Emergence of Global Markets (BUS 250) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Emergence of Global Markets (BUS 250) - Essay Example Technological developments have been immense over the years in all sectors. There are a number of advantages and disadvantages. This essay aims at understanding the effects of technological developments. Technology can be a rather empowering at times but often can also be very frustrating. The computer related technology is becoming one a very important part of the society, and the usage of these technologies has increased a lot over the past few years. With the introduction of Internet there has been a great improvement in the overall lives of many. Internet has infiltrated almost every aspect of life, making it a necessity rather than a luxury. The internet has to a great extent provided a strong ability for globalization. As discussed, the technological developments have been immense over the years in all sectors. The technological developments over the past few years have been immense in almost every field. These developments have been clearly noted a transformation in the commun ication, transport and travel industries and has also led these industries towards a converging harmony. The technological development has been able to push and force attention to the isolated ‘Third World’ Societies into contact with the products of modernity and globalised products. As mentioned earlier, the access to higher and more advanced technology has led to the ability for the industrial activities to flow easily within the markets. It has also provided a chance to allow for better and more flow of finances across the industries. Also it allows for hampering the national government controls. This in simpler terms means that the companies are able to now take on a different approach. Instead of providing customized items, companies have now led to developing more standardized products to meet the global standards. The focus is to provide

Self-esteem - motivation Essay Example for Free

Self-esteem motivation Essay Introduction: According to Saint Exupery in The Halo (2006), â€Å"Each man must look to himself to teach him the meaning of life. It is not something discovered: it is something moulded. † The meaning of life has a no specific definition; it depends on how each individual give meaning to their lives. It is a natural thing for an individual to curiously know about their life since their birth till death. Moreover, human beings are also curious to find out why they were put in this earth that is why babies keep touching everything in order to experience all their surroundings from the very beginning (Taylor, 2000). In this essay, the concept of meaning will be significantly analysed. Firstly, by defining the meaning which will secondly be followed by discussing the different types of needs an individual must meet to experience the meaning of life. Thirdly, the types of things that enhance and curb the experience of the meaning of life will be highlighted. Lastly, various practical steps will be described to enhance the experience of the meaning of life. This essay will be intertwined with personal reflections and aspirations that have enhanced the meaning of life for the writer. What is the meaning of ‘meaning’? Subjectivism: According to Eagleton (2007), everyone adds their own meaning to life. The meaning of life is never universal or complex. The meaning of life is very simple and people experience it when they understand the universe, themselves, their identity and their goal in life (Bennet, 2005). Subjectivists state that the meaning differs with individuals’ psychological and mental states and their desires and goals. For example one individual can find meaning of life in music or art while other may find it in attaining goals or in religion (REF). In addition to this, (REF) states that life only becomes meaningful when all the needs and wants are fulfilled and when the individual is content and satisfied with themselves. Super naturalistic views: On the other hand, spiritual beings consider their lives to be consequential and significant when they can reach the pious pathway God has set (REF). The God-centred view points out that the definitive meaning of life is holistically attained. Moreover, an individual will only figure out the meaning of life when they are not attached to the worldly desires (REF). Personal reflection: Personally, the meaning of life for me is constantly being in search for my identity and accomplishing the goals I have set in life. I explore my identity through my art work as it helps me express my feelings and emotions about everything. My art work makes me realize who I am as a person and what people interpret me as a person through my paintings. What types of needs must be met for a person to experience meaning in life? Searching the meaning of life is a motivational force in an individual however; the degree of motivation to which they search the meaning of life differs in all individuals (REF). Despite individuals having different degrees of motivation, there are some needs and conditions that must be met for the individuals to experience the meaning of life. Individuals do not necessarily have to meet the same needs and conditions to experience the meaning of life. Some individuals are inspired by other individuals like great artists, inventors and thinkers, some individuals need sense of belonging, some need to experience certain events to make sense of life while others need to attain autonomy and self efficacy to experience the meaning of life. In short, individuals can discover the meaning of life through social work, experiencing something or someone or reactions towards unavoidable circumstances (REF). For example, an individual who is very emotional needs to experience the need of belonging in order to experience the meaning of life. They need to have many friends and a good relationship with their family in order to satisfy their need of belonging; this helps the individual to live a happy and full life. However, if they do not feel the sense of belonging, they have no hope hence do not have anything to look forward to and see no point of living. Conversely, not all individuals need to meet the need of belonging to experience the meaning of life. Some may have to experience the need of autonomy and self efficacy. These types of individuals usually have certain goals and tasks in life which they believe they can attain thus that would help them experience the meaning of life. For example, an individual whose goal is to become a doctor tries to attain that goal by being a hard worker and devoting all his time to attain their goal. They would experience the meaning of life when they achieve the title of the doctor as it would help them conquer a place in the community and gain some prestige. In addition to this, if an individual fails to attain this need might gain a very low self esteem which would then impact on the choices they makes in life. They would become very dependent on others and would not be able to cope with that leading them to suffer from various health issues. What types of things enhance the experience of meaning in life? The meaning of life can be enhanced by sustaining life, accepting a teaching, giving life or creating wisdom (REF). For example things that would enhance the meaning of life for mothers, doctors and nurses is when they deliver as links in a biological chain by giving life from one generation to the other. Young artists are inspired and enhance their meaning of life when they authorize and respect and accept their teacher’s work (REF). Personally, as an artist, the meaning of life for me is enhanced when I can appreciate the work of different artists and what they are trying to express in their paintings. Art work makes me understand the different feelings individuals go though and how they express it through drawings. It also makes me see different viewpoints of life and experiences people are going through. Despite all individuals having different needs to discover the meaning of life, there are certain things that all individuals require to enhance the meaning of life like: Hope Inspiration Goals High self esteem. What types of things curb the experience of meaning in life? Many individuals curb their experiences of the meaning in life due to: No inspiration or goals and failure: If an individual constantly fails and has no potential and inspiration of achieving his goals may feel ineffective and hopeless. They may start feeling that they have no purpose in life and life is completely meaningless for them. Loss of loved ones: loss of a loved one through death or divorce may affect an individual mentally and emotionally. They may feel the are not loved and do not belong anywhere as their loved one does not exist anymore. The loss brings suffering and misery which makes an individual believe that like if meaningless. Lastly, experiences like these pushes an individual to have a low self esteem and become reserved (REF). Personal Reflection: If individuals are not open, emotionless or afraid to be seen as themselves due to low self esteem cannot enhance their meaning of life and hence would curb this experience. As an artist, my goal is to become an art teacher and help other children to express their feelings through painting if they cannot through words. However, I have a clear goal and always have been inspired by my father to attain this goal. If I had a low self esteem and did not believe in myself, I would have no hope hence that would curb the search of meaning of life as I would feel I am worthless Practical steps to enhance the experience of a meaningful life As mentioned above, many individuals curb their experiences of the meaning in life due to low self esteem, no inspiration, no goals and being reserved. However, they can enhance their experience firstly by accepting and believing in themselves. This would help them make a contribution to life and share their best. According to (REF) self-destructive behaviour can be conquered by increasing self-efficacy and self-esteem. This can be done through counselling so that they can start believing in themselves. Individuals who need the sense of belonging to experience the meaning of life should try and fit in and socialize with people they are close to and have good relationships with them all. Furthermore, individuals who are trying to attain a specific goal should always reward themselves every time they are a step closer towards the goal. This would keep them motivated and not lose hope. Personally, I enhance my experience by acknowledging the great artists and how they are an inspiration to other young artists. Conclusion Finally as mentioned there is no specific meaning of life. All individuals need to meet different types of needs such as the need of belonging, experiencing life threatening incidents, need of autonomy and self efficacy to experience the meaning of life. An individual’s perception, values, needs and feelings centre him and help in organizing the world around him. Feelings help in expressing oneself. If an individual has a great skill in expressing himself, he can change the larger world. Great artists found expressions in their art work which helped them change the world that came after them. The creations around us are the different individuals trying to express themselves and their experiences of the meaning of life. All the inhibitors that we posses such as low self esteem and inner struggles should be resolved to make life more creative and enhance the meaning of life.

Financial Fraud Case Study: Stephen Richards

Financial Fraud Case Study: Stephen Richards Table of Contents Executive summary Problem Statement Company overview Case Analysis Questions A letter from prison Executive summary This case study is about the former global head of sales Stephen Richards at the Computer Associates, Inc. (CA), who is serving a seven year prison sentence for financial fraud. In addition to this, Stephen Richards responds to the number of the questions asked by the Eurenge Soltes about the responsibilities of the managers as well as the handling of the financial activities in a letter written to a graduate student. Moreover, Stephen Richards joined the Computer Associates, Inc. (CA) in the year 1988 immediately after graduating. He has achieved continuous promotions in the company throughout his time period in the Computer Associates. As, Stephen Richards gets prompted within two years’ time period after his joining to operate New Zealand’s and then promoted to the Australian site of the company. Stephen Richards becomes the vice president of the Pacific region and is a leading regional figure for the Computer Associates, Inc. (CA). The company has acquired various competitors as well as firms that are producing complementary software products during the time duration between 1980s and 1990s.In addition to this, the company has around 18,000 employees and subsidiaries in approximately in 100 countries in the late 1990s. The company recorded its NPVof the licensing contract in the quarter when the revenue recognition criteria are met in accordance with the GAAP regulations. Problem Statement Computer Associates International, Inc. (CA) is currently facing the problems related to the financial fraud allegations against the company.As, the company finds it more difficult to accurately forecast the revenues as well as earrings for each quarter of their sales targets. Company overview Computer Associates International, Inc. (CA) is founded by the Charles Wang in the year 1976 in order to meet the growing needs of the mainframe computing software for IBM computers. Moreover, the company offers a variety of products that include database, application and financial management software in order to meet the computing necessities of the businesses. The most of the software products are sold by the sales team of the Computer Associates to the clients who buy a license to use the product for a period between three to ten years. Additionally, Computer Associates provides the software updates and technical support to its clients during the period of licensing. The fee of the licensing charged by the Computer Associates to the clients increases with the length of the contract as well as each additional licensing year was priced lower as compared to the previous year in order to reflect software oldness. The amount of the fee that is charged by the company to its clients could be amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Computer Associates distributes the revenues to licensing fees as well as to usage and maintenance fees once the contract of the license between the company and the client is finalized. Mostly the 80% of the revenue is allocated to the licensing fee. The significant part of the company revenue is normally booked during the final week of the quarter. During each quarter the management sets internal sales targets for the sales team with the sales incentives are given to the immune pressure to meet these sales targets. The company showed huge growth during the 1990s, even with the challenges and pressures. Case Analysis The case analyzes the overall situation of the Computer Associates International Inc. (CA) related to the allegation about the financial fraud within the company by a few executives of the Computer Associates. The management of the company found it hard to forecast accurate results for the revenues and earnings for each quarter in the year. As, before the end of the quarter, the management of the company found it incompetent to warn the specialists about the unexpected shortfalls in the revenue. Additionally, the various larger contracts resulted in the shortfall in the revenue of the company’s products as these contracts are those that are close on the final day of the quarter. Due to the decrease in the revenue of the Computer Associates affected the stock price of the company that reduced the Computer Associates stock by 42%. There is an allegation about the company that is published in an article in the New York Times, and according to this, Computer Associates have excessively implemented the approach of aggressive accounting practices in order to boost the earnings. But there are several evidence that proves that all the accounting practices of the company are according to the generally accepted accounting principles. This allegation also gets the attention of the federal investigators who showed dissatisfaction with the internal investigation of the company. Due to this allegation the company has faced much criticism that greatly impact the standing of the Computer Associates (CA) and requires other ways to make investigation done efficiently so, the company hire the prestigious law firm in order to investigate more aggressively. It is determined from the investigation that the few employees of the Computer Associates (CA) had backdated the some of the contracts as well as it also appeared that the revenues related to such contracts had been recognized after the end of the quarter. While, the revenues linked with these software contracts must be recognized in the in the quarter in which the contract has been signed. Therefore, the three executives of the company are forced to give the resignations due to this improper revenue recognition. In addition to this, six executives along with the Richard are caught to be involved in the financial fraud due to which Richard the SEC filed a formal complaint against the Richards and at the same time he resigned from the Computer Associates International Inc. Questions: How serious were Stephen Richards’ actions? Why? Stephen Richards’s actions were extremely serious; Richard in his letter writes that his self and the CEO exerted significant pressures on their team to meet the goals that they had set for themselves; also Richard mentions that performance was measured by internal goals Stephen Richard’s actions are notably serious because he had knowledge of the wrongdoings and he was in a position to report it, but he chose not to. Richards’ action together with other CA’s executives seriously victimized the shareholders as they suffered enormous losses once the practices were revealed. Therefore, â€Å"Richard was ordered to pay $29 million in restitution.† (Weidlich)  manipulating Computer Associates’ quarter end cutoff to align CA’s reported financial results with market expectations by violating the generally accepted accounting principles and their financial reporting responsibilities. According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Richards with other CA executives extended CA’s fi scal quarter, â€Å" instructed and allowed subordinates to negotiate and obtain contracts after quarter end while knowing, or recklessly disregarding the fact that, CA would improperly recognize the revenue from those contracts, and failed to alert CA’s Finance or Sales Accounting Department that CA salespersons that reported to Richards were obtaining contracts with backdated signatures dates after quarter end.† (Release) in accordance with the expectation set by outside parties, analyst community, specifically to meet Wall Street quarterly per-share earnings estimates, â€Å"a key to keeping a company’s stock price rising.Richards with the CEO allegedly met routinely and conferred with each other and with (CFO) during the week following the end of fiscal periods, including during the â€Å"flash period†, the three business days after the end of fiscal quarter, to determine whether CA had generated sufficient revenue to meet the quarterly projections, and closed CA’s books only after they determined that CA had generated enough revenue to meet the quarterly projections, this practice, which was sometimes referred to within CA as the â€Å"35-day month† or the â€Å"three-day window†, violated GAAP and resulted in the filing of materially false financial statements. The goal of the 35-day month was to permit CA to report that it met or exceed its projected quarterly revenue and earnings when, in truth, it had not. (DOJ) Referring to the Scheme to Defraud, Richard instructed CA sales managers and salespeople to negotiate and finalize additional license agreements, which were backdated to cover the fact that the agreements had been finalized after the end of the fiscal quarter. At the end, these actions led to â€Å"overly aggressive accounting practices† to boost CA’s reported earnings and the managerial use of discretion to greatly influence reported earnings was not only used by Richards’, but it had become a company-wide practice. As Mark Director of the SEC’s Northeast Regional Office, said about CA’s fraud â€Å"Like a team that plays on after the final whistle has blown, Computer Associates kept scoring until it had all points needed to make every quarter look like a win.† (Wharton) As the result, CA fraudulently recorded and reported in the earlier quarter revenue associated with the backdated agreements. Stephen Richard’s actions are notably serious because he had knowledge of the wrongdoings and he was in a position to report it, but he chose not to. Richards’ action together with other CA’s executives seriously victimized the shareholders as they suffered enormous losses once the practices were revealed. Therefore, â€Å"Richard was ordered to pay $29 million in restitution.† (Weidlich) 2. If Computer Associates achieved the same financial results through GAAP flexibility, does your answer to question 1 change? No, with the flexibility of GAAP the risk of manipulation was that CA could have more likely made reporting mistake that would lead to legal problems and enormous losses. As long as the CA’s executives including Richards had the intention of wrongdoing actions they would cause massive losses to the shareholders of the company and to the SEC. Though such manipulations and fraud resulted CA to payback â€Å"$225 million for the purposes of compensating shareholders for losses arising out of the company’s criminal conduct.† (DOJ) Seeing that, the evidence and investigation on Computer Associates shows that the CA didn’t make false transaction and actual transaction and business deal had happened, but the problem of fraud was that CA’s executives were backdating the agreements in order to prematurely recognize revenue from contracts that had not yet been executed by both CA and its customers in violation of GAAP. Under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), four conditions were required to be met in order for revenue associated with a software license agreement to be recognized: 1- persuasive evidence of an arrangement was required to have existed, 2- delivery of the licensed products was required to have occurred, 3- the license fee was required to have been fixed or determinable, 4- the collectability of the license fee was required to have been probable. 3. Suppose you were placed in Stephen Richards’ position at computer Associates and were under pressure to extend the fiscal quarter. How would you handle the situation differently? What would be the expected consequences? I would not have extended the fiscal quarters of knowingly or encourage the backdating of agreements, regardless of the overwhelming pressures by the Wall Street estimates which Richard points to analyst community in his letter. CA regularly issued public predications at the outset of each fiscal quarter of the revenue and earnings it expected to earn during that quarter. Based on these predictions, professional stock analyst estimated what they believed would be CA’s total revenue during the period and predicted the earnings per share of CA stock. CA’s executives including Richards understood that CA’s failure to meet or exceed the consensus estimate for a quarter would likely result in a substantial decrease in the company’s stock price. (NY) I think too much emphasis was placed on the achieving financial gains improperly, for Richards and other members of management, without planning the proper ethical and legal strategy necessary to achieve CA’s goals for success. Performance measurement was a key level of concern in this case which alerted the key ingredients for financial statement fraud and fraud triangle. The sales managers and salespeople were used as enablers to negotiate and finalize additional license agreement while keeping the accounting books open after the end of the fiscal quarter. Richard also emphasizes on the â€Å"compensation is important, but the recognition of your performance is sometimes even more important. Actually, according to Richard in his email he writes that â€Å"we have created a performance driven culture without the necessary control framework for people to operate within† this shows that there was no real structure as far as milestones for growth. That is how CA pushed as much as to reach its goal of estimated earnings regardless of considering any rule or regulation type of culture attitude, which led CA to tragic results relating from poor decision making and lack of organizational structure and control. Instead CA could have placed better accounting controls to recognize and issued realistic and accurate public predications at the outset of each fiscal quarter of the revenue and earnings it expected to earn during that quarter, this way they would have not faced the legal troubles that they led themselves to. Even in such a situation for a healthy company to minimize the risk of this downward slide is encouraging and protecting whistleblowers. That way, problems ar e addressed internally- well before they become big enough to drag the entire company over the cliff.

Quasars and Active Galaxies Essay -- Essays Papers

Quasars and Active Galaxies The astronomical world is full of phenomena beyond the average person’s imagination. The technical tools and analytical methods astronomers use are very complex. The enormous numbers and distances are mind boggling. Theories behind astronomical phenomena are based on yet another theory. In order to understand the concept of quasars and active galaxies, one must first have a feel for the astronomical numbers involved. Secondly, a basic knowledge of the tools of the trade, and finally, a working knowledge of astronomical jargon. Once there is a working knowledge of the aforementioned factors, then there is the chance that one could be able to assimilate the complex theoretical properties that are used to discuss quasars and active galaxies. In order to understand the large numbers used to express the vast distances discussed in astronomy, one needs to relate these numbers to everyday life. During everyday conversation, people may say things like â€Å"the national debt is trillions of dollars,† â€Å"the lottery is up to 31 million dollars,† or â€Å"John Doe is a billionaire.† An astronomer might say that â€Å"one astronomical unit equals 93,000,000 miles or that a light-year is 5,870,000,000,000,000 miles.† The human comprehension level of all of these terms is probably nowhere near the actual truth behind how large these numbers really are. To obtain a feel for these gigantic distances used by astronomers, Astronomy Magazine writer, John P. Wiley says it may be helpful to keep in mind that it takes thirty-one years to count to one billion at the rate of one number per second. He also puts a voyage to a galaxy that is a billion light-years away into perspective by calculating how long it would take to get there in a vessel speeding along at 18,000 miles an hour. The trip would take 37 trillion years. When discussing galaxies and quasars, billions are the smallest numbers used (56,57). The theory of how quasars are created is based on the idea that the universe is expanding. Among astronomers, the popular consensus is that the Earth is in an expanding universe in which the laws of physics will hold true beyond this planet as well. G. Mark Voit, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute, believes that the beginning of the universe was a time when many galaxies would be visible to the naked eye b... ... telescopes like Hubble, and the Very Long Baseline Interferometry Space Observatory (VSOP), have also proven useful analytical tools for astronomers. Black holes and quasars are interdependent theories. The explanation of black holes leads to an explanation for quasars. These phenomena lead astronomers to believe that there may be places in the universe where the laws of physics may break down, opening doors to new theories for future astronomers (Hawkings). Works Cited Bartusiak, Marcia. â€Å"Outsmarting the Early Universe.† Astronomy 26.10 (1998): 55-59. Chaisson, Eric., and Steve McMillan. Astronomy Today. 3rd ed. Toronto: Prentice-Hall, 1999. Disney, Michael. â€Å"A New Look at Quasars.† Scientific American 278.6 (1998): 52-57. Hawking, Stephen. â€Å"Universe.† PBS Home Video. BBC-TV, 1997. Olsen, Steve. â€Å"Black Hole Hunters.† Astronomy 27.5 (1999): 48-55. Peterson, Ivars. â€Å"The Birth of Twin Quasars.† Science News 137.4 (1990): 60. Voit, G. Mark. â€Å"The Rise and Fall of Quasars: Dormant Monsters May Lie Sleeping in Nearby Galaxies.† Sky & Telescope 97.5 (1999): 40-46. Wiley, John P. Jr. â€Å"A Googolplex of Galaxies.† Astronomy 27.5 (1999): 56-57.

Health and Safety Program Essay

With the aim to align with the standards set by the OSHA and ensure employee safety and protection, the company has decided to create a (1) formal safety program for employees and (2) reduce workers’ compensation cost. Given such changes, the company shall elaborate on important guidelines and information needed by each employee to actively avail of such incentives. The next section will highlight the coverage of such amenities and benefits Workers’ Compensation and Safety The creation of the workers’ compensation and safety plan seeks to ensure a fair practice among the employers and the employees with the aim of creating compromise between two parties in each ones needs. The following are included in the overall program: 1. Rehabilitation of Injured Employee 2. Insurance Coverage 3. Cost Allocation Workers Compensation Insurance With the formalization of compensation policies, the company will provide insurance to its employees based on the following: a. the company will use self-insurance as its form of option b. the determinant for premium rates shall be computed based on a manual rating and shall be determined by the Manager of Health and Safety Please note that casual employees (part-time) and contractors & subcontractors are not subject to such changes. Coverage of Insurance and Safety Benefits The company will compensate workers and shoulder the expenses of employees who fit in the following categories: (1) Out of Employment Injuries, (2) Injuries during course of employment, (3) temporary disability and (4) permanent disability. With such initiative in mind, the company seeks to extend its arm towards its employees and wishes to assure each one that their welfare is taken care of. For the benefit of the workers and the growth of the company.

Communications and Information Technology and Legislation

Aistear is the curriculum framework for children from birth to six years. The Framework helps children grow and develop as confident and competent learners through fun, interesting and challenging experiences. The Aistear Toolkit is the place where you can access lots of practical resources online to help you get started with using Aistear. One of the topics discussed on the Aistear toolkit is learning through play. Children love to play and these resources will help a teacher to support children to learn through their play as suggested throughout the curriculum. We will now review one of the Aistear videos named Planning and Organising Play. The video is produced by an infant teacher. The teacher looks at pedagogical framing and her experiences of planning and organising her own classroom. There are many excellent suggestions as to how to set up play in a class room environment which I will explain next, however there are one or two weaknesses that if I was given the opportunity I would change to this video. Overall the video is very helpful and it does give excellent advice from an experienced infant teacher that would be like gold dust to an inexperienced teacher new to this profession. We will name the teacher Mary for the purpose of this critique as Aistear does not state the name of the presenter. Mary looks at pedagogical framing which she states lays the foundations for play. She calls it behind the scene work. According to Mary it includes the provision of resources, arrangement of space, and the establishment of daily routines, thematic planning and assessment. Mary communicates her message across in an orderly and mannerly tone. She is easy to listen to and reminds me of a teacher that I had many years ago wise and well experienced. I would be confident to implement her suggestions just by the tone of her voice. If I had one negative point in relation to the speaker that would be that she does not appear at any point throughout the video. It would be nice to be able to connect with her as she explains her view. The video has many strengths and I found many parts very helpful for planning play activities in the past. Mary uses her past experiences to help give advice with planning and organising a class room. The video starts by recommending different play areas that could be introduced into the classroom, Mary recommends that the teacher should choose five or six areas for the academic year. Such as sand area, water area, block area, small world, creative and social dramatic areas. Mary takes each play area that she recommends and explains the benefits of using these for the children’s learning and development. Using her experience she explains that the sand area works very well in her classroom, she goes on to explain that sand areas are excellent for small group play and that it encourages the children to use their imagination. Her advice is very helpful when she suggests that the children should select other resources from other types of play e. g. small world. I found her suggestions very helpful when planning my own activities and my learning goals were achieved when using the ideas from this video. The video explains the learning goals that can be achieved using these play areas such as having a sand area in the class room creates a learning environment, children learn sorting, counting and learn mathematical questions naturally. When I was planning activities and trying to introduce the Aistear themes such as Exploring and Thinking I introduced the sand activity to help the children understand concepts such as matching, ordering, counting, sorting, and capacity in an enjoyable and meaningful way. Mary explains that by using a water area for play it arouses the children’s curiosity and that whilst children play in the water area they are verbally interacting together. Asking questions and making comments bring forward ideas and suggestions and helps groups agree on solutions. She talks about real life or imaginative experiences using the blocks area. That play must be purposeful. This is very relevant to Aistear as throughout the Aistear curriculum it is suggested that play must have meaning so that the children will achieve there learning goals. Mary explains all the areas of play in great detail and links are evident throughout that the Aistear Curriculum is at the heart of this video, however if you as a viewer were not familiar with the curriculum and were using this video to help you to create your activity plans your plans would not meet the level that the curriculum would expect because the video does not make any distinct links to the actual layout of the Aistear curriculum. She does not mention the themes such as Well-being, Identity and Belonging, Communicating or Exploring and Thinking. The play areas that are mentioned do cover the learning goals for the themes and for an inexperienced person training to be a teacher they would not make this connection. If the video had captions throughout of the themes it would link the curriculum and the video perfectly. The Curriculum is designed around different age groups (birth to six years). The video does not mention the age groups or how each play area could be used for the different age categories. Throughout the Aistear Curriculum examples are given for babies, toddlers and young children and Mary does not implement this important distinction in the video once. The video suggests types of play that are low cost for materials and easy to set up using everyday items. The teacher recommends that the play areas be changed annually to prevent boredom for the teacher and the children. However the teacher recommends that the socio dramatic area should always be present in the classroom but does not explain why. Mary talks about the physical layout of the classroom finally which I feel was not necessary as there is a separate video in the toolkit which explores this topic in great detail. The video in my opinion is not long enough for this topic to be mentioned. This time could have been allocated to the Aistear themes and how they were achieved using the play areas discussed throughout the video. Overall the video has many useful ideas that can easily be taken and used to create a playful environment but I feel from all the information available to me that there is not a strong enough connection between the actually hard copy of Aistear and the video. References: Aistear Curriculum www.ncca.ie Aistear Toolkit www.ncca.ie/aisteartoolkit‎ Video: Planning and Organising Play http://vimeo.com/21112275

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Essay

One should not stop going for what they want. Through the struggles and obstacles being thrown at two people who are in love but the others may not be able to see it, they will always find a way back to each other. This book demonstrates the hardship two young people who are in love to find a way to each other even though at the time, interracial dating was not very common and looked down upon. During the Japanese internment in WWII, Henry, who is a first-generation Chinese American, went to an only non-white school was forced to work in the kitchen during lunch and clean after school because that was how his â€Å"scholarship† was being paid for. At that school, he met a Japanese-American girl named Keiko and became friends instantly. Even though Henry’s father was not very fond of the â€Å"enemy† Japanese people, that did not stop Henry from being her friend. One night, both Henry and Keiko snuck out to see each other. When they saw each other, Keiko gave him her family pictures because all Japanese had to get rid of any possession that could link them being known as Japanese so they could avoid being taken away. Japantown was filled with families and businesses who were forced to shut down and leave to the safer internment camps. Henry had to go through that pain of watching Keiko’s entire family leave, he was helpless to stop them but at the same time afraid that he would be herded with them for his similar physical appearance. Because it was a tradition for the Chinese to send their children back to China to complete their schooling, that is what Henry’s father did. He sent him back to China. He agrees to go if his father saves the Panama Hotel where Keiko’s family stored a lot of their belongings when they were shipped to the internment camps. While sending letters back and forth letters to Keiko, that is how Henry met the women he ended up marrying, Ethel. She worked at the post office and befriended him. As the war was going on, Keiko’s letters stop coming. The only reason why Keiko’s letter stops coming because his father interfered with the delivery of the mail for Henry’s own good. That is when Henry eventually moves on with his life, finishes school and marrying Ethel, but does not forget about Keiko. After the wife dies of  cancer he tries to find meaning for living. By doing so he goes back and visits the last Japanese habitation, which was the Panama Hotel. He never really forgot about Keiko, that was his first love. Even though Henry’s son, Marty, and Henry were not close, slowly but surely he eventually told him about Keiko. Marty and his fiancà © go out finding Keiko and sends Henry to New York to be reunited with his first love, Keiko. Being in Henry’s father’s shoes, I could see why he stopped the communication between Henry and Keiko. He was really just doing what is best for his children. At that time interracial relationships were not common but I guess nowadays parents cannot really choose who is going to marry their children. You cannot help how you feel and when you feel a certain way you will do whatever it takes to be back with the one you love. I think it was so cute how Keiko and Henry sent letters back and forth, nowadays it is only text messages or snapchats being sent. There was no sentimental feeling like there was before. Now we rely on technology as our form of communication and that is why some relationships fail. It is hard bringing your culture to America especially when you want to live the American lifestyle or culture. I know Henry’s father did not want him speaking Cantonese at home because if he spoke English, he would be more acceptable as an American. He was proud that Henry was going to an American school but of course he was not going to let some of the traditions go so therefore sends him to China. Henry’s father’s morals are very different with Henry as he grows up to being a father. When Henry has a son who is planning on marrying an American girl. At that time, dating outside the race is more acceptable. With me dating outside the Filipino race, my parents are okay with that. To them race does not matter. What matters is how the other person feels about you and vice versa. One that cares for you, takes care of you, and how they treat you should be the bigger concern and not the race. I always thought I would have to date within my race because I know that is what my parents would want, but they told me race should not matter. It is just how the other person can make you feel that matters the most. As long as I am happy, my parents are happy. I wish Henry’s father saw that Henry was happy with Keiko, but since his father was not very fond of the  Japanese, he did everything he can for them not to keep in contact. The story ends on a sweet note. The first thing Henry says when they meet was a Japanese phrase to tell her how beautiful she was, that he learned when he was a boy. Through the search from the city and pain and memories Henry had in the past, finding Keiko was the main purpose in his life. He wanted to be rekindled with his first love again. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet did a good job at alternating between telling the story at adolescent Henry’s war years with his later life in 1986. The author manages to tell the story of the Japanese evacuation, of the struggles between generations in immigrant families, and of the friendship that later turned into love between Henry and Keiko. This book also tells an important story, that of the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II and it was heartbreaking to watch Keiko’s family as they were evacuated, despite the fact that her family was more â€Å"American† than Japanese, and that Keiko was born in the U.S. Keiko’s frustration at seeing those of Japanese heritage taken away and her family’s strength as they are forced to leave behind their entire life is hard. I cannot image being taken to an unknown place with my family because of who we were. I liked how the author incorporated the generation of Chinese-American Henry and his immigrant parents. Henry’s father demands that he speak only English in their home, despite the fact that this leaves Henry unable to communicate with his parents but be more acceptable to the American culture. This book was overall a touching book. It was more than a love story between two people, it was the hardships that was going on during the WWII that kept those two from being with each other and with Henry’s father stopping communication between Keiko and Henry. I had mixed emotions because I was happy they found their way back to each other but at the same time I was upset because I wanted to know what would happen next.