by conceiving the first all-woman bank branch. * 1969, Banco Filipino Became the first bank to process online transactions in real time, giving customers the ability to deposit in any online Banco Filipino branch. * 1966 to1985, Banco Filipino was the largest savings bank  in the Philippines. * In 1970, Banco Filipino started expanding into the countryside with its first provincial branch opening in Naga City. 1972, the bank's customer base grew to one million customers, even in the midst of  martial law. * 1975 It was voted the most preferred bank in  Metro Manila  . * For most of the 1980s, Banco Filipino would remain closed, * January 25, 1985, even though Banco Filipino was performing well and was seen by most people as a very healthy bank, the  Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas  ordered its closure over alleged insolvency. * 1991 ruling made by the  Supreme Court  declared the bank's closure illegal. Banco Filipino subsequently reopened, albeit only with fifteen of its original 92 branches. * For much of the remaining 1990s, Banco Filipino would be busy trying to reestablish itself. * 1995 It became a member of BancNet  after launching the BF Cash Card and issued its first  credit card, a  VISA  card. * 1997 Two years later, BF shares were re-listed on the  Philippine Stock Exchange, * 1999 the Supreme Court declared that Banco Filipino is entitled to damages payments caused by its illegal closure. 2009, the Makati RTC ordered the Bangko Sentral and the Monetary Board to immediately implement the bank’s approved business plan by releasing P25 in billion financial assistance and a package of regulatory relief, which was affirmed by the appellate court in 2008. * March 17, 2011 The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) ordered the closure of Banco Filipino Savings and Mortgage Bank and placed it under the receivership of state-run Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PD IC), saying its liabilities topped its assets by P8. 4 billion. Analysis of the case Problem areas: The officers of Banco Filipino mismanaged money entrusted to them by their depositors by its continued lavish spending. * Banco Filipino allowed loans to remain unpaid, including billions in overdue loans granted to its stockholders, officers, and related companies * To raise funds, Banco Filipino lured depositors with interest rates way above the prevailing market rates which made their interest expense higher than its income. * Banco filipino’s loans became overdue which means their principal and interest remained unpaid. Recommendations or Proposed Solutions: The board of directors should have their internal control tighter especially in spending expenses. They should have established good system regarding cost spending, for instance they could have develop a group that would review if the money is properly allocated. * The company should have set up policies that concerns g ranting loans to its stockholders, officers and related companies. They also should have a department or committee that would review the position of loans, if it is becoming overdue. * The bank should have reviewed the way that they raise their fund and search for a better strategy. Luring depositors by giving high interest rates was a huge mistake. It is one of the major mistakes that the bank had made. It made the interest expense higher than the proceeds that they are accumulating. * Banco Filipino should have created a better control or system in paying their loans and interest to the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas and other creditors. They should have also set up a team who would oversee the progress of their borrowings that could have prevented the interest and principal unpaid. Banco Filipino: Case Analysis By: Montiel, Karen Patricia T. AC09404

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Nursing shortage Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nursing shortage - Research Paper Example Nurses are needed in the care for individuals in hospitals as well as the general population of the world because of their unique ability not only to save the lives of their patients, but also for improving their outcomes. When one considers the current situation, it can be said that the public misunderstanding of exactly what nurses do has mainly caused the shortage. In most cases, the public holds take the duties that nurses perform for granted, giving more importance to doctors than to nurses. This has given rise to the notion that the nursing profession is not important, therefore influencing the decision of many people who would have gone into the profession to choose other professions which are deemed to be more important. The shortage can be said to be caused by three main factors which include poor working conditions, limited funding available for research, and finally, the short staffing in hospitals. The nursing profession has been taken for granted for a long time and it i s only recently that its importance has come to be recognized as a shortage has developed. This shortage in the number of nurses in hospitals has created a situation where there is understaffing meaning that the available nurses have to work long hours (Mee and Robinson, 2003). These long hours has a tendency of taking a toll on the physical and mental wellbeing of the nurses involved and may lead to a reduction in their performance levels. This reduction in their performance means that the wellbeing of their patients is placed in jeopardy since some of them may require more attention from the nurses in order to make a quick recovery. A nursing shortage, therefore, creates a situation where patients are not provided with the best healthcare available and this is mainly due to the low nurse to patient ratio that the shortage creates. If this shortage is not countered with efficient policies, then it will most likely end up costing the health systems of many countries dear. This is be cause of the fact that without nurses, there will be a low patient outcome since the patients will not be receiving the care they need to recover effectively. Furthermore, as the aging population continues to increase and the demand for nurses also increases, there is the possibility that the mortality rate of the human population will be quite high in the coming years (â€Å"Critical care medicine†, 2002). The nursing shortage has dire implications on the future of the nursing profession and among these is the possibility that in future, there may be a shortage of teachers to teach the new generation of nurses. This is mainly because the number of experience nurses available to guide the younger generation of nurses into the profession will be extremely low. This will create a situation where it will be impossible for nurses to work effectively most of their action will be done through trial and error, ensuring that the patient outcome remains low. The future of this profess ion is quite bleak because it has for a long time been associated to women, who in the modern times have a wide range of career option open to them. This means that the idea of nursing as the premier professional option for women is fast fading away. It is therefore prudent for healthcare policymakers to make the profession more attractive to the younger generation through improving the working conditions, providing enough

Friday, September 27, 2019

Disease Ebola in Western parts of Africa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Disease Ebola in Western parts of Africa - Essay Example From this paper it is clear that  Genus Ebolavirus is among the three categories of the so called Filoviridae family (filovirus), together with genus Cuevavirus and genus Marburgvirus. Ebola, which is a highly infectious disease and often deadly in human beings was first confirmed in the year 1976. Since then, Ebola has occurred periodically with numeral cases occurring in countries such as Uganda, Sudan, Ivory Coast, and Republic of Congo. Ebola is believed to be caused when an individual is infected with Ebola virus. Ebola virus can be transmitted when an individual has direct contact with another person who is infected with the virus or contact with an infected person’s body fluids. This essay discusses that the symptoms of Ebola start typically abruptly and include sore throat, severe headache, fever, and weakness. There is no cure that exists for Ebola, therefore, treatment of Ebola only involves supportive management of the symptoms of this illness while the body of the patient fights the disease. This virus was first detected in the Republic of Congo in the year 1976. However, there are no cases of Ebola virus reported in America. Cases of Ebola virus disease were first detected in forested regions of the southeastern parts of Guinea. Unfortunately, the outbreak of this killer disease is fast spreading and numerous Conakry and districts have detected cases of it and deaths caused by Ebola virus disease. In addition, scientists have not yet come into terms with Ebola origin, despite the unverified claims that it originated from the bats of the Ebola River found in the Republic of Congo, formerly known as Zaire.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

International transportation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

International transportation - Essay Example and services; delivering products and services; and managing customer service) and management and support services (development and management of human capital; managing information technology; managing financial resources; acquisition, construction and management of property; managing Environmental Health and Safety; managing external relationships; and managing knowledge, improvement and change). In this regard, the PCF model has strong and direct links to logistics management activities which are most evident in the delivery of products and services within the operating process phase. As such, since the motor carriage under land transportation is the most commonly and widely used, affordable and accessible mode of transportation across all industries, organizations and countries, this mode of transportation plays a significant role in the PCF model for supply chain management. Governing rules, regulations are simple and universally known for motor carriages. Furthermore, motor transport is cheaper and costs associated with operating, maintaining and sustaining the vehicles for delivery are cheaper when compared to other modes of transportation. As emphasized, the PCF model contain process elements that are applicable to organizations regardless of industry, region and size; thereby, the use of the motor carriage parallel the model’s thrust in making effective delivery of products and services across industries, making its role important for easy and most affordable access in supply chain management of major organizations

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometry - Essay Example A large variety information is obtainable through a nuclear MRS spectrum. Much like the way infrared spectroscopy is used to identify functional groups, the analysis of a 1-dimensional nuclear MRS spectrum provides information on the number and type of chemical entities in a molecule. The impact of MRS on the natural sciences has been substantial. It can, among other things, be used to study complex mixtures of analytes, understand dynamic effects like change in reaction mechanisms, pressure and temperature, and investigate protein and nucleic acid structures and functions. It is a method that can be applied to a wide variety of samples, both in solution and solid state. MRS is a tool used by biochemists for medical research projects, and by doctors to gather useful clinical information which can be helpful in the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases. It applications in the field of medicine are, in general, within the scope of detecting neurological disorders. For instance, it is used to identify Neural Progenitor Cells in the live human brain without any risky surgery of any sort (Manganas, et al., 2007). Neurological infections require immediate identification and treatment. Medical physicists and doctors have always found it difficult to accurately and rapidly diagnose such infections in both children and adults. MRS, however, has opened up new avenues and is now used as a safe, non-surgical method for the identification of brain infections like brain abscess and meningitis. Outside neurology, MRS is used to measure phosphate, phosphocreatine, ATP and phosphodiesters in fibromyalgic muscle tissue (Sprott et al., 2000). Furthermore, this technique is currently being investigated to study a number of other diseases in the human body, most notable of which include cancer, epilepsy and Huntington's Chorea. MRS methods can further be divided on the basis of the specific procedures and principles used during detection and investigation. Correlation spectroscopy is one of the several types of 2-dimensional nuclear MRS techniques. Others types of NMR spectroscopy techniques include Exchange spectroscopy, J-spectroscopy, Protein Nuclear MRS, Total Correlation spectroscopy, Solid-state Nuclear MRS, and Nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (Wuthrich, 1990). Solid-state nuclear MRS is often related to structural investigations of membrane proteins, protein fibrils, polymers, and inorganic chemical analysis. Protein nuclear MRS, on the other hand, has major applications in pure structural biology, where it is used to obtain high resolution 3-dimensional protein structure and dynamics, much like what is produced by X-ray crystallography albeit in a less destructive manner using much lesser energy. The entire phenomenon of magnetic resonance is a result of the fact that a spinning charge generates a magnetic field around it having a magnetic moment proportional to the spin. When an external magnetic field is applied to a sample, two possible spin states exist for any atom- +1/2 and -1/2. The magnetic moment of the lower energy spin state (+1/2) is aligned with the external field, and that of the higher energy spin state (-1/2) is opposed to the external field. The difference in energies of the two spin states is dependent on the external magnetic field strength, and is usually kept very small. Though the spin states have

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Why is there so much violence in our culture Essay

Why is there so much violence in our culture - Essay Example It has led to the perturbed law and order situation in its wake. Hence, intolerance and prejudice observed by the modern societies have given birth to the concept of fanaticism and violence in the world. The contemporary era is aptly viewed to be the age of technological and nuclear advancements, which has turned life speedy, progressive and complicated one. Revolutionary alterations in the fields of communication, navigations and travelling have also played their significant roles in respect to creating multicultural societies (Macionis 2008). Since the people coming of rival ethno-racial backgrounds have settled in modern societies, situation of clashes between them is a normal factor. However, growth of clashes and conflicts between the communities results into turning the entire scenario violent and aggressive. Marxist perspective declares unjust and unequal distribution of wealth, resources and opportunities as one of the most dominant reasons behind the rise of conflict and antagonism between the groups and communities. The capitalist economic system, according to Marxism, creates an extremely unjust society, where the owners or producers of the agricultural or industrial units exploit the workers and laborers, called proletariat, by offering them very little amount out of the huge and heavy incomes and profits the agricultural and industrial units earn because of the hard toils made by the workers for the growth and development of those specific units. Since an overwhelming proportion of wealth and profit is taken by the ownership, by dint of the investment of money they have made, the laborers are deprived of their respective share against the investment of time, energy and labor they have made for the growth of that particular unit (Ritzer 2010). Consequently, sense of alienation haun ts the minds of the laborers, workers and peasants, which start viewing

Monday, September 23, 2019

The cognitive and emotional aspects of fibromyalgia Annotated Bibliography

The cognitive and emotional aspects of fibromyalgia - Annotated Bibliography Example On the other hand, fibromyalgia is described as a syndrome which inherits long-term body pain due to tenderness of joints, muscles, tendons, and other soft tissues. The study also illustrates the variant depression symptoms among people in respect to change in mood, behavior and thinking which hinders in pharmacological treatment. Medical researchers have implemented neurobiological and therapeutic features to decrease processes of pathophysiological to disable the enhancement of pain and depression within the people. This study also shows about the qualitative approach of identifying the association between chronic pain and mood disorders which go beyond the process of pathophysiological that causes depression and pain. Fibromyalgia arises due to variation in cognitive and emotional psychological behavior of people. These tendencies generally arise due to various deficiencies of vitamins, which build and provide strong generation of tissues. The competitive racialism, work pressure, financial insufficiency and unsophisticated environment are also associated with the cause of fibromyalgia. Hence, there must be awareness programs organized in support of medical organizations and welfare agencies, which can provide various psychological therapies and treatments to mitigate the issues of fibromyalgia. The research study illustrates that the cognitive impairment related to behavior and attitude of individuals which are generated due to fibromyalgia have extreme negative effect on the human psychology as well as causes severe pain than the general pain. This study explains that central nervous system, which consists of limbic and front parietal cortices of the patients are hampered who are inflicted with fibromyalgia. There had been neuroimaging techniques implemented, which ascertain that effective biomarkers are not available that can detect and measure the scale of patients’ condition in cognitive and

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Public Schools Sex Ed Teach Abstinence Only Research Paper

Public Schools Sex Ed Teach Abstinence Only - Research Paper Example Sex education got introduced into the American public school curriculum in the late 19th century, and continues to be a prime policy issue for the federal and state governments. The aim of this move by the government is to combat Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and inculcate sexual morality by promoting abstinence. Over time, there has been further formalization of the abstinence agenda in public schools. In fact, only sex education programs that accentuated abstinence used to receive funding from the government, while the comprehensive programs that allowed safe sex with pregnancy prevention methods such as contraception were not funded by the government (Chisara, 2011, p. 23). In the present time, the government funds comprehensive sex education programs that promote safe sex and contraception among school-going children. This essay discusses the reasons why abstinence needs to be taught in public schools. One of the reasons why public schools should teach abstinence to their children is that it the surest way of protecting this future generation from acquiring diseases that would make them unproductive in the future. Avoidance of all forms of sex is the appropriate and effective method of reducing the rates new HIV/AIDS infections among the school going children. In this regard, Knox & Schacht (2010, p. 146) observe that abstinence sex education policies need to be strengthened to reduce the prevalence of STIs in the school-going age population because while the children make up only about 25 per cent of the sexually active people, they acquire approximately half of all new STIs every year (Knox & Schacht, 2010, p. 161). As a consequence, the school goers become less productive as some of them miss classes to seek treatment for STIs in the short-term, while a considerable number of them become unproductive members of

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Rewarding and Punishment the Same Behavior Essay Example for Free

Rewarding and Punishment the Same Behavior Essay What type of reinforcement schedule does random drug testing represent? Is this type of schedule typically effective or ineffective? Answer: The case study â€Å"Professional sports: Rewarding and punishment the same behavior† was about how in a baseball game steroids are being used and the offense which has been caused by it. The type of reinforcement schedule discuss in this case was the random drug testing which presents the fact that most of the times baseball players are not aware of the point that they are taking drugs. This is because they don’t take it intentially but given by their coaches to improve performance of the player in game. According to the case I agree with the decision of commissioner of the baseball. According to his decision, he gave a second chance to the players who did not know that their coaches were giving them drugs. Whereas, he declared a ten day suspension for the first time offenders from playing the game. But congress and the general public was not satisfied so the commissioner incorporated tougher rules to play in the game such as the â€Å"three strikes, and you are out† policy wherein the first time offenders were suspended from playing the game for 50 days, the second time offenders were suspended from playing the game for 100 days and the last one was a ban wherein the player cannot further play the game. Due to the usage of steroids the rules in the other games even became tougher. The NFL and the NBA also had to check their players if they were using drugs while playing the game. The coaches in the baseball game needs to be strict while choosing their best players to play the game. The coaches need to be strict with rules of the game and as well as the players to stop using the usage of steroids in the baseball game. A fine or a suspension is considered as a minor part whereas the ultimate decision to ban the player is the correct decision which is made by the commissioner of baseball. . Whereas to find whether its effective or not we can see that the type of reinforcement schedules that random drug testing represent is the variable interval type. As defined, this type of schedule occurs when a response is rewarded after an unpredictable amount of time has passed. In the case, the reinforcement schedule is done randomly and unexpected. It is typically effective because athletes not aware of the test and when these tests will be taken place. Therefore, athletes are unprepared. Unlike a fixed variable reinforcement schedule, athletes have a fixed time of when the tests will be scheduled so they can prepare and make sure their systems are clean before they take the test. . 2. What are some examples of behaviors in typical organizations that supervisors reward but may actually be detrimental to others or to the organization as a whole? As a manager, what might you do to try to avoid this quandary? . Answer: The main example of a behavior in a typical organization that supervisors reward but may actually be detrimental to others or to the organization as a whole is athletes taking steroids. When athletes take steroids to enhance their performance abilities, they are misleading their managers and their fans. Initially, it may be rewarding because everyone involved gains from the profitability, sports merchandise, increased popularity and success. But in the end, when it is discovered that the athlete achieved recognition with the aid of steroids he destroys his reputation and also his team’s and country’s reputation and the loyalty the fans had for him. If I was a manager, what I might do in order to avoid this quandary, if I was made aware of someone using steroids, I would do a random drug testing as soon as possible instead of having the whole team suffer for that one insubordinate athlete. . If you were the commissioner of baseball, what steps would you take to try to reduce the use of steroids in baseball? Is punishment likely to be the most effective deterrent? Why or why not? Answer: If I was the commissioner of baseball, there are several steps that I would take to try to reduce the use of steroids in baseball. First of all, I would reinforce to all the athletes tha t if someone is caught using steroids they will be thrown off the team. Second, I would continue to do random drug testing. Punishment is not likely to be the most effective deterrent. This will only cause athletes to stop playing and taking steroids for a certain period of time. In addition to it I would also have taken some steps as taken by the commissioner in this case. For the 1st time offender who didn’t know that they were being drugged by their coaches should be suspended for few games. In addition to that the coach must be strictly punished a huge sum of fine plus life time ban from the game. Whereas, for those who have offended it for the first time knowingly, must be suspended for a year plus a heavy amount fine should be imposed on them. And for those who have repeated it should be banned from baseball sport. The second part of the question was â€Å"Is punishment likely to be the most effective deterrent†? For me yes, punishment is the most effective deterrent. It is the competition that everyone loves. The feeling of winning makes many people do anything to achieve it. Even if this means one must cheat to win. Many players used and still use steroids to enhance their muscles so they are stronger during game play. There can be two ways of stopping the player not to use steroids, either by rewarding or by punishing. Rewarding in the sense, we can give incentives to players for not using them but the incentives of winning will be more attractive than these. Therefore one can punish the player if they use those incentives. A player cheats to win money, fans and fame. But if they are found to be using steroids, they will lose their fame and fans and should also be heavily fined. 4. Is it okay to allow potentially unethical behaviors, which on the surface may benefit organizations, to persist? Why or why not? Answer: No, unethical behaviors must not persist even if on the surface they may benefit organizations. For short term it may be beneficial but not in long run. Any unethical behaviors can directly affect the reputation of the organization. And in today’s world a good reputed organization is the most important part of organization building. People like to buy the service or product from a good reputed organization. It creates goodwill of the organization. For example, in context of the given case, organization can be the baseball team and unethical behavior can be the use of steroids by the players. This may help the team to build a strong impression and can help them to win many games as well. But the day general public will learn that the victory is not due to the hard work but rather than steroids, all of their impression will be on stake. They may lose their sponsors, fans and reputation. Same was the case happened with Pakistani cricket team. Few of the players of Pakistani cricket team player, Salman Butt, M. Amir and Asif, were involved in match fixing. They might have earned a lot from that but when it was exposed they were punished. They had to pay double amount of fine of what they earned. In addition to it now none of the companies will like to endorse just players who are involved in unethical activities. In addition to it they lost all their fans. Almost every Pakistani doesn’t like them because they created a bad impression of Pakistan in the global world. As well as destroyed the image of the Pakistani team nationally and internationally. Can you imagine cheating and excellence in the same sentence? What does known cheating and the Hall of Fame have in common? What does shameful and The Hall of Fame have in common? Does known cheating and excellence equal The Hall Of Fame? This debate doesnt have two sides. There are no hairs to split. There are no counter arguments to argue. Cheating is not how to get ahead. Cheating isnt even how to compete. Even if youre never found out, Its a setup for failure elsewhere in life. Anyone that has admitted or has been proven to have used performance enhancing drugs should never even be considered for the Hall Of Fame.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Impact of the Financial Crisis on Banks and Banking

Impact of the Financial Crisis on Banks and Banking A bank is a financial intermediary that offers loans and deposits, and payment services. Its core activity is to provide loans to borrowers and to collect deposits from savers. Banks stock money, people need money; therefore, people need banks. Banks provide a home for peoples money, which is something accountants do not do; and banks also lend money, which accountants certainly do not do. There are three main kinds of banking: commercial banking, investment banking and central banking. Commercial banking is the traditional role of the banker as it relates to the taking of deposits and granting of loans. Commercial banking is split into two types: retail banks and wholesale banks. Retail banking relates to financial services provided to consumers and is usually small-scale in nature. Retail banks are often known as High Street banks, because they large branch networks, many of them comprising well over a thousand branches, usually located in the main shopping streets. Wholesale banks are found in the major financial centres of the world, eg London, New York, Frankfurt, Hongkong and Tokyo. They serve the major companies and have large-scale dealings with other banks throughout the world. The key different between these is that retail banks borrow from and lend to members of public and companies whilst wholesale banks deal with other banks and with governments (national and overseas). Investment banks are a US creation; and it could not be combined with commercial banks in one institution. The main role of investment banks is to help companies and governments raise funds in the capital market either through the issue of stock or debt (bonds). Typically, their activities cover the following areas: financial advisory; underwriting of securities issues; trading and investing in securities on behalf of the bank or for clients; asset management; other securities services. A central bank can generally be defined as a financial institution responsible for overseeing the monetary system for a nation, or a group of nations, with the goal of fostering economic growth without inflation. The core functions of central banks in any countries are: to manage monetary policy with the aim of achieving price stability; to prevent liquidity crises, situations of money market disorders and financial crises; and to ensure the smooth functioning of the payment system. Banks, as other financial intermediaries, play a pivotal role in the economy, channelling funds from units in surplus to units in deficit. Financial crisis: The financial crisis of 2007-2009 has been called the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression by leading economists, with its global effects characterized by the failure if key businesses, declines in consumer wealth estimated in the trillions of U.S dollars, substantial financial commitments incurred by governments, and a significant decline in economic activity. The immediate cause or trigger of the crisis was the bursting of the United States housing bubble which peaked in approximately 2005-2006. High default rates on subprime and ARM (adjustable rate mortgages), began to increase quickly thereafter. An increase in loan incentives such as easy initial terms and a long-term trend of rising housing prices had encouraged borrowers to assume difficult mortgages in the belief they would be able to quickly refinance at more favourable terms. However, once interest rates began to rise and housing prices started to drop moderately in 2006-2007 in many parts of the U.S, r efinancing became more difficult. Defaults and foreclosure activity increased dramatically as easy initial terms expired, home prices failed to go up as anticipated, and ARM interest rates reset higher. In the years leading up to the start of the crisis in 2007, significant amounts of foreign money flowed into the U.S from fast-growing economies in Asia and oil-producing countries. This inflow of funds combined with low U.S interest rates from 2002-2004 contributed to easy credit conditions, which fuelled both housing and credit bubbles. Then, the global financial crisis really started to show its effects in middle of 2007 and into 2008. Around the .world stock markets have fallen, large financial institutions have collapsed or been bought out, and governments in even the wealthiest nations have had to come up with rescue packages to bail out their financial systems. Literature Review: The world economy is experiencing perhaps the most serious financial crisis since the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system in the early 1970s, in terms of both its scope and its effects. Its impact is much more global than that of the financial crisis we have seen in the past two or three decades. Today, global financial integration is much more pervasive, and the Asian countries have a much higher share of world trade and production. For some, the global nature of the current crisis has been unprecedented as several advanced economies have simultaneously witnessed declines in house and equity prices as well as difficulties in the credit market. The origin of financial crisis: As we know the current global financial crisis originated with losses on US subprime mortgage related securities, losses that first emerged with the slowing of the US housing market in the second half of 2006. The first origin of financial crisis is that the growth of housing bubble precipitated the beginning of financial crisis. Between 1997 and 2006, the price of the typical American house increase by 124. (Economist, 2007) During the two decades ending in 2001, the national median home price ranged from 2.9 to 3.1 times median household income. This ratio rose to 4.0 in 2006. (Steverman and Bogoslaw, 2008) This housing bubble resulted in quite a few homeowners refinancing their homes at lower interest rates, or financing consumer spending by taking out second mortgages secured by the appreciation. By September 2008, average US housing prices had declined by over 20% from their mid-2006 peak. (Economist, 2008) The other origin of financial crisis is easy credit, and a belief that h ouse prices would continue to appreciate, had encouraged many subprime borrowers to obtain adjustable rate mortgages. These mortgages enticed borrowers with a below market interest rate for some predetermined period, followed by market interest rates for the remainder of the mortgages term. Borrowers who could not make the higher payments once the initial grace period ended would try to refinance their mortgages. Refinancing became more difficult, once house prices began to decline in many parts of the USA. Borrowers who found themselves unable to escape higher monthly payments by refinancing began to default. The process of financial crisis: There is evidence that both government and competitive pressures to an increase in the amount of subprime lending during the years preceding the crisis. Major US investment banks and government sponsored enterprises like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac played an important role in the expansion of higher-risk lending. In 1996,HUD, the department of Housing and Urban Development, gave Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac an explicit target: 42 per cent of their mortgage financing had to go to borrowers with incomes below the median income in their area.'(Schwartz, 2009, pp46) Between 2000 and 2005 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac met those goals every year, and funded hundreds of billions of dollars worth of loans, many of them subprime and adjustable-rate loans made to borrowers who bought houses with less than 10 per cent deposits. Finnie Mae and Freddie Mac also purchased hundreds of billions of subprime securities for their own portfolios to make money and help satisfy HUD affordable-housing goals. (Schwartz, 2009) Due to the deregulation loans, some borrowers could get loans under easy credit conditions. Predatory lending refers to the practice of unscrupulous lenders, to enter into unsafe or unsound secured loans for inappropriate purpose. When the housing bubble burst, USA housing and financial assets decli ne in value, and the subprime crisis was coming out. After that the financial crisis had been basically formed. There is a story of financial crisis stated by Butler (2009: p51): Once upon a time, greedy bankers, mostly in the USA, made fortunes by selling mortgages to poor people who could not really afford them. They knew these loans were unsound, so they diced and sliced them and sold them in packages around the world to equally greedy bankers who did not know what they were buying. When the housing bubble burst, the borrowers defaulted, and bankers discover that what they had bought was worthless. They went burst, business loans dried up, and the economy shuddered to a halt. The moral, accounting to this description of events, is that capitalism has failed, and we need tougher rules to curb bankers greed and make sure all this never happens again. This story could express accurately the process of finance crisis. The impacts of financial crisis in the world: A collapse of the US subprime mortgage market and the reversal of the housing boom in other industrialized economies have had a ripple effect around the world. Furthermore, other weaknesses in the global financial system have surfaced. Some financial products and instruments have become so complex and twisted, that as things start to unravel, trust in the whole system started to fail. First, it affected on financial institutions. Initially the companies affected were those directly involved in home construction and mortgage lending such as Northern Rock and Countrywide Financial, as they could no longer obtain financing through the credit markets. Over 100 mortgage lenders went bankrupt during 2007 and 2008. Concerns that investment bank Bear Steams would collapse in March 2008 resulted in its fire-sale to JP Morgan Chase. The crisis hit its peak in September and October 2008. Several major institutions either failed, were acquired under duress, or were subject to government takeover. These included Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and AIG. Second, it affected the money market. During September 2008, the crisis hits its most critical stage. There was the equivalent of a bank run on the money market mutual funds, which frequently invest in commercial paper issued by corporations to fund their operations and payrolls. Withdrawals from money markets were $144.5 billion during one week, versus $7.1 billion the week prior. Third, wealth effects in the financial crisis. There is a direct relationship between declines in wealth, and declines in consumption and business investment, which along with government spending represent the economic engine. Between June 2007 and November 2008, Americans lost an estimated average of more than a quarter of their collective net worth. By early November 2008, a broad U.S. stock index the SP 500, was down 45 percent from its 2007 high. Housing prices had dropped 20% from their 2006 peak, with futures markets signaling a 30-35% potential drop. Total home equity in the United States, which was valued at $13 trillion at its peak in 2006, had dropped to $8.8 trillion by mid-2008 and was still falling in late 2008. Total retirement assets, Americans second-largest household asset, dropped by 22 percent, from $10.3 trillion in 2006 to $8 trillion in mid-2008. During the same period, savings and investment assets (apart from retirement savings) lost $1.2 trillion and pension assets lost $1.3 trillion. Taken together, these losses total a staggering $8.3 trillion. (Altman, 2009). Finally, it is the effects on the global economy. The crisis rapidly developed and spread into a global economic shock, resulting in a number of European bank failures, declines in various stock indexes, and large reductions in the market value of equities and commodities. Moreover, the de-leveraging of financial institutions, as assets were sold to pay back obligations that could not be refinanced in frozen credit markets, further accelerated the liquidity crisis and caused a decrease in international trade. World political leaders, national ministers of finance and central bank directors coordinated their efforts to reduce fears, but the crisis continued. At the end of October 2008 a currency crisis developed, with investors transferring vast capital resources into stronger currencies such as the yen, the dollar and the Swiss franc, leading many emergent economies to seek aid from the International Monetary Fund. (Landler, 2008). The impacts of financial crisis on US banking system: GDP, the output of goods and services produced by labour and property located in the US, decreased at an annual rate of approximately 6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 and first quarter of 2009, versus activity in the year-ago period. The US unemployment rate increased to 9.5% by June 2009, the highest rate since 1983 and roughly twice the pre-crisis rate. The average hours per work week declined to 33, the lowest level since the government began collecting the data in 1964. From time to time confidence in the USAs banks would weaken and banks note-holders would demand their specie (i.e. gold or silver) back. Banks could meet these withdrawals either from their own vaults or by taking back some of the bullion left with the clearing-house association. The lower the level of their balance the clearing system, the greater would be the likelihood that individual non-central banks would be overdrawn. (Congdon, 2009) There is an example from him: suppose bank Ys initial deposit with the clearing system was 30 pounds. If its customers instructed it to make net cash payments to other banks of 35 pounds, bank Y would have been overdrawn by 5 pounds. (2009: pp50). So financial crisis and the publics associated large-scale note redemptions would cause increased tension between members of the clearing house. The impacts of financial crisis on UK banking system: Just how serious the financial crisis was becoming, not only in the US but also in the UK, hit home late on September 2007 when news emerged that Northern Rock, had been forced into a bailout from the Bank of England. Northern Rock Bank is the most affected by financial crisis in the UK, and also the most typical bank for my study. Northern Rock is one of the top five mortgage lenders in the UK in terms of gross lending. As well as mortgages, the bank also deals with savings accounts, loans and insurance. In 2006 the bank had moved into subprime lending via a deal with Lehman Brothers. Although the mortgages were sold under Northern Rocks brand through intermediaries, the risk was being underwritten by Lehman Brothers. On 14 September 2007, the Bank sought and received a liquidity support facility from the Bank of England, following problems in the credit markets. This led to many customers queuing outside branches to withdraw their savings. Partly as a result of the run, on 22 February 2008 the bank was taken into state ownership. The nationalization was a result of two unsuccessful bids to take over the bank, neither being able to fully commit to repayment of taxpayers money within three years. Because of Northern Rock crisis, customers lost their confidence for any banks in the UK. They started withdraw money from their saving account, so that all banks in the UK were affected a lot. Aim Objectives and Key Questions: Aim and Objectives: Nowadays, the US Financial Crisis (2008) along with the subprime crisis (2007) seemed to have delivered a severe blow to worlds banking sector. Banks are thought to be central to business activity. Therefore, when they experience financial distress, governments usually come to the rescue, offering emergency liquidity and various forms of bailout programs. Then the aim of this dissertation is to determine impacts of financial crisis on banking and corresponding measures on these impacts. In order to achieve my aim, I need to achieve following objectives which are the steps towards my aim: To determine the impacts of financial crisis on banking in China. Achieving this objective will be much help as I would also understand different impacts of financial crisis on banking in comparing with other area. To analyse the measures to the impacts of financial crisis on banking. During the objective I will have the chance to recognize the process of central bank in each country. Therefore, I would realize the measures for banks under the financial crisis in two different views: financial views and political views. Key Questions: To achieve the aim and the objectives, the research was set out to answer the following key questions: What are the impacts of financial crisis on banking system in China? And what are the different impacts among China and other areas? What are the corresponding measures for these impacts in these countries? This paper is focus on banking sector under the financial crisis, and how banks faced the crisis. The importance of this topic lays on the impacts of banking sector under the financial crisis and what the best measure for banks is. Basically, my research is based on the origin and process of financial crisis to find out the impacts for banks in each country. Therefore, I would investigate how to resolve these impacts. Research Methodology: As discussed in the sections above, the research objective is to determine the impacts of financial crisis on banking in China so that I could compare different impacts with other countries. The study identifies questionnaires and interviews as suitable research methods for the present paper. The general belief of research is often thought of as collecting data, constructing questionnaires/interviews and analysing data. But it also includes identifying the problem and how to proceed solving it (Ghauri et al., 1995). Questionnaire approach: A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents. Questionnaires have advantages over some other types of surveys in that they are cheap; do not require as much effort from the questioner as verbal or telephone surveys, and often have standardized answers that make it simple to compile data. Questionnaires are also sharply limited by the fact that respondents must be able to read the questions and respond to them. Thus, for some demographic groups conducting a survey by questionnaire may not be practical. Usually, a questionnaire consists of a number of questions that the respondent has to answer in a set format. A distinction is made between open-ended and closed-ended questions. An open-ended question asks the respondent to formulate his own answer, whereas a closed-ended question has the respondent pick an answer from a given number of options. In this paper, I have used the ope n-ended questions into questionnaires. Because the impacts of financial crisis on banking which is an open discussion, it is more suitable to use open-ended questions to discuss. In this research, I have posted out 100 questionnaires for several banks in different positions of banking areas. But I only get 50 feedbacks from banks include: China Construction Bank with 11 copies; Bank of China with 23 copies; HSBC with 2 copies; China Merchants Bank with 2 copies; Shanghai Pudong Development Bank with 2 copies; Agricultural Bank of China with 3 copies; Bank of Communications with 2 copies; China Citic Bank with 3 copies; Bank of East Asia with 2 copies. The questionnaire is to undertake ideas from employees in each bank above. The employees have been selected in different job positions that include: account managers; customer managers; salesmen; managing directors; operation managers; accountants; channel managers; international clearing managers; administrations; marketers; product managers; staffs; retail managers; and others with no answers. There are four key questions amount those seven questions in this questionnaire: How much are you affected by financial crisis? Explain what affects you in financial crisis? What is different consumer behaviour between before financial crisis and after financial crisis? What do you think how to resolve the effects of financial crisis on banking? In the view of above questions, we can find out different effects of financial crisis on banking to employees in different positions and the correspond measures for the effects. Interview approach: An interview is a conversation between two or more people (the interviewer and interviewee) where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee. In most cases, interviews are only one of a number of qualitative/quantitative techniques that we are likely to use in a research project. The main types of interview include structured interview, semi-structured interview and unstructured interview. Semi-structured interviews are controlled interactions. However, this model enables the researcher to ask supplementary questions, for clarification and elaboration, whilst the use of open questions grants the participant greater freedom to discuss their experience. Unstructured interviews are relatively uncontrolled interactions where, once the question has been put, the researcher listens and do not prompt. This offers the participant the opportunity to discuss the subject using their frames of reference. Unstructured interviews can be very useful in studies of peoples information seeking and use. They are especially useful for studies attempting to find patterns, generate models, and inform information system design and implementation. For example, Alvarez and Urla (2002) used unstructured interviews to elicit information requirements during the implementation of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Due to their conversational and non-intrusive characteristics, unstructured interviews can be used in settings where it is inappropriate or impossible to use other more structured methods to examine peoples information activities. For example, Schultze (2000) used unstructured interviews, along with other ethnographic methods, in her eight-month field study in a large company investigating their production of informational objects. What are the rationales for using semi-structured interviews? It can help us to obtain relevant information. It can give the freedom to explore genera l views or opinions in more details. It can use external organization so as to retain independence. The strengths of semi-structured interviews are that the researcher can prompt and probe deeper into the given situation. For example, the interviewer inquires about using computers in English language teaching. Some respondents are more computer literate than others are. Hence, with this type of interview the interviewers are able to probe or asked more detailed questions of respondents situations and not adhere only to the interview guide. In addition, the researcher can explain or rephrase the questions if respondents are unclear about the questions. A structured interview also known as a standardised interview is a quantitative research method commonly employed in survey research. The aim of this approach is to ensure that each interviewee is presented with exactly the same question in the same order. This ensures that answers can be reliably aggregated and that comparisons can be made with confidence between sample subgroups or between survey periods. A structured interview also standardises the order in which questions are asked of survey respondents, so the questions are always answered given to survey question can depend on the nature of preceding questions though context effects can never be avoided, it is often desirable to hold them constant across all respondents. Structured interviews can also be used as a qualitative research methodology. These types of interviews are best suited for engaging in respondent or focus group studies in which it would be beneficial to compare/contrast participant responses in order to answe r a research question. For structure qualitative interviews, it is usually necessary for researchers to develop an interview schedule which lists the wording and sequencing of questions. In this research, I have chosen structured telephone interview as main interview approach. There are three interviewees have been interviewed through telephone in three different banks which are Bank of China, Bank of Communications and Agricultural Bank of China. The positions of these three interviewees are Department Head in Bank of China, Branch President in Agricultural Bank of China and Financial Manager in Bank of Communications. The questions in the interviews are made quite same as to questions made in questionnaires. Findings and Analysis: Findings: From the view of all the questionnaires and interviews, I have organised the following points as findings: In China Construction Bank there are two staffs affected by financial crisis are a lot; seven staffs affected by financial crisis are medium; and each one staffs affected by financial crisis is a little and almost not. Nine of all eleven staffs answered that their incomes have been reduced during the financial crisis. Seven of all staffs realized that customers became more prudent after financial crisis compared before. In Bank of China there are nine staffs affected by financial crisis are a lot; ten staffs affected by financial crisis are medium; and each two staffs affected by financial crisis are a little and almost not. Almost half of all twenty-three staffs answered that their workings are much more difficult to handle such as some services closed, working period much longer and more competitions etc. Seven of all staffs stated that their incomes have affected very much because of financial crisis. Ten of all staffs realized that customers became more prudent and rational during the financial crisis. Other staffs almost realized that customers had no any changes under the financial crisis compared before. In other seven banks there are five staffs affected by financial crisis are a lot; five staffs affected by financial crisis are medium; one staff affected by financial crisis is a little; and five staffs affected by financial crisis are almost not. Each five staffs answered that their workings are much more difficult to handle and their incomes have been reduced. Almost half of all sixteen staffs realized that customers became more rational and likely to transfer their money from some risky investments to a saving account or banking instruments. Analysis: From the findings of the study it emerges that: Most participants who are in different positions of different banks realized that they have been affected by financial crisis a lot or medium. And most customers they deal with became more rational and prudent. Before the outbreak of the financial crisis is not that customers apply for special financial management, the clients risk acceptance is very strong, and the abundant capital in the market. Most clients are seeking short-term immediate benefits, but did not fully take into account their own business and assets of the plan a long-term investment, life-long investment. But after the outbreak of the financial crisis, most customers whether it is their own operations and domestic and foreign investment had both a certain degree of loss. Customers will first consider the operating and investment risk, followed by another to seek profit; their sights would be to put the long-term, truly entered the era of the pursuit of long-term interests. Adverse impacts to the unit under the financial crisis: First, non-performing loans increased pressure. The financial crisis on the business impact of large bank customers, especially export-oriented enterprises. Declining in exports led to decline in client business performance, repayment pressure, and increased risk of deterioration in credit quality. Second, the lack of effective demand for loans. Financial crisis led to bad corporate management, so that effective demand for loans fell. Third, the financial crisis lead to an international settlement business, hosting business, and capital markets businesses in a substantial decline so that intermediary business revenue. Fourth, the time when the economy is down, and constantly cut interest rates, banks net interest yield was downward trend. The effects of the financial Crises on the banking industry and an evaluation of the measures for resolving the crises. Using evidence from the Great Depression and several other banking crises, Hoggarth and Reidhill (2003) concluded that banking crises can have a long term dramatic effect on the economy if left unresolved but the scale and character of any intervention should have as its prime objective to keep fiscal costs minimal and to prevent any future moral hazard. Moral Hazard in this case refers to the risk that bankers who are aware of the governments unwavering commitment to crop up dying banks may take too much unnecessary risk since they have a guarantee that their banks will never go burst. This section discusses the effects of the recent 2007-2009 global financial crises on the banking industry. It further evaluates some of the measures put in place by the UK and US governments to alleviate the crises. At every point Hoggarth and Reidhills 2003 conclusion will be my point of reference as I evaluate the Fiscal Cost and Moral Hazard issues related with the resolution of the crises. Finall y, I will also discuss other view points and make recommendations on how the crises could have been tackled more effectively. The United Kingdom and United States economies were the largest hit and probably the most affected by the crises. It is worth bearing in mind that even though this crisis began in the financial sector and real estate sectors of these economies, it rapidly spread to the manufacturing and retail sectors. Without much notice every sector of the economy had been affected by the downturn. A vicious cycle quickly develops where as companies lack credit, they slow manufacturing and layoff workers leading to high unemployment rates. As unemployment increases and consumer credit and purchasing power drops, the demand for goods and services plummets and the entire economy is further hit. At the end of the cycle, the main cause of the demise is soon forgotten and the problem actually becomes one of scepticism and mistrust widely termed consumer confidence and/or investor confidence. It is popular opinion that such a crisis should not be left unresolved by country authorities even though it is caused by individual businesses and public companies. After all, a rapid decline in business profits and an increasing rate unemployment means a plunge in the states tax revenue, a hike in unemployment benefit payouts, an increase in government debt and the crumbling of the economy. Politicians are therefore faced with the dilemma of whether or not to interfere with the free market economy, taking actions that will have serious implications on management and investor behaviour and spending public money to save private investors. As dreadful as this may sound, there appears to be no other viable way to resolve a banking crisis. Banks in particular, are generally not stand alone institutions. One view point to resolving a banking crisis amidst a recession emphasises that any measures designed to ensure that banks survive in a sustainable way will be aimed at reviving and supporting bank stakeholders (Customers and investors). This view point advocates that the best way

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Speech :: essays research papers

Hello ladies and gentlemen my name is BLANK and I am here because I am a risk taker. Have you ever heard the expression â€Å"if they jumped off a bridge would you too?† My answer was a nervous â€Å"yes† to a free-fall jump off a bridge. This decision was a life changing one. It was a hot and humid day and my friends and I were out cycling for a few hours to fill in time. After a while we reached a foot bridge that was suspended over water. We all stopped before it. Suddenly my best friend turned around and said â€Å"I dare you to jump off the bridge.† Not to say anything, but I have a huge fear of heights. I have had it since when I went for a short, noisy and scary flight in a light aircraft when I was five. I have problems just going up in an elevator let alone jumping off a bridge. I could see other people jumping off and screaming while they fell towards the water. The noise from the screams was making it worse for me as it was causing my stomach to tighten and making me feel sick. So I decided to take the easy way out of this situation without embarrassing myself in front of my friends. â€Å"Yes, ok† I said nervously. â€Å"But, only if you jump first.† I added. He said â€Å"fine† then got off his bike and put it down and said to look after it. He then made his way to the side of the bridge and stood up on the rail. He waved to us and then he just jumped. No fear or hesitation. He just jumped! I was amazed and then I hear a splash. Oh no! So much for the easy way out of this situation. I had assumed that he would decline and it would be left at that. We watched him swim back to the shore and then he went out of sight. I knew it was my turn next. A few minutes later he reappeared triumphantly and announced that it was my turn to jump now that he had completed his end of the dare. With the spotlight on me and the pressure building as my friends cheered me on I decided that there was no way out and that it was time to face my fears and conquer them.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

War On Drugs :: essays research papers

Have you ever heard the expression â€Å"War on drugs†?. That was first used in 1972 when Richard Nixon described a series of govern-mental programs intended to suppress the consumption of certain recreational drugs. Marijuana was one of them. However the first attack on Marijuana occurred not in 1972 but in1937 when the Marijuana TaxAct was passed. According to Legalizationofmarijuna.com Harry Anslinger (bureau of narcotics commissioner) testified in hearings on The subject that the hemp plant needed to be banned because it had a violent â€Å"effect on the degenerate races.† This referred specifically to Mexican immigrants who had entered the country, seeking jobs during The Great Depression. The law passed quickly and with little debate. Making possession of marijuana a criminal offense has only increased crime rates. As more and more people find it enjoyable to smoke. By legalizing marijuana law enforcement will be utilized somewhere of more importance. Because possession of marijuana is a common criminal offense, jails are over crowded and court rooms are cluttered with marijuana cases instead of real problems. In Amsterdam marijuana was made legal and the result was that Crime rates dropped by 60% and the amount of drug users did not Increase. Now you may be thinking that marijuana is dangerous, you may Be thinking of all the things you’ve heard about marijuana, like it Causes hallucinations, impairs your vision and judgment, and gives you paranoia. Those are in fact things that smoking marijuana can cause. But they are all short term. Do you want to know how many people a year are killed by marijuana and marijuana related deaths? ZERO. There have been no credible reports of death from marijuna. However, 430,000 deaths a year are caused by Tobacco making it The nations leading cause of death. 116,113 total alcohol related Deaths. And 200,000 deaths from prescription drugs. Now with all the illegal drugs combined there (excluding marijuana) there have been14,218 deaths. And remember there have been zero deaths even remotely related to marijuana. Cigarettes are legal although, according to health.com they are more addictive, cause cancer, damage the respiratory system, raise blood pressure, decrease oxygen to the brain and body, and cigarette smoking is a significant risk factor to the cause of emphysema, chronic bronchitis, stroke, high blood pressure and osteoporosis.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

History Of IBM :: essays research papers fc

IBM- International Business Machines Corporation History: Though the building blocks of IBM reach back into the mid 1880’s, the company was officially founded in 1911 when Charles F. Flint engineered the merger of Hollerith's Tabulating Machine Company, Computing Scale Company of America and International Time Recording Company. The agreed upon name was Computing- Tabulating- Recording Company or C-T-R. C-T-R soon found itself struggling do to over diversification of its product. In 1914 Thomas J. Watson, Sr. was brought in to help homogenize the company. He succeeded to turn the company around in just 11 months and redirected its focus to producing large-scale, custom-built tabulating solutions for businesses and left the rest of their former endeavors to the competition. Over the next four years, with Watson at the helm, the company’s revenues doubled and expanded operations to Europe, South America, Asia, and Australia.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Over the next decade C-T-R continued to innovate in their industry and bought out addition companies and patents. This additional growth of the company made the old name too limited for their ambitious pursuits and in 1924 they formally changed the name over to International Business Machines Corporation or IBM.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout the Great Depression IBM was able to continue to grow and innovate even when demand for their products began to drop. Because of their build op of data processing machines IBM won the governments social security act contract in 1935 and became responsible for keeping track of 26 million people, essentially ensuring a strong future for the company for at least the next decade.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the 1940’s IBM with a joint effort from Harvard University completed the first ever Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator, also called the Mark I. In the 1950’s IBM’s computers became smaller and more practical for business applications such as billing, payroll and inventory control. In the 1960’s Thomas J. Watson, Jr took over control of the company from his father and directed into a new more consumer friendly environment. IBM was the first computing company to sell computers without software bundled into the package, this move would spawn the multi-billion dollar software industry that exist today, of which IBM is still an industry leader.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the 1970’s and 80’s IBM worked to get the computer smaller and more convenient for the household format. Floppy disks were introduced to the public market as personal self storage devices. IBM also developed the first Intranet in the mid 80’s and created the foundations for what would later become the internet.

The Reasons Why the Us Entered Wwi

De Lorenzo 1 James De Lorenzo Mr. Misurelli U. S History II B 3 March 2013 The Reasons why the US Entered WWI The First World War erupted on the 28th of July, 1914 with the assassination of the Austrian Archduke. This horrific war finally ended on November 11th, 1918. The United States didn’t officially enter the war until April 6th, 1917. The US entered during the middle of the war and endured the bloody conflict to the very end. Woodrow Wilson, the president of the US during WWI, struggled with the choice of having the United States enter the war or not.Woodrow Wilson, as well as Congress, wanted the United States to remain neutral throughout the war and stay out of European affairs. After all, the US is 3,000 miles away and involving itself in the agonizing total war could be very costly. The United States really had no choice, I feel that they did it to them self. If the United States never try to sending weapons, medical supplies, and money to Britain and France. They sta yed truly neutral they would never join Word War 1. The Americans had no idea that war was imminent in the summer of 1914.Under Presidential Control, Wood Wilson wanted the United States to stay neutral. Public opinion went along with neutrality at first. Neutrality was strongly among the Irish Americans, German Americans, and Swedish Americans, as well as many farmers especially in the South, and church leaders and women. German atrocities in Belgium De Lorenzo 2 and the RMS Lusitania, partly as German- Americans lost influence, and partly in response to Wilson's position that America had to play a role to make the world safe for democracy. (www. boundless. com) The sinking of the Lusitania heightened tensions between the U.S. and Germany and helped sway American opinion in favor of joining the war. The first big incident that happen to the United States to join World War 1 was the sinking of the RMS Lusitania. The Lusitania was a British ocean liner that had 120 Americans on bored . On May 1, 1915, the Lusitania left port in New York for Liverpool to make her 202nd trip across the Atlantic. (http://history1900s. about. com) Since The World War 1 had started it was very dangerous for ships to get to Europe. Each side would try to blockade each other to prevent war supplies to reaching the enemy.German U-boats stalked British waters they continually looking for enemy ships holding war supplies to sink. May 7, 1915, Captain William Thomas Turner slowed the Lusitania down because of fog. 14 miles off the coast of Southern Ireland at Old Head of Kinsale, neither the captain nor any of his crew realized that the German U-boat, U-20, had already spotted and targeted them (http://history1900s. about. com) The U-boat fired a torpedo and hit the starboard side of the Lusitania. The Lusitania sunk within 18 minutes. 1,959 people on board, 1,198 died, the toll of civilians killed in this disaster shocked the world.The Americas were outraged that 120 Americas had died. Th e final incident that happen to the United States to join The World War 1 was The Zimmermann Telegram. In 1916 Woodrow Wilson was elected President for a second term, because of the slogan â€Å"He kept us out of war. † Events in the De Lorenzo 3 early 1917 would change the hope of Americans staying out of the war. On January of 1917, British cryptographers deciphered a telegram from German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann to the German Minister to Mexico, von Eckhardt, offering United States territory to Mexico in return for joining the German cause. http://www. archives. gov). British waited until February 24 to present the telegram to Woodrow Wilson. The United States press published news of the telegram on March 1. The public opinion changed that day people wanted to go to war and stop Germany. At first Wilson tried to maintain neutrality while fighting off the submarines. The U-boats sank seven us ships after then President Wilson called congress to vote declaration of war on Germany, which Congress voted on 6 April 1917. The vote was passed and the United State had entered World War 1.The United States home front had very little planning to go to war with Germany. Entire population of the United States to produces the soldiers, food supplies, and money needed to win the war. The United States government set 500,000 to 1,000,000 new employees to bring together the expertise necessary to redirect the economy into the production for war supplies and food necessary for the war. The Food Administration lead by Herbert Hoover made a massive campaign to teach Americans to economize on their food budgets, so the government could send food to their troops.Propaganda was very big in the news rooms in the United States. They often lied about what was going on in the west about Germany to get young men to sign                                                                                           `                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    De Lorenzo 4 up for the Military.Children had a big role in helping troops across seas, the Boy Scouts of America helped distribute war pamphlets, helped sell war bonds, and helped to drive nationalism and support for the war. The United States had a small army, after the passage of the Selective Service Act it drafted 2. 8 million men and by summer 1918 was sending 10,000 fresh soldiers to France every day. The United States Navy sent a battleship group to join with the British Grand Fleet to Queenstown Ireland and submarines to help guard ships with imported goods and war supplies.On the battlefields United States troops kept coming and Germany were unable to replace their losses. Victory over Germany was achieved on November 11, 1918 after German morale had collapsed on both the Western and Home Fronts. After the war Britain, France and Italy inputted hard economic penalties on Germany in the Treaty of Versailles. The United States Senate did not sign the Treaty of Versailles, they felt that Britain, France and Italy were being too hard on Germany. The United States signed separate peace treaties with Germany and its allies. Senate also rejected to enter the newly created League of Nations on Wilson's terms.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Checkpoint Jsbmha and Hipaa Case Study

Checkpoint: JSBMHA and HIPAA Case Study Phoebe Edwards Carrie Cooper 4/18/13 1. How does HIPPA serve to protect patient rights? A patient’s health information can be shared with doctors and hospitals for treatment and care. The information can also be shared with family members who the patient has given permission to access the patient’s records. HIPPA’s guidelines make clear exactly what information about patients is protected. Called PHI, this information includes anything that would identify a patient, from name, Social Security numbers and addresses to broader identifiers like race, age and home state.Information about the person’s health care needs or medical history is also considered PHI. HIPPA guidelines dictate that this information cannot be shared except in particular instances, including when the individual patient requests their own personal information, or when privacy investigation by the Department of Health and Human Services requires it. 2. What areas of the JSBMHA did HIPAA compliance impact? HIPPA has a great impact on the patients’ rights, all areas of the JSBMHA is affected by these two individuals. It affected the patients, and put the agency in an awkward position.It affected the grandmother which she can make others aware about what happened and this could affect the agency negatively. People who are involved with the agency could make people feel uncomfortable about giving them any information. And this mean any information is not safe at JSBMHA, and the trust has been violated. 3. What actions should the JSBMHA director take about the HIPAA violation? I think that both of them should get suspended, this is a serious violation. They have put JSBMHA in a very bad situation and have lost the trust of the family.Jim know better ,because he has been with JSBMHA for a long time, longer then Betty, he should have told her that she should have not be talking about these clients outside of the office. I think that Jim should get fired because he know ‘s better, after being at the JSMHA for 20 years is a long time to be with JSMHA and it is more than enough time to know and understand the rules. Jim was supposed to be an example to Betty, someone who Betty can learn from. JSMHA should fired Jim and Betty because Jim did not tell about the HIPAA rules.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Leading as a principle of management

Andy Grove, Intel’s former legendary leader who oversaw this company in the time of its rising to its prominent position, has a remarkable leadership style. His style is really democratic, but forceful and demanding. As a result, a unique culture of â€Å"constructive confrontation† arose at the company that is a direct result of Grove’s managerial traits (Intel Corporation). He allowed his subordinates to insist on their views and arguments at the time of the discussion, but once a decision was reached, everybody was expected to demonstrate the highest level of commitment.As a leader, Grove is remarkable for several major traits that make him stand out from other leaders. First, he is superb in his skill to â€Å"align strategy and execution as the forces of globalization were creating enormous discontinuities in the business environment† (Garten 2005). He was always on the alert for whatever actions the competitors might take to challenge Intel’s dominance and kept a hold on the treacherous IT business environment. Managing the external environment of the business is an important skill that does not come easily to leaders; it takes years of experience and a highly focused personality able to keep an eye on what’s going on in the marketplace.In relationships with employees, Grove excelled in striking an important balance between disciplinary action and support of initiative. In giving his employees freedom to act, he maintained their zest for innovation that can only flourish in a democratically arranged corporate environment. At the same time, Grove maintained rigid discipline in terms of performance evaluation. He demanded measurement of every detail of the performance and was relentless in his requirements. The company executives introduced the so-called â€Å"management by objectives† in which an employee’s performance is evaluated against about 10 objectives all of which are gauged with quantifiable measures (Intel Corporation).Grove can also be applauded for his ability to preserve the flexibility in Intel’s operations at the time when the company was experiencing dramatic growth. Sheer size is often the problem for major corporations who lose market to more nimble competitors. Grove created a company that remains highly adaptable despite its mammoth proportions. Grove also built Intel’s corporate culture on values that have turned it into â€Å"very strong immune system† (Pandya et al. 2004).Grove is the kind of leader who does not get depressed in the tough times and continues to see the silver lining even in the times of a serious recession. In an interview with Business Week reporter he advocates the sizzling future of the tech industry despite temporary difficulties, insisting that â€Å"we can't even glimpse the potential† of the IT industry, even in the aftermath of the tech bubble and the general downturn in the business (Andy Grove: We canà ¢â‚¬â„¢t†¦).Grove’s optimism stems from his ability to manage change at the company. A particular instance of change at Intel involves the switch from memory chips to microprocessors in the 1980s. The field was entirely new for Intel, and yet the company emerged with dazzling success, turning into the global leader. Another example relates to the large-scale recall of Pentium chips after problems with their functioning surfaced in 1994. Andy Grove dealt with the issue with efficiency and initiative that worked to save the company’s damaged reputation. Andy Grove led the company towards success in the market for microprocessors and was able â€Å"to build the Intel brand (through the famous â€Å"Intel Inside† campaign) and used his savvy in managing risk to steer the company clear of antitrust regulators† (Pandya et al. 2004).Andy Grove spent an impressive 11 years as chief executive officer at Intel, continuing his leadership stance as chairman. Fin ancial data confirm the success of his leadership style and his ability to manage the company, taking it to a level of state-of-the-art perfection. A 31.6% annual rise in stock price, twice the speed of S&P 500, growth in revenues from $1.9 billion to $25.1 billion, doubling of the workforce to 64,000 people demonstrate the achievements of Andy Grove as a leader (Garten 2005).These are only dry numbers, and the main breakthrough was qualitative. Intel has been fully transformed into a leader of the global IT industry. First, it has become a truly international corporation, deriving a major portion of its revenues from abroad. Second, the corporation â€Å"became central to the growth of personal computers, cell phones, genomic research, computer-aided design, and virtually everything else that characterizes this age of digitalization and the Internet† (Garten 2005). Intel succeeded in a highly competitive environment of the IT industry, becoming an icon of success for many be ginning companies. Intel’s name is a brand worth millions of dollars, and its products like Pentium chips remain the symbol of the industry.Andy Grove has done a lot to translate his convictions for the board operation into real changes in its work. It took Grove six years to â€Å"make Intel's board exemplary† (Shlender 2004). In his own words, he highly evaluates his role â€Å"in developing the work environment and culture at the company and with the directors† (Shlender 2004). Andy Grove firmly believed in the independence of the board and the separation of the functions of the CEO and chairman. He put his burning conviction that the board should have an important role in making the good governance principles work in his books and lectures on the topic. His work as Chairman of the Board has made Intel’s board a reliable safeguard against management’s sloppy or immoral actions.Thus, Andy Grove was a great leader able to combine rigor with attent ion to others’ opinion and balance between giving his subordinates freedom to innovate, combined with the need to commit to the already taken decisions. His emphasis on discipline, strategic vision for growth, handle on the market and ability to manage change account for his personal success as a leader and impressive performance of Intel Corporation.BibliographyAndy Grove `We can`t even glimpse the potential`. Business Week 3846, Aug 25, 2003. 19 Sep. 05 .Garten, Jeffery E. â€Å"Andy Grove Made The Elephant Dance†. Business Week 3928, April 2005. 19 Sep. 05 .Intel Corporation: The Evolution of an Adaptive Organization. 19 Sep. 05 .Pandya, Mukul, et al. Best of the Best: Inside Andy Grove's Leadership at Intel. Prentice Hall PTR, Dec 10, 2004. 19 Sep. 05 .Schlender, Brent. `Inside Andy Grove`s Latest Crusade` Fortune 150.4, Aug 23, 2004. 19 Sep. 05 < http://www.fortune.com/fortune/ceo/articles/0,15114,678520,00.html>.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Worldview Analysis: Mormonism

WORLDVIEW ANALYSIS MORMONISM BENNIE W. BAKER APOL 500 September 30, 2012 Table of Contents Introduction2 Summary2 Critique 3 Conclusion6 Bibliography8 Introduction Mormonism is a multilayered religious organization with many faces. The words â€Å"multilayered† and â€Å"organization† are carefully chosen as they represent the bulk of what we will discuss as we seek to unveil the true essence of the Mormon world as they see it. We will summarize this organization and in so doing we will discover that it was built on human fallacy and deception from its inception.We will then follow with a critical look the claims, doctrines, and documents that frame their beliefs. Summary Mormonism is one of the fastest and newest religions on the world scene today. It had its beginnings in 1820 in the woods of Palmyra, New York when 14-year-old Joseph Smith went out to pray. During this prayer session he was visited by none other the God the Father and Jesus, the son of God, who is Him self recognized by all true Christians as very God Himself; the second person in the Trinitarian godhead.This visit was the conception of what is one of the haughtiest worldviews among religious organizations to date. It was during this visit that the young Joseph received the message that he should not unite with any of the local churches because â€Å"†¦they are all wrong†¦all their creeds are an abomination†¦those professors are all corrupt. † This announcement set the stage for what was either the biggest revelation or the most cleverly devised scam in the history of mankind. Some three years later, while sleeping Joseph saw a light shining. It was an angel.The angel Moroni came from the presence of God according to Joseph, to give him the location of a book written on golden plates that contained â€Å"†¦the fullness of the Gospel†¦as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants. † Thus, the foundation of the Mormon worldview is buil t on the restoration of the Christian Church. They must be right because everyone else is wrong. Yet they insist that they should be considered on as an option categorically with Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians, and other Christian denominations. Critique of the Mormon WorldviewThis worldview has to be one of, if not the most pious that is and has been promoted as authentic to this day. Those who live their lives seeing the world through the looking glass of Mormonism exist under a varied range of exposure to the truth as seen by its founder. Regardless of their understanding of their religion, each layer has a measure of deception that feeds the ego of those endorsing and propagate its fraudulence. On the exterior layer they would have the world believe that they are a Christian denomination; that they are among those to be considered followers of the Jesus upon whom the Christian church is built.The church has a website for it’s official press releases. The Facts and St atistics page of this site boasts of 55,410 missionaries carrying this first layer of deception into 340 missions worldwide. To further cloak what lies beneath the organization has humanitarian aid missions in 179 countries. Thus, when pitching the depth of their Christian union they are quick to point out all the good that they do in the name of Jesus. If you scroll their sites there is nothing on the surface that leads you to believe that they’re any different from any other Christian denomination.Bill McKeever and Eric Johnson in their article Mormonism Christian, Cult, or tell the story of a child who came home from school confused after High School friends questioned her Christianity. When she came home here mother assured her, â€Å"As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you are a Christian, and I am too. † Later in this article the authors note the results of a survey conducted by The Pew Forum on Religious and Public Life on over 1,000 Mormons in the USA. The results show that 97% of Mormons think that they’re Christian, and 51% of the general public agrees.This demonstrates the overwhelming success that this organization has had on pulling the wool over, not only their member’s eyes, but also that of the average American. I’m not surprised since Biblical knowledge is so lacking in our country. Alarming stats found on barna. org reveal that while 84% of Americans believe that the Bible is sacred, 43% believe that it shares the same spiritual truths as does the Koran and the Book of Mormon, and only 26% believe that it’s the actual word of God. Taking these stats into consideration you shouldn’t be surprised that so many have fallen for the lies of Joseph Smith.On the surface this religion looks Christian if you don’t look too hard. Even on the outer layer you should question why we can find the ruins of the ancient Aztec’s but can’t find any sign of the prese nce of Jesus on our continent as claimed by this church. There’s been no archeological validation of a single geographic reference found in the Mormon scriptures. One of the most obvious absurdities is right there on the surface. Joseph claims that he was blessed with a visit from the Father and Son while he was praying to find out which church was true, which he should join.As quoted above, he was told to join none of them because they’re â€Å"†¦all wrong†¦all their creeds are an abomination†¦those professors are all corrupt. † Yet this church is spending billions to appear to be as one of the very churches that its founder said that God condemned and forbade him from joining. Furthermore, they claim that the Bible is the word of God â€Å"insofar as it is translated correctly,† and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and the most correct book ever written. Yet, it’s the Bible that they use to validate the Book of Mormon.It should bring a question to even the average person who is sincerely seeking the truth that these claims just don’t pass the common sense test. As you peel the layers back you find stench. On the surface they state that they believe in the Jesus of the Bible, as do all other Christian denominations. However, when you peel back the Jesus layer you’ll find that they actually believe that He â€Å"†¦was married, to be brought into the relation whereby he could see his seed, before he was crucified. † On this same layer in direct contradiction to the basic foundational Christian doctrine of the virgin birth, Mr.Young states â€Å"Now remember from this time forth, and forever, that Jesus Christ was not begotten by the Holy Ghost. † Let’s pull back another layer and see what this organization teaches about God. Of course we Christians believe that He was, is and always will be. David best capsulated what Christians believe about our God: â€Å"Bef ore the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. † However the LDS Church embraces the doctrine of eternal progression whereby each Mormon male himself may one day be a God.Brigham Young stated in Journal of Discourses 7:238 that â€Å"Gods exist, and we had better strive to be prepared to be one with them. † Lorenzo Snow paraphrased his revelation of the doctrine in this summarized statement â€Å"As man now is, God once was. As God now is, man may be. † If that’s not enough to reveal the true heart of Mormon ambition and to paint the stained glass through which they see the world, Joseph Smith himself stated in his work History of the Church, Volume VI, pp. 408-409 that â€Å"I have more to boast of than any man ever had.I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam†¦Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Conclusion In conclusion, when sharing Christ with a Mormon it would behoove you to keep in mind that these people are deceived. They have the first layer of revelation of what their church truly represents. Even that layer contains damning evidence of the lies and deception of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and the leaders of this organization.They have very lofty ambitions and looks at the world as though it’s in need of their revelation. Their objectives are about themselves and their organization. They’re not concerned with the eternal damnation of their fellow man; in fact they don’t believe in the hell or eternal damnation that is taught in the Bible. They are proud to be a part of this unique organization with a new message that started right here in America. They’re proud to be a part of God’s new chosen peoples†¦the new Jews. This is a very difficult wall to climb in sh aring Christ with them.You must first reveal the foundation upon which their faith is built; namely, the lies of their leaders and the unverifiable history found in their writings. It would also help to demonstrate the illogical reasoning that is rampant in their message, such as the Bible validating the Book of Mormon, which was written because the Bible if filled with errors and has so many missing parts. The best method is to challenge their sincerity as proud seekers of truth and ask them to look at some key verses, not as a Mormon, but as one seeking the truth of God and that you will do the same, not as a Baptist, or Methodist, but just as a seeker of truth.Then you pray and let God do the rest. Bibliography Barna Group Ltd. Barna Group: Examine. Illuminate. Transform. Barna Group Ltd. Oct 19, 2009. http://www. barna. org/faith-spirituality/317-new-research-explores-how-different-generations-view-and-use-the-bible? q=bible+knowledge+statistics (accessed Sep 29, 2012). David, K ing. Psalms. Vol. 90:2, in Holy Bible. Wichita, KS: Heirloom Bible Publishers, 1988. Johnson, Bill McKeever and Eric. â€Å"Mormonism: Christian, Cult, or † Edited by Elliot Miller. Christian Research Journal (Christian Research Institute) 35, no. (2012): 63. Smith, Joseph. â€Å"History. † In Pearl of Great Price, by Joseph Smith. Salt Lake City, Utah: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1982. Smith, Joseph. â€Å"The Articles of Faith. † In Pearl of Great Price, by Joseph Smith. Salt Lake City, UT: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1982. Snow, Lorenzo. â€Å"The Teachings of Lorenzo Snow. † In The Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, by Clyde J. Williams. Salt Lake City, UT: Bookcraft. Sumner, Robert L. Mormonism! A Destructive, Soul-Damning Cult. Murfreesboro, TN: Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1981.The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Newsroom: The Official Resource for News Media, Opinion Leaders and the Public. Septembe r 2012, 2012. http://www. mormonnewsroom. org/facts-and-stats (accessed September 29, 2012). Widtsoe, John A. Discourses of Brigham Young. Salt Lake City, UT: Desert Book Company, 1978. Young, Brigham. Journal History. Vol. 2. Salt Lake City, UT: Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1846. —. Journal History. Vol. 1. Salt Lake City, UT: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1846. ——————————————–