6 Bad Work Habits That Are Ruining Your Career

6 Bad Work Habits That Are Ruining Your Career Whether you’re just starting out or trying to revitalize your career, it’s always important to do a lifestyle and attitude check up to make sure you’re not subconsciously sabotaging yourself. Here are 6 bad work habits that you should change if you want to find a path to success.1. RuthlessnessSure, the road to success is littered with ruthless, bloody-minded mercenaries who have tunnel vision- and damn everything and everybody else. But the business world also requires you to be a good team member and collaborator. Try to keep in mind that your success does not need to exclude anyone else’s success, and work together with your coworkers- rather than against.2. ComplainingThis is a waste of your time and energy. For every time you’re tempted to complain, try instead to think of a possible solution, or to channel your energy into something productive and constructive.3. GossipIf you’re a big mouth, spreading gossip or telling insider secrets, or worse- spreading mistruths- then you’re not going to go far. If people feel you can’t be trusted, you won’t ever gain the trust and confidence you’ll need to get to the top.4. DrinkingA drink or two can be a great ice breaker, but you’ll want to be careful not to overindulge. It can impair your function, burden your workweek with hangovers, and cause you to do things you might regret. Keep a hold on yourself socially so as not to lose a grip on yourself professionally.5. ArroganceConfidence in your abilities is one thing. Drive is another thing. Arrogance is just unnecessary. Try not to antagonize anyone with your self opinion on your way up the ladder. A little humility can go a long way.6. LazinessYou have to work hard to succeed. Employers and coworkers can always tell when someone isn’t pulling their weight. Next time you’re tempted to hang back and let others do the work, remember how important it is to pull your own weight an d to give it your all. If you don’t, you’ll never truly succeed.

Complete Plan When Should I Start Studying for the SAT

Complete Plan When Should I Start Studying for the SAT SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Before you start thinking about which colleges to apply to or what you want to study in college, you need to take the right steps to get there. For many students, this means taking the SAT. You may be wondering when to start studying for the SAT. If you start too late, you won't get the highest score you're capable of. But if you start too early, you might struggle because you haven’t learned all the necessary content yet, plus you could forget things by the time the test rolls around. So what’s the perfect time to start studying? We will briefly explain the content you need to know for the SAT, and then give you a recommended plan based on your college goals. When Should You Take the SAT? Before you decide when to start studying for the SAT, first you need to figure out when you'll take the SAT. Given the content on the SAT and the college application timeline,you should aim to take your first SAT in the fall of junior year.This gives you time to retake the SAT in spring if you want a higher score. Then if you score well, senior year will be freed up for your college applications. Also,aiming for junior fall means your SAT studying won’t compete with AP or IB exams. You'll have to decide between a more intense study schedule (like ten hours a week for two months) or a more gradual one (four hours a week for five months). Either method can work and help you make huge score increases, so choosing a plan will just depend on your schedule and study style. When Should You Start Studying for the SAT? Working backwards from junior fall, it’s good tostart studying at some point during sophomore yearfor a longer, less intense plan or the summer after sophomore year for a more intense plan. Taking the PSAT (Practice SAT) orPSAT 10as a sophomore is a great way to get introduced to the test in a completely no-pressure situation –you aren’t qualified for the National Merit competitionuntil junior year, so you can just get an introduction to the test and get a sense of where you stand with your current skills. If your school doesn’t offer the PSAT or it's too late to sign up, you can also takea free SAT practice test online. Just remember to time yourself carefully to simulate actual test conditions! By taking a practice SAT or a PSAT, you'll have a baseline score which you'll use to determine how many hours you need to study for the SAT further on in this article. Where Do You Want to Go to College? The length and intensity of your study plan will strongly depend on your college goals. If you’re looking to go a decent in-state school, there is less pressure riding on your score than if you are set on the likes of Harvard, Stanford, or MIT. Use the three plans below to help you come up with your SAT target score. Ivy League/Highly Selective School SAT Study Plan If you’re aiming for highly selective colleges like the Ivy Leagues, Stanford, and MIT,getting a high SAT score is extremely important.Definitely plan to take the PSAT as a sophomore to see how you are shaping up to do on the SAT. You should consider taking a full SAT practice test as well, since the PSAT doesn’t include all of the content tested on the real SAT. You'll need an excellent SAT score to get into MIT! Once you have a starting score, decide whether you want to study during sophomore year at a more gradual pace or use the summer before junior year for a more intensive study schedule. Keep in mindyour target SAT score should be1500 or higher if you are aiming for top schools.This puts you in the higher end of admitted student score ranges for these schools, and thus improves your odds of admission. Next, take the SAT for the first time during junior fall. If you fall short of a 1500 (or whatever you set your target score at), plan to retake the SAT in junior spring and continue to study. (Learn more aboutwhy getting above 1500 is so important for top schools.) Selective School SAT Study Plan We are defining selective schools as schools that take less than half of admitted applicants (in other words, their admissions rate is below 50%). These schools are tough to get into, but not as competitive as the Ivy Leagues, Stanford, and MIT. For selective schools, we also recommend either taking the PSAT as a sophomore to gauge your base score or taking a practice SAT. Next,look up the SAT score ranges for your target colleges.You can find any college’s SAT score ranges by searching for â€Å"[Name of College/University] SAT scores PrepScholar†. Set your target SAT score based on the most selective school you are applying to.This way, if you make your score goal, you can comfortably apply to every school on your list. For example, if the most competitive school you’re applying to is New York University, you shouldset your SAT target score at 1350– the average score of admitted students. Take the SAT junior fall. If you are short of your goal, you can retake it in junior spring. Less Selective School SAT Study Plan Less selective schools are schools that admit more than half of their applicants. This is often the case with large public universities or lesser-known small colleges. Your SAT score here is important, but it likely won’t need to be sky high. Take the PSAT as a sophomore to gauge your starting point. If you seriously struggle – get any score below a 1000 – start doing some prep sophomore year so you can get at least an above-average SAT score. Otherwise, you can wait until after sophomore year is over and prep during the summer.Look up the SAT score ranges at your target schoolsand set your target score based on those ranges. For example, if you’re hoping to get into the University of Kentucky,you should set your target SAT score at 30for the new SAT, which is their average SAT score for admission. Take the SAT junior fall.If your score is way lower than your state school’s ranges, you can retake the test in junior spring. Otherwise, focus on keeping your grades up and devoting time to your extracurriculars. Want to learn more about the SAT but tired of reading blog articles? Then you'll love our free, SAT prep livestreams. Designed and led by PrepScholar SAT experts, these live video events are a great resource for students and parents looking to learn more about the SAT and SAT prep. Click on the button below to register for one of our livestreams today! How Much Do You Need to Study for the SAT? How many hours you need to study for the SAT depends onhow large a point improvement you want to make.You'll determine this by figuring out the difference between the baseline score you got from your practice test and your target score for the schools you want to get accepted to. You can use the following hours per point improvement recommendations as a starting point. 0-50 SAT Composite Point Improvement: 10 hours50-100 Point Improvement: 20 hours100-200 Point Improvement: 40 hours200-300 Point Improvement: 80 hours300-500 Point Improvement: 150 hours+ (For more on scoring, see our post on how the SAT is scored.) As an example,if you get a 1200 on your practice test, and your target score is 1500, then you have 300 points to improve, meaning you should put in about 80 hours.You could space this out (say, three hours per week for six months) or study intensely over the summer (16 hours per week for five weeks). This guideline is just a starting point and exactly how much time you'll need to spend studying heavily depends on how much you've prepped before, your starting skill level, and your ability to learn new concepts quickly. If you're looking for a small improvement, like 50 points,you can do this by optimizing your testing strategy and possibly even just byretaking the test.But for serious improvements, 200 points and above, you likely still need to learn a lot of fundamental content. Little tricks and strategies won't be enough to raise your score - you will need to learn actual material and attack your test-taking weaknesses. Think about it this way: the SAT tests academic skills that you've been learning your entire life, like how numbers work and how to read.As a high school junior, you've completed over 20,000 hours of schooling and homework.An improvement of 200 or more points requires a serious retooling of your knowledge and skills. If you can't devote at least 80 hours to prepping, you will find it very difficult to make huge score improvements. What’s Tested on the SAT? In this section we go over the major topics you'll be tested on in each of three main sections of the SAT. You can use this information to figure out what material you already know and what you still need to learn for the SAT. Reading All questions on the SAT Reading section are based on passages with set topics. There will be one US or world literature passage, two history/social science passages, and two science passages. You will need to be able to read and understand the passages and then answer multiple-choice questions about them. The literature passage can use especially complex language, so you have to be able to break down complex language in a short amount of time five passages (and 52 questions) in 65 minutes, to be precise. The questions require you to define vocabulary based on context, use evidence, understand logical arguments, and even understand some basic scientific concepts. There are even a few questions about data analysis basically, you'll have to break down a graph or table. Finally, there are two-part "evidence support" questions: the first question asks you something about the passage, and the second question asks you where exactly in the passage you find your evidence. Check out this example to see what an evidence support question looks like: Via College Board's Test Specifications for the Redesigned SAT. Doing well on SAT Reading will require you to read difficult passages from different subjects quickly and break down their meaning. Essentially, the more advanced of a reader you are, and the more English, science, and social science classes you have taken, the better prepared you will be for this section. Having two years of high school English completed by the time you take the test junior fall will give you a sufficient base to study with. High school English classes both broaden your vocabulary and teach you to approach increasingly difficult texts. In addition, social science or science classes you take will further prepare you to tackle the social science and science passages. Any advanced reading you can do outside of class – either in terms of books or magazines like The New Yorker or Wired – will also be helpful. Read a detailed breakdown of the Reading section here. Math SAT Math tests the following math concepts: Numbers and Operations Algebra and Functions Geometry and Measurement Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability Trigonometry (You can read a full breakdown of how these concepts are tested here.) This means that once you have taken Geometry and Algebra II, you will have learned all the content you need for the SAT Math section. You don’t need to worry about pre-calculus or calculus concepts on the SAT. However, SAT Math will require you to work through story problems and real-life scenarios, with some science and social science concepts thrown in as well. This is why extra studying for the SAT Math section is very important. Definitely don’t attempt the SAT or a serious study regimen before you’ve completed geometry. But most students should be ready to tackle the SAT with the math they have learned before junior year. (If you want to read more about what it would be like to take the SAT without geometry, see our post on the subject.) Writing and Language The writing section of the SAT tests your ability to understand and apply grammar rules and English language conventions to both sentences and paragraphs. For this section, you will be asked to improve sentences (in terms of grammar and structure), identify errors in sentences (grammar and usage) and to improve paragraphs (organization and revision), all in the context of long passages. You can read a complete breakdown of this section here. The more familiar you are with English grammar rules, the easier this section will be for you. Additionally, the more experience you have writing and revising, the easier it will be for you to tackle these questions quickly. Again, two years of high school English should be sufficient preparation for most students, but reading and writing outside of class will help you get ahead. Also, you should definitely take the time to study the grammar rules that will be tested on SAT Writing. The Bottom Line: When to Start Studying for the SAT We recommend you take the PSAT (or an SAT practice test) sophomore year to get your base SAT score. Then, figure out your target SAT score based on the most competitive school you’re applying to. Finally, begin to study either during sophomore year or the following summer, and take the SAT junior fall. The intensity of your studying will vary by how selective the schools you want to get into are, your starting score, and how much you need to improve. But if you start during sophomore year by taking the PSAT or an SAT practice test, you will be on track to get your best possible score during junior year. This will free up your senior year for college applications. What’s Next? Are you aiming for a perfect or close-to-perfect score? Get tips from our resident full-scorer about how to get there. Learn what a good/bad/excellent SAT score is, and read about good scores for the Ivy League. Curious about how the PSAT qualifies you for the National Merit Competition? Learn how to qualify here. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points?We have the industry's leading SAT prep program. Built by Harvard grads and SAT full scorers, the program learns your strengths and weaknesses through advanced statistics, then customizes your prep program to you so you get the most effective prep possible. Check out our 5-day free trial today:

Quiz Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 6

Quiz - Essay Example Today, we are connected to hundreds of friends in the online community, but we are oblivious of the person sitting next to us, who may be our parent, our spouse, our child, our neighbor, or a relative. We share pictures and ideas with hundreds of people online, but we give a damn about what the person feels or think who is sitting in the same room as ours. People have lost the sense of belonging at all. Relations and friendships have converted into their digital forms, and we have stopped interacting with even the closest of our relatives by being physically absent to them. We are aware of each and every happening in their lives, but we have no time in arranging a meeting with them and having a gossip face-to-face. People convey their feelings in the digital format- feelings that they could never have conveyed in person; however, this conveyance of feelings lacks the emotional touch of understanding and compassion. The basic essence of social interaction is talking, which is becoming void even today, and disappear totally in some years to come. People have become narcissistic, because they love only their profiles, strive to put up great display pictures, try to fake what is actually not true, and this has made them oblivious to other people’s feelings and emotions. Such is the hazard of social media which is intruding our lives more and more with every passing

Reading response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 19

Reading response - Essay Example Southern states viewed this law as a threat because, in their view, it would increase the political influence of the West. Therefore, the law was passed during the first civil war when there was no Southern opposition. Signed into law in February 1881, this act was sponsored by Massachusetts Senator H.L Dawes, to provide for the granting of landholdings to Native Americans for replacing communal tribal holdings. This act aimed at including social divisions into the national society. This act also formed a trust fund to gather and disseminate the proceeds from timber, oil, mineral and grazing leases on the lands of Native Americans. Legislators hoped to complete the absorption process through division of reservation lands into privately owned lands (Kutler 220).They wanted to put an end to the communal life-style that the Native Americans had been living, by imposing Western values within the small household units. Allotments could be sold after a 25-year period, which was the statutory period, and non-allotted surplus land opened to settlers. After years of the act, it had the negative impact on the unity, culture, and self-government of the Native Americans. Immediately after the discovery of oil, Rockefeller was immediately attracted to this business. In 1863, he joined hands with partners to create a refining business. In 1870, he teamed with his brother to form the Standard Oil Company, which employed several devices to gain control of 90% of the oil business. Rockefeller bought every component demanded for producing oil barrels, and this way, he was able to keep his competitors away because he had monopolized the business. The Standard Oil Company cut its prices to withstand short term losses. This rate war strategy ensured that smaller competitors were kicked out of the market since they could not keep pace. Rockefeller also believed in intimidation, and, on

How to protect against 4 e-commerce security challenges Essay Example for Free

How to protect against 4 e-commerce security challenges Essay Introduction Nowadays is the trends that trust the Internet commerce application where it can cause business operators. Some people will revert back to using the traditional method of doing business. The trust can be lost due to the situation where the hacker attack on e-commerce sites. According to the study done by Hammonds (2014) state that full-scale identity theft to web profiling come with various issues that been disturbed the consumer and vendor itself. That why, E-commerce also known as a form of buying and selling of product and services for the business and for the customer through the internet According to research done by Mukherjee (2016) state that online sale increasing day by day because customer take advantage of the low price product that offered by the wholesaler or the manufacturer in the online mood. Besides that, e-commerce also helps the customer and the organization in term of gaining the information through the technology that has been provided. Under Industry 4.0 concept, outstanding growth in advance and the information technology in social media network has been increasingly influencing human perception. That small enterprise that adopts e-commerce performs better than those which fail to adopt because of the catalytic effect on business performance (Wanyoike, et al. , 2012). This is because e-commerce adoption is not automatic due to the weaknesses of resources, for example, financial with e-commerce skill where the small enterprise have done it on the daily basis. It is shown that small enterprise can influence people to the business by using e-commerce by increasing the information about the social media network. The scope of study that has been done by Mihyun Chung Jaehyoun (2014) Kim elaborate that the Industry 4.0 is the industrial revolution with the future of core technology trend is expected to result in an all-new era of automated industries. Furthermore, the internet devices significantly improve the quality o f lives and in result will have a large impact on society. This has been proved with the development of small industry where they can go far in business by using the internet and apply the e-commerce business. Implementation of e-commerce is required high cost and need a strong economy-justification (Valmohammadi et al., 2016). This is because, in order to get the internet connection, there are a lot of things need build and upgraded in order to get the best connection. A poor connection can give the bad perception of the customer to the country and the nation and the ever-increasing growth of e-commerce in develop countries must be followed by the business policy and strategies that have bee fundamentally reconsidered as in the developing country. Acting as online marketplaces, e-commerce websites and mobile applications that facilitate online commercial transactions allow manufacturers, merchants, retailers and service and content providers to list their products, services or content online (Yen et al.,2015). To get success in e-commerce, there is some business model of e-commerce which it is has been structured in order to plan the activities more thoroughly to gain profit for an organization. The table below shows the key elements of e-commerce business model. ELEMENT DESCRIPTION VALUE PROPOSITION How a company’s products or services fulfill its customers’ requirements [14]. REVENUE MODEL How a company generates revenue and creates profit. MARKET OPPORTUNITY The marketplace that a company intends to enter, as well as the company’s potential financial opportunities in that marketplace. Many small market segments constitute a marketplace. MARKET STRATEGY How a company plans to enter a new marketplace and attract new customers. COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT Potential new entrants or other companies that offer similar products or services in the same marketplace. COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE A company offers superior products or services at a lower price than its competitors do [23]. ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT How a company organizes its work in a targeted, goal-oriented manner. MANAGEMENT TEAM. Leaders of a company’s business unit, responsible for the business model. Source: Adapted from Laudon, K.C., and Traver, C.G. E-commerce 2015: business. technology. society., 11th edition, pp58-68, Pearson [16]. Industry 4.0 is one of technology innovation after been through with the other three industry before. This industry is most modern where everything needs to use the internet in order to complete the task given. The information that available on the internet are not necessarily mean or lead to the success directly ( Kleindienst et al. , 2016). In contrast, the information usually gives some tools and methods and the right information is still needed in order to increase the effectiveness and lead the innovation. No wonder nowadays, it has been the topic that most frequent being discussed among the practitioners and academics in the German-speaking area (Dais, 2014, p. 625; Drath Horch, 2014, p. 56).In this industrial revolution, it provides various opportunities to the company, especially in e-commerce fields. According to Zhou (2015) article state that industry 4.0 system is complex and flexible where there are involving). This is due to challenges that the industry facing by dealin g with big data issue in order to make a decision rapidly for making an improvement. Big data becomes a buzzword for everyone because data mining already been since human-generated content has been a boost to the social network. The development of an Internet of Things (IoT) framework and the emergence of sensing technology have created unified information that will be connected with the systems and human together ( Jay Ley et al. , 2014). This is because nowadays only use a database in order to get and save the information into the system. When the internet has been well developing, it can help human to work more effectively with the system and can help the human to save time use the technology wisely.

Love and Marriage in Gallants The Other Paris Essay -- Mavis Gallant

The Other Paris Love waxes timeless. It is passionate and forbidden and a true head rush. Marriage, on the other hand, is practical, safe, a ride up the socioeconomic ladder. In "The Other Paris," Mavis Gallant weaves the tale of Carol and Howard, a fictional couple who stand on the verge of a loveless marriage, to symbolize the misguided actions of the men and women in the reality of the 1950s, the story's setting. By employing stereotypical, ignorant, and altogether uninteresting characters, Gallant highlights the distinction between reality and imagination and through the mishaps and lack of passion in their courtship mockingly comments on society?s views of love and marriage. Gallant typecast both Carol and Howard as ordinary young people, and like typical human beings, both have faults and beliefs that follow the accepted practices of society. As all women of a certain point in life (if that certain point can be said as the age of ?twenty-two?), Carol frets incessantly over her age, being ?under the illusion? that very soon she would be ?so old? that no man could possibly want her. Here, Gallant ridicules the standards of age and beauty expected by society from women like Carol, a thing common even in a more open and accepting world like today?s. Like her peers throughout time, Carol is pressured not only by her friends or parents but also herself to get a man while she able to attract someone much more suitable than that ?medical student with no money.? Her vanity and fear of ending up old and alone embodies societal views toward spinsters as women pining away in some dingy corner. Likewise, Howard also has the same pride as men now. His sister?s caution and unwelcome prediction that he will soon be just ?a... ...and approval. In the end, readers are unsure whether to laugh or cry at the union of Carol and Howard, two people most undoubtedly not in love. Detailed character developments of the confused young adults combined with the brisk, businesslike tone used to describe this disastrous marriage effectively highlight the gap between marrying for love and marrying for ?reason.? As a piece written in the 1950s, when women still belonged to their husbands? households and marriages remained arranged for class and money?s sake, Gallant?s short story excerpt successfully utilizes fictional characters to point out a bigger picture: no human being ought to repress his or her own desires for love in exchange for just an adequate home and a tolerable spouse. May everyone find their own wild passions instead of merely settling for the security and banality of that ?Other Paris.?

How to become a successful business person Essay

1. Have knowledge about business Choose a business school Master business fundamentals Accumulate knowledge through real business activities 2. Develop our interpersonal skills Explanation: Interpersonal skills help us to interact well with people. Furthermore, we need these skills to manage our employees and negotiate deals or contracts effectively. As a result, we will become a successful manager. 3. Have passion on doing business Explanation: It is an essential element with all of people who do business because it motivates us to achieve the success. 4. Seek guidance of a mentor Explain: Build relationship with a successful businessperson who has the same career because he or she can give us useful advices about business. Especially, if the person is a member of our family, he or she can give us business strategies. Therefore, you will have more opportunities to become a successful businessperson. Conclusion: It is hard to become a successful businessperson. However, we should try our best to achieve what we want. Paragraph To become a successful businessperson is not easy, but there are some of basic methods to help us to achieve it. Firstly, we have to have knowledge about business through enrolling in a business school. Furthermore, we must master the business fundamentals from the school and accumulate knowledge through real business activities. Secondly, one of the most important methods is to develop interpersonal skills. As we know, Interpersonal skills help us to interact well with people. Moreover, we need these skills to manage our employees and negotiate deals or contracts effectively. As a result, we will become a successful manager. Third method is to have passion  on doing business. It is an essential element with all people who do business because it motivates us to achieve the success. Generally, without passion, nothing can be achieved. Finally, we should seek guidance of a mentor. We can build relationship with a successful businessperson who has the same career because he or she can give us useful advices about business. Especially, if the person is a member of our family, he or she can give us business strategies. Therefore, you will have more opportunities to become a successful businessperson. To summarize, it is hard to become a successful businessperson. However, we should try our best to achieve what we want.

Demographic Winter and Its Effects on the Society Essay

Concept Paper Final Draft: â€Å"Demographic Winter and Its Effect on Society† For years, people have in mind that the world’s population has been increasing annually. While it is true that a daily increment of 215,060 and yearly growth of 1.10% is happening on our world population of 7,174,592,903 (United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division, population Estimates, and Projections Sections), the demographic trend is actually changing in contrast to the beliefs of many. Historical events that occurred in the past, particularly the World Wars, have paved the way for the eradication of a large portion of mankind, but it also resulted to population explosion. The Baby Boom, a demographic phenomenon in Western countries, rose to fame wherein rapid growth in population was recorded around 1960s. This is usually ascribed within certain geographical bounds and when the number of annual births exceeds 2 per 100 women (or approximately 2% of the total population size) (Wikimedia Foudation, Inc). As the paper progresses, such belief will be proven as a myth these days. In 1968, Stanford University Professor Paul R. Ehrlich published the controversial book, The Population Bomb which warned of the mass starvation of humans in the 1970s and 1980s due to overpopulation. People grew scared of the idea of a population explosion and its detrimental effects to society. As they acquired the paradigm that babies are burden, a trend not to be sexually active anymore in Western countries was created. This, in turn, resulted to a new demographic occurrence called by demographers as Demographic Winter. Demographic winter is a global phenomenon characterized by population decline in birth rates. The term â€Å"nuclear winter,† popularized in the 1980s, alluded to the catastrophic environ mental impact of a nuclear war. The long-term consequences of demographic winter could be equally devastating (Feder). The Total Fertility Rate, the expected number of children born per woman in her child-bearing years of 2.1, is said to be the point of equilibrium in which a country’s population is neither growing nor decreasing. Essentially, a woman must replace herself and a man. This TFR is important because this only shows that an average woman is able to produce  2.1 children during her lifetime which is needed because some children die before maturity and also to stabilize the number of the population. (Fluctuating Fertility: The Baby Boom and the Baby Bust). When the Total Fertility Rate of a State is 2.1 births per woman who has reached the end of her productive life (that is around 50 years old), the Net Production Rate is 1, that is to say, the state has reach population age stability. When it is not, or is less than the nation’s previous TFR, the nation undergoes the phenomenon called demographic winter. (Fluctuating Fertility: The Baby Boom and the Baby Bust). Although demographic winter is a global incident, geography and the country’s economic status are underlying factors that contributed to what extent and to which nations such an event would occur. Demographic winter is currently more evident in developed countries such as in Europe, Australia, East Asia (Japan) and North America (U.S.), whose populations were the first to mature. Maturity here is defined as the average age of the population relative to the economic development of society. These countries also suffered the worst depopulation during the World Wars and experienced rapid population growth after (Yew). We shall focus more on these countries as we elaborate the concept of demographic winter for the cases which will be mentioned later applies more to their population trends. Of the 1 0 countries with the lowest birth rates, 9 are in Europe. Overall, the European fertility rate is 1.3, well below replacement level (2.1). No European nation has a replacement-level birth rate. Italy’s fertility rate is 1.2. Spain’s is 1.1 (Feder). That means, in the not-too-distant future, these countries will lose half of their people in every generation. Russia’s birth rate fell from 2.4 in 1990 to 1.17 today – a decline of more than 50% in less than 20 years. Each year, there are more abortions than live births in the Russian Federation (Demographic Winter). In U.S. alone, Total Fertility Rate (TFR) is almost 3.5 in the early 1960s, then began declining sharply — to below 3.0 in 1965, to about 2.5 (and temporarily holding steady) in the late 1960s, and down to about 1.8 by the mid-1970s. Hence, the TFR fell by almost half between the early 1960s and the mid-1970s. After a decade of stability at a level of about 1.8, the total fertility rate rose slowly after 1986, reaching 2.08 in 1990. It presently st ands at a little over 2, just slightly below the replacement level of 2.11 (Fluctuating Fertility: The Baby Boom and the Baby Bust). Japan’s TFR has continued to fall since dropping below 2.0 in 1975. It slumped to an all-time low of 1.26 in 2005. The number of babies born in the nation in 2012 fell by 13,705 from the previous year to hit a new low of 1,037,101 (Durden). With such data on hand, we now ask: â€Å"what are the factors that led to demographic winter?† According to the documentary film Demographic Winter: a Decline of the Human Family, fertility decline is caused by (1) economic prosperity, (2) sexual revolution, (3) women in the labour force, (4) Divorce revolution, and (5) inaccurate assumptions. As developed countries continue to rise in their economic status, a paradigm shift among members of the labour force occurs. Previously, babies are considered as blessings and investments by parents. Nowadays, they are viewed by parents as an added expense and burden to them. As standards of living in the urban areas of different countries continue to increase, life becomes harder to sustain. An added mouth to feed is just something that can’t be considered especially by realists. Richer countries want to invest and spend their money on adults, the more affluent, whom they can use for further economic development than children. Sexual revolution is also eyed as a contributing factor wherein Feminism is evident. The number of women in their 20s who had a child in 2012 decreased by 16,200 from the previous year, while the number of births among women aged from 35 to 39 and from 40 to 44 increased by a combined total of about 8,700. As more women are empowered and gain equal treatment in education and employment, they now opt to join the labour force, the corporate world and pursue career paths than devoting themselves to family life. Growing valuable time of working mothers constructed the mindset that they don’t want children, they want jobs instead. The labor force participation rates among married women with children, particularly young children, have been steadily increasing since 1970. In 1985, nearly half of all women with children under age 18 were in the labor force, as compared with less than 40 percent in 1970 (Hayghe). Moreover, the declines in fertility rates, as well as declines in family size, increasing childlessness, and delayed childbearing have freed many women to pursue employment opportunities outside the home. Completed family size, for example, decreased from 2.4 children in 1970 to 1 .7 in 1984 among white women, and from 3.1 to 2.2 children among blacks (U.S. Department of Health And Human Services). With the increase of participation of women in  the labour force, an inverse reciprocal in the fertility rates is also observed. Along with sexual revolution and the greater involvement of women on the labour force, divorce revolution can be viewed as a related contributing factor to the decline of fertility rates. With more women gaining financial and social capabilities in the society, marriage is now viewed as something superficial especially with the legalization of divorce in developed countries such as the United States. Not only has marriage been increasingly pushed to a late age, but once accomplished, marriages are more likely to end in divorce than at any previous time in History. Preston and McDonald (1979) estimated that although 16% of all marriages in the United States in 1915 ended in divorce, 36% of the 1964 marriages will end that way. However, by 1988, the data were suggesting a levelling off at about 43% of marriages ending in divorce (Schoen and Weinick). The Un ited States is certainly not unique in experiencing an increase in divorce probabilities. William Goode, in his book World Revolution and Family Patterns (1993), compiled data for Europe showing that throughout the said continent the percentage of marriages that will end in divorce virtually doubled between 1970 and the mid- 1980s. For example, in Germany in 1970 it is estimated that 16% of marriages would end in divorce, increasing to 30% in 1985. In France, the increase went from 12% to 31% during that same period of time. Australia has experienced similar trends (Weeks). With the said increase in the number of divorce cases, an inverse reciprocal for the fertility rate equals. Thus, divorce revolution is a cause of demographic winter. And lastly, the main culprit for all the causes of demographic winter is the inaccurate assumption made from the increasing population. As mentioned earlier in this paper, Stanford University professor Paul Ehrlich’s controversial book â€Å"The Population Bomb† propagated the idea that the rapid increase in population will eventually lead to population explosion causing food shortage. Such occurrence according to him cannot be sustained by the global community. Malthusian Theory stating that human population grows exponentially while food production grows at an arithmetic rate, made people including Ehrlich that such insustainability and shortage in resources is truly imminent. The predictions came true but not exactly as Ehrlich perceived it. The effects are mainly unfelt in the developed world and food production grew exponentially at a rate higher than population growth in  both developed and developing countries. Food per capita is the highest in history. During the greatest population-growth period in human history, food became cheaper and more abundant (prices dropped up to 70%). Population gro wth rates, on the other hand, significantly slowed down especially in the developed world (Erlich). The sad reality at present is this misconception still lingers on the thoughts of the educated ones. This now resulted to interference of government to population growth by creating and implementing policies that aims to decrease rates of population growth. Examples are Reproductive Health Act in U. S. and One-child policy in China and Singapore. The biggest impact on fertility from the pill was from eliminating â€Å"unwanted pregnancies† by 70% of married woman (Demographic Winter: The New Economic Reality). Secularization is also a factor that affects fertility rates. The anti-Christian, anti-family ideology which can be rooted to the Marxist view of activists currently sweeping across most of Western civilisation has precipitated a culture of death that is slowly but inexorably killing off the human family. Those who believe about meaning of life have children. Those who don’t, don’t (Feder). We can therefore say that all aspects of modernity work against fam ily life and is in favour of singleness, having a small family, or opting to have no child at all. Add up to that none of these problems can be easily fixed. It’s who we are and what we’ve become increasingly in these modern times. But the question here that remains is, if we are experiencing demographic winter, why is that population continues to grow? This now can be attributed to the Alternatives of developed countries to compensate for their declining population which is immigration (esp. on Europe and Australia) (Demographic Winter: The New Economic Reality). Also, the issue of ageing population comes in. What we currently perceive is that death rate is less compared to before. Less people are born but also lesser die thus creating that aged population. Given the origin, definition and causes of demographic winter, let us now focus to its effects on society. This can now be classified into (1) biological, (2) political, and to the (3) economy. However, these can be inter-related. Research has shown that demographics can have a significant impact on countries’ stability, governance, economic development and the well-being of its people (Population Action International). As stated earlier, an ageing population is an issue that can be attributed to  biological effects of demographic winter. In 1998, there was a 48-year lag between births and peak spending of those individuals. Japan is one of the countries to first experience demographic winter after the world war for they did not experience the Baby Bomb, unlike U.S. Developed countries will have this age trap or the said modern inverted pyramid wherein number of grandparents is greater than the number of children. This is in contrast to the trend before wherein the number of children is greater than the grandparents’. With this occurrence, the children will not be able to sufficiently take care of the old due to lack of number. Also, some countries might cease to exist. There are fifty-nine (59) nations, namely, Russia, China, Spain, Portugal, Canada, Italy, Germany, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong, (Central Inteligence Agency) – with 44% of the world’s population – th at are now experiencing below-replacement birth rates. Worldwide, there are 6 million fewer children (under age 6) today than there were in 1990. The United Nations estimates that if current trends continue, by 2050 there will be 248 million fewer children (under age 5) than there are now. Overall, Europe’s fertility rate is 1.3; a birth rate of 2.1 is needed just to replace current population. In this century, countries such as Italy, Spain, Russia and even France could cease to exist – at least as they’re currently constituted. Demographer Philip Longman (author of The Empty Cradle: How Falling Birth rates Threaten World Prosperity) observes: The on-going global decline in human birth rates is the single most powerful force affecting the fate of nations and the future of society in the 21st century. â€Å"Demographic winter is a great predictor of a country’s fate and future because children are essential for a country’s economic survival,† Longman added. As Japan’s population has aged beyond 48 years old, its consumer spending has steadily declined. Here now enters the effects to economy. Never in history is an ageing population able to develop a prosperous economy (Demographic Winter: The New Economic Reality). Why? The ratio of young to old will shift dramatically and wreak havoc upon existing social security and healthcare systems. The economy at large may also suffer, as the elderly cease spending and a smaller generation of workers is crippled by the taxes needed to support their parents. â€Å"The world this will bring about, according to the filmmakers, is bleak: grandparents left untended and alone in the streets of Europe as intergenerational bonds are  shattered; the potential desolation of small countries such as Latvia, and a worldwide depression that will touch even those countries that don’t disappear under the sheath of snow that the film shows blanketing the entire globe.† (Joyce). So argues Harry S. Dent, Jr., an economist who specializes in â€Å"demographic-based economic forecasting,† and who predicts that the West will follow Japan’s aging population bust. Politically, demographic winter can be associated with the voting body. A political analysis said that political preference reveals that the metaphorical eggs of Republicans rest entirely in one basket: the vote s of older white people. According to the exit polls conducted by the New York Times of the 2012 presidential election, Republican nominee Mitt Romney won 59 percent of white voters, and 56 percent of voters over age 65. The intersection of those two areas is the demographic base of the Republican Party, and it is dying. Markos Moulitsas posited that conservatives’ endeavours to weaken the social safety net have made it harder for these seniors who comprise the Republican base to stay alive (Atkins). While some may still debunk and not accept the fact that such phenomenon is happening, it just happens, and will still continue despite of us shunning the thought of it. Demographic winter is no joke. Further neglect of the declining rates of population growth will soon not only affect political, biological, and economic aspects of society but may also jeopardize even the existence of mankind in the future. I value intellectual integrity and the highest standards of academic conduct. I am committed to an ethical learning environment that promotes a high standard of honor in scholastic work. Academic dishonesty undermines institutional integrity and threatens the academic fabric of the University of the Philippines. And because I believe that dishonesty is not an acceptable avenue to success, I aff ix my signature to this work to affirm that it is original and free of cheating and plagiarism, and does not knowingly furnish false information.† ______________________________ Mary Philline Descalzo Works Cited Atkins, Dante. Daily Kos. 23 June 2013. Web. 29 August 2013. . Central Inteligence Agency. The World Fact Book. n.d. Web. 12 September 2013. . Demographic Winter. n.d. Web. 29 August 2013. . Demographic Winter. Demographic Winter: The New Economic Reality. 2011. Web. 29 August 2013. . Durden, Tyler. Japanese Birth Rate Plunges To Record Low As Death-Rate Hits Record High. 7 June 2013. web. 29 August 2013. . Erlich, Paul R. The Population Bomb. New York: Ballantine Books, 1968. Print. 29 August 2013. Feder, Don. Demographic Winter. 5 March 2008. Web. 29 August 2013. . Fluctuating Fertility: The Baby Boom and the Baby Bust. n.d. Web. 29 August 2013. . Gone for Goode. Dir. Barry Levinson. Perf. Ned Beatty, Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, Wendy Hughes, Clark Johnson, Yaphet Kotto, Melissa Leo, Jon Polito, Kyle Secor Daniel Baldwin. 1993. Web. Goode, William Josiah. World Revolution and Family Patterns. New York: Free Press, 1963. Document. Hayghe, Howard. â€Å"Rise in mothers’ labor force participation includes those with young children.† Monthly Labor Review (1986): 43-45. Print. 29 August 2013. Joyce, Kathryn. Kathryn Joyce. n.d. Web. 29 August 2013. Population Action International. Topic  » Population Trends and Demography. 2012. Web. 29 August 2013. . Schoen, Robert and Robin M. Weinick. â€Å"The Slowing Metabolism of Marriage: Figures from 1988 U.S. Marital Status Life Tables.† Demography 30 (1993): 737-746. Document. 29 August 2013. . U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES. Vital and Health Statistics. Primary Research Report. National Center for Health Statistics. Hyattsville, Maryland: DHHS Publication, 1986. Web. 29 August 2013. . United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division, population Estimates, and Projections Sections. United Nations. n.d. Web. 29 August 2013. Weeks, John R. â€Å"Population and Contemporary Issues.† Weeks, John R. Population: an Introduction to Concepts and Issues. Ed. Eve Howard. Sixth. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1996. 338. Print. 29 August 2013. Wikimedia Foudation, Inc. Baby Boom. 25 July 2013. web. 29 August 2013. Wikimedia Foudat ion, Inc. The Population Bomb. 25 August 2013. web. 29 August 2013. Yew, Lee Kuan. Warning Bell for Developed Countries: Declining Birth Rates. 25 April 2012. Web. 29 August 2013. .

In Search of Excellence Book Review essays

In Search of Excellence Book Review essays In Search of Excellence is a book dealing with many different principles of economics and what makes big business' excellent. The first idea that Peters discusses is his chart of the McKinsey 7-S Framework. The graph is very simple but the ideas are fairly complex. In their research, they found that their philosophies were too hard to explain and easily forgettable. They made this Framework to deal with strategy, structure, style, systems, staff (people), skills, and shared values (culture). This has 7 S's (easy to remember) and a graphical representation to visualize. This shows the businessman that the intractable, irrational, intuitive, and informal organization can be managed. For example, anyone assuming that a new manager of a Taco Bell will perform exactly as the old manager did is ridiculous. The organization of workers must adjust and adapt to the new manager's way of business. Another more main topic of the novel is the Eight Basic Principles. Their research had shown that the excellent companies had been based on the basics. The companies had to try to keep things simple. Sometimes, to a big business, it might seem logical that business should be run more complex the larger it is. From their research, this is usually not true. The first pricnciple is a bias for action. This is basically saying "Stop talking and do something about it." When Taco Bell has a rush of customers and their supplies for making food are low, they (usually) don't say "You know what, I have no more cheese" or "Could someone get me some more cheese?" They take action and get the cheese, make it if necessary, and get the problem solved as quickly as possible. The second Principle they deal with is to be close to the customer. This means good service and listening to what the customer has to say. If the producer, Taco Bell, is not in touch with what the customer wants to eat, then the business will most likely fail. Although it also refers to custo...

Horrifying Hammerhead Worm Facts

Horrifying Hammerhead Worm Facts The hammerhead worm (Bipalium sp.) is a terrifying and toxic terrestrial flatworm. Its both a predator and a cannibal, and is basically a large planarian that lives on land. While the distinctive-looking worms dont pose a direct threat to human beings, they are an invasive species that eradicates earthworms. Fast Facts: Hammerhead Worm Scientific Name: Bipalium sp.Other Names: Broadhead planarian, landchovyDistinguishing Features: Large terrestrial planarian with a spade-shaped head and ventral foot or creeping soleAverage Size: Over 20 cm in length (B. kewense)Diet: Carnivorous, known to eat earthworms and each otherLifespan: Potentially immortalHabitat: Distributed worldwide, preferring humid, warm habitatsConservation Status: Not evaluatedKingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: PlatyhelminthesClass: RhabditophoraOrder: TricladidaFamily: GeoplanidaeFun Fact: The hammerhead worm is one of very few terrestrial invertebrates known to produce tetrodotoxin. Description The most distinctive features of the hammerhead worm are its fan-shaped or spade-like head and long, flattened body. The underside of the planarian has a large creeping sole used for locomotion. Species are differentiated by the shape of the head, size, coloration, and stripe pattern. The terrestrial planarians are earth-colored, found in shades of gray, brown, gold, and green. Small hammerhead worms include B. adventitium, which ranges from 5 to 8  cm (2.0 to 3.1  in) in length. In contrast, adult B. kewense worms can exceed 20 cm in length. The hammerhead worm has a long, flattened body and a broad head. up close with nature / Getty Images Distribution and Habitat Hammerhead worms are native to tropical and subtropical regions, but have become invasive worldwide. It is believed the planarians were accidentally distributed on rooted horticultural plants. Because hammerhead worms require humidity, they are uncommon in desert and mountain biomes. Diet Bipalium worms are carnivores, known to prey on earthworms, slugs, insect larvae, and each other. The worms detect prey using chemoreceptors located under the head or ventral groove. A hammerhead worm tracks its prey, pushes it against a surface, and entangles it in slimy secretions. Once the prey is mostly immobilized, the worm extends is pharynx out from its body and secretes digestive enzymes. It sucks liquefied tissue into its branched gut using cilia. When digestion is complete, the worms mouth also serves as its anus. Hammerhead worms store food in vacuoles in their digestive epithelium. A worm can survive several weeks on its reserves and will cannibalize its own tissues for food. Bipalium kewense capturing an earthworm. Researchers believe the planarian secretes a toxin to immobilize its prey.   Jean-Lou Justine​, Leigh Winsor, Delphine Gey, Pierre Gros, and Jessica Thà ©venot Toxicity While some types of worms are edible, the hammerhead worm is not among them. The planarian contains the potent neurotoxin, tetrodotoxin. The toxin is found in pufferfish, the blue-ringed octopus, and rough-skinned newts, but not in a terrestrial invertebrate prior to its discovery in the hammerhead worm. The worm can use the toxin to immobilize prey and deter predators. Behavior Hammerhead worms have been mistakenly called hammerhead slugs because they move in a slug-like fashion. They use cilia on their creeping sole to glide over a strip of mucus. The worms have also been observed lowering themselves down a string of mucus. Land planarians are photo-negative and need high humidity. So, the animals usually move and feed at night. They prefer cool, damp places, typically residing under rocks, logs, or shrubs. Reproduction The worms are hermaphrodites, with each individual possessing both testes and ovaries. A hammerhead worm can exchange gametes with another worm via its secretions. Fertilized eggs develop inside the body and are shed as egg capsules. After about three weeks, the eggs hatch and the worms mature. In some species, juveniles have different coloration from adults. However, asexual reproduction is much more common than sexual reproduction. Hammerhead worms, like other planaria, are essentially immortal. Usually, a worm reproduces via fragmentation, leaving behind a tail tip stuck to a leaf or other substrate, which then develops into an adult. If the worm is cut into pieces, each section can regenerate into a fully-developed organism within a few weeks. Injured worms rapidly regenerate damaged tissue. Conservation Status None of the species of hammerhead worm have been evaluated for the IUCN Red List, but there is no evidence their numbers are threatened. Land planarians are widely distributed in their natural tropical and subtropical habitats and have extended worldwide. Once established in a greenhouse, the animals disperse into the surrounding region. In cold areas, the worms are able to survive freezing by seeking protected locations. Economic Importance At one time, researchers were concerned terrestrial planarians might damage plants. Over time, they were deemed harmless to greenery, but then a more insidious threat appeared. Hammerhead worms can exterminate earthworm populations. Earthworms are important because they aerate and fertilize soil. While some methods used to control slugs also work on the flatworms, hammerhead worms are considered a threatening invasive species. Their effect on ecosystems has yet to be fully understood. Sources Ducey, P. K.; Cerqua, J.; West, L. J.; Warner, M. (2006). Eberle, Mark E, ed. Rare Egg Capsule Production in the Invasive Terrestrial Planarian Bipalium Kewense. The Southwestern Naturalist. 51 (2): 252. doi:10.1894/0038-4909(2006)51[252:RECPIT]2.0.CO;2Ducey, P. K.; West, L. J.; Shaw, G.; De Lisle, J. (2005). Reproductive ecology and evolution in the invasive terrestrial planarian Bipalium adventitium across North America. Pedobiologia. 49 (4): 367. doi:10.1016/j.pedobi.2005.04.002Ducey, P. K.; Messere, M.; Lapoint, K.; Noce, S. (1999). Lumbricid Prey and Potential Herpetofaunal Predators of the Invading Terrestrial Flatworm Bipalium adventitium (Turbellaria: Tricladida: Terricola). The American Midland Naturalist. 141 (2): 305. doi:10.1674/0003-0031(1999)141[0305:LPAPHP]2.0.CO;2Ogren, R. E. (1995). Predation behaviour of land planarians. Hydrobiologia. 305: 105–111. doi:10.1007/BF00036370Stokes, A. N.; Ducey, P. K.; Neuman-Lee, L.; Hanifin, C. T.; French, S. S.; Pfrender, M. E.; Brodie, E. D.; Brodie Jr., E. D. (2014). Confirmation and Distribution of Tetrodotoxin for the First Time in Terrestrial Invertebrates: Two Terrestrial Flatworm Species (Bipalium adventitium and Bipalium kewense). PLoS ONE. 9 (6): e100718. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0100718

Effect of retiring baby boomers to US economy Research Paper

Effect of retiring baby boomers to US economy - Research Paper Example In this regard, it has been projected that the world will have about 1 billion elderly people by the year 2030, which accounts for about 33% of the world population3. As earlier stated, the U.S. is one among the countries facing the challenge of an aging population. This is because its population has been aging very fast though as fast as that of Japan. Research indicates that the U.S. aging population increased to 13.1% in 2010 up from 8.3% in 19504. The growth is projected to reach around 19.9% by 2030 and 21.2% by the year 2050. However, the research also found out that as the aging population continues to increase, the population consisting of children and the working class will decline in a few decades to come. Projections suggest that the U.S. aging population will increase by double digits in the next forty years. In this regard, the elderly age group above 65 years will increase to about 88.5 by the year 2050 up from 40.2 million in 2010. The United States is currently worrie d with the rate at which the aging population is increasing. This is because it implies that it will soon retire many baby boomers that have been very important to the U.S. economy5. In this regard, many U.S. citizens including economic analysts in the country claim that retiring baby boomers might adversely affect the U.S. economy being that it is currently struggling to recover from recession. However, not everyone is of opinion as some are skeptical arguing that retiring baby boomers may not affect the economy in a negative way. Baby boomers are basically those born between 1946 to about 1960s6. Mathematically, people born during this time are approaching their retirement age as per U.S. labor laws where the retirement age stands at 65 years of age. Mckinsey Global Institute reveals that the latest census report on America’s population found out that there are about 78 million baby boomers in the U.S. born somewhere between 1946 and 19647. This implies that a very huge num ber of baby boomers are likely to be retired in the near future, something that will most likely affect the economy in one way or the other. The objective of this paper is to examine the impacts that retiring baby boomers may have on the U.S. economy. To begin with, retiring baby boomers will impacts on the U.S. economy in different ways both positively and negatively. Currently baby boomers form the majority of workforce in the U.S. In fact, the baby boomers have contributed greatly to the growth of the United States something that cannot be denied8. This is evident from the kind of development that the America has experienced since 1946 to date. Research indicates that the American baby boomers numbering about 79 million according to a census report have earned huge amount of incomes, created wealth, which in turn spurred economic growth9. Therefore, retiring this population will most likely leave a big vacuum in the workforce, as there will be a reduction in the skilled workforce to help restore the economy of the U.S. to where it was before the financial crisis of 2007/2008. However, since the U.S. economy is still struggling to recover from the recent financial meltdown, retiring baby boomers may worsen the situation according to some economic pundits. This is because there will be little expertise to help in revamping the economy