Decreasing Car Accidents Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Decreasing Car Accidents - Essay Example (WHO 2009) Several campaigns have been conducted across the world promoting the safety of road transport. ‘Make Roads Safe’ campaign is one such organization which is trying to spread the importance of knowing the safety measures of car driving and the implications of car accidents across the world. (Make Roads Safe, 2011) The predicted statistics estimate that accident deaths could go up to 1.9 million in the next years if no proper action is taken. These organizations clearly state that car accidents are a major problem and there is a need for an immediate intervention. There is an urgent need for the governments across the world to enforce the rules strictly and enable severe punishments for those breaking these rules. In addition, public needs to be made aware of the importance of road safety and with the technological advancements happening across the world, publicizing such safety measure and the impacts of car accidents would be the best way to progress forward in decreasing car accidents. The solution introduced above has two parts. The first part deals with the role of the government in enforcing the rules strictly and making the punishments severe. It is important for all the nations to work together in decreasing the number of car accidents. They could either restrict the numbers of cars used by people and make them travel by a common public transport or they could enforce strict rules. Enforcing strict rules does not mean that they have to reduce the speed limits and check each and every drunken driving case. With the growing population, it would be practically impossible to reduce accidents by these rules alone. Instead, other options would be to enforce rules on the commercial side where hotels, bars can be forced to check on their customers’ status and make sure that they are not allowed to drive if they are

Literacy Instruction and Difficulties with Reading Essay Example for Free

Literacy Instruction and Difficulties with Reading Essay In today’s world the consequences of having students attain low achievement scores in reading can be very detrimental to both individuals and society. Students who are attaining low achievement records in literacy often correlate with the school dropout rate, poverty, and unemployment. Also the gap between reading achievement of poor and middle class students is substantial, calling for a federal regulation to ensure equal opportunities for all students no matter where they may be attending school. The standards movement and evidence-based research can have a great impact on how literacy programs are used in the classroom. Evidence-based reading instruction means that a particular reading program has a record of success. The program was tested with a group of students and there is data to show the result of the research conducted. These programs are reliable and valid in saying that the children can be expected to make adequate gains in reading achievement. Evidence-based research can be very helpful when trying to find the right literacy program to use. As there are many different types of students who learn in different ways, there will never be one single successful method of teaching children to read. When teachers are looking for literacy programs to use they should be investigating how old the students were, their current reading level, what type of setting it took place in, and if it was conducted on a one-on-one or group basis. Teachers want to find programs that have been successful and relate to their own current setting. It is crucial to make sure that the program is applicable to the students and their situation in order to have an opportunity for the program to work. Another great idea is to use this research to create your own programs based on your findings. The teacher is now becoming a teacher-researcher in order to test their own situation with their created program. This is a great way to create a program for your unique students and still have the support of research that has been shown to work. If the program is successful, it is a great idea to share it with other colleagues because it may be affective for them as well. As with any type of instruction method there are always positives and negatives. Evidence-based reading instruction promotes the fact that that particular method has had a record of being successful. Teachers can look into studies that have been tested on students similar to their own, and give these programs a try. They have been shown to be successful and provide instruction that lead to a higher literacy achievement for that group of similar students. In doing this, you know there is a good chance that the method can work with your students, as opposed to trying something new that has no research to back it up. These research studies show why and how the program works, along with providing data showing the difference it has made with the students. As stated earlier, not every child has the capacity to learn the same way. What works for one student, may not work for another. So even though these programs have been shown to work, they are not guaranteed to work for your students. As teachers in the United States we will be teaching students that come from many different cultural backgrounds. Different cultures have different opinions on the best way to educate students, however they all place great value on education for children. Some of these students may just be learning to speak English, while others have lived in the United States for their whole lives. It is important, as the teacher, to get to know each student and their cultural background. This allows you to understand the needs of the child and how they can be met. Discover the child’s strengths and weaknesses and create a plan that can be used to help that child. It is important to know what is important to each student and what may be stressed in the home. The teacher needs to take into consideration how different cultural backgrounds of students may affect the classroom dynamics and learning. Students may also have certain behaviors that are taking place in the classroom, but it could be a cultural reason for why that is taking place. The largest student group identified receiving special education services is students with learning disabilities. A learning disability is a general term that refers to a group of disorders where students may face difficulty. These disorders include learning to read, write, speak, listen, or do math. Out of all the students with learning disabilities about 80% have been diagnosed with having a reading problem. The goal for students with learning disabilities, especially reading disorders, is to be on the same academic level as our general education students. For some this is an attainable goal, where for others it is not. There are many ways we can help these students improve their literacy skills. Since many of these students are reading below grade level we need to provide them with reading materials that are at their current level. If it is too difficult they will become frustrated and may give up. These students need high interest, easy to read books so that they can begin to enjoy reading and see themselves as readers and learners. In today’s schools more than 20% of school aged children speak languages other than English at home. Many of these children have difficulty speaking English and the majority of these students having difficulty are speaking Spanish in their homes. English Language Learners need to be able to read, write and understand the English language in order to become successful in today’s classrooms. We should be focusing on the student’s strengths in order to help them understand English. One strategy is allowing students to read in their native language if they are literate in that language. This allows them to understand the same reading as another child who may be reading it in English. Many times these students are seen as reading on a lower level, but it is only because of a language barrier. They don’t understand how to read in English. There are also many books that come with translations. Having students read a book in their language and then trying to read it in English can be helpful because they understand and know what the story is about, so when they face difficulty understanding the English version they can compare and figure it out. In doing this they can also make connections to many words in their own language by using cognates. This can foster comprehension by activating prior knowledge in both languages. It is important to allow them the opportunity to read in their native language because it offers a sense of comfort and success to the student.

Gone Fishing :: Personal Narrative Essays

Gone Fishing    It must have been 4 feet long and must have weighed at least 30 lbs.   It was one of the slimiest ones we ever caught.   The tentacles were almost a foot long and the scales where the size of quarters.@   AYeah right, we believe you, (Paste your name here).@  Ã‚   While my peers were playing video games or hide-and-go-seek, (a friends name) and I were out ether exploring the unknown, or sleeping from staying out all night.   None of the students in my sixth grade class Ashow and tell@ believed me when I told them about the unforgettable experiences (a friends name) and I endeavored. To tell the truth, I didnt really want them to believe me.   If one of them told my mom what (a friends name) and I did then our little butts would have been grounded for a serious amount of time.   The fishing stories that I told where true, all true.    (a friends name) and I had gone on many explorations to far off places.   We had sneaking out at night down to such an art that if we could put it on paper then it would be more famous then Leonardo da Vinci's painting, The Last Supper.   We would sometimes make dummy bodies that would lie lifeless all night under tightly nitid sheets.  Ã‚   The Abig yellow house@ is where we met.   From there we would do whatever sounded like the most fun.   Sometimes it was hanging out and eating ice cream all night. Other times we would go tick someone off by tee- peeing their house.   And yes, there were even times when we would go fishing at this lake that was out in the middle of nowhere.   We called this lake the back- lake because it was the lake way in the back of the golf course.   One night (a friends name) and I had an experience there that would shake us up for a long time to come.    The night started out like a lot of other nights.   First we went to go eat some ice-cream from Foster-Freeze, then we would get on our bicycles and pedal our little butts all the way to the golf course.   Once there, we would get on this road that golf carts use to drive around. The road was very windy.   When we arrived we would just throw our bikes down and run like little rabbits down to the lake.   We would start casting as fast as we could.   We would cast so fast that I don't think we remembered to put bait on the hook.

Motivation and Hygiene as Issues of Control Essay

Economics is usually considered a basically quantitative affair: numbers, charts graphs. It is rare that professional economists remember that there are real people under those pompous numbers, real communities and families who suffer if times get bad. Frederick Herzberg’s (1959) two level theory on worker satisfaction, while not specifically from the field of economics, is important in rectifying this imbalance: in general, Herzberg’s theory of motivation and hygiene is a qualitative set of ideas that speak not merely of numbers, efficiency and production, but also the qualitative nature of worker satisfaction and reward which is far more important than anything the numbers suggest. This paper will deal with a few ideas related to employee control and ownership over business and its relation to Herzberg’s variables in terms of worker satisfaction. First, the nature of the theory itself. Herzberg deals with the concepts of worker satisfaction through both motivation and hygiene. The former deals primarily with questions of satisfaction through what is to come: promotion, recognition, rewards, increases in pay. The latter is more quantitative, but still of immense qualitative importance: basic job security, good work environment and the expectation of future satisfaction (Herzberg, 1959). Herzberg’s findings show, insofar as immediate causality is concerned, that the former are key to satisfaction on the job. The latter are important, but only indirectly, they do not (in themselves) lead to any sense of job satisfaction, but any qualitative lowering of these variables can lead to substantial dissatisfaction. However this is stated, they are both of immense importance. Second, this paper must deal with the present economic crisis. The issues here involve the increasing debt of the American economy, as well as the American state. The present economic crisis can be summarized by the extension of credit far beyond the economy’s ability to repay. But this extension of credit came into existence in order to absorb excess production, as well as maintain America’s central role in the global economy as the â€Å"world’s marketplace.† All of this has led to an explosion of public and private debt, massive foreclosures, bankruptcy and, most important, a major threat to the integrity of the American dollar and America’s role in the world economy. As of 2009, this has meant that the US economy is in a period of contraction, as firms no longer have the ability to extend credit with any sense of the possibility of being repaid. Once the banks got the jitters over this, they sent signals throughout the economy that confirmed the contraction of credit: the lifeblood the modern economy for better or for worse, especially in the real estate market. Debt artificially inflated prices (including stocks), leading to an overvaluation far beyond the actual value of the commodities.   But, since the US market is the world’s largest and the savings rate the lowest, there is little to cushion such a accumulation of debt, and hence, it affected America’s major trading partners as well, leading to a global recession and indeed, depression. Now, third, the remainder of this paper will deal with the relation between Herzberg’s two level theory and the present depression. Unfortunately, this is where things get depressing, and the economists obsession with numbers that don’t have personalities start to make sense. Let us begin with the first level, that of motivators: Since, in general, this depression is based on the massive and irrational expansion of credit (and hence, debt), debt must be the first issue in dealing with motivators. If one has run up credit card debt and has seen the interest rate shoot up as banks seek to make up lost ground, the issue of default is a real one. This develops as a negative motivating factor that will not be made up anytime soon. One sees himself as laboring harder and harder while unable to keep up even with the interest in various debts: credit cards, homes, cars and luxuries such as entertainment systems. But just as important, if one is working just to finance debt, one can not also help but notice the fact that class differences in the western world are getting sharper and sharper. The wealthy classes can weather such storms, and in fact, may benefit from them, seeing their smaller competitors go into receivership. Hence, the first positive motivating factor is for class divisions to be reduced: the wealthy, whose practices helped bring the current crisis about, need to begin assisting labor in the payment of debts. While high profile cases such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett giving billions to their own charities that reflect their personal and corporate ideological positions, none of this high profile giving assists the rank and file laborer. It is possible that substantial profit sharing and employee ownership of businesses should be mandatory and guaranteed by the state in exchange for worker loyalty. The question of employee ownership (hence, disenfranchising the major stock holders) is an important one given the confines of Herzberg’s theory of motivators, since such an approach will provide a certain emotional boost, as well as solve the problem of employee recognition and promotion. Employee ownership and employee direction of business is essential to assist workers in paying debts and increasing job satisfaction, since they will be working for themselves. Jobs should become careers rather than merely slaving for a living. Giving workers a say in the day to day running of business and a financial stake in the firm itself is essential for increasing productivity. It will certainly come at the expense of the upper classes, but it is these classes that have benefitted from the long standing extension of credit that has fueled the western economic bubble.

Balanced Scorecard Essay

Introduction Performance management systems are often designed to enable organizations to plan, measure and control their performance, so that decisions, resources and activities can be better aligned with business strategies to achieve desired results and create shareholder value. The Balanced Scorecard is a performance tool using financial and nonfinancial measures. It provides an organization with ways to develop and evaluate strategic objectives and goals. For the past two decades, the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) has been proposed as an integrated framework for the implementation of financial and nonfinancial performance measures that helps organizations align their initiatives with the organization’s strategy (Kaplan ; Norton, 1992). The United States Postal Service delivers more mail to more addresses in a larger geographical area than any other post in the world. The Postal Service delivers to more than152 million homes, businesses and Post Office boxes in every state, city, town and borough in this country. Everyone living in the United States and its territories has access to postal products and services and pays the same postage regardless of their location (USPS, 2014). This paper will examine the effectiveness of the implementation of the balanced score card approach. Key Issues for Discussion Explain how the Voice of the Employee supports improved internal processes (Voice of the Business), and how the Voice of the Business supports customer satisfaction (Voice of the Customer). Employees have a huge impact on their organization’s financial results. When employees are empowered to make decisions they share information relating to the strategic processes and direction of that organization. When it comes to carrying out the message and mission of the organization the voice of the employee is very crucial. Through empowerment, the employees are able to create an opportunity to show management how they will apply the company vision to their daily task. The voice of the business relates to information derived from financial data. This data can be used to indentify weakness in certain market areas and the status of the research and development process. In order to move the organization forward or closer to its overall objectives, analyst must understand the relevance of the balanced scorecard process. The voice of the customer indentifies the needs of the customer which are keys to the strategy to defining which processes can be viewed as value added products or services. The customers are a continuous source of feedback both good and bad. Customer feedback can also provide new opportunities to identify and develop new products. Kaplan and Norton advocated a well-connected map ping that leads from an organization’s main strategy to the four perspectives of the balanced scorecard: Financial, Customer Satisfaction, Internal Process, and Learning and Growth. Each element works to support the strategic objectives in a linked process. Customer satisfaction leads to the desired financial outcome, which in the case of the Postal Service is sufficient revenue to support the universal delivery service mission (Evans, Lindsay, 2011). While Figure 8. 14 shows only representative measures associated with the balanced scorecard, suggest some other measures that might be included using your knowledge of postal operations. Based on my personal experience and knowledge of the United States Postal Service, I would suggest that the organization add some additional measures to it balanced scorecard. The organization should measure customer complaints relating to package handling and damaged goods. Damaged packages generally lead to claims brought forward by customers which is certainly a value associated with it that should be tracked and measured. The organization should also measure and analyze the effects of the employee turnover rate. Employee replacement cost can have a huge affect on the financial element. Cost associated with the orientation and training of a new employee as well as the cost associated with employee separation can have an effect on the bottom-line. Advantages and Disadvantages of Using a Balanced Scorecard Some organizations have a difficult time establishing a process that can translate its strategic vision into concrete goals and actions. There are clearly some beneficial advantages to applying the balanced scorecard approach. Some of these benefits include gaining a cross organizational team that will open channels of communications. The company will have enthusiastic people who are focused on carrying out the organization’s mission and commitment to quality. Also, the company will gain a unique competitive advantage relating to reduce time frames, improved decisions and better solutions. Most importantly, initiatives are continually measured and evaluated against industry standards. There can be some disadvantages as well. The balanced scorecard takes a lot of planning and forethought. Defining clearly stated objectives and setting goals are crucial to the process. There can be resistance from employees or even management. Some individuals may see the implementation as a threat or indication of a lack of performance on their part. While the balanced scorecard gives an extensive overview of the organization’s performance, it does not give recommendations regarding how to resolve discovered problem performance areas. Conclusion The case study involving the United States Postal Service presents evidence that the balanced scorecard approach can have a positive effect on an organizations overall performance. If integrated successfully, the balance scorecard will be a tool that ensures clarity and consistency across all departments or individuals involved. Solving quality management issues rely on the right approach and planning. Understanding the importance of the linkage among all four of the balanced scorecard is crucial to its success. Special attention should be given to the proper implementation and cultivation of intangible assets relating to learning and growth. The USPS has improved its service and has increased customer satisfaction. First-class mail performance has improved to over 95 percent of overnight mail being delivered on time, with improvements in other categories of first-class mail (Evans, Lindsay, 2011).

The Charlotte Riots and the Killing of Keith Scott

The Charlotte Riots and the Killing of Keith Scott Deadly riots broke out in Charlotte, North Carolina, in September 2016. What had been peaceful protests over the police killing of an African American man named Keith Lamont Scott turned into a melee involving both demonstrators and the authorities. The spread of gunfire, vandalism, and smoke bombs during the riots led the North Carolina governor to declare a state of emergency. In the end, neither the city of Charlotte nor the people caught up in the protests were left unscathed. The 2016 Charlotte Riots The Charlotte riots took place in 2016 after a black man named Keith Lamont Scott was killed by police on Sept. 20. Officers said he had a gun, but Scott’s family denied he was armed and suggested he’d been framed. The riots ended by the morning of Sept. 23, but they had resulted in property damage, injuries, and more than a few dozen arrests. Tragically, one man, Justin Carr, died during the violence that broke out in Charlotte after Scott’s killing.The district attorney ultimately decided not to file charges against the officer who shot Scott because evidence suggested the slain man had been armed and did not follow commands. The Killing of Keith Lamont Scott The Charlotte riots took place just one day after a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer fatally shot married father of seven Keith Lamont Scott. The 43-year-old man had parked his car in the lot of the Village at College Downs apartment complex, where police had arrived to serve an arrest warrant to a different individual. The officers said they saw Scott with marijuana and that he’d gotten in and out of his car with a handgun. When they told him to drop his weapon, he ignored their commands, making him an â€Å"imminent threat,† according to the authorities. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer Brentley Vinson, who is African American, fired his weapon, wounding Scott. First aid was performed, but Scott did not survive. His wife, Rakeyia Scott, had witnessed his killing and maintained that he was holding a book in his hand, not a gun. Given the history of police shooting unarmed black men, supporters of Scott believed his wife’s account. However, the authorities attempted to verify their version of what happened by stating that they had recovered Scott’s loaded gun from the scene and that he had been wearing an ankle holster. They also said that no book was ever found. Protestors march up Trade St. September 21, 2016 in uptown Charlotte, North Carolina.   Sean Rayford / Getty Images The disparities between law enforcement’s account of events and Rakeyia Scott’s led protesters to take to the streets. The fact that his family suggested that the authorities had planted the gun at the scene only led to more skepticism about the officers involved in Scotts shooting. Several people were harmed during the demonstrations over his death. Riots Break Out in Charlotte Just hours after Scott’s killing, demonstrators poured into the streets. They held the trademark â€Å"Black Lives Matter† signs often spotted in the wake of deadly police shootings of African Americans. The grassroots Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement gained momentum after Mike Brown’s killing in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014. The movement raises awareness about the fact that African Americans are disproportionately killed by the police. Protesters affiliated with BLM and other groups chanted â€Å"no justice, no peace!† as they marched through downtown Charlotte. Some members of the public reportedly began to pelt the police officers on the scene with water bottles and rocks. The officers responded by firing tear gas. During the unrest, police, news reporters, and civilians all sustained injuries. Arrests were made when some crowd members didn’t disperse, blocked the lanes of Interstate 85, vandalized vehicles and buildings, robbed an ATM and various shops, and set fires. A civilian named Justin Carr, 21,  lost his life in the violence, and a fellow civilian, Rayquan Borum, was arrested for shooting him and sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2019. Altogether, 44 people were arrested for various crimes in the days following the police killing of Keith Lamont Scott. Police officers face off with protesters on the I-85 (Interstate 85) during protests in the early hours of September 21, 2016 in Charlotte, North Carolina.   Sean Rayford / Getty Images When North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency in Charlotte after the first night of violence, the North Carolina National Guard and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol arrived in the city to quash the rebellion. In addition, Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts instituted a curfew preventing civilians from being on the streets between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m.  With extra law enforcement patrolling the streets and a curfew, the protests had calmed down considerably on the night of September 22. The mayor extended the curfew one more night, but by September 23, Charlotte businesses were already up and running again. Reaction to the Violence The riots made international headlines and everyone from then-presidential candidate Donald Trump to black activists commented on them. â€Å"Our country looks bad to the world, especially when we are supposed to the world’s leader,† Trump said. â€Å"How can we lead when we can’t even control our own cities? We honor and recognize the right of all Americans to peacefully assemble, protest, and demonstrate, but there is no right to engage in violent disruption or to threaten the public safety and peace.† The North Carolina NAACP issued a similar message, decrying violence and calling on Scott supporters to use their First Amendment rights to call for redress of wrongs,† the group said. â€Å"We understand efforts that undermine the legitimate calls for justice with unjust, random or purposeless acts of violence.   Police stand outside of a vandalized storefront September 21, 2016 in uptown Charlotte, North Carolina.   Sean Rayford / Getty Images Nation of Islam leader B.J. Murphy had a different response to the riots. He called for an economic boycott of Charlotte, a city with a history of police shootings involving black men. In 2013, former college football player Jonathan Farrell, an African American, was fatally shot by Charlotte police after seeking help following a car crash. A jury deadlocked on whether to find the white policeman who killed Farrell guilty. Later, charges against the officer were dropped. In light of police violence against blacks, B.J. Murphy argued that black money shouldn’t matter in Charlotte if black lives don’t.   Restoring the Public’s Trust After the riots, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department attempted to rebuild the public’s trust in its officers. It produced DNA results tying Keith Lamont Scott’s prints to the gun at the scene and turned up evidence indicating that he’d purchased the weapon. The department did this, in part, to offset claims by Scott’s family that he’d been framed in death, but this evidence failed to put an end to the disputes between the family and the police department. Video of the encounter taken by police dashcams and Rakeyia Scott’s cell phone did not end the dispute either because it did not include the actual shooting. The footage also lacked a clear image of what Scott had in his hands when police fired their shots, so the debates about his conduct that fateful day continued. The authorities said he was a threat, while his widow said he walked toward police calmly with his hands at his sides. Residents gather for a vigil and march to protest the death of Keith Scott September 21, 2016 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Scott, who was black, was shot and killed at an apartment complex near UNC Charlotte by police officers, who say they warned Scott to drop a gun he was allegedly holding.   Brian Blanco / Getty Images Two months after Scott’s killing, Mecklenburg District Attorney Andrew Murray said that no charges would be filed against Brentley Vinson, the officer who fired the fatal shot. Murray reasoned that the evidence indicated that Scott had been armed at the time of his killing. His .380 semiautomatic handgun, according to police, had fallen to the ground after he was shot. The district attorney concluded that Scott didn’t aim his weapon at officers, but he didn’t obey their orders to drop it either. Scotts family expressed disappointment in the district attorney’s findings but asked the public to keep the peace. Sources Gordon, Michael. â€Å"Charlotte protests, riots are the backdrop in the murder trial of Rayquan Borum.† Charlotte Observer, 7 February 2019.Maxwell, Tanya and Melanie Eversley. â€Å"N.C. Gov. declares state of emergency following violent Charlotte protests.† USA Today, 21 September 2016.â€Å"Jury deadlocked in North Carolina officer shooting trial; mistrial declared.† CBS News, 21 August 2015.â€Å"State of emergency in Charlotte amid 2nd night of violent protests.† CBS News, 21 September 2016.

Malthus and Africa essays

Malthus and Africa essays Africa, being a third world country with much economic oppression, is currently being debated in the General Assembly about whether or not it should have population control. Many experts believe that, if not controlled, the rate of the increasing population of Africa will have disastrous effects. Over two hundred years ago, a man by the name of Thomas Robert Malthus wrote an essay on the effects of population and the food supply titled "An Essay on the Principle of Population." This essay dealt with the growth of population and if not restrained, how it would destroy man's subsistence here on Earth (Geyer 1). Much of what he wrote applies to not only Africa, but also the entire world today. Currently, the population growth in the Western Nations is approaching zero. This means that each family is having 2.1 children, enough to replace the current population. For North America to double, it would take one hundred years, for Europe, two hundred. But for Africa to double, it would take only twenty-four years. There are many factors as to why Africa, and many other third world countries, reproduces at such a rate. Lack of contraceptives, traditional values, high infant mortality, and poor education are a few of these factors (Duffey 2). "It is a lot easier for a country to deal with its problems if it has less people," says Brian Hailwel, who studies Malthus's theories (Kolasky 1). Carl Haub who stated, "It is almost impossible for a developing country to move from the Third World to the First World when their population is rising so rapidly" supports Hailwel's statement. Malthus believed that the evolution of mankind existed in cycles. Good times occurred when there were high wages and good living conditions, which led to early marriages and rapid population increase. Then come the bad times. Disease, low wages, and epidemics lead to population decrease and a restored balance between population and resources. This c...