Read Alouds Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Read Alouds - Essay Example Reading aloud is so effective due to a number of factors, including: pleasure, emotional bonds among the participants of the process, opportunities to experience unusual situation and listen to the books that are above children’s own reading level. Meanwhile, read-alouds develop children, motivate them to read independently and serve as a trigger for creativity and discussion. Reading to the class, the teacher demonstrates her appreciation of literature and serves as a role model (Kieff 2003, p.28). Read-alouds serve as â€Å"a catalyst† for the discussion and social interchange. As Lawrence Sipe (1999) puts it â€Å"literature can help us perceive reality in new and fresh ways, â€Å"defamiliarizing life† and making us alive to new possibilities, new ways of perceiving the social order, so that we can imagine what a more just society would look like† (p.125). At the end of his article Lawrence Sipe concludes that â€Å"as children embrace or resist texts through language and a variety of artistic modes, they are forging links between literature and their own lives. Such links have the potential to be both informative and transformative for their developing sense of themselves as individuals and members of society† (p.129). However, children’s’ response to literature can be different. Success of read alouds may depend on various factors. Sipe’s article (1999) highlights some factors influencing children’s response to a book. As research show it is the literary experience of the reader and the context, which really matters. Individual experience and cultural background always contribute to the literary response. To my mind, this fact is of special interest for teachers working in multi-cultural classes, which are not rare in the United States. Multicultural literature available today represents cultures, which used to be invisible or treated negatively earlier. Such books can serve as mirrors or windows for children of

Role of Education in Career Success Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Role of Education in Career Success - Essay Example Education and successful careers are often seen as unrelated. People often quote examples of figures that have made it to the top without a degree. However, as this paper shows, education provides a stable ground for a healthy, stable career. Researches show that education instills and hones certain set of skills, which come in handy in professional lives, and gives an edge to those who take the long road than those who prefer short cuts and drop out. Although, there are examples of those who attained great heights without a degree, the paper shows that education did play a part in their success as well. With the economic recession and financial turmoil surrounding economies around the world, the importance of education is neglected and traded off for quick income. However, with the economic crises increases the risk of financial crashing. In such times, a degree is more stable a resource than work experience. It is a human tendency to look for short cuts. In every sphere of life, one easily finds examples of people making it through short cuts and taking a non-conventional path to their destination. Rag to riches stories of high school and college dropouts, like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, who made it to the top and used to their inner innovation and abilities to the maximum potential, are cases, which make a strong point against the orthodox path of education. As appealing as it all sounds, role of education in career success is vital and significant. Statistics from Lansing Community College reveal that elementary teachers work less than most other professionals i.e. 10 months per year with best and the most experienced ones earning up to 85,000 dollars per year. The point to mention this is to emphasize on the government investment on schooling. Secondly, teaching is one of those professions where one is supposed to carry a college degree. Thus, it is an example of how higher education gives way to successful high-paid jobs. Education is a complex term. With stages of schooling including elementary, middle, high, and college, one usually perplexes himself with its utility at every stage. Therefore, parents rarely object to send their kids to elementary or middle school, even high school. However, things are more complicated at the level of college since individuals now have to make their own decisions and parents grow tired of supporting their children for so long. Despite of these issues, education is very significant in main of a successful career. This paper will attempt to highlight some of the ways in which a good education is a necessary factor to an ideal, successful career. Literature Review The field of education is full of studies on role of education on successful careers. Researchers are interested in finding out, how exactly education plays a role in determining successful career paths. To review the literature, one must be clear about the terms used in the search. The keywords of this paper are education and career. Education It is defined as a process of acquiring knowledge and skills set which enables an individual to process information and make wise decisions. The concept of education has grown expansive in the past couple of decades. Earlier, education was perceived limited to getting a degree whereby with the growth in competition in all fields of sciences, the concept of education is expanded to more continuous and encompassing form of education which does not restrict itself to the walls of a classroom. Career It is defined as the occupation a person takes up for most part of his life and progresses within its scope. Career is, to say the least, the most important part of a person’s life. People select their careers usually quite early but many people make shifts across different careers, depending on various factors. Many studies (Paik, 2004) highly correlate

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison Essay Example for Free

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison Essay Tony Morrison became the prominent American writer of the second half of the 20th century mainly because of her novel â€Å"The Bluest Eye† published in 1970. The novel is narrated by a young black girl, Claudia MacTeer and the reader realizes through her perception the atmosphere in the family of her friend Pecola Breedlove. The family relations in the Pecola’s family are very hostile. The topic of racial inequality is one of the central topics. African Americans and their tragedy of the lost culture are in the center of the novel.   The novel is built on the passionate desire of Pecola to be loved by her family and her school friends. Pecola thinks that the reason of the hostile attitude towards her is her black skin and she wants to resemble the American idols like Shirley Temple. Shirley Temple is just an ideal created by the mass culture, an idol which is a part of American dream. The conventional American perception of beauty is connected with the blue eyes and white skin like those of Shirley Temple. Tony Morison studies the position of the blacks in America. She names the things which sometimes are not in public but in minds. American society is divided according to the racial principle and nobody can do anything with it.    The author states that America treats its black citizens like people of a lower grade, pariahs, â€Å"There are several levels of the pariah figure working in my writing. The black community is a pariah community. Black people are pariahs. The civilization of black people that lives apart from but in juxtaposition to other civilizations is a pariah relationship. In fact, the concept of the black in this country is almost always one of the pariahs. But a community contains pariahs within it that are very useful for the conscience of that community.†(The Bluest Eye. Review). American culture has produced a utopian image of America, called â€Å"an American Dream†. It is not bad at all; it indicates, at least the standards to be reached and the goals to be gained.   This collective image is an image of a rich country populated with the nice successful people. There is only one problem in this image. The country is rich and the society is successful, but people personifying this success are narrated with the blond hair and white skin. This is just what great American Martin Luther King said about. The racial inequity is in the very essence of the American society. Pecola identifies her personal position in the community with the position of the black community in the American society, i.e. as soon as the Blacks are pariahs in the society; she feels herself a pariah within the community. What is more, she understands the position of the black community in the American society and naively associates it with her personal position in the black community. Her dream of blue eyes is a naà ¯ve attempt to break through the concept of the faceless, i.e. it is a protest against her position of a pariah. Tony Morison intentionally uses a dream of a small girl which would never come true to underline the improbability of such a dream to resemble an American icon Shirley Temple in the same way as black community would never become an equal part of the society. The values of the society imposed on the black children are destructive. Pecola is morally suppressed by the values she accepts. These values are dominant and black children are not able to evaluate them critically. Pecola is destroyed by the cultural values she has to adopt. The white culture influences the personalities of the black people especially young ones. The Anglo Saxon standards of beauty follow the children outside the class. Movie blondes with blue eyes catch their sight from the cinema screens, billboards, newspapers and magazines. There is no place to hide from the bluest eyes. These beauties keep telling the children that if they were white with blue eyes they would achieve success. This destroys the girl’s identity. She mistakenly associates her physical appearance with the wealth and happiness. White mass culture shows white skin, blue eyes and blonde hair in association with wealth, happiness and success and a young girl realizes erroneously that her life is defined by her appearance. Pecola’s admiration of Sherley Temple is one of her personal tragic illusions. The success of the movie star Temple poisons the life of Pecola. The mass culture shows the physical beauty in the context of prosperity. This self humiliation develops the complex of inferiority of the girl. â€Å"Long hours she sat looking in the mirror, trying to discover the secret of the ugliness, the ugliness that made her ignored or despised at school, by teachers and classmates alike, She was the only member of her class who sat alone at a double desk.†( Tirell, Lynne) A utopian desire to resemble an American idol became an obsession for Pecola. â€Å"Each night, without fail, she prayed for blue eyes. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ She would see only what there was to see: the eyes of other people.†( Morrison, Toni, p.45) The Pecola’s aspiration to resemble the American idol drives the girl crazy. She looses the connections with the reality. As soon as the world does not understand her desire and does not want to give her a chance to become closer to her idol she decides to lock in herself and find a piece of mind keeping her dreams in herself without letting them out. The hate of people, ideal dream on the movie star physical appearance, the hostile atmosphere at school and in the family and the rape by her father followed by the hate of her mother made the girl crazy. But she is still dreaming of her ideal. It is not the white community that has directly destroyed Pecola, but the black community and her parents. They should have insulated her from the white communitys values and have protected her (Hinda Barlaz). The words of narrator about the destructiveness of the physical beauty and romantic love are given in the context when Pauline, pregnant black American woman was watching history of romantic love in the movie theatre. She broke her tooth then as if recapitulating the comparison of romantic love in the movie with her current position. The image of Jean Harlow from the screen destroys the Pauline’s identity as a woman, her belief in American dream and her own beauty. The broken tooth symbolizes her belief in happiness which is destroyed. Toni Morrison and a great American Martin Luther King, Pecola and Pauline, Hero of the Doctorow’s Ragtime and The Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, all of them have the common feature. They are all looking for identity as well as other best representatives of the humanity. Martin Luther King and Pecola, no matter how strange it may seem had the same dream, a dream of equality for all disregarding the color of the skin. Hero of the Doctorow’s novel and Oedipus Rex were looking for their lost identity. John Lennon joined Great American King in his dream of â€Å"a brotherhood of men† in his â€Å"Imagine†. Martin Luther King was looking for the identity of the black people of America and paid his life for it. Pecola was looking for her own identity and paid her mentality. John Lennon was looking for a â€Å"brotherhood of men† and paid his life for his search. These principles can not come from the outside; they should be in the people’s mind which is an identity. A hero of one Russian classic (Bulgakov, The Heart of the Dog) kept threatening himself, â€Å"there is a devastation in the country!!!† and he got a respond â€Å"this devastation is in your mind†. The same could be said of identity. We create the identity in our minds and then we apply it to the entire society. Bibliography I Have A Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr, Delivered on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. Source: Martin Luther King, Jr: The Peaceful Warrior, Pocket Books, NY 1968, available at http://www.mecca.org/~crights/dream.html, retrieved 7.04.2005 Tirell, Lynne. â€Å"Storytelling and Moral Agency.† Toni Morrison’s Fiction: Contemporary Criticism. Ed. David Middleton. New York: Garland, 2000. 3-25. Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye. New York: Penguin, 1994. Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye, Review, available at http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/lit_term.html#pv Hedin, Raymond. The Structuring of Emotion in Black American Fiction. Novel 16 (1982): 35-54. Edmund A. Napieralski, Morrisons The Bluest Eye., 1994 Heldref Publications, The Explicator, Fall 1994 v53 n1 p59(4), available at http://www.cofc.edu/~farrells/Farrell/oedipus.html, retrieved 6.04.2005 Hinda A. Barlaz, A Reading Guide to Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, available at http://students.adelphi.edu/learningcenter/pdfs/tonimorrison.pdf, retrieved 6.04.2005 Trudy Mercer. Female Childhood Icons in Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye, available at http://www.drizzle.com/~tmercer/write/morrison/bluesteye.shtml Chris Booker, The Social Status of the African American Male: 1999, available at http://www.pressroom.com/~afrimale/status99.htm Gibson, Donald B. (1989), â€Å"Text and Countertext in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye†, Taylor, Paul C., Journal of Aesthetics Art Criticism, MALCOLMS CONK AND DANTOS COLORS; OR, FOUR LOGICAL PETITIONS CONCERNING RACE, BEAUTY, AND ,  , available at http://www.lib.tjfsu.edu.cn/ymwx/essay/The%20Bluest%20Eye1.htm Bjork, Patrick B. The novels of Toni Morrison: the search for self and place within the community. NY: P. Lang,1996.

Political Stability A Big Positive For India Essay

Political Stability A Big Positive For India Essay The relationship between political stability, freedom and economic performance has raised many debates in economic literature in the past decades. There is a commonly perception that the reliable political environment is a necessity condition for economic development, many researchers tried to examine such a perception empirically both in a global and regional context, they suggest that political instability, by creating uncertainties in political and economic environments, distorts economic decisions, including investment, production, and labor supply, and thereby reduces long-run growth. However, much of the empirical literature has failed to find a significant, negative relationship between political stability and growth. In the other hand, democracy is valued independently of its effects on material well-being. Equal participation in elections (voice) and in the evaluation of government officials (accountability) is universally perceived as a precondition for social justice. Stud ying the effects of democracy on economic growth, because it focuses on its material consequences, is often deemed a futile endeavor. The purpose of our paper is to examine the effects of political stability and democracy on economic growth as an indicator of economic performance in the Mediterranean Sea countries .We have used panel data technique to estimate our model for 21 countries in the region during 1996-2004 period. The paper is organized in 5 sections. The next section is review of literature, then we would introduce our model and data collection, in the fourth part the results of estimation have presented and finally we indicate our concluding remarks. What is political stability? The political stability is generally speaking political stability is positive factor for the sovereign ratings. Because of strong mandate, next government will have a better opportunity to execute its policy agenda. Economist conferences today successfully organized the first INDIA FORECASTING FORUM. The conference themed Taking charge in Turbulent Times presented a unique opportunity to hear experts from the Economist Group assess the actions and policies of the new Government during its first 150 days. The conference saw the presence of various business leaders discussing the impact of the global downturn and the policies and reforms required to put their respective industries on track for rapid sustainable growth. The report released by EIU today stated, The Economist Intelligence Unit believes that there is unlikely to be a sudden rush to implement comprehensive liberalizing policies. This is not only because the governments foremost concern is maintaining domestic economic stability in a time of general economic uncertainty, but also-perhaps more importantly-because there remains resistance to reform within Congress and among its core supporters, particularly in rural areas. Indeed, support for maintaining the status quo has risen in some quarters because India has weathered the global recession far better than most countries, bolstering the argument that Indias slow and at times unsteady process of liberalization is in fact a blessing rather than a curse. In short, the reconfirmation of the Indian National Congress as the main governing party means that economic policy will remain broadly consistent with the direction that has been pursued over the past five years. The administrations top priorities will continue to be mitigating the effects of global economic recession on India and delivering populist measures designed to help the common man. MATERIALS AND METHODS Measures of political stability: This study created an index using proxy variables for political stability during 1990-2005. Our purpose is to measure the effect of political instability on growth related variables through this index. This study used the following measures to create the index for political stability in a long period 1990-2005 in selected ten Asian economies at various income levels. Longevity of the government: stands for the number of times the ruling party was changed during the selected period. It indicates the continuity of government policies. When the number of time increase political stability decreases. It indicates that the stability of the government is weakened. How much time a party take to rule over the country. Election density ratio (EDR):- election density ratio =the research period is divided by number of times general election were held. A country that holds several elections in a given period is politically unstable. Higher the value of EDR greater the countrys political stability. Lower the value of EDR the political governments instability is greater. Increase in the number of political parties: The increase in the number of parties or alliances, having at least two seats in the national assembly also indicates political instability. Strength of ruling party: average of the percentage of the seats the majority party that was in power for more terms during the period had in the national assembly. It indicates that within the period, what percentage of the total seats it got in the national assembly. And finally we take the average of the percentage. It indicates the strength of leading party in a country. Military expenditure as a percentage of GDP: military expenditure is an indicator of peace, thus political stability, in a country. We take the change in military expenditure as percentage of GDP between 1985 and 1995 fiscal years for all countries. Index of democratization: it measures the extent of democracy. Higher the degree of competition and participation, higher the level of democratization in a particular political system. Competition is defined as the electoral success of small parties. Percentage of the population that actually voted in this election is used as the measure of the degree of electoral participation. Generally, in middle income developing countries, greater democracy indicates higher instability of the government and less democracy greater stability. Number of persons internally displaced: it indicates that the country is afflicted with internal social political problems. Higher number indicates political instability and less number the political stability. All the above variables of measures which determine the political stability of country are transformed as a one index called index for aggregate political stability. What is the cause of political stability? Political stability is the most important attribute of a modern state, save for liberal democracy. In order to analyses and explain the phenomenon of political stability, this paper draws its statistical data from the Norris cross- national subset. However, it needs to be said that a complete analysis of all the factors affecting political stability can neither be collected nor analyzed. It needs to be said that there are a wide variety of variable that influence political stability. The political stability depends upon the rule of law. Political stability is also dependent on economic aspects. The reason is obvious that people are encouraged to invest and trade when they are confident in the future and few things seem more likely to undermine business and consumer confident than the view of political instability and sudden changes in the economic. Trade is an indicator for how developed the society is; if there are certain goods produced which other countries cannot produce because of their lack of technical advantage. Political stability and economic growth The political stability influences economic growth. It is called politicalization of the economic growth. Institutional framework for economic growth can be facilitated by the social capability, social infrastructure, good governance and rules and regulations. The growth of any country depends upon his political stabilities because development takes place when single partys rules over the country, many ruling parties are object to development in their states. If we want to see the development in our country its totally depend upon the political situation of that country. POLITICS OF INDIA The politics of India take place in a framework of a federal parliamentary multi-party representative democratic republic. India is the worlds largest democracy. In India, the Prime minister of India is identified as the head of government of nation, while the President of India is said to be the formal head of state and substantial reserve power, placing him or her in approximately the same position as the British monarch. Executive power is enforced by the government. It can be noted that federal legislative power is vested in both the government of India and the two characteristic chambers of the Parliament of India. Also, it can be said that the judiciary is independent of both the executive and the legislature. Looking at the constitution, India is a nation that is characterized to be sovereign socialist secular democratic republic India is the largest state by population with a democratically-elected government. For most of the year since independence, the federal government has been guided by the India National Congress (INC). In India the two largest political parties have been the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Bharatiye Ajanta Party (BJP). Presently the two parties have dominated the Indian politics. However, regional parties also exist. The year 1996-1998 was a period of turmoil in the federal government with several short-lived alliances holding sway. The BJP formed a government briefly in 1996, followed by the United Front. Coalition that excluded both the BJP and the INC. In 1998, the BJP formed the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) with several other parties and became the first non-Congress government to complete a full five- year term. In the 2004 Indian election, the INC won the largest number of Lok Sabha seats and formed a government with a coalition called the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), supported by various parties. In the 2009 Lok Sabha Elections, it won agai n with a surprising majority, the INC itself winning more than 200 seats. At the federal level, India is the most populous democracy in the world. While many neighboring countries witness frequent coups, Indian democracy has been suspended only once. Nevertheless, Indian politics is often described as chaotic. More than a fifth of parliament members face criminal charges. Role of political parties As like any other democracy, political parties represent different sections among the Indian society and regions, and their core values play a major role in the politics of India. The government runs by the representatives of the political parties who have been elected through the elections. India has a multi-party system, where there are a number of national as well as regional parties. A regional party may gain a majority and rule a particular state. If a party represents more than 4 states then such parties are considered as national parties. Formation of coalition governments reflects the transition in Indian politics away from the national parties towards smaller, more narrowly-based regional parties. Some regional parties, especially in South India, are deeply aligned to the ideologies of the region unlike the national parties and thus the relationship between the central government and the state government in various states has not always been free of rancor. Disparity between the ideologies of the political parties ruling the center and the states leads to severely skewed allocation of resources between the states. Political issues Social issues. The lack of homogeneity in the Indian population causes division between different sections of the people based on religion, region, language, caste, and race. This has led to rise of political parties with agendas catering to one or a mix of these groups. Some parties openly profess their focus on particular groups and some other parties claim to be universal in nature, but tend to draw support from particular sections of the population. Internal security is also threatened as incidences of political parties instigating and leading violence between two opposing groups of people is a frequent occurrence. Economics issues Economics issues like poverty, unemployment, development are main issues that influence politics. The economic policies of most other parties do not go much further than providing populist subsidies and reservations. Party funding Political parties are funded by contributions from party members, individuals and organization which share their political ideas or who stand to benefit from their activities or government publics funding. Political parties and factions, especially those in government, are lobbied vigorously by organizations, businesses and special interest groups such as trades unions. Money and gifts to a party, or its member, may be offered as incentives. Public financing for parties and candidates during elections has several permutations and its increasingly common. There are two broad categories of funding, direct, which entails a monetary transfer to a party, and indirect, which includes broadcast time on state media, use of the mail service or supplies. According to the Comparative Data from ACE Electoral Knowledge Network, out of a sample of over 180 nations, 25% of nations provide no direct or indirect public funding, 58% provide direct public funding and 60% of nations provide indirect pub lic funding. Some countries provide both direct and indirect public funding to political parties. Funding may be equal for all parties or depend on the results of previous campaigns or the number of candidates participating in an election. Frequently parties rely on a mix of private and public funding and are required to disclose their finances to the Electoral Management Body. Sometimes the political parties collect their funding by forcing or indulging the common people. Economy in India The economy in India is the eleventh largest economy in the world by nominal GDP and the fourth largest by purchasing power parity (ppp). Following strong economic reforms from the socialist inspired economy of a post- independence Indian nation, the country began to develop a fast- paced economic growth. India was under social democratic based policies from 1947 to 1991. Since 1991, continuing economic liberalization has moved the country toward a market- based economy. By 2008, India had established itself as the worlds second fastest growing major economy. However, the year 2009 saw a significant slowdown in Indias GDP growth rate to 6.8% as well as the return of a large projected fiscal deficit of 6.8% of GDP which would be among the highest in the world. Indian democracy: This article is about Indian politics, government and law and relation between them. This article deals with factors correlating the three with each other. India is a constitutional republic consisting of 28 states and seven center-controlled union territories with New Delhi as the nations capital. It is the seventh largest and second most populous country with roughly one sixth of the worlds population, making it the largest worlds democratic country. It is one of the worlds oldest civilizations with a rich and varied cultural heritage. It has achieved widespread socio-economic progress during the last 62 years of its independence. From self- sufficiency in agricultural production to space exploration, India is competing effectively with other developed nations. GOVERNMENT Constitution The government of India is framed according to the constitution. The architects of Indias constitution, through drawing on many external sources, were most heavily influenced by the British model of parliamentary democracy. In addition, a number of principles were adopted from the United States Constitution, including the separation of powers among the major branches of government, the establishment of a supreme court, and albeit in modified form, of a federal structure (a constitutional division of power between the union [central] and state government). The mechanical details for running the central government, however, were largely carried over from the Government of India Act of 1935, passed by the British Parliament, which served as Indias governing document in the waning days of British colonial rule. The new constitution took effect on January 26, 1950 and proclaimed India a sovereign socialist secular democratic republic. With 444 articles, 12 (later 12) schedules, and 97 amendments, it is one of the worlds longest and most detailed constitutions. The constitution includes a detailed list of fundamental rights, a lengthy list of directive principles of directive principles of state policy (goals that the state is obligated to promote, though with no specified timetable for their accomplishment), and a much shorter list of fundamental duties of the citizen. The constitution has fostered an increasing concentration of power in the central government-especially the office of the Prime Minister. This centralization has occurred in the face of the increasing assertiveness of an array of ethnic and caste groups across Indian society. The government has responded to the resulting tensions by exerting authoritarian, albeit constitutional powers. Together with the publics perception of pervasive corruption among Indias politicians, the states centralization of authority and increasing resort to coercive power have eroded its legitimacy. Law commission After independence, the constitutions Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy gave a new direction to law reform geared to the needs of a democratic legal order in a plural society. Though the constitution stipulated the continuation of existing Laws pending amendment or repeal, there had been demands in parliament and outside for establishing a central Law commission to recommend updating of the inherited laws to serve the new country. The Government established the First Law commission of independent India in 1955. The ministry of law reviews the commissions reports, consulting with the concerned administrative ministries, submitting them to the parliament from time to time they are cited in courts, in academic and public discourses and are acted upon by concerned government department depending on the governments recommendations. Factors affecting political stability The success of democracy in India defiles many prevailing theories that stipulate preconditions. Indian democracy is best understood by focusing on how power is distributed. Religion Religion is a major cultural influence and also plays an important role in politics. Political party support greatly depends upon religion. The main religions are Hinduism and Islam and many political parties are identified by the religion of their supporters. Unlike religions such as Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, Islam is not based on Hinduism. Many national religious issues are the key points of the success in elections. Caste The caste system crosses religious boundaries to infect both Hindu and Islamic peoples. Hindus have four main castes and hundreds of sub-castes. Many political parties draw supporters from specific caste or sub- caste. Population India is the second most populous country of the world after china. The one billion-plus population has challenged the countrys ability to provide jobs, health care, and education. Slowing population growth has been a major issue for the government. Its not an issue for the government because they think that the votes being produced. Development India is still an emerging country. Making the pace and shape of development a major concern. India began as explicitly socialist nation and continues with a large public sector and many constraints on private enterprise, although the recent government has reduced some of these restrictions. Their reward has been faster economic growth, particularly through the growth of the trade-oriented industry. Some recent governments got removed because economic growth was too low. Regions India is very densely populated. Some advocate splitting some twenty-eight states and seven union territories. International issues The nations success in developing an international information technology sector, recent wars with Pakistan, Indias role in the world economy and world affairs redefined nationalism in India. People generally support those parties who maintain and enhance Indias role in world affairs. Other factors Factors such as education, corruption, womens issues, student politics, and criminalization of politics, leadership strategies and the design of political institutions affect national and local politics. Economic growth: Economic growth is the increase of per capita gross domestic product (GDP) or other measure of aggregate income. It is often measured as the rate of change in real GDP. Economic growth refers only to the quantity of goods and services produced. Economic growth can be either positive or negative. Negative growth can be referred to by saying that the economy is shrinking. Negative growth is associated with economic recession and economic depression. In order to compare per capita income across multiple countries, the statistics may be quoted in a single currency, based on either prevailing exchange rates or purchasing power parity. To compensate for changes in the value of money (inflation or deflation) the GDP or GNP is usually given in real or inflation adjusted, terms rather than the actual money figure compiled in a given year, which is called the nominal or current figure. Economists draw a distinction between short-term economic stabilization and long-term economic growth. The topic of economic growth is primarily concerned with the long run. The short-run variation of economic growth is termed the business cycle. The long-run path of economic growth is one of the central questions of economics; despite some problems of measurement, an increase in GDP of a country is generally taken as an increase in the standard of living of its inhabitants. Over long periods of time, even small rates of annual growth can have large effects through compounding (see exponential growth). A growth rate of 2.5% per annum will lead to a doubling of GDP within 29 years, whilst a growth rate of 8% per annum (experienced by some Four Asian Tigers) will lead to a doubling of GDP within 10 years. This exponential characteristic can exacerbate differences across nations. Indias Economic Growth since 1980 India Economy Growth: The rate of growth improved in the 1980s. From 1980 to 1989, the economy grew at an annual rate of 5.5 percent, or 3.3 percent on a per capita basis. Industry grew at an annual rate of 6.6 percent and agriculture at a rate of 3.6 percent. A high rate of investment was a major factor in improved economic growth. Investment went from about 19 percent of GDP in the early 1970s to nearly 25 percent in the early 1980s. India, however, required a higher rate of investment to attain comparable economic growth than did most other low-income developing countries, indicating a lower rate of return on investments. Part of the adverse Indian experience was explained by investment in large, long-gestating, capital-intensive projects, such as electric power, irrigation, and infrastructure. However, delayed completions, cost overruns, and under-use of capacity were contributing factors. Private savings financed most of Indias investment, but by the mid-1980s further growth in private savings was difficult because they were already at quite a high level. As a result, during the late 1980s India relied increasingly on borrowing from foreign sources. This trend led to a balance of payments crisis in 1990; in order to receive new loans, the government had no choice but to agree to further measures of economic liberalization. This commitment to economic reform was reaffirmed by the government that came to power in June 1991. Indias primary sector, including agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, and quarrying, accounted for 32.8 percent of GDP in 1991. The size of the agricultural sector and its vulnerability to the vagaries of the monsoon cause relatively large fluctuations in the sectors contribution to GDP from one year to another. In 1991, the contribution to GDP of industry, including manufacturing, construction, and utilities, was 27.4 percent; services, including trade, transportation, communications, real estate and finance, and public- and private-sector services, contributed 39.8 percent. The steady increase in the proportion of services in the national economy reflects increased market-determined processes, such as the spread of rural banking, and government activities, such as defense spending. Despite a sometimes disappointing rate of growth, the Indian economy was transformed between 1947 and the early 1990s. The number of kilowatt-hours of electricity generated, for example, increased more than fiftyfold. Steel production rose from 1.5 million tons a year to 14.7 million tons a year. The country produced space satellites and nuclear-power plants, and its scientists and engineers produced an atomic explosive device (see Major Research Organizations, this chap.; Space and Nuclear Programs,). Life expectancy increased from twenty-seven years to fifty-nine years. Although the population increased by 485 million between 1951 and 1991, the availability of food grains per capita rose from 395 grams per day in 1950 to 466 grams in 1992. However, considerable dualism remains in the Indian economy. Officials and economists make an important distinction between the formal and informal sectors of the economy. The informal, or unorganized, economy is largely rural and encompasses farming, fishing, forestry, and cottage industries. It also includes petty vendors and some small-scale mechanized industry in both rural and urban areas. The bulk of the population is employed in the informal economy, which contributes more than 50 percent of GDP. The formal economy consists of large units in the modern sector for which statistical data are relatively good. The modern sector includes large-scale manufacturing and mining, major financial and commercial businesses, and such public-sector enterprises as railroads, telecommunications, utilities, and government itself. The greatest disappointment of economic development is the failure to reduce more substantially Indias widespread poverty. Studies have suggested that income distribution changed little between independence and the early 1990s, although it is possible that the poorer half of the population improved its position slightly. Official estimates of the proportion of the population that lives below the poverty line tend to vary sharply from year to year because adverse economic conditions, especially rises in food prices, are capable of lowering the standard of living of many families who normally live just above the subsistence level. The Indian governments poverty line is based on an income sufficient to ensure access to minimum nutritional standards, and even most persons above the poverty line have low levels of consumption compared with much of the world. Estimates in the late 1970s put the number of people who lived in poverty at 300 million or nearly 50 percent of the population at the time. Poverty was reduced during the 1980s, and in 1989 it was estimated that about 26 percent of the population, or 220 million people, lived below the poverty line. Slower economic growth and higher inflation in 1990 and 1991 reversed this trend. In 1991, it was estimated that 332 million people, or 38 percent of the population, lived below the poverty line. India Economy Growth Farmers and other rural residents make up the large majority of Indias poor. Some own very small amounts of land while others are field hands, semi-nomadic shepherds, or migrant workers. The urban poor include many construction workers and petty vendors. The bulk of the poor work, but low productivity and intermittent employment keep incomes low. Poverty is most prevalent in the states of Orissa, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh, and least prevalent in Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir. By the early 1990s, economic changes led to the growth in the number of Indians with significant economic resources. About 10 million Indians are considered upper class, and roughly 300 million are part of the rapidly increasing middle class. Typical middle-class occupations include owning a small business or being a corporate executive, lawyer, physician, white-collar worker, or land-owning farmer. In the 1980s, the growth of the middle class was reflected in the increased consumption of consumer durables, such as televisions, refrigerators, motorcycles, and automobiles. In the early 1990s, domestic and foreign businesses hoped to take advantage of Indias economic liberalization to increase the range of consumer products offered to this market. Housing and the ancillary utilities of sewer and water systems lag considerably behind the populations needs. Indias cities have large shantytowns built of scrap or readily available natural materials erected on whatever space is available, including sidewalks. Such dwellings lack piped water, sewerage, and electricity. The government has attempted to build housing facilities and utilities for urban development, but the efforts have fallen far short of demand. Administrative controls and other aspects of government policy have discouraged many private investors from constructing housing units. Liberalization in the Early 1990s Increased borrowing from foreign sources in the late 1980s, which helped fuel economic growth, led to pressure on the balance of payments. The problem came to a head in August 1990 when Iraq invaded Kuwait, and the price of oil soon doubled. In addition, many Indian workers resident in Persian Gulf states either lost their jobs or returned home out of fear for their safety, thus reducing the flow of remittances (see Size and Composition of the Work Force). The direct economic impact of the Persian Gulf conflict was exacerbated by domestic social and political developments. In the early 1990s, there was violence over two domestic issues: the reservation of a proportion of public-sector jobs for members of Scheduled Castes (see Glossary) and the Hindu-Muslim conflict at Ajodhya. The central government fell in November 1990 and was succeeded by a minority government. The cumulative impact of these events shook international confidence in Indias economic viability, and the country found it increasingly difficult to borrow internationally. As a result, India made various agreements with the International Monetary Fund (IMFsee Glossary) and other organizations that included commitments to speed up liberalization. In the early 1990s, considerable progress was made in loosening government regulations, especially in the area of foreign trade. Many restrictions on private companies were lifted, and new areas were opened to private capital. However, India remains one of the worlds most

Coming of Age in Ferris Beach :: McCorkle Ferris Beach Essays

Coming of Age in Ferris Beach Jill McCorkle's Ferris Beach is set in the 1970's, which is a transitional period in American history. The book is a buildings roman of Katie Burn's coming of age. Her maturing is complicated by the transition that is occurring in the time period. At the time, the Civil Rights movement had just ended, and there is a movement towards a more modern society, which included the integration of races and equality among men and women. In the book, the movement is characterized as a transition from the 'Old South' to the 'New South.' Different characters symbolize each time period. For example, Theresa Poole represents the Old South, whereas, Mo Rhodes is symbolic of the New South. As Katie grows up in this atmosphere, she must understand herself, and her sexuality. The mentalities of the Old and New South affect Katie's development. Each character in the book influences her values and beliefs. Katie must understand people like Mo Rhodes and Theresa Poole in order to establish her position i n the shifting order. Throughout the book she is exposed to different extremes of Southern mentality, and she falls victim to others' views. Finally, Katie realizes that her notions about Angela and Mo Rhodes are wrong, and that she believes in ideas that fall in between the two extremes that she has experienced. In the beginning of the book, we are introduced to Mrs. Poole, who is a traditional southern lady. She is ridiculed throughout the book because of her conventional beliefs. Her 'Old South' mentality is revealed at the beginning of the book when Mrs. Poole says, "the split levels are coming! The split levels are coming!"(pg. 1) She believes that the split levels represent a lower class and will degrade their long time established neighborhood. Theresa leads the Children of the Confederacy club and insists that Katie and Misty must be members of this historical organization. Katie and Misty's participation almost mocks Mrs. Poole's "southern ways." The organization epitomizes a traditional mentality. It is evident that Mrs. Poole does not want to partake in the transition into the New South. On the other hand, Angela and Mo Rhodes are of an extremely opposite nature. Angela is a beautiful young woman, who Katie envies and admires. Angela is a free spirited girl who has no commitment to anything.

Pat Buchanan Speaks Out :: essays research papers

Thursday night the Phillips Center for Performing Arts hosted a very special guest appearance by the Reforms Party presidential candidate Pat Buchanan. In the year of presidential elections the two popular candidates George Bush and Al Gore really don’t lash out on each other, which makes this years debates boring and long. Pat Buchanan is refreshing to the sense he doesn’t care what he says about the other candidates. Pat Buchanan’s history includes serving as an assistant to Richard Nixon, and also to Ronald Regan. An accomplished journalist in his younger career, Pat Buchanan wrote speeches for the Reykjavik summit with Mikhail Gorbachev, and Richard Nixon’s popular speech to the opening of China in 1972. A solid Republican through many years in the White House Pat Buchanan saw a growing problem and decided to do something about it. Buchanan says, † The other parties do not realize the problems in America, we are loosing our country and what we stand for†. Buchanan wasted no time on stage knocking both Gore and Bush, because they are failing to talk about real problems in the United States. â€Å"These guys stand up here and are scared to death to step on each other toes and tell the Gods honest truth†. Buchanan feels that he left the Republican Party because they will not fight for American rights. Buchanan really focused his ideas with building America back to the nation our founding fathers wanted. He pointed out the problem with America’s heritage taking Washington’s day and changing it to President’s day. Buchanan explained, â€Å"When did we stop celebrating our first President of United States, and start celebrating Presidents such as Bill Clinton†. He also argued the problem of changing Christmas break to Winter break, and Easter break into Spring break. What’s more surprising is his views on why America is changing and what he will do to change America back to the land of liberty. Buchanan blames the change in United to States to the problem with immigration. â€Å"With too much immigration we are loosing communication with each other, we should teach all new immigrants English and emphasize American history first and foremost’. Buchanan feels that, â€Å"English is what as Americans brings us together, so everyone who lives i n America should know English†. Buchanan also offered a strict policy on immigration on his new plan. Under Buchanan’s new plan he will cut foreign aid and also pull troops out of Europe and the Middle East.

Discursive essay on abortion Essay

Abortion is an issue that people have been questioning for generations. It is often a very hard personal decision to make; you must consider all sides of the issue. Abortion is the removal of a foetus before it has been born. Some call this murder; others say it is a matter of personal rights. Here I will explore all the arguments for abortion, leaving you to make this decision for yourself. Many women have abortions for many different reasons. Some because they feel they are too young, they do not want to have a child, or because they were raped. They may feel a child will restrict their ability to live their lives to the fullest at a younger age or simply because they cannot afford one. There are many reasons that a woman may choose to terminate her pregnancy each different from the next. She might not want to be a single parent, she doesn’t want to marry her partner, he can’t or won’t marry, or she isn’t in a relationship. She might not want anyone to know she has had sex or is pregnant due to family reasons or embarrassment. Or the most logical reason- she or the foetus has a health problem. Abortion ends a pregnancy before birth takes place. When an embryo or foetus dies in the womb and is expelled by the body, it is called a spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) and is natural and unpreventable. To end pregnancy voluntarily, is an induced a bortion. When a foetus is dead at birth, it is called a stillbirth. More than 90% of all abortions are performed during the first three months of pregnancy. In fact, more than half are performed within the first two months. These abortions are usually performed at a hospital or abortion clinic, and the women go home an hour or so later. Abortion in the last three months of pregnancy is extremely rare but still do take place. Only about 1 out of 10,000 abortions take place after 24 weeks. These are the most complicated and are performed only when the pregnancy seriously threatens a woman’s health or life or when the foetus is severely deformed. Most women who have abortions are under 25 years old and unmarried. Divorced women and women with financial difficulties are more likely to choose abortion than any other women. Nearly one-third are in school. After abortion most women will feel a brief sadness or other negative feeling but recover very quickly. These problems, if prolonged, are often called â€Å"post-abortion syndrome†. Abortion is a very grave sin in the Catholic Church unless the woman’s life is in danger. The fifth commandment states † thou shall not kill.† Catholics have said: ‘Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end, no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being.’ And ‘Do not slay the innocent and the righteous.’ The deliberate murder of an innocent person is gravely wrong to the dignity of the human being, to the golden rule and to the Creator, say the Catholic Church. Pro-life groups say that abortion is deliberate murder, even though the foetus is unborn. They believe that as the foetus is living, it has rights and therefore abortion qualifies as a killing. They say that if the woman did not want to have a child, she should not have had unprotected sex and so it is her own fault and she must bear the brunt of it. If your mother had decided to abort, you would not be here now. But pro-choice groups say that just because the woman got pregnant by mistake or without realising the consequences does not mean that she should give birth to a child that she is unready or unwilling for. This applies most profoundly in the case of teenage pregnancies, as 1/3 of women choosing to have abortion are still in school. They say that having a child could drastic decrease the woman’s quality of life, especially if she is financially insecure. In the year 2000, 1.3 million abortions took place. If it was made illegal, the world’s population would be increasing at an even higher rate than it is now. Many people also say that since the foetus is incapable of self-conscious thought it is not yet a person, and so the rights given to people do not apply to it. Another pro-choice argument is that legalizing abortions has eliminated many illegal abortions performed by unskilled practitioners under unsanitary conditions. These abortions often caused death and permanent reproductive  injuries. Abortion on demand also prevents unwanted births, possibly lowering infant and child abuse and neglect rates.