Mandatory retirement for people 65 and over has been enforced in Canada over the last few years. The act also targeted were professors and other members of higher-level academia. While many believed that mandatory retirement would help to allow aging professors accept a retirement they might otherwise reject, the mandatory retirement only proved one thing: that despite an individual’s contributions to society and education throughout the years, that individual was still subject to ageism.

Mandatory retirement should no longer be enforced due to the fact that it violates an individual’s rights and allows for discrimination against age to be considered legal, and does not take into consideration that in many cases, the body ages faster than the mind, thus allowing for professors to be able to continue teaching effectively even as they grow older. Mandatory retirement is an obvious attack on an individual’s human rights. By stating that any individual 65 and older must be forced into retirement, discrimination against age is given legal permission to exist.

Mandatory retirement alludes to the idea that any individual who is 65 and older is no longer mentally and physically sound to continue acting in a position of academic leadership, and also goes so far as to insult the individual’s mental capacity. It is that idea which forces professors to be put at a disadvantage in terms of the act. According to the article “New law lets Ontario profs teach beyond age 65” by Claire Neary, “Western’s faculty association, along with every Ontario faculty association, argued mandatory retirement is a violation of human rights and should be abolished immediately.

‘Human beings don’t have best-buy dates or shelf lives that are universal across the species […]’. ” An opinion piece for Gazette. com also stated that mandatory retirement could be considered a human rights violation because it dictated when people were to retire even though all individuals have the right to work. The piece also explains that in many cases, professors are forced to work for many years before they are considered to be professionals in their fields and that in many cases, professors might only be able to begin teaching to their full capacity a few years before mandatory retirement would be enforced.

The article also draws attention to the fact that older professors are able to bring experience to the classroom and that a general law demanding retirement at a specific age does not take the individual’s mental capacity into consideration. The idea of a generalized shelf life makes the issue that much more problematic. There is no definitive means of determining what age a professor will remain of great quality until. If anything, it is an older professor’s experience over the years which can give a course much more meaning.

For example, if a professor lectures on mythology from a book and does not bring any personal experience to the course, students will only take information and stories out the lectures. But if a professor is able to state that he went to the famous temples students are learning about, and perhaps even visited a sort-of modern day oracle, the students might become more interested in the subject matter and have a greater understanding of the way course information is still relevant to the world outside of academia.

A professor who is able to speak about course matter more personally as compared to a professor who only knows what he has read in books is more capable of making the subject matter become more interesting for the students. The emphasis on age in terms of mandatory retirement is almost a frivolous idea. Many professors begin teaching after they have spent years devoted to other occupations; it is not uncommon for former businessmen or historians to begin teaching courses based on their personal areas of expertise. While they might be older in age, their decision to begin teaching also began later in life.

To allow a professor to begin teaching at the age of 60 and only have five years in the academic world is a disservice provided the professor is still lecturing to his full capacity. This idea alludes to the notion of there not being a “best-buy date”. It is also a common theory that older individuals who are kept active are able to stay alive longer; if professors are constantly reading and writing about their subject matter as they age, their minds may just retain their mental acuity longer than other people their age, thus proving that a “best-buy date” is nonexistent.

Nancy Gray’s article “U of T to eliminate mandatory retirement” quotes Belinda Sutton of the Ontario Ministry of Labour as saying, “Ontarians are living longer and healthier lives and it is unfair to insist that they stop working at age 65. Age should not be used arbitrarily to determine when a person retires. ” The amount of individuals who would continue to teach after the age of 65 is also shown to be considerably smaller than believed. Jesse Haperin’s article “OCUFA fighting for rights” states that only a minority of professors would be willing to teach past the age of 65.

Neary’s article gives that minority a total of 2-4% of professors, a relatively small number in respect to the rest of the academic population. Haperin’s article also stated that universities feared that professors who remained in their positions past the age of 65 would severely affect the amount of new professors being hired by universities to fill the vacancies. It is obvious that because the number of professors who would remain teaching past age 65 is so small, the affect on the hiring of new professors would be minimal as well.

Professors should not be subjected to mandatory retirement due primarily to the fact that ageism is a form of discrimination and that acts such as mandatory retirement only serve to aggravate general views of older individuals being unable to function in today’s society, as well as the fact that while the number of professors choosing to remain teaching after the age of 65 is minimal, the majority cannot be generalized for the ways in which their bodies and minds have aged.

Works Cited

Gazette. com. (2004, October 13). OCUFA fighting for rights. Retrieved June 1, 2007 from http://www. gazette. uwo. ca/article. cfm? section=section=FrontPage&articleID=66& month=10&day=13&year=2004. Gazette. com. (2005, March 16). U of T to eliminate mandatory retirement. Retrieved June 1, 2007 from http://www. gazette. uwo. ca/article. cfm? section=FrontPage& articleID=315&moth=3&day=16&year=2005.

Gazette. com. (2007, April 12). New law lets Ontario profs teach beyond age 65. Retrieved June 1, 2007 from http://www. gazette. uwo. ca/article. cfm? section=FrontPage&article ID=991&month=04&day=12&year=2007. Gazette. com. (2007, April 12). Professors age like fine wine. Retrieved June 1, 2007 from http://www. gazette. uwo. ca/article. cfm? section=Opinions&articleID=1357&month =04&day=12&year=2007.

The writing process has been described in a number of different steps or phases. For the purpose of successful writing, three large steps are used, planning, writing, completing. Some writers plan their writing, sometimes at their desk, sometimes while engaged in other routine activities such as mowing the lawn or washing dishes. Others need to understand the importance of planning and often require explicit directions on how to plan. It might be helpful to begin by having your students respond to these three planning questions: What is the topic of our writing?

Who is our audience? What will be interesting to them? What do we want to accomplish by writing about this topic (e. g. , convey information, persuade policy makers, etc. )? (Courtland 2003) Writing (or drafting) is the process of writing down ideas, organizing them into a sequence, and providing the reader with a frame for understanding these ideas. The end result is a composition or first draft of the ideas. The following questions might be helpful as they compose their first drafts: What ideas or thoughts will we include?

How will we organize the material? How will we introduce, develop and conclude our first draft? What will the title of our article be? (Courtland 2003) Completing refers to the process of editing and revising based on an evaluation of the writing. It is the hard work that a writer devotes to a piece of writing that is likely to reach a wide audience and serves as a reflection of oneself. It is not just correcting a poorly written paper. A person may go through many revisions before he is satisfied with his work.

The questions that the writer should ask himself as he proceeds through the completing stage are: How can the responses from others improve our paper? What new ideas do we have for the paper? What information should we add or delete? Have we corrected all spelling and grammatical errors? So, if the writer follows these three steps, his writing will be successful. (Courtland 2003)

References

Courtland, Bovee. (2003). Business Communication Today (7th ed. ). USA: Prentice Hall.

English as a Second Language (ESL) is a process of instruction of English in an English speaking country whose mother tongue is a different language (Rosenthal, 2000, p. 73). Freshman English as Second Language (ESL) Students in the University of Science and Technology have problems in terms of the following: Improper use of verb tenses – 24. 14% ; Improper or lack of use of articles- 13. 79% Improper use of auxiliary verbs – 10. 34%; Lack of use of punctuations -10. 34%; Poor knowledge in spelling -10. 34%; Improper or lack of use of prepositions – 10. 34%; Lack of knowledge in proper capitalizations – 6.90%; Lack or improper use of linking verbs – 3. 45%; Improper use of pronouns – 3. 45%; Improper use of nouns – 3. 45%; and Improper or lack of use of conjunctions – 3. 45% The grammatical errors that were found based on the four instruments that were used and the 10 individuals who participated on the case study.

Majority of the participants were studying ESL for seven to nine years and are aged between 18-20 years old. 1. 1 Background of the Problem The process of teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) is an endeavor that has been fully operational.

For the last ten years, there has been a significant increase in the number of public and private schools offering English programs (Qiang and Wolff, 2007). As of present, there are 1. 3 billion probable ESL and EFL students all over China, and a universal methodology is currently being implemented in order to cater to such a demand. However issues regarding the effectivity of the ESL and EFL teaching methods of the Chinese community are being questioned as poor quality of teaching is very evident due to the emergence of the so-called Ching-lish language.

Chinglish is a language that resulted as a mixture of Mandarin and English, or English with a Mandarin syntax (Qiang and Wolff, 2007). The problem of poor grasp of the English language, more specifically proper grammar is rooted on various rules, norms and practices in most Chinese. Qiang and Wolff (2007) emphasized that the primary sources of poor quality of ESL instruction came about due to unrealistic goals set forth by the government and other educational institutions.

Problems such as attempting to introduce a single prototype in teaching ESL, lacking in specific standard requirements for ESL teachers and the likes are utmost concern. The interplay of these factors caused the seemingly deteriorating quality of English of ESL Chinese students as has been a source of major criticisms not only in Taiwan but also through out the international community. 1. 2 Significance of the Study The study is significant in order to identify the common errors in grammar of ESL Chinese students located in Taipei, Taiwan.

The results of the study could be relevant in order to address the growing concern of deteriorating English grammar skills of ESL Chinese students. More importantly, the result of the data would be useful in order for respective schools, universities and other institutions to focus on such common errors in the course of introducing and teaching English as second language to their students. This could mean tailoring lesson plans, modules, teaching methods and approaches prior to the perceived error of ESL Chinese students.

1. 3 Objectives of the Study The study has one major objective and that is: To identify the common grammar errors of ESL Chinese students in Taipei, Taiwan. Specifically, the research aims to: (1) Know the errors in terms of students’ sentence construction; and (2) Know the errors in terms of the student’s use of the eight parts of speech, verb tenses, and auxiliary verbs.

1. 4 Conclusion ESL is an endeavor that is fully operational all over the Chinese community. ). As of present, there are 1.3 billion probable ESL and EFL students all over China, and a universal methodology is currently being implemented in order to cater to such a demand. The study is significant in order to identify the common errors in grammar of ESL Chinese students located in Taipei, Taiwan. The results of the study could be relevant in order to address the growing concern of deteriorating English grammar skills of ESL Chinese students. The major objective of the study is to identify the common grammar errors of ESL Chinese students in Taipei, Taiwan.

From a competitive advantage Apple computers in California, which has started to build video briefing centers to help sell Apple systems to top corporate executives, depict perspective the impact of videoconferencing. This system allows the companies staff located throughout the country to assist in sales pitches by video link, giving them a distinct advantage over their competitors. According to their Donna Collins the manager of videoconferencing networks for Apple “when we need to bring on a product manager, or even the Apple president, they come in, take part for as long as need, and then return to their other meetings and projects.

This helps us get a variety of experts and technical resources to the customer easily and quickly. ” This competitive advantage provided by videoconferencing is also seen things like productivity, with John Champa of Unisys Corporation reporting measurable improvements in the ability of his managers to get work done. Bendix/King Division of Allied Signal supports this indicating his company was able to release an important new product far enough in advance of its competitors that, for a year, it almost owned the market. These are unexpected benefits, which have been realized in implementing videoconferencing technology.

However they are unevenly distribution between organizations, as companies that will experience more benefit are the ones whose top management is tech savvy. Videoconferencing systems also have the impact of allowing companies to further their image in their industry and to promote community relations. A good example is The Travelers, a Connecticut based insurance provider known in the market for its products designed for the elderly. This company has began employing its business video network to co host the nationwide videoconferences on elder care.

This has provided the company with an unexpected means of lifting its profile in the community and of enhancing its reputation. NEGATIVE OUTCOMES Despite the seeming abundance of benefits that videoconferencing offers, much like other ICT’s this new technology also spawns various negative consequences. A major negative impact of videoconferencing is the interaction problems that it has created. Indeed communications breakdowns have been evident with the technology since it was first introduced with problems like mishearing, misunderstanding and misinterpreting of messages.

These communication breakdowns are a direct result of absence of things like eye contact, facial expressions, and bodily gestures, which we use as trouble flags, indicating if something has been understood. In face-to-face communication for example, frowns are used to indicate if a person is confused. Although videoconferencing provides a picture of the person we are communicating with, such gestures are not observed anywhere near as easily. This is heightened when you consider much videoconferencing revolves around interaction across international borders, and cultural mistakes can be made without even spotting the problems created.

This is an unexpected and paradoxical effect of videoconferencing, which was believed to improve communication almost to the point of being in the same room as one another. However such a loss of cues that are intrinsic parts of our everyday communication has meant it “is not and never will be like being next to one another. ” These results conflict with earlier findings that it improves communication, thus it can be seen that videoconferencing has varying effects in different situations, so measurement of its influence on human contact can possibly be shaky evidence.

Videoconferencing is an emerging technology, which enables people from any location, with the appropriate set of equipment, to communicate with each other in a virtual ‘face-to-face’ manner. The impact of videoconferencing on organizations has been extensive, with the effects of this technology growing as it becomes user-friendlier and the cost of equipment decreases. As a promising technological advance, videoconferencing has already had recent impacts upon some organizations.

From a positive perspective videoconferencing has permitted things like decreases in costs, greater flexibility, and heightened strategic opportunities. Nevertheless, caution must still be applied to videoconferencing, like any new device, with concern now emerging regarding the negative consequences of such technology. These extend too many areas for example interaction, psychological outcomes, and team dynamics. A primary impact of videoconferencing is that it allows more people to conduct work from home.

This has many implications such as reducing the levels of travel needed by employees and increasing the time they can spend with their family, etc. This aspect is particularly exciting in relation to disabled citizens, enabling them to do much of their work in the home office environment. It is important to note however, that this benefit is unevenly distributed throughout society. This is because people who require more sophisticated equipment or environments (assembly lines, construction areas, etc), have to be at their place of work and cannot operate from home.

Videoconferencing provides a cost-effective means of bringing a firm’s managers and employers together with customers. Estimates are that the average cost of a videoconference is about 10 percent that of a physical meeting. This is supported by research in the Business Research International showing that videoconferencing can provide businesses with a 90% saving, versus the cost of traveling to the meeting in person. This is another example of an uneven distribution in society, due to the fact that such systems will be of greater benefit to larger companies, who have clients in a wider variety of locations.

Videoconferencing also enables companies to have greater flexibility in their operations. Meetings can potentially be organized and held instantly no matter where the involved parties are. This permits greater communication throughout the company and heightened productivity. Currently however, such communication advantages only really exist for top management, who are the individuals with regular access to videoconferencing systems. This may change in the future as desktop videoconferencing begins to become the norm.

Videoconferencing has had positive impacts in allowing much greater sharing of expertise with and between companies. An example of this is the Sustainability Special Interest Group in New Zealand, which meets monthly through a video linked between Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. This conference allows different experts to teach member companies about topics including the sustainable use of energy. Uneven distribution throughout society is apparent however; with the benefits of mass networking and linking with videoconferencing not being realized when an organized group is small.

Videoconferencing has also been used in an attempt to improve employee relations in certain companies. This is best seen in the case of global shipping company CSX, which has began looking into holding annual video meetings with all of their employees on a mass basis. This will allow the company to obtain higher quality feedback from staff in order to improve performance and to better satisfy their needs. Further the company has recently began allowing employee representation, the Transportation Communications Union, to use the system for union communications.

Director Geoffrey Fuller believes “this will get company/union issues dealt with quicker and more sensibly. ” This is an unexpected and paradoxical effect of the system with many predicting these videoconferencing systems would, if anything, cause union problems. It is also an example of an uneven distribution of benefits through society, with companies unable to afford such videoconferencing systems not being able to offer such services to their unions

It has been argued that unlike alcohol and tobacco, marijuana is harmful and should therefore not be legalized. The argument that marijuana causes more damage than alcohol or tobacco is untenable. Just because a thing is considered to be more harmful than another harmful product does not necessarily mean that it should not be legalized. If a thing is to be declared illegal because it is harmful then it follows that all things that are harmful should also be declared illegal.

The predicate that since marijuana is harmful and should therefore not be legalized suffers from generalizations that cannot be countenanced. As studies have shown, marijuana, when regulated and given in the right amounts has shown to have medicinal properties. It has been known to help with migraines and vision problems. It has also been shown that marijuana does not pose a great a risk as causing cancer than tobacco. As such, it cannot even be considered as something that is totally harmful.

To say that alcohol and tobacco are not as harmful as marijuana would be to disregard all of the findings and statistics regarding the same. Drunken driving still remains the highest cause of vehicular accidents all over the world. In the same vein, prolonged tobacco usage has been proven to increase the chances of cancer. If the argument is hinged on the fact that one object is more harmful than the other it must first be proven that the others do not or would do less harm.

This has not been shown. Therefore, if one is to draw the analogy that by being more harmful than alcohol or tobacco marijuana should not be declared legal, then alcohol or tobacco have to be absolutely shown to be less harmful than marijuana. This analogy cannot just be drawn from isolated cases but must be drawn from more concrete evidence showing the same. As such, the statement that marijuana should be declared illegal because it is more harmful is not logical.

In preparation for the development of the marketing campaign for the Spring/Summer 2005 line, I would like to provide you with an overview of the orders we have placed for delivery in February 2005 to coincide with “Spring Break” purchases which have traditionally provided a significant portion of our annual sales, second only to our “Back to School” events in the Fall, although these events may not be as successful this year. REVISED SENTENCE: Our “Back to School” events in the fall and “Spring Break” in February traditionally provided a significant portion of our annual sales.

Although odds are that these events may not be as successful this year, we ought to buck the trend by planning even stronger marketing campaigns. Since Spring Break is the launching pad for the Spring/Summer campaign, we have already placed orders for that key event. I shall now give you an overview of those orders. EXPLANATION 1. The conditional clause expressing reservation about peak-month sales events is misplaced at the end of the paragraph.

It should start the paragraph since it sets the stage, affirming adverse expectations but proposing to buck the trend by working harder on product development. 2. We can condense the two peak sales cycles into one simpler statement since it matters not which one is first or second. As long as they are both important, we justify the extra marketing effort. 3. The link between “may not be as successful this year” and “preparation for the Spring/Summer 2005 line” is missing. That absence begs the question, “If prospects are not good, why bother?

” 4. Perhaps, there is a need to reiterate why we need to get off to a good start in Spring and Summer with the “spring Break” event. B) Example 2 ORIGINAL SENTENCE There are a wide variety of styles to choose from: sandals, mules, flipflops, stilettos, platforms, and boots and this will be an exciting season for us, especially considering the disappointment of last year, something for everyone. REVISED SENTENCES Compared to the disappointing year we just had, this promises to be an exciting season.

There will be something for everyone. There will be a wide variety of styles to choose form: sandals, mules, flipflops, stilettos, platforms, and boots. EXPLANATION It may be grammatically correct but the contrast from “disappointing” to “exciting” packs more punch as revised. The thematic fragment “something for everyone” is the general statement that then needs to be followed by the specifics of the product line. Passive: A meeting has been scheduled for us on Tuesday, November 8 to review the Spring/Summer line by us.

Allow me to thank you, first of all, for your interest in Earth’s Voyages and our Frequent Flyer Program (FFP). I agree with you that FFP will save you a great deal of money while letting you accumulate points for a variety of tour and travel packages with us. To get you started on amassing those points as soon as possible, I enclose your personal FFP card and a brochure that lists all the benefits and discounts you get. Do browse this to start scheduling all the dream vacations you never had time for.

In the months and years to come, you could finally enjoy that Caribbean cruise you’ve always longed for, a Norwegian fjord and Baltic cruise, literally chill out in Alaska, get a wonderful tan in Hawaii, tour the exotic Far East…the possibilities are simply endless! As a valued FFP member, you accumulate points every time you travel, whether by air, bus or train. Why, you even receive rewards points when you book a dream vacation with us! Cash the points in for a cabin upgrade or avail of extra discounts on top of our already-friendly prices for tour and vacation packages!

The choice is yours. Call us to activate the FFP card I sent you (the toll-free number is on the card itself) and you qualify for 100 starter points. And if you complete the registration before December 10th, we will reserve five slots for you, your husband, children or friends on our New Year Caribbean cruise that departs December 30. Savor the sights of Miami and Nassau while luxuriously ensconced in the ultra-modern, brand new liner, the U. S. S. Maiden of the Sea.

Every vacation you take with us is a complete package: your stateroom, six meals a day, free-flowing refreshments and cocktails, and a wonderful variety of entertainment. All you have to do is bask in the sun, bring your camera and be prepared for some serious fun. In the months to come, we will send you “early-bird” alerts for every dream vacation as it comes up. All these we give you at jaw-dropping discounts exclusive to FFP members and with the warm, caring service we are famous for. So call us to activate your FFP membership today just as soon as you’ve shared the good news with your husband!

Thank you, first of all, for the wonderful reception during your start-of-year get-together for all Peddle’s Bikes distributors and retailers. As I have assured you repeatedly every time we touch base, we here at Cranky’s Mountainbikes have been extremely gratified at the excellent reputation your aluminum-framed bicycles have enjoyed in North Bay. With spring just around the corner, we have received many solicitations to carry competing brands, especially those that undercut your prices by a wide margin.

However, we are convinced that Peddle’s quality will, in the long run, be to our mutual profit. Owing to numerous inquiries last year about bicycles for street use by children and delivery boys, for whom a sturdy bike is more important than light weight, I am now utterly convinced that we can get incremental sales from carrying the “Iron Man” line you had briefed me about. I therefore have need of the complete catalogue for your “Iron Man” models, particularly those in the $150 to $1000 range, that will assure us about the same margin contribution per unit.

Since we plan to begin our “Springtime Exhibit” promotion on March 31, it would be really timely if you can dispatch the recommended retail price lists, the catalogue, your best merchandising materials, proposal for co-op advertising in weekend papers and at least a handful of display units by Friday the 14th. Here’s looking forward to growing our mutual business in the coming months. Cheers! Tony Pre-Writing Activity A Scenario 1: The Service Warranty Claim

From a corporate standpoint and functional point of view, David’s primary purpose in this communication is to inform the customer that the warranty never covered service charges and that it expired, in any case, more than year previously. Q2: Secondary Purpose At same time, David must convey a sense that he has looked carefully into the matter and investigated all details of the Import Cars warranty policy for provisions that might offer the customer some benefit.

This is because the secondary objective of this communication must be to persuade the customer that the car dealership is customer-oriented, gives customers the benefit of the doubt and extends them all due attention and the utmost benefit possible. Q3: Optimal Channel Owing to the need to quote provisions of warranty policy that apply, to attach a copy that will satisfy the customer about the truth, the degree of detail the communication will entail, and the cost implications to the customer, a letter seems the best choice in the matter.

All of the above considerations carry more weight than speed of response. A phone call may be a viable alternative content-wise but is likely to be unproductive because putting the customer on the spot will likely arouse an irate reaction that changes nothing. David might end the letter on a hopeful note and with an eye to mutual benefit by suggesting that the customer purchase extended warranty from Import cars.

I would have to say that the primary reader for my proposal is Patricia Irving, head (presumably the CEO) of Dagleish Investments. This is so because she is managing the competitive-bidding process and solicited a proposal directly from us at Zedex Development. Beyond these, we target the proposal to her rather than CIO Jason Tucker because Ms. Irving will likely prove more responsive to a proposal that discusses both financial reporting functionality and benefits for Dagleish Investments customers. Q5: Relationship with Primary Reader

Having had no prior personal contact with Ms. Irving, my relationship with her is purely professional. She presumably expects me to submit a proposal that will address the expanded financial reporting needs of the firm, be complete as to details of the system features and benefits, and aid her in doing a cost-benefit analysis. There is also an element of trust in the relationship; this comprises the confidence that Zedex is worthy to be invited to bid and accordingly, trust that I will deliver a sound proposal.

In the medical field, I would be the physician in whom a patient reposes full trust and confidence. In court, Ms. Irving is the judge who expects a professional brief and appropriate courtroom demeanor from counsel. For families wanting their new home built, I would be the contractor expected to deliver on aesthetics, value for money, durability and solid construction. Q6: Proposal Tone The proposal must therefore convey a tone that combines credibility, measures to minimize problems, and attention to detail.

Having already outlived a financial reporting system put in place just two years previously, Dagleish will surely be eager to see specifications for a scalable system that can accommodate realistic growth. In turn, attention to detail is necessary since Dagleish’s financial managers and clients have to deal with rates and returns calculated to several decimal places. Q7: Technical Knowledge of Primary Reader

Patricia Irving may not know as much as CIO Jason Tucker about the nuts and bolts of accounting software, network architecture, network security and programming code but our primary reader can be counted on to be more aware about such issues as reports required by the various departments and their customers, prospects for growth in the near future, organizational changes she might wish to make and ultimately, the value of such a system as a cost-benefits analysis might prove out.

Q8: Probable Response I would like to think that a professionally-crafted, complete, value-for-money, on-target and scalable proposal will meet with at least mild interest, if not a completely positive reception initially. Q9: Information Needs of Secondary Readers: Barbara Miller, my President and Victor Boudeli, my Sales Director – Beyond the customer aspects of the proposal, these two will be primarily interested in the very same factors Ms.

Irving will scrutinize closely. They will very likely want to know whether I have covered costs adequately, how much revenue Zedex Development stands to make if the tender is successful, how realistic the manpower complement and time frames are, and whether all the application developer types/skills Dagleish needs are already available in-house (and if not, whether the cost to hire those have been taken into account).

The Dagleish investors – will most likely be interested in the cost-savings the new system will generate, the likely life span of this investment and whether the Zedex system will accommodate, even facilitate revenue growth. CIO Jason Tucker – Being an account and not too well-versed yet in application development, Mr. Tucker will be prone to scrutinize the components of the financial reports, how well the ledgers update each other, compliance issues, and how completely the accounts receivables/accounts payables track client orders, prepare invoices, etc.

Credit: Modified from Cathy Collins Block’s book, chapter 10: “Enhancing metacognition. ” First Class Period: Model reading and metacognition, which is the act of consciously keeping oneself aware of ones attention and comprehension status while reading (Block, 2003). The teacher reads a passage aloud, and while reading pauses to make his/her thoughts about the passage known to the students. While speaking about his/her thoughts the teacher also makes notes in the margins of the text.

Thoughts about the text include questions, confusions, extensions, and connections to prior knowledge or experiences. Students are to be informed that every idea that comes to their minds as a result of the reading should be written down. After the reading, the students should have a chance to look at the teacher’s page on which the metacognitive notes were taken. Students should be told that messiness is allowed on these pages (2003). Students will be given a list of topics, such as filibustering, muckraking, and strikebreaking (trade unions).

Students will be given a chance to choose their own passages for reading and to make notes about everything that comes to their minds. This reading period will last for twenty minutes, after which they will be allowed to get into groups to talk about their ideas and confusions. During this time, they will have a chance to arrange the ideas of the text into levels of major-to-minor importance, connections, and confusions. Students should discuss and try to offer solutions to confusing aspects of the text. Each student is expected to take his/her own notes from this session (Block, 2003).

Extension: For homework, students are given the task to write a reflective essay about the passage they have read. They will be instructed to include everything that took place within the discussion, attributing ideas to their classmates or selves. They will be told to use the organization pattern discussed in the group session. As a reflective paper, the layout will be informal. No strict adherence to the introduction-body-conclusion pattern will be necessary. Thoughts, ideas, confusions and reactions should constitute the main content of the paper (Block, 2003).

Teacher Support The teacher will take turns visiting groups and asking specifically about things that were not understood in the passage. This will cause students to be less embarrassed about having those kinds of confusions, knowing that such problems are expected of everyone. Giving students a chance to air their confusions to other students first (before calling on them) reduces their fear of embarrassment as well as gives them extra time to prepare for speaking directly to the teacher (Archer, 2006).

Boosting students’ confidence in this area is likely to make them more open to sharing their thoughts in the reflective paper. The teacher also supports the activity by offering possible explanations for confusions. Audience Students will be a group of eighth graders of normal intelligence and reading levels. Goal and Benefits of Strategy: According to Block (2003), when students interact with texts by making “mental and written summaries of their readings, retention increases by 16 percent on average” (p. 336).

Therefore, the goal of this strategy is to increase student interaction with text and its main benefit is the increased retention of material. Modifications Students might be allowed to include graphic organizers of the material being read within their reflection, in order to promote freedom within the informal writing exercise. They might also be allowed to find other texts to which they might have found a connection and share these (as well as their other ideas) with the class before or after the writing process has been completed. Application and Assessment

This strategy was very good at getting students involved in the reading and at drawing out their thoughts. This was done by making them more comfortable with being confused and with airing their confusions in a small group setting before telling them to the whole class. The organization element based on connections, and confusions seemed easy to grasp. However, students required more help with the organization element based on matters of importance. The fact that the students were able to choose topics of interest made the reflections more interesting and varied.

Archer, A. (2006). “Expository writing gr. 4-12. ” Sonoma County Office of Education. Santa Rosa. Retrieved on December 5, 2006 from http://www. scoe. org/reading/docs/archer_writing. pdf Block, C. C. (2003). Literacy difficulties: diagnosis and instruction for reading specialists and classroom teachers. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. NWREL. (2001). 6 + 1 traits of analytical writing assessment scoring guide. Northwest Regional Educational Library. Portland: NWREL Retrieved on December 7, 2006 from http://www. nwrel. org/eval/PDFs/6plus1traits. PDF

Students are instructed to bring an object to class and the teacher collects them all and places them in a box. The students then separate into groups of three, and the objects are randomly distributed to the groups, each group having three objects. Students will be given a social studies theme, such as The Underground Railroad or Trade Union Development, around which to develop their ideas. The students are then allowed two to three minutes to brainstorm ideas that come to their minds based on the three objects they get (Archer, 2006).

Each group should have a designated scribe so that all the ideas get written down. After brainstorming, each person in the group will have a chance to generate a sentence or two toward the story. At his or her turn, a student also has a chance to modify what has already been written toward the story. He or she should add the sentence in both oral and written fashion; therefore, a paper (or notebook) should be passed around so that each person has a chance to write his/her sentence down.

The story should include most of the terms generated in the brainstorming exercise, but is not limited to those. Students will be instructed to keep adding lines to the story as much as possible and without breaking the rhythm. After twenty-five minutes, the teacher will collect all the notepads and make three copies of each. Students will each take a copy of the story home to re-read and think about ways to make changes to it and to add more detail to expand or deepen the social studies context. The official revision period will take place in a follow-up class.

Teacher Support The third copy of the impromptu story will be collected by the teacher, who will read it and generate questions about the clarity of plot and language. The teacher’s comments will be returned under the following headings: characters, language, grammar, organization. They will include ideas on how to give depth to characters, improve language by using imagery and figures of speech, avoid grammatical pitfalls, and improve organization. Audience Students will be a group of eighth graders of normal intelligence and reading levels.

Goal and Benefits of Strategy: The goal of the strategy is to develop the imaginations and creativity of the students. It is also designed to improve their ability to choose right words for a given occasion and to be descriptive about physical and personality characteristics. Modifications The strategy might be modified by creating a new context depending on the subject that is being taught. Science teachers, for example, might have these fiction stories be set within setting of Oppenheimer and Einstein and the creation of the atomic bomb.

Application and Assessment The fact that the subject being taught was social studies made it necessary for the fiction to be converted to historical fiction. The brainstorming and use of random objects seemed to work well for giving an extra boost to the students’ imaginations. Free associations seemed to bring out the personality of the group and helped them create a colourful story. The rubric were very helpful in letting the students know what was expected of them so that they created better fiction than they would have done in the past.

The title is very descriptive. It immediately informed me of what to expect in the body of the text. My initial thought was that the text will teach me how to write a poem, short story, novel, or drama. Since the title is Writing About Literature, I also thought too that it will give an example of a literary criticism that was written good. As I was reading the essay, I found out that it did not dwell on how to write literary criticism but rather of the plurality of meanings in a text.

Although the argument of the essay is valid for me, I just think the title and the body are somewhat incongruous. I just think that the title could have changed to “Reading Literature” or “Meaning and Literature. ” From the opening, the brief essay went on to argue that the text doesn’t have one true meaning, that literature has in fact multiple levels of meaning. From the main argument of the essay, the discussion changed into the way on how to interpret literature.

The essay ended with the conclusion that literary interpretation has to be based on a critical evaluation of the text rather than a factual account of it. I agree with the main thesis of the essay that literature is a site for different meanings. What I appreciate more is the fact that the essay argued that literary reading can NOT just say anything. Although there is no one true meaning of the text, it doesn’t necessarily follow that every interpretation of the text is correct.

I remember my experiences during my previous English classes when we had to discuss a literary text. I have encountered some professors who are quite sure that there is an “official” way of reading the text. After reading the essay, I feel like it clarified a lot of things for me. I now understand that there can be no “official” way of reading a text since we all have different experiences therefore our approach of the text varies.

The basic steps in writing are Prewriting, Planning, Drafting, Revising and Proofreading (Arlov, 2004, p. 4). Before you can even begin to write about any topic, you first have to gather information pertinent to the subject. This is called the Prewriting stage where you gather relevant ideas from a large number of sources which include newspapers, books, periodicals, journals, and television, among others; and taking notes, and brainstorming with other people. Once all the necessary information has been gathered, the next stage is the Planning stage where you cluster all the data and select only the ones that are most relevant to the topic.

By the end of this stage, you should have a basic outline of what you will write about. Afterwards, the next stage is the Drafting stage where your ideas are put into words, sentences, and paragraphs; and complete a rough the draft of the topic. Here you being to explain and support your ideas. The Revising stage, on the other hand, is the stage where you craft your essay in such a way that it will be understood by the readers. Here, you basically complete your essay, checking if all your ideas are cohesive, clearly presented, and reliable.

The last stage is the Proofreading stage where you generally check your essay for possible grammatical errors, misspelled words, or other mistakes that may have been overlooked in the first draft (Arlov, 2004, pp. 4-6). These steps are vital in any form of writing. Even if only one of the steps is omitted, the over-all quality of the essay could be highly affected. For example, if you gather inadequate information needed your topic or if you fail to thoroughly plan your ideas before writing them, the essay could end up as half-baked.

On the other hand, if you fail to clearly present and support your ideas in your essay, the readers may not understand what you are trying to convey and may not appreciate it. Lastly, if you fail to go over the final draft of the essay, it could contain a lot of grammatical and mechanical errors, which could have been avoided otherwise.

References

Arlov, P. (2004) Wordsmith: A Guide to College Writing. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Online Writing and Communication Center (2001). The Writing Process. Retrieved, October 8, 2007 from http://web. mit. edu/writing/Writing_Process/writingprocess. html

The job of an educator presents an opportunity to make many decisions, each representing choices the person might opt for. Obviously, each choice is the product of the unique to that individual’s reaction to the external stimuli. Thus, here is a description of the poor decision-making that once almost cost my job. Teaching sixth graders in an urban school district can be challenging by itself. As a young educator, I desired and thrived for their recognition and respect, clearly understanding that their response to my teaching would increase hundred fold if those were earned.

One of my male students broke his leg skating and ended up staying at home for longer than a month. Feeling obligated to visit him I accepted an invitation by his 4th-grade sister to accompany her to their residence. Instead of walking quite a distance, I decided to drive allowing his sister to become my passenger. My thoughts were far from thinking about risks and liabilities. However, the following day, my principal who issued me a written reprimand sternly reminded me of such.

Since I was still on probation, such a reprimand was enough for me not to be rehired the next year. Later I learned that the boy’s mother who was disquiet about the fact that I drove her daughter to their house brought up the concern. Despite of my hurt feelings I issued a written apology explaining the purpose of my decision. At the time of my decision-making, I acted spontaneously thinking only about my good intention. I was oblivious about the policies, and most importantly, how the parents would react after the fact.

It appeared to me that their reaction would be favorable because I was operating from the height of my intentions. I did not think at that time that my intentions would not be known to them. My decision also affected my immediate supervisor. He was put into the position to explain the parents that the teacher acted against the education policies of the school district thus admitting that he, as the supervisor, did an inadequate job in training his subordinates in policy.

Hastie (2001) provided a brief review of the three theoretical frameworks of decision-making in which one refers to the individual and unique choices in decision-making, the second refers to judgment and estimation, specifically named “cognitive algebraic theories”, and the third refers to the “cognitive computational theories of the mind’s perceptual, inferential, and mnemonic functions. ” It was interesting to notice that Hasie did acknowledge that the most research conclusions are made as the result of the controlled experiments rather than empirical studies based on the real examples that occur spontaneously.

Certainly, we all can agree that most decision-making when initiated while being young are spontaneous in nature and thus can fit into the framework number one: “individual and unique choices in decision making. ” Only when a person gains life experience and learned from prior mistakes, he or she commence thinking as in calculating the possible outcomes of the choices. If I apply theory to the example I had provided for our examination, I would state that my choice to transport the boy’s sister in my car was based on the spontaneous “get go” desire to follow upon my intentions.

I certainly did not stop to think about the possible consequences, i. e. the possible reaction of the parents and my supervisor. I am pretty confident; we all at one time or another committed such “errors” in our life. What is significant here, and comes immediately to my attention, is that people judge others based on appearances of the transpired action rather than to inquire about the intention behind the action. If such action does not fit the acceptable profile, it is called “an error in judgment” and people who committed are judged harshly.

Certainly, after such harsh judgment by my supervisor and the parents of my student, I learned my lesson that required me to calculate the possible outcomes. Thus, I can state that the frameworks two and three are typically learned rather then are natural component of someone’s personality core. Years later, the similar circumstance presented itself to me, but this time, I was cognitively calculated my action choices, thus my decision-making, and its possible outcome. It appears to me that frameworks two and three were utilized at the same time, intervening and integrating with one another.

Specifically, it does appear that some researchers (Cooke, Mellers & Schwartz, 1998) suggested that some people prefer to use framework two over one, or three (or a different preference). Examining the available theory against my personal experience does suggest, however, that during the duration of one person’s life, the type of decision-making is rather dependent on age and experience. In which Sproles & Sproles (1990) appeared to agree. Understanding these frameworks will give me confidence in my future decision-making.

As I understood, the higher frameworks two and three become a practical result of one’s experience. Self critical evaluation at times is needed to be able to identify which type of decision-making is actuated at any given situation.

References

Hastie, R. (2001). Problems for Judgment and Decision Making. 653. Retrieved April 5, 2007, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=5000979134 Mellers, B. , Schwartz, A. , & Cooke, A. (1998). Judgment and Decision Making. 447+. Retrieved April 5, 2007, from Questia database:

In his foreword to the American edition of the book “Zero! ” Martin Caidin observed, that “the question is not why the Japanese managed to achieve everything in the Pacific, but more likely why we had to spend so much time to finish this war ”. This paper is an attempt to critically evaluate three basic issues, concerning the beginning, the during and the ending of the conflict. The format of the paper does not allow to consider the details, so only the most general trends shall be examined.

The reasons for the Day of Infamy, or was America unprepared to the war The outbreak of World War II and the beginning of the war in the Pacific are separated by more than two years. Throughout 1940-1941, the United States did no remain a simple observer of the European events. Despite most Americans had been isolationists, President Roosevelt managed to pass the Neutrality Act, swapping fifty obsolete destroyers to the British for the right to build American bases on British territory in the Americas and in early in 1941, he secured the passage of LendLease, a military aid act.

In March and April 1941, the United States occupied Greenland, seized Axis and Danish ships in its ports, and began training British pilots and repairing British warships . By 1941 America actually became a non-fighting ally of Britain, and later a Soviet Union. American fleet dominated in Western Atlantics and half of the Pacific, the industry produced increasing amounts of technics and materials under military orderings. So, it is impossible to speak that America was not ready to the war itself.

It was not ready only to the particular attack at the particular time and in the particular place. In order to clarify the reasons, which caused Japan to attack Pearl Harbor one should take into account the Japanese expansionist politics. It‘s key point was to achieve decisive influence in East Asia and in the regions of the Pacific and to secure the vital interests of the Japanese Empire in China. By 1941 France was defeated and it‘s colonies remained without protection, England remained too busy in Europe, so America stayed the only major power, threatening Japanese interests.

In fact, Japan was not interested in US mainland, it‘s primary aim in the war was to remove America‘s bases from the Philippines and to block military deliveries to China . The main obstacle in fulfilling those plans was the US Pacific Fleet. Even being weaker than Japanese Combined Fleet, it still could prevent Japan from quick occupation of Philippines and islands in the Pacific, making the war long, and consequently unpromising for Japan.

But the Empire seemed to possess a superior instrument to neutralize the Pacific fleet – the aircraft carriers and naval aviation. In the mid 30-s Japan‘s constructors managed to perform the truly outstanding aircraft, including bomber type 99 (Kate), naval diving bomber type 99 (Val) and the best naval fighter of the early period of the war – type 6 Naval fighter, known as “Zero”. With it‘s 20-mm cannons, airspeed of 300 miles per hour, and excellent manoeuvrability, “Zero” was better than any American equivalent .

This, combined with fighting experience, obtained in China made the Japanese naval aviation almost invincible. Relying on this, Admiral Yamamoto, a commander in chief of the Japanese navy, decided to attack America in the most unexpected place –its main naval base in the Pacific – Pearl Harbor. Even despite of the data, received from the radio intercept and naval intelligence, the command of the Navy expected an attack in the region of the Philippines or Indo-China.

This allowed the Japanese attack force to near the Hawaiian archipelago unnoticed and early in the morning of December 7, 1941 suddenly attack Pearl Harbor. The result was the death of 2403 Americans, loss 5 battleships, serious damage to the other 4, loss of 188 airplanes, with own losses of about a hundred men, 29 planes, 1 submarine and 5 minisubmarines . Those results seem to be brilliant, however the Japanese failed to destroy the American aircraft carriers, which later appeared to be the main shock force of the war.

Tactical victory appeared to be a strategic mistake. It appears to be, that the scuttled battleships would anyway not prevent Japan from occupying Philippines, Wake, Guam, Indonesia and Solomon Islands. Victories of 1941-1942 were provided not by the power of cannons, but by air superiority. However, the Japanese government made a mistake, trying to overcome America‘s power only using armed force and neglecting politics. As Japanese admiral Nagumo has observed, the attack on Pearl Harbor awoke a sleeping giant.

By the end of the war, Nurses had received more than 1,619 medals, citations and other accommodations for their courage and dedication under fire. Sixteen of those medals were awarded posthumously to nurses who had died in combat. Sixteen women won the Purple Heart and 565 women were awarded the Bronze Star for their service overseas. Also, more than 700 WAC were awarded medals and citations for their efforts during the war. Despite the high number of awards that women received at this time, their story had largely been ignored by the stories of valor and courage on the part of their male counterparts.

Only until decades later, did the next generation learn about the heroics that their wives, mothers, daughters and sisters accomplished during this time “Countless women served in all branches of the services stateside and relieved or replaced men for combat duty overseas. ” It was a liberating, although sad time for women at this time. The end of the war was also a time of mixed feelings for many women who had previously served their country in the capacity of the aforementioned.

The immediate effect was the reality that women, at least in the eyes of the government and the factory owners, were not needed now that the men were coming home from the war and needed their old jobs back. ‘No longer was there any need for women to leave their husbands and children to work eight hours in a factory. They could once again stay at home and take care of their families. ” As important as their families were to many women, such a life, especially in comparison to the freedom and independence that they had experienced during the war, being relegated to such a life again was just not what they were looking for anymore.

The war, for many women, allowed them to experience a degree of social and economic freedom that had not been present in the history of American culture. It just was not there. There were many women who were glad to return home as their plans to marry and have a family, or to simply return to their homes, became a reality. However, for many, women still desired to work. In 1945, when Allied victory was in sight, a survey was conducted by the Women’s Bureau in which nearly 75% of women who replied, continued to work in some capacity after the war was over.

The desire to continue to work and experience some level of economic and social freedom, had taken hold within many American women. It would be a freedom that women, despite their best efforts and desires, they would not completely enjoy until years after the war had ended. Brought on by a post war boom, the next twenty years in America was prosperous for a larger percentage of Americans than had been experienced in the country. This helped to eliminate the need for a family with two incomes.

Taxes were much lower than they are today. Factory jobs had not yet been sent overseas and the American economy was strong. Since there was no necessity to work, a large majority of women stayed at home. The cultural demands to take care of one’s children were too strong for many women to deny; both within their own sense of duty as well as the sense of duty that society placed upon millions of women as the idea of the perfect homemaker continued to be portrayed in many areas of American popular culture.

Women would not enjoy an exponential increase in the freedoms; both social and economic until many years later. Some would argue that women have yet to enjoy complete equality with men in all areas of American life. What cannot be argued, is that during World War II, women, whether they were at home taking care of their families, in the factories or overseas, met an essential need for the American Armed Forces who were then enabled to win the war against Hitler and fascism.

The victory in WWII is as much their victory as it is for their male counterparts.

WORKS CITED

Burns, Ken The War New York: Steeplechase Films 2007 Burns, Ken The War New York: Alfred Knopf Publishers 2007 Frankland, Noble Dr. The World at War London: Thames Production 1980 Goodwin, Doris Kearns No Ordinary Time. New York: Simon & Schuster 1994 Whittell, Giles Spitfire Women of WWII. London: Oxford University Press 2005 Women in WWII The World Book Encyclopedia Chicago: Field Enterprises 1954 The Effects of the War on Women