Assessment Methods Essay Example for Free

Assessment Methods Essay The 12 principles of Good Assessment and Feedback were produced by Academic Policy Committee and agreed by Senate in 2008. They are intended to help academic staffs who wishes to promote student engagement and self-regulation in learning http://www. strath. ac. uk/learnteach/teaching/staff/assessfeedback/12principles/16. 30on 12/05/2010 The principles of good assessment are Help clarify what good performance is. Encourage time and effort on challenging learning tasks. Deliver high quality feedback information that helps learners self-correct. Provide opportunities to close any gap between current and desired performance. Ensure that summative assessment has a positive impact on learning. Encourage interaction and dialogue around learning (peer and teacher-student) Facilitate the development of self-assessment and reflection in training Give choice in the topic, method, criteria, weighting or timing of assessments Involve students in decision-making about assessment policy and practice Support the development of learning communities Encourage positive motivational beliefs and self-esteem. Provide information to teachers that can be used to shape teaching. `An assessment must be consistent, accessible, detailed, earned and transparent. These principles form the acronym CADET. ( Linda Wilson 2009) C-Consistent A-Accessible D-Detailed E-Earned T-Transparent There are certain basic assessment rules. Though there are different ways of assessing anyone assessing should have something to measure on. In my classes these are given by the awarding body The Association of Business Executives. The assessments have o be valid and relevant ,reliable, authentic, sufficient, objective and power of Discrimination. Assessment relationships to The following assessment methods are used for my Diploma students in Level 5 in Economics class and the assessment methods encompass these principles. (MCQ) Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) MMMMMMMMCQ)) Multiple choice questions Advantages Often referred to as objective tests (in terms of their marking), this method can sample a wide range of knowledge and memory quickly and has the potential for measuring understanding, analysis, problem solving skills and evaluative skills. There are a wide variety of formats from true/false to reason/assertion. Multiple Choice Questions are easy to mark and analyse results. They are useful in terms of their ease of administration with large numbers of students, especially where marking is to be done by assistants rather than the test-setter. Computer marking and web-administered tests for Multiple Choice Questions are well-established. They are also useful for self assessment and screening. Multiple Choice Questions have potentially high reliability, validity and manageability, and feedback to students is fast. Constructivism calls for the elimination of grades and standardized testing. Instead, assessment becomes part of the learning process so that students play a larger role in judging their own progress. Short Answer questions Advantages A standard method using slightly less structured questions than those in Multiple Choice Questions. They are frequently used in the mock examination conducted by me to award a few marks as a starter, which is then followed by a question which requires more writing. Although they have the potential for measuring analysis, application of knowledge, problem-solving and evaluative skills, more often than not their construction means they only test the lower cognitive levels. Marking to model answers is relatively fast compared with marking problems but not compared with Multiple Choice Questions. They are convenient to use when a number of assessors will mark the papers, and all alternatives can be considered. Marking for feedback (e. g. with formative assessment) can be relatively fast. Single Essay Examination: These are relatively easy to set and can test a wide range of abilities including capacity to draw on a wide range of knowledge, to synthesise and to identify recurrent themes. Marking for grading is relatively fast providing the criteria are simple. Essays: These are applicable to any topic that requires the ability to construct and sustain a written argument. There are several types of essays that test different styles of writing and types of thinking. They can measure understanding, synthesis and evaluation, providing you asks the right questions. They are relatively easy to set and mark for grading based on impressionistic marking is fast. However, it is essential to determine the marking scheme before you start marking and then share it with the students — or better still, get them involved in drawing up the marking criteria/scheme and/or suggesting additional personal criteria. It is also worth having a formal student peer-review system on drafts prior to submission. Case Studies: These can range from simple vignettes illustrating issues in the practice of a discipline, through to complex sets of documentation which may require analysis and research. Solutions can range from short answer questions to complex plans or proposals. They have potential for measuring application of knowledge, analysis, problem-solving, evaluative skills and principles applicable to real-world situations. They can reach all the way up Blooms taxonomy to synthesis and evaluation levels. Short cases are relatively easy to design and mark. Marking for grading and feedback are about as fast as essay marking. They can provide useful information for formative purposes, including diagnosis of problems, because answering the questions or meeting the requirements is often a multistage process. Cases are generally best used in conjunction with several other methods. They often overlap and move into simulations and they can also form the basis of project briefs, and lend themselves to collaborative learning. Projects: These are good for all-round ability testing. There is the potential for sampling a wide range of practical, analytical and interpretative skills, as well as the wider application of knowledge, understanding and skills to real/simulated situations. They can provide a measure of project and time management. Group projects can provide a measure of teamwork skills and leadership. Motivation teamwork can be high. Learning gains can be high particularly if reflective learning is part of the criteria. They test methods and processes as well as end results. Projects allow students to contextualise ideas or material by applying them to practical instances. Educational assessment is reasoning from observations of what students do or make in a handful of particular circumstances, to what they know or can do more broadly. Practice has changed a great deal over the past century, in response to evolving conceptions of knowledge and its acquisition, views of schooling and its purposes, and technologies for gathering and evaluating response data. Conceptions of what constitutes assessment data, how it should be interpreted, and what kind of inferences is to be drawn can differ radically under different psychological perspectives. We see greater continuity, however, when we distinguish the structure of assessment arguments from their substance. Developments here have been more in the nature of extensions, elaborations, and refinements, as they have been prompted by changes in culture and substance. Problems: This method has the potential for measuring application, analysis and problem solving strategies. Marking for grading of easy problems is fast but marking of complex problems can be slow. Variation between markers is fairly low when based on model answers or marking schemes but you need to allow for creative, valid solutions by bright students. Student Peer Assessment: This is an area which can develop students’ judgemental and evaluative skill and is helping them along the road to being critically reflective practitioners. But students need to be involved in criteria setting to some extent at least in terms of a discussion of the criteria and their appropriacy in terms of the learning outcomes. Computer based assessment: Much talked about but still mostly of the MCQ and short-answer type which can mark and analyse results quickly. More recently this area has expanded to include mathematical problems and simulations. Reliability is high. Indeed, Crisp and Green Lister (2001) point out that on reviewing social work education literature there seems to be far less emphasis on assessment of classroom-based learning than of learning in field settings. David Boud, Enhancing learning through self assessment,1989 Routledge Falmer Crisp, B. R. Green Lister, P. (2001). Assessment methods in social work education: A review of the literature. Social Work Education, 21(2), 259-270.

Anabolic Steroids: Types, Applications and Implications

Anabolic Steroids: Types, Applications and Implications THE SCOPE AND HEALTH IMPLICATIONS OF DOPING IN SPORTS: ANABOLIC STEROID USE IN WEIGHTLIFTERS AND TEENS AND THEIR EFFECTS. KOJO O. KUNTU-BLANKSON INTRODUCTION There have been many definitions for doping. The current official definition of doping is given based on the World Anti-Doping Code as follows: â€Å"Doping is defined as the occurrence of one or more of the anti-doping rule violations set forth in Article 2.1 through article 2.8 of the World Anti-Doping Code.† Doping can also be defined as the deliberate or inadvertent use by an athlete of a substance or method banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and other related organisations, to gain unfair advantage or to enhance performance. Performance-enhancing substances have been used for thousands of years in traditional medicine by societies around the world, with the aim of promoting vitality and strength.[1]. The use of gonadal hormones pre-dates their identification and isolation. Medical use of testicle extract began in the late 19th century, while its effects on strength were still being studied.[2] Testosterone, the most active anabolic-androgenic steroid produced by Leydig cells in the testes, was first isolated in 1935 and chemically synthesized later in the same year. Synthetic derivatives of testosterone quickly followed. By the end of the following decade, both testosterone and its derivatives were applied with varying degrees of success for a number of medical conditions. It was not until the 1950s, however, that athletes began to discover that anabolic steroids could increase their muscle mass. According to sports physician John Ziegler, the first confirmed use of an anabolic steroid in an international athletic competition was at the weightlifting championships in Vienna in 1954, when the Russians weightlifters used testosterone.[5] Sport goes beyond a measure of athletic excellence and the winning of trophies and medals. Sport is an integral thread in the fabric of society and enriches our daily lives. Most of us have a favourite sport we play or follow with a passion be it soccer, rugby, swimming, cycling, athletics, winter sports or our national games of hurling, football and handball. The most honourable among us are perhaps those who have competed in sport and hold true its finest principles. True winners are those who achieve their goals through talent, skill, training, motivation and rising to all the challenges their sports present. Increasingly, however, a win at all costs ethos that undermines the very integrity of sport has entered the arena and a new game is at stake, the dangerous and sometimes deadly game of doping. Some ergogenic drugs used by athletes are categorized into blood boosters, diuretics, lean mass building, masking drugs, painkillers, sedatives and stimulants. Blood boosters e.g. erythropoietin, increase the athlete’s blood oxygen-carrying capacity, above its natural capacity, giving the athlete unfair advantage over his/her non-doping colleague in endurance games like marathons, swimming, cycling etc. Diuretics help eliminate fluid from the body. Athletes who need to maintain a certain weight level for competition could use these to decrease their weight. They can also be used as masking agents because they dilute urine and decrease the likelihood of detecting the presence of other drugs. Lean mass builders increase the growth of the body’s muscle. This category includes several different classes of drugs, particularly, the more popularly known anabolic steroids which’s the focus of this review and human growth hormone. These are used in strength games like weightlifting, shot put, discus throwing etc. Methods of doping include blood doping and gene doping. Blood doping can be either autologous or homologous transfusi ons, to help to improve their blood-oxygen carrying capacity. Advancements in gene therapy for medical reasons mean potential cheats might seek to undergo procedures to modify their genes to enhance their physical capabilities. Doping in sports is a huge societal problem. No longer limited to elite athletes, it is increasingly found in amateur and school sports that teens or adolescents in their early or mid-puberty are engaged in. The use of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AS) is perceived by the media, by segments of the sports medicine and athletic communities, and by the public to have grown to epidemic proportions. Unfortunately, the incidence and prevalence of AS use among elite, amateur, and recreational athletes is poorly documented. BODY STEROIDS Steroids are any of numerous naturally occurring or synthetic fat-soluble organic compounds having as a basis seventeen carbon atoms arranged in four rings. Steroids are important in body chemistry and include steroid hormones such as the gonadal or sex steroids (which include androgens e.g., estrogens and progesterone), corticosteroids (glucocorticoids, and mineralocorticoids); vitamins of the D group; and the sterols, including cholesterol, the main building block of the steroid hormones in the body. ANABOLIC STEROIDS Anabolic androgenic steroids commonly called roids, juice, hype or pump, are synthetic derivatives of testosterone, which is the primary male sex hormone, but is also present in the female. They are a class of drugs that are legally available only by prescription and are prescribed to treat a variety of conditions that cause a loss of lean muscle mass. They produce anabolic activity by increasing protein synthesis, epiphyses closure of long bones during puberty, enlargement of larynx and vocal cords, improvement of red cells number, reduce body fat and androgenic activity (enhanced secondary sexual characteristics). These compounds can produce a significant increase in muscular size and physical strength in both males and females and therefore used in sports and bodybuilding (weightlifting) to enhance strength or physique. They can be either oral or injectable. The oral ones include: Anadrol (oxymetholone), Oxandrin (oxandrolone), Dianabol (methandrostenolone) and Winstrol (stanozolo l). The injectable ones include: Deca-Durabolin (nandrolone decanoate),Durabolin (nandrolone phenpropionate), Depo-Testosterone (testosterone cypionate) and Equipoise (boldenone undecylenate). HOW ANABOLIC STEROIDS ARE TAKEN Anabolic steroids are either taken by mouth or injected into a muscle. The orals, as they are called, are ingested tablets or capsules. These forms are reportedly more toxic to the liver. Often the orals are taken in conjunction with injectable forms. The injectable forms are known as oils or waters. The oils refer to the long-acting types. They are injected into a muscle, usually the buttocks, and the steroid is released slowly over time. Typically, these drugs are injected only a couple of times a week. The waters are short-acting forms. Again, these are injected, usually in the buttocks, but they work much faster and are eliminated much more quickly. There are two ways for anabolic steroids administration. Oral steroids are highly potent and are excreted fairly rapidly from the body due to short metabolic half-lives, (usually within weeks). So, oral steroids are the first choice for athletes who want to rapidly improve their performance and try to escape showing positive results o n drug tests. These drugs, however, are the most toxic and have more side effects. Injectable steroids are less potent and generally exhibit delayed uptake into the body, especially if they are oil-based diluents. They have less liver toxicity than oral steroids, but they are being less used by athletes because of having detectability in drug tests for long periods. It should be noted that doses used by athletes often greatly exceed doses recommended for legitimate medical reasons, causing the potential for even greater negative consequences. Moreover, many athletes will use more than one anabolic steroid simultaneously. There are three common regimens practiced by anabolic steroid abusers: cycling, stacking and pyramiding. In cycling, the athletes take the steroid for six to twelve weeks and then stops for ten to twelve weeks. The steroid can be oral or injectable and doses are often ten to hundred times higher than standard therapeutic dose. Stacking is the use of more than one anabolic steroid at a time to break through response plateaus that often occurs. About forty percent of steroid abusers use this kind of regimen, presenting a high risk for central nervous system. Athletes can sometimes start with low dose of anabolic steroids, increasing the dose over a period of weeks, and then gradually tapering off before ending the regimen. This is known as pyramiding. MECHANISM OF ACTION OF ANABOLIC STEROIDS The ergogenic effects of anabolic steroids use are valued for three main mechanisms of action: They shift the nitrogen equilibrium to the positive side for better utilization of ingested protein and the increased retention of nitrogen. Although temporary and needing a high-protein complementary diet, this effect helps the body to build muscles. The formation of a steroid-receptor complex in skeletal muscle stimulates the RNA-polymerase system which, in turn, increases protein synthesis in the cell. Anabolic steroids compete for glucocorticoides receptors, resulting in an anti-catabolic effect by blocking the protein synthesis inhibition which physiologically occurs after exercises due to glucocorticoides liberation. Frequently, an euphoric and more aggressive behavior are experienced by anabolic steroids users, stimulating them to practice more and without fatigue for longer periods. ANABOLIC STEROID AND SPORTS: WINNING AT ANY COST. To excel in athletic competition is admirable. Most high school, college, amateur and professional athletes participate in sports for the opportunity to pit their abilities against those of their peers, and to experience the satisfaction that comes from playing to their potential. Others do so to satisfy a desire for recognition and fame. Unfortunately, that creates some atheletes who are determined to win at any cost. And, they may use that determination to justify the use of anabolic steroids, despite evidence that these drugs can inflict irreversible physical harm and have significant side effects. Dietary supplements and ergogenic agents, including anabolic steroids, are common components of present-day bodybuilder and weightlifter training regimens. Prior reports of anabolic steroid use suggest polypharmacy and high doses of injectable agents. Anabolic steroid use among weightlifters and bodybuilders continues till date. For almost three decades, athletes have been supplementing their strength program with anabolic steroids to enhance their performance. To be sure, anabolic steroids are effective supplements to strength training programs, but there is no doubt that the consequences can be deleterious. The number of athletes who abuse anabolic steroids is unknown. Many athletic associations ban their use, including the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Olympics, so few athletes are willing to admit that they use these drugs. The NFL tests its athletes for illicit use. Players who test positive face suspension and, upon testing positive a second time, are expelled from the League. MLB players are tested once a year, and if they test positive they can be suspended for up to ten days. If a player tests positive after the first test, they can be suspended without pay for up to one year. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Sports Medicine condemn the use of anabolic steroids for enhancement of sports performance or body building. WHY SOME ATHLETES ABUSE ANABOLIC STEROIDS Believing that anabolic steroids can improve competitiveness and performance, uninformed or misguided athletes, sometimes encouraged by coaches or parents, abuse these drugs to build lean muscle mass, promote aggressiveness, increase body weight, to improve ones physical appearance and as self-medication to recover from injury. HOW ATHLETES OBTAIN ANABOLIC STEROIDS Athletes may obtain banned medicines from physicians, pharmacists, retail outlets, health and lifestyle magazines, gymnasiums, coaches, family members, fellow athletes, the internet and the black market. Many doctors may prescribe unwittingly for what they trust is a genuine complaint, 10, 14 16 and there are no controls on mail order and internet sales. TESTING PROCEDURES The advent of gas chromatography and mass spectrometry in the early 1980s transformed the success of drug testing.Moreover the new age of gene transfer technology (GTT) will gradually render dope testing control systems obsolete; GTT will increase muscle growth by as much as 28%.4 Doping is a major ethical, educational, financial, health and management problem and governments have a poor track record in controlling its spread.25 TEEN/ADOLESCENT USE OF ANABOLIC STEROIDS Increasing numbers of adolescents are turning to steroids for cosmetic reasons. The common link among them is the desire to look, perform and feel better at almost any cost. Users-and especially the young-are apt to ignore or deny warnings about health risks. If they see friends growing taller and stronger on steroids, they want the same benefits. They want to believe in the power of the drug. EFFECTS OF ANABOLIC STEROID USE IN WEIGHTLIFTERS AND TEENS Although anabolic steroids can boost physical performance, promote aggressiveness on the field, increase body weight, improve ones physical appearance and as self-medication to recover from injury, they have side effects that can impair athletic performance and also affect the quality of life abusers. Many athletes take anabolic steroids at doses that are much higher than those prescribed for medical reasons, and most of what is known about the drugs effects on athletes comes from observing users. While the total impact of anabolic steroid abuse is not known, health care providers have observed the following problems in the blood, liver, heart, skeleton, skin and immune systems of users especially weightlifters. Cholesterol patterns associated with coronary heart disease, obstructed blood vessels, or stroke are some of the problems associated with the blood. In the heart, increased cholesterol eventually leads to high blood pressure. Impaired liver function, Peliosis hepatitis (blood -filled cysts that can rupture and cause liver failure) and tumours are observed in livers of weightlifters (both men and women) who abuse anabolic steroids. Bone growth is among the body processes that can shut down with steroid use. Adolescents/teens on anabolic steroids may find their muscles bulking up, but bone growth stops with premature fusion of the epiphysis (growth centre) of long bones. The result is permanently stunted growth. There is risk until bones stop growing. Appearance of, or increasing acne and other skin rashes or ailments, male pattern baldness, edema (water retention/swelling), striae (stretch marks) are also observed on the skin. The immune system is also compromised when abusers share hypodermic needles infected with HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and hepatitis B virus to administer these steroids. By sharing needles, syringes or other equipment, a person becomes a high risk for HIV transmission. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS (Aquired Immunodeficien cy Syndrome). Abusers also experience psychological problems like Mood swings, aggressive (even violent behaviour), depression, psychotic episodes, mania and addiction. Since anabolic steroids are derived from testosterone, they can have profound effects on the hormone levels of both male and female abusers. In men, these problems can cause any of the following problems: Temporary infertility or sterility (reversible), altered sex drive, prostate enlargement, and increased prostate cancer risk, gynecomastia, priapism, shrinkage of the testicles,reduced levels of testosterone, abnormal sperm production. Health care providers have reported the following problems in women: Increased risk of cervical and endometrial cancer, increased risk of osteoporosis, temporary infertility or sterility (reversible), altered sex drive, birth defects in future children, changes in fat distribution, growth of facial and body hair, deepening of the voice, shrinkage of the breasts and uterus, clitoral enlargement, menstrual irregularity. Changes in the male reproductive system are often reversible, if anabolic steroids have not been abused for a long period of time. Unfortunately, some of the changes in women are not reversible. Prolonged abuse of anabolic steroids very often results in physical addiction. Abusers must undergo a strict, medically-supervised withdrawal program. There are social consequences of committing anti-doping rule violations (ADRV). Sanction may include: loss of sponsorship deals, loss of income, wiping out of previous achievements, damaged relationships with friends and family, i solation from peers and sports and damage to future career prospects. ENDING THE ABUSE OF ANABOLIC STEROIDS Athletes who are really serious about their health and sports and aim to improve their physical strength, performance and appearance can keep the following tips in mind: Train safely, without using drugs, eat a healthy diet, get plenty of rest, set realistic goals and be proud of themselves when they reach them, seek out training supervision, coaching and advice from a reliable professional, avoid injuries by playing safely and using protective gear.

The Bible version controversy :: essays research papers

A controversy of immense silliness has recently broken out among Evangelicals regarding the validity of modern, conservative translations of the Bible like the New American Standard, the New International, and the New King James. The controversy was ignited by a book written by Gail Riplinger entitled New Age Bible Versions. The only thing sillier than the controversy is the book that sparked it. Remember the old joke? -- "If the King James Version was good enough for the Apostle Paul, then it's good enough for me!" Well, Riplinger tries to convert the joke into gospel. A Ridiculous Thesis Her thesis is that the King James Version is the one and only pure translation (in any language!) and that all the new translations that have flooded the market in recent years (including the most conservative) are part of a Satanic, New Age conspiracy to undermine the deity of Jesus and the credibility of God's Word. The book is mean-spirited and vicious in its attacks upon the godly evangelical scholars who labored so hard to produce the modern versions, not to undermine the Word, but to make it more understandable to the average reader. Unfortunately the book has spawned an army of Riplinger disciples who feel it is their god-ordained duty to go forth and purify the Church by demanding the exclusive use of the King James Version. Picking up on their mentor's divisive spirit, they are labeling as heretics all fellow Christians and Christian leaders who prefer to use some version other than the King James. To illustrate how insane this silliness has become, consider a recent article that appeared in the newsletter of one of Riplinger's most enthusiastic supporters, a prophecy teacher by the name of Texe Marrs. Calling the new conservative translations "unholy" and "grotesque," he proceeded to condemn four leading prophecy teachers because they refused to endorse Riplinger's book and join with him in certifying the King James Version as the only reliable translation. The four he condemned as "misguided leaders" and "false witnesses" were Dave Hunt, Peter LaLonde, Arno Froese, and John Ankerberg. Two of these, Hunt and Ankerberg, happen to be among the leading defenders of the Christian faith today! Even more incredible is the fact that all four men use the King James Version in their preaching and teaching -- and Marrs knows that they do! Still, they must be condemned as heretics because they refuse to denounce the "Satanic, New Age" versions.

A Day in the Mind of an Anorexic Girl :: Papers

A Day in the Mind of an Anorexic Girl I am drifting, floating gently as if through clouds. Suddenly I am awake and my eyes open to complete darkness! Then I am no longer floating, as my feet hit the ground and I waver slightly, managing to stay balanced. I am in a massive, dark, open space but can vaguely make out jumbled images beginning to appear. I find myself trapped in a girl's mind. Not just any girl however; she has an eating disorder known as Anorexia Nervosa. As she opens her eyes, the vast space is lit up and I experience the confusion that is her mind. It is not a pretty sight. Everything seems to be mixed up. There is a sky above my head. Although it is light, it is not blue. It is more of a misty grey. The scenery is in complete disorder, with jagged pieces of what looks like rock and everyday items such as clothes, stationery and bits of paper lying haphazardly about the room. I turn around to see what the area behind me looks like and, as I do, a single red door appears as if out of nowhere, on one side. It has no hinges, and does not appear to be resting on anything, so I go to take a closer look. I turn the knob slowly and I carefully ease open the door. Behind it I see a girl, skin and bone, so thin that her eyes seem sunken into her face. She walks up to a mirror and, instead of seeing her true reflection, I see what she sees. She sees a large overweight girl who almost seems to grow fatter as you look at her, suffocating her! The girl looking in the mirror pulls her thin, dry, blonde hair back and takes a closer look at the distorted image of her face. Then, she lifts her large T-shirt slightly. It hangs loosely and reveals a tiny, shrunken torso. She pulls helplessly at her paper thin skin but the reflection, instead, shows the girl holding a handful of flab.

Central America Essay -- Central American History

Central America Central America, just south of Mexico and North of Panama, consists of just six countries; Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Of those six, all share a distinct common history except for Belize. Belize for one is incredibly small, and while Spanish is the official language of other Central American countries, in Belize English is spoken. So throughout this paper as I carelessly say 'Central American' I am not including Belize whose history and development was far different than the others. Although Central America is located close to the United States in relation to the Eastern Hemisphere, our ways of life are indescribably different. When we discuss Poverty in the United States many of us, including myself, don't really know what 'poverty' is. It seems like only a select few are afflicted by it here and programs like Welfare and Food Stamps (with varying degrees of success) seem to lessen the effects. In Central America when one speaks about 'poverty' he/she is including a large proportion of the population. One measure of poverty is the earning power of an individual. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is a measure of income is around $12,000 in the United States. In Central America on the other hand, the wealthiest Country, Costa Rica, came in at just under $2000. Distortion plays a role on the $2000 also, due to the fact the the elite-rich have an enormous concentration of wealth and land ownership, the real GDP of the poorer half of the population is around $200-$400 a year (Pg 10, Booth and Walker). Accompanying poverty or as a result is poor or unavailable education, health care, and an extremely bad job market. Government 'for the people and by the ... ...n't sure how much more aid he could get to Somoza so he pushed for a major offensive. In, 1987, without each side attaining a clear victory, negotiations began. In 1990, Daniel Ortega, a Sandinista was voted out of power to a more conservative , Violeta Barrios de Chamorro. In the end there was basically a stalemate, neither side attained a clear victory. Had the United States not intervened things most likely would have been very different. Our intervention has left a lasting impression on Nicaragua's political and economic situation. In a rebellion which caused " $1.5 billion in property loss, a 2% reduction in the overall population, and years of turmoil " (Pg 68, Booth and Walker) the domestic market was destroyed. No one can say whether our actions were justified or not but it will most likely be on the minds of many Nicaraguans for a long time to come..

New Industries in the Caribbean Essay

Caribbean economies from their earliest periods of colonization were essentially agrarian based (during slavery). Economical activities included livestock farming and small farming done by the peasants. There were also trading and commerce which included the establishment of shops, inns and taverns. Large plantations were worked by a mass of slaves with the premier crop being Sugar Cane. When the colonizers first came to the West Indies they mainly grew crops such as coffee, cotton, ginger, banana and cocoa mainly for export. However during the second half of the 18th century, these crops lost their comparative advantage to sugar. When sugar experienced its depression the planters relaxed their stronghold over control of the land and some estate workers turned their attention to the peasant sector and other industries. NEW INDUSTRIES By the beginning of the twentieth century, the peasantry had begun to play a very important role in the diversification of the West Indian economies. The Royal Commissions before the Norman Commission, and the Norman Commissions had made recommendations for the development of the peasantry (Curtis: p 32). Many of the export crops recommended by the Norman Commission were already being cultivated by the peasantry. For these crops to have greater success, the peasantry would need capital for greater investment. But this capital was not forthcoming. This was due to the fact that they had limited capital, occupied small plots of land because they were charged a lot for these lands. Additionally the peasants cannot produce at subsistence level. The black peasantry in particularly faced a number of obstacles which included the increase in land prices, eviction from lands, refusal to subdivide and sell lands and also heavy taxations. The planters most of the times sold large pieces of lands for lower cost to the whites in comparison to the ex-slaves. Rice, which had been cultivated earlier as a subsistence crop in Guyana began to assume importance as a cash crop in the late nineteenth century. The abandonment of sugar cultivation on some estates made more land available, as did the opening up of riverain crown lands in 1898 on what for some were manageable terms of purchase. By 1900 government interest was being channeled through the board of agriculture ith conducted experiments in different rice varieties and supplied seed to the growers. A more objective was to develop a uniform grain size to reduce wastage in the milling process and by 1908 this had been substantially achieved. All of this stimulated further expansion so that, whereas in 1891 the land under rice amounted to only 4000 acres, there was a tenfold increase in the following two decades, and by 1917 for every ten acres planted in sugar, Guyana, eig ht acres were planted in rice. Expanding rice acreage was accompanied by the mushrooming of small mils. In 1914 there were 86 of them in existence. They were hardly elaborate structures but they were linked to the large mercantile firms in the capital and they controlled growers in the villages through a system of advances. Many of the millers, like many large rice growers were Indians who employed Indian labour, and the evidence suggests that ethnicity hardly guaranteed favourble treatment. In 1905 it was exporting to the Caribbean. Rice enjoyed considerable prosperity during the first war. In the inter-war period alternative sources of supply to the Caribbean market dried up and this provided the main basis for the steady expansion of the industry in Guyana. Guyana is by far the most important producer of rice in the Commonwealth Caribbean. There were about 20 thousand peasant farmers in 1952; by 1965 their numbers were believed to have more than doubled, reaching 45 thousand. There were 222 rice mills in 1960 and 199 in 1970. All were privately owned, except two which were owned and operated by the Rice Development Company. Bananas were first introduced into Jamaica in 1516. However the first exports took place in 1869 after the depression of sugar. As the industry flourished American companies came in to handle the trade as the peasants supplied bananas to a US [Boston] banana trader Lorenzo Dow Baker. Boston Fruit Company later formed to trade in Bananas with Caribbean and Central America which later became the United Fruit Company [UFCo]. By 1890 the value of Banana exports exceeded that of sugar and rum, and it retained this position except for a few years until the Second World War. By 1937 Jamaica provided twice as many stems as any other country in the world. It thus became a plantation crop-corporations and large entrepreneurs. Banana soon became the principal exports from Jamaica, and Windward Island. Trading partners also changed-Destination was now USA. During the war the industry declined because the ships could not be spared to transport the product. By the beginning of the nineteenth century coffee was also an important crop in Jamaica (The Banana production was done mainly by the Middle class mulattoes). During the depression sugar farmers in Trinidad turned their attention to cocoa which was the first major export of the island, and by 1900 it had become the major export once again. It retained this position until 1921 when Ghanaian cocoa began to swamp the world market. During that time too cocoa was also an important crop in St. Lucia, St. Kitts and St. Vincent. In the 1930’s citrus, which had been cultivated in the stricken cocoa areas became important. So too did Pineapples in the 19th century. Relatively small scale farmers earned cash for production of bananas, coffee, cocoa and pimento for exports. They also produced tubers, fruits and vegetables for domestic markets. A substantial part of small farming was for subsistence with relatively small surpluses for sale. Bauxite, tourism and urban-based manufacturing and services replaced export agriculture as the dominant sectors of the economy in the post-war era, as the British West Indies pursued a programme of â€Å"industrialization-by-invitation† The mineral resources which include bauxite, aluminum, gold et cetera have been developed by foreign capital and for the export market, to a much greater extent than the main agricultural products. In Guyana the American-owned Bauxite industry shipped its first load of ore in 1922. Expansion was steady throughout the inter-war period but it was not until the second war that bauxite became an important force in the economy. The Jamaican bauxite industry was developed by American companies after the second war. Demand for aluminum by the United States military and space programmes and by the automobile and other consumer goods industries created a lucrative market for bauxite and aluminum. As of such in 1957 Jamaica became the world’s leading bauxite producer and the main U. S. supplier. The U. S. dollar earnings from this new export financed the import of capital goods manufacturing industries that were set up to produce for the growing domestic and regional markets. The investment cycle of the multinational bauxite mining companies began topping offs as the decade of the 1960s drew to a close. Bauxite and aluminum thus replaced sugar and bananas as the leading export product after the Second World War. In 1964 Jamaican bauxite industry had over 800 registered manufacturing establishments including a cement factory, cigarette factories, breweries and bottling plants, extiles, clothing factories and plant producing soap, margarine and edible oil. In February 1967 an agreement was announced between the Jamaican government and an American metal-fabrication company to erect an aluminum plant in Jamaica. The petroleum industry in Trinidad and Tobago is the oldest mineral industry in the common-wealth Caribbean. The first successful well dates back to 1857 but it was not until the first decade of this century that the industry was established. By 1909 the country was exporting oil and by 1919 five refineries were in operation. The industry is largely owned and controlled by foreigners. The production of crude oil is mainly in the hands of four companies-Texaco, Shell, Trinidad Northern Area owned by Trinidad Tesoro, Shell and Texaco as equal partners. However by 1980 the government had purchased all foreign operations except Amoco. The tourist industry was developed after the Second World War, and this two is foreign owned and controlled. This industry is an offshoot of the banana and bauxite industry especially in Jamaica. The establishment and development of the tourist industry were facilitated by incentive legislation and special institutions. Jamaica passed the Hotels Aid Law, 1944, granting accelerated depreciation allowances and duty-free importation of materials for the construction and furnishing of hotels, and the Hotel Incentives Law, 1968, granting tax holidays and other concessions. The Hotel Aids Act passed in Barbados in 1967 allows duty free importation of building materials and equipment and grants a tax holiday of ten years. And all three territories set up Tourists Boards to promote and service the industry. As in the other generating sectors of the economies, there is a large proportion of foreign ownership in the tourist industry. In 1971 thirty-five per cent of the hotels in Jamaica were wholly foreign owned, 56 per cent wholly locally owned and 9 per cent joint ventures. Foreign ownership was more pronounced in Barbados. Foreigners owned 61 per cent of the capacity there: 33 per cent was owned by nationals of the United Kingdom. 16 per cent by Canadians and 12 per cent by Americans. Barbadians owned 34 per cent, and 5 per cent was jointly owned. Local ownership was dominant (80 per cent) among the smaller establishments which provided 25 per cent of the total capacity. Trade and commerce was also taking place in many places in the British West Indies as well. According to Beckles and Shepherd (1993) â€Å"export trade in the British Islands showed in a number of the units spectacular increases to the peak of prosperity between 1929 and 1940. † British Guiana traded with Europe and North America, commodities such as sugar cane, coffee and fruits. Trinidad exported petroleum products such as oil to places such as North America and the United Kingdom. Jamaica too traded tropical fruits, sugar cane, coffee, cocoa and other commodities with Europe and North America. In the late 1950s, Jamaica became the biggest supplier of bauxite to the United States. RACE: The Indians are concentrated mainly on the sugar estates while the Africans are concentrated in the villages and the towns. The Africans have always been more mobile geographically and socially and the chief supporters of the urbanization movement. They provide the overwhelming majority of the labour force in the bauxite industry and mining camps in the interior of Guyana, and the petroleum industry in Trinidad, and the bulk of the factory and service workers in both countries. Until the 1950s they occupied a somewhat monopolistic position in the white-collar and professional positions. The Indians supply the bulk of the field sugar workers and also the rice producers in Guyana. -Europeans owned most of the wealth-producing assets in the colonial economy. The indigenous Ihere, imported labour] populations were allowed to engage in small-scale peasant farming on the fringes of large white-owned plantations but mainly relegated to providing cheap labour for the white settlers in the expanding corporate economy. Where this posed problems, intermediary racial groups (Chinese, Indians, etc. ) were brought in to fill the gaps in labour supply. As export staples increased the wealth base of the colonial economy and as some diversification into minerals, tourism and manufacturing increased that wealth base further, commerce and services expanded. This opened up opportunities for small-scale capital and smaller entrepreneurial firms to operate alongside the large white-controlled corporations. (Thompson: p 244). In Jamaica, this intermediate minority group comprised immigrant â€Å"white ethnics† like the Lebanese and Jews (who joined a much older community of Jamaican Jews dating back to the period of colonization and settlement) and the Chinese, whose upper and middle echelons, occupying a â€Å"shopkeeper† niche, secured for the group the real and/or symbolic function of â€Å"social whites†. A racially mixed â€Å"brown middle class† also formed a component of this â€Å"minority, intermediary ethnic group†. The traditional white planter class was displaced both by foreign corporate capital, whose interests were concentrated on sugar, and later bauxite and tourism, and the intermediary ethnic groups with whom they eventually merged. The latter groups formed a domestic merchant and manufacturing sector alongside the transnational enclaves. A black rural middle class emerged on the basis of medium-sized holdings concentrating on export crops such as bananas, pimento, coffee and citrus. They comprised a tiny minority of the rural population, however, most of whom occupied a range between full-time peasants and full-time proletarians. The race related dualism of Caribbean economy was classically exhibited in the division between the (TNC or â€Å"Jamaica-white†-owned) plantation and (black) peasant economies of rural Jamaica. In 1938, this division was reflected in a tenure system which â€Å"concentrated over fifty per cent of agricultural land into some 800 holdings and left nearly 100,000 poor peasants and their families with twelve per cent of the land* (Post, 1981: 2-3). In addition, the black peasant economy was itself internally stratified, partly along the lines of the division between export production and domestic food crop production, which was itself related to size of holding. In addition, there were roughly 80,000 households at the lower margins of the peasantry with an average of a quarter of an acre each. .A significant bureaucratic and professional black middle class emerged, but Blacks failed to challenge the entrenched economic positions of the intermediary-ethnic elites. In the meantime, economic frustration and disfranchisement led large numbers of peasant and working class Blacks to participate in â€Å"a massive outward migration to Britain and a large-scale exodus from rural to urban areas, which translated rural poverty into urban ghettoes and urban poverty† (ibid. : 252). In the late 1960s and early 1970s, many ethnic elites from the BWI began migrating abroad. This â€Å"created unanticipated and unexpected new openings for black entry into the entrepreneurial class and facilitated large-scale entry of Blacks into the middle and upper levels of private sector management† (ibid: 254). Blacks became well established within the corporate managerial elite and gained a foothold in many sectors of the economy manufacturing, construction, business services, tourism, commerce and agriculture alongside the still dominant minority ethnic groups. Their enterprises tended to be smaller, but a few were large. Other developments were the growth of import-trade higglering, which represented an expansion and in some cases a very lucrative enhancement of a traditional female working class role. The big corporate sector enterprises in insurance, banking, distribution, manufacturing, hotels and services remained under the predominant ownership of the economically dominant minority Jews, Whites, Lebanese and Browns†. Indeed, migration of some of the less important families appears to have facilitated a consolidation and expansion of corporate ownership among the biggest capitalist families.

Jim and His Father Essay

How would you describe Jim’s self-concept? I noticed that Jim has a negative image about himself. Jim believes that his father has a unrealistic expectation of him. 2) How is self-concept affecting the interaction? Is it helping it? Hindering it? Explain using concepts from the text. Jim having a negative self-concept is really bothering him. While his dad is telling him he isn’t trying hard enough he actually thinks that no matter how hard he does study he still wont do well. 3) Using the process of human perception starting on page 64. Explain the situation from your perspective as a student. Selection-â€Å"We attend to certain stimuli based on a number of factors† (Wood, 2012, p.65). â€Å"We notice things that stand-out, because they are larger, more intense, or more unusual than other phenomena† (Wood, 2012, p.65). When I read this and see the video I see that Jim’s father isn’t seeing that Jim is actually trying hard to get good grade, he is just having some hard time..Organization-â€Å"Once we have selected what to notice, we have to make sense of it† (Wood, 2012, p.66). â€Å"Prototypes, personal constructs, stereotypes, and scripts are cognitive schemata that we use to organize our perceptions of people and phenomena† (Wood, 2012, p.66). I seen in the video that Jim knows that he is actually going to need to study a lot harder and more to bring his grade up to make his dad happy. Interpretation-â€Å"Is the subjective process of explaining our perceptions in ways that makes sense to us† (Wood, 2012, p.70). Attribution â€Å"is an explanation of why something happened or why someone acts a certain way† (heider, 1958; Kelley, 1967; Manusov & Spitzberg, 2008). I think that Jims father is being hard on Jim because his dad paid for college on his own and it was not hard for him to get good grades. Attributional error-â€Å"Researchers have identified a common error that people make in their attributions† (Wood, 2012, p.71). â€Å"Self-serving bias this is a bias toward ourselves and our interests we tend to avoid taking responsibility for negative actions and failures by attributing them to external, unstable, and specific factors that are beyond personal control† (Wood, 2012, p.71). The  best example I seen in the movie is when Jim states that no matter how hard he does study he will still get bad grades because of how hard his classes actually are. 4) Using the guidelines for improving perception and communication starting on page 79 of the text, provide at least two tips for both Jim and his father on how to handle the situation in an effective way. Make sure to incorporate the text guidelines with proper in-text citations to support your points. Jim’s father 1) Distinguish between facts and interferences-â€Å"A fact is based on observation. An interference involves an interpretation that goes beyond the facts† (Wood, 2012, p. 81). Jims dad assumed that because jim is not making good grades , instead he is goofing off with his friends more. I think instead of yelling at him for goofing off he should ask what he can do to help. 2) Guard against the self-serving bias-â€Å"Because the self-serving bias can distort perceptions, we need to monitor it carefully† (Wood, 2012, p.82). I think that Jims dad needs to stop yelling at him because he is not as good as he is when he was in school. Jim 1) Guard against the fundamental attribution error-â€Å"This occurs when we over estimate the internal causes of others undesirable behavior and underestimate the external causes, and when we underestimate the internal causes of our own failings or bad behaviors and overestimate the external causes† (Wood, 2012, p.82). With Jim’s dad underestimating him it causes Jim to underestimate what he can do. Jim feels like he will never be able to make his dad proud of him. 2) Avoid mind reading-â€Å"Mind reading assuming we understand what another person thinks, feels, or perceives† (Wood, 2012, p.82). Jim knows that his dad is constantly on him about his grades. So when he calls home he knows that his grades are going to come up during the conversation.