Life Without Televisions

Life without Television When my family’s only television set went to the repair shop the other day, my parents, my sister, and I thought we would have a terrible week. How could we get through the long evenings in such a quiet house? What would it be like without all the shows to keep us company? We soon realized, though, that living without television for a while was a stroke of good fortune. It became easy for each of us to enjoy some activities alone, to complete some postponed chores, and to spend rewarding time with each other and friends.First of all, with no television to compete for our time, we found plenty of hours for personal interests. We all read more that week than we had read during the six months before. For instance, I was able to finish â€Å"The Scarlet Letter†, a novel assigned in my English class. Also my younger sister read 300 pages of the last book of the â€Å"Twilight† series. We each also enjoyed some hobbies we had ignored for ages. M y dad’s old enthusiasm for gardening returned, and he started planting vegetables in his garden.My mom had time to open her bakery book and bake Italian desserts such as Profiterole and tiramisu. My sister and I played volleyball in the back yard, a sport that we loved since we were younger. In addition, my sister and I both stopped procrastinating with our homework. We both found out that it was really helpful to work on homework ahead of time; therefore I worked on chapter three and four of my Algebra homework for next week. I also finished my study guide for my English test. My sister as well worked on her French and Government assignments.Second we did chores that had been hanging over our heads for too long. There were many jobs around the house that had needed attention for some time. Cleaning our rooms was the first chore we did; my sister and I cleaned our entire room and vacuumed the carpet. Then my mom cleaned the counter tops and all the shelves of the kitchen. Fin ally my dad managed to clean his garage and put all of his tools back on the shelves. We also had a chance to do some long- postponed shopping. My father went to SEARS to buy a sofa that was needed in his room.My mom went to LOWES to buy accessories for her bathroom. My sister and I went to the mall to buy her prom dress and I was able to buy two pairs of jeans and two shirts that I wanted. And each of us also caught up with e-mails and did paperwork that was long overdue. My mom had some office work done, such as sales reports for the committee of her company. My dad finally wrote an e-mail to my grandma that is living in Spain with my aunt Susan. My sister also replied to e-mails from her friends that live in Italy.And I was able to complete my FASFA application for the fall semester. Finally, and probably most important, we spent time with each other. Instead of just being in the same room together while we stared at a screen, we actually talked for many pleasant hours. My parent s and I never had long conversations before, and during that week, we got to know each other more than we did for the past five years. My sister and I talked more about each other and we found out that we have a lot of interests in common. Moreover, for the first time in years, my family played some games together.My sister enjoys playing Monopoly; therefore, we played almost every night. We also played chest, one of my dad’s favorite games. My mom’s favorite game is dominos; although my sister ended up winning every game. And because we didn’t have to worry about missing this or that show, we had some family friends over on a couple of evenings and spent enjoyable time with them. We would play volleyball in the back yard. After several games we would have dinner in the back patio enjoying the lovely weather while listening to classical music.And finally after dinner we would make a bonfire and sit around it and remember memories with our friends. Once our telev ision returned, we were not prepared to put it in the attic. But we had a sense of how it can take over our lives if we are not careful. We are now more selective. We turn on the set for our favorite shows, certain sports events, and the news, but we don’t leave it running all evening. As a result, we find we can enjoy television and still have time left over for other activities and interests.

Aristotle and Meteorology Essay

Introduction: Aristotle wrote about many subjects that can be grouped into five general divisions: logic, physical works, psychological works, natural history works, and philosophical works. One of the little known physical works concerned meteorology. Aristotle’s views on meteorology are fascinating, but many of the views were not accurate. This paper compares only a few of his views to actual meteorological facts. I. Biography A. Birth and growth B. Influence on writings II. Basis of Aristotle’s meteorology A. Elements and theory B. Science and facts III. Water vapor and precipitation A. Aristotle’s view B. Science and fact. IV. Winds A. Aristotle’s view B. Science and fact Conclusion: Aristotle explained the various meteorological phenomenon in simplistic terms. The explanations match his theory of how matter and shape were interrelated. Aristotle’s ideas on water vapor and precipitation were somewhat accurate, considering that there were no tools to measure the atmosphere in his time. His views on wind, however, were not accurate at all. He wrote extensively on winds, but never fully comprehended how wind occurred. September 5, 2000 Aristotle on Meteorology Aristotle was born in 384 BC, at Stagirus, a Greek colony on the Aegean Sea near Macedonia. In 367 BC, Aristotle entered the Academy at Athens and studied under Plato, attending his lectures for a period of twenty years. In the later years of his association with Plato and the Academy, he began to lecture on his own account, especially on the subject of rhetoric. When Plato died in 347, Aristotle and another of Plato’s students, Xenocrates, left Athens for Assus, and set up an academy (Encyclopedia 2). In 342, Aristotle returned to Macedonia and became the tutor to a very young Alexander the Great. He did this for the next five to seven years. Both Philip and Alexander appear to have paid Aristotle high honor. There are stories that indicate the Macedonian court supplied Aristotle with funds for teaching, and with slaves to collect specimens for his studies in natural science (Encyclopedia 4). Aristotle returned to Athens when Alexander the Great began his conquests. He found the Platonic school flourishing under Xenocrates, and Platonism the dominant philosophy of Athens (Encyclopedia 5). Aristotle thus set up his own school at a place called the Lyceum. When teaching at the Lyceum, Aristotle had a habit of walking about as he discoursed. It was because of this that his followers became known in later years as the peripatetics, meaning, â€Å"to walk about† (Shakian 126). For the next thirteen years, he devoted his energies to his teaching and composing his philosophical treatises. His institution integrated extensive equipment, including maps and the largest library collection in Europe. He is said to have given two kinds of lectures: the more detailed discussions in the morning for an inner circle of advanced students, and the popular discourses in the evening for the general body of lovers of knowledge. At the sudden death of Alexander in 323 BC, the pro-Macedonian government in Athens was overthrown, and a general reaction occurred against anything Macedonian. A charge of impiety was trumped up against Aristotle. To escape prosecution he fled to Chalcis in Euboea so that (Aristotle says) â€Å"The Athenians might not have another opportunity of sinning against philosophy as they had already done in the person of Socrates† (Encyclopedia 5). In the first year of his residence at Chalcis he complained of a stomach illness and died in 322 BC (Encyclopedia 7). One of Aristotle’s writings is about meteorology. His theories are based on his belief that all objects in the world are composed of form and matter and the world is arranged according to the relative standing each object occupies in the universe (Shakian 127). This basis led to his theory that any motion was from the center or to the center (Encyclopedia 28). Aristotle saw the universe as a scale lying between the two extremes: form without matter on one end, and matter without form on the other end. Additionally, he believed all matter is made of four bodies: fire, air, water, and earth (Encyclopedia 29). With this information as a basis, it is no wonder that any remaining theories would probably be incorrect. Scientific fact cannot disprove that all objects are of form and matter. Any one can agree or disagree with that philosophy. However, scientific fact does show that movement can occur in directions away from the center or toward the center. For example, solar radiation from the sun does not travel in direct lines to or from a center. Some of the radiation scatters into space. Some is reflects from the earth’s surface and is lost into space (Lutgens 37-43). Air molecules do not move toward or away from a center. Air particles move in an infinite number of directions due to molecule size, shape, weight and composition. Finally, Aristotle’s theory that matter is made of four bodies is dramatically short sighted. Air is a mixture of at least nine different components and is constantly changing in composition. Nitrogen and oxygen make up nearly 99% of the volume of dry air. Of all the components of air, carbon dioxide is the most interest to meteorologists (Lutgens 5). In all fairness, Aristotle had no way to measure or determine the exact components of the atmosphere. In book 1, part 3 of Aristotle’s meteorology, Aristotle describes his explanation of water vapor. His explanation describes the area between the surface of the earth and the visible portion of the Milky Way. It is important to note that he views the Milky Way as a plane or upper level surface (Aristotle, â€Å"Meteorology† 253). Aristotle is very close to a scientific answer when he deduced â€Å"that what immediately surrounds the earth is not mere air, but a sort of vapour, and that its vaporous nature is the reason why it condenses back to water again† (Aristotle, â€Å"Meteorology† 253). His logic is interesting when he indicates that this expanse of a body cannot be fire â€Å"for then all the rest would have dried up† (Aristotle â€Å"Meteorology† 254). In part 9, Aristotle addressed the issue of precipitation. He explained that air condensing into water becomes a cloud. Mist is what remains when a cloud condenses into water. He further explained that when water falls in small drops, it is drizzle, and when the drops are larger, it is called rain (Aristotle â€Å"Meteorology† 267). This is one area where Aristotle was close to accurate. One flaw is his view of the Milky Way as a flat plane. Science has shown that the Milky Way is just one of an infinite number of star galaxies. Aristotle realized water vapor existed. He also realized that the area between the earth and the heavens was not fire. What Aristotle deduced as water vapor is scientifically referred to as a parcel of air. As the air parcel rises, it cools and may condense to form a cloud (Lutgens 81). Aristotle believed the remains of water vapor that did not form a cloud was mist. Actually, what remains is just other air parcels. The energy used to condense the air molecule is released as latent heat creating a cycle of rising and sinking air molecules (Lutgens 82-83). Aristotle provided names for the size of water droplets. It is possible that Aristotle coined the names drizzle and rain. Scientifically, drizzle is defined as small droplets of less than . 5 mm. Rain is defined as droplets of . 5 mm to 5 mm (Lutgens 131). Aristotle dedicated several chapters to the theory of winds. Without scientific measurements, the cause or theory of wind was difficult to determine or explain. Aristotle compared wind to a flowing river in book 1 (Aristotle â€Å"Meteorology† 348). Unfortunately, Aristotle could not discern why the river of wind never dried up. Therefore, he abandoned that theory and analogy of wind and simply tried to explain rivers instead. In book two, he dedicated three more chapters to wind. Aristotle used his theory of water vapor and direct observation of something he called smoke to describe the occurrence of wind. He related the rising water vapor and the heat of the sun. This combination created wind. Rain contributed to wind development by causing calm winds after a rain (Encyclopedia 191). Wind must have been a difficult subject for Aristotle to explain, considering how much was written about the subject. The facts indicate he was close to an answer but never fully understood the concept of wind. The definition of wind is the result of horizontal differences in air pressure. Air flows from areas of high pressure to areas of lower pressure. It is nature’s method to balance inequalities of pressure. Unequal heating of the earth’s surface generates the pressure differences. Therefore, solar radiation is the ultimate driving force of wind (Lutgens 149). The effects Aristotle explained were often the results of the pressure changes. He realized the sun had some influence. The clam wind after a rain is an occurrence with strong thunderstorms that leave a micro scale high-pressure dome in their wake (Lutgens 153). Aristotle explained the various meteorological phenomenon in simplistic terms. The explanations match his theory of how matter and shape were interrelated. Aristotle’s ideas on water vapor and precipitation were somewhat accurate, considering there were no tools to measure the atmosphere in his time. His views on wind, however, were not accurate at all. He wrote extensively on winds but never fully comprehended how wind occurred Works Cited Aristotle. Great Books of the Western World. Volume 1. Chicago: Robert P. Gwinn, 1990. Aristotle. â€Å"Meteorology† 113 – 438. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Internet Address: http://classics. mit. edu/Aristotle/meteorology. 1. i. html. Translated by E. W. Webster. 27 Aug. 2000. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy 1-321. University of Tennessee at Martin. Internet Address: http://www. utm. edu/research/iep/a/aristotl. htm. 24 Aug. 2000. Lutgens, Frederick K. and Edward J. Tarbuck. The Atmosphere. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1992. Sahakian, William S. and Mabel Lewis Sahakian. Ideas of the Great Philosophers. New York: Barnes & Noble Inc. , 1970.

Micro and macro economic on us trade Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Micro and macro economic on us trade - Essay Example Microeconomics pertains to the economic decision and choices that are made by individual consumers, firms and industries and the impact it has on the allocation of resources, demand and supply in economies of the market. As demand and supply determines the prices of goods and services available in the market, microeconomics also defines how prices feature in various economic decisions and vice versa. Micro economists are principally apprehensive about studying numerous reasons of market failure and signifying means to correct or stop them, mostly with the help of public policy or by involving the government. (Bernanke, 2003) Monopoly is one of these failures that the market faces. Monopoly mainly crops up when a business produces a good at too cheap a price that its competitors are forced to leave the market. In the US, true Monopoly is rare these days, still IBM, Microsoft and Wal-Mart are bordering to it. Whereas, Oligopoly strikes when, in a specific industry, some of the controll ing businesses collate and set the prices as per their choice for the entire industry to either fallow or leave the market. Oligopolistic industries in the US include accounting and audit services, aircraft, military equipment, music recording industries and film. (Dwivedi, 2002) Businesses that are well-built may consider monopolizing the market by either controlling all possible ways of production or purchasing industrial resources, therefore forcing the competitors to shut down and leave. Not all businesses are granted the rights to monopolize an industry as some governments do intervene and stop such acts. Monopolies and other failures of the market are deemed undesirable and inefficient means of allocation of resources, by the micro economists, and that is the reason why they are not acceptable in any industry. It is suggested by these economist that Perfect Competition shall be utilized to balance the demand and supply ratios. It is the only mean whereby no single firm or indi vidual rules the market price of the goods or services. The price of the product is determined by its total cost and the profits depend on the demand the product has. Perfect Competition maximizes both consumer utility and the profits of a firm while utilizing the resources in an efficient manner. Sadly, these suggestions are seldom infallible as economics consists of numerous interactions between various market forces that are complex in nature. It is almost impossible to foresee the outcome of any economic policy. The job of micro economists is to suggest resolution of market failures that has the finest effect no matter what the inadvertent costs are. (Gwartney, 2009) Microeconomics also determine the most suitable policies keeping in mind the reaction that will be derived from the incentives and disincentives given to the public in such policies. For instance, in the US industries are allowed in urban areas the smoke and particles of chemicals will damage the water and air in th e locality. This will not only make people fall sick, resulting in increase of healthcare facilities and medication and but also hurt the ecological lifecycle of that area. Furthermore, due to the lost beauty of nature, tourism will also be affected. To prevent such hazards, the government controls the areas where such industries are allowed to function, on the advice of the micro economists. If the company does not find this condition conducive to their profits they may choose to relocate elsewhere this would increase unemployment in that area therefore the government may opt to give them some incentive to stay back. This may include a tax break for sometime till they make enough profits to accommodate this policy

Multinational Enterprise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Multinational Enterprise - Essay Example The FDI flows to the Asian countries declined by 7% to $407 billion compared to previous year. The South American countries experienced a 12% increase in FDI inflows, which were results of a mixture of market seeking and natural resource seeking activities. African countries on the other hand experienced FDI increase of 5% to $50 billion on a year-on-year in 2012. In Africa, the growth was due partly to increased activities in the extractive industries. However, investment and manufacturing industry for consumable goods is also expanding. The developing economies also registered increase in FDI outflows that reached 31% that represented $426 billion. Even as the global economy experienced downturn, TNCs from the developing economies sustained their expansion overseas. The Asian countries accounted for the largest portion of global FDI outflows from the developing countries. The 2014 report of the UNCTAD showed some considerable growth in the global FDI. The inflows increased by 9% to hit $1.45 trillion in 2013. In 2013 as represented by the UNCTAD’s 2014 global investment report, there were slight changes as flows due to developed countries also increased. The FDI flow to the developed countries increased by 9% to reach $566 billion in 2013. This growth made developed countries to account for 39% of the global flows. Developing countries also experienced slight increase in their global FDI flows that reached $778 billion, which is 54% of the total. In spite of the growth, the performance of the developing coun tries was 7% down the average of 10 years that reached 17%. The developing Asian countries had the highest inflows of FDI. In the growth, developing African countries experienced a 4% increase, with FDI outflows at $12 billion and inflows at $57 billion. The Caribbean and the Latin America collectively registered a 6% increase, with inflows at $292 billion and outflows at $115 billion. This time, South America registered 6%

The Pizza Puzzle Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Pizza Puzzle - Essay Example The idea of introducing a pizza kitchen in a restaurant that had previously focused on traditional steak and seafood was a great move towards diversification. However, the idea did not bring in the expected returns. A closer analysis of the situation revealed that the quality of pizza prepared in the hotel’s kitchen did not match the quality of pizza sold by renowned brands. This was a challenge for the Holiday Inn – Amman, which compelled the food services manager to put in place measures that could lead to improved quality of the pizza. The efforts of improving the pizza quality were evident after a blind taste test purposed to evaluate the difference in quality between the pizza made by the hotel and that from other companies. This evaluation proved that the pizza quality had improved to a remarkable level and that there was no difference between the taste of pizza offered to guests from the hotel and that from other companies. Despite these efforts, the pizza sales remained remarkably low. This prompted the development of a proposal that could increase the sales of pizza. The food services manager suggested that the hotel could create a Napoli pizza image, which would serve to attract more sales for the hotel pizza. Notably, the Napoli Pizza is a renowned brand that sells original Italian pizza. Therefore, the food services manager opined that creating such an image would definitely alter the customer’s perception of the hotel’s pizza. This is because the food services manager had identified that there was a mismatch between the image of the hotel and the expectations of guests regarding the pizza makers. Therefore, creating the Napoli pizza image would ascertain the customers and guests that the pizza was of high quality.

Facebook Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Facebook - Essay Example Business, marketing, advertising, politics etc are some segments in which facebook contributed heavily to the global public apart from providing instant communication opportunities. The recent political developments in Arab world are believed to be stimulated by facebook. In fact the current Arab revolution is referred as facebook revolution. â€Å"The dictator of Tunisia was overthrown in less than one month after being in power for 23 years. There is no question about how opponents of his regime were able to topple it. Two words describe it: Facebook, Twitter†. In Libya also facebook contributed heavily for the expulsion of Gadhafi. In short, the influence of facebook over human life is growing day by day. â€Å"Facebook was founded in 2004 by a former-Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg†. He has also pointed out that â€Å"facebook and its idea spread across the college campus within months from launching and at present it is the second largest social networking site, s econd only to my space as far as traffic is concerned†. The founding of facebook has raised some controversies about the ownership of the idea of facebook. Mark Zuckerberg was accused of stealing the idea of his college roommates and fellow computer science students. Anyway, it is a fact that in early 2003 itself, the idea of creating a social network was in the mind of Zuckerberg. In fact he has started another social network Buddy Zoo in 2003 itself with the help of some of his close friends. In January 2004, Zuckerberg started writing the source codes of facebook and on February 4, he launched Thefacebook. In 2005, the name Thefacebook has been changed to Facebook. Controversies regarding the founding of facebook Former Harvard classmates Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss claim that Zuckerberg stole their idea for a social networking site whilst he was employed by them to assist with the sites development, the site in question being connectu.com. They filed a lawsuit as early as 2004 but the case was dismissed in March 2007, although it was quickly re-filed in Boston, eventually Facebook settled the case for $65m (Ryankette, 2011). Still there are many stories spreading about the stealing of this idea by Zuckerberg. â€Å"After Facebook announced the settlement, but before the settlement was finalized, lawyers for the Winklevosses suggested that the hard drive from Mark Zuckerberg's computer at Harvard might contain evidence of Mark's fraud†(Carlson, 2010). Critics label him as a cheat. It should be noted that besides Zuckerberg, there three co-founders for facebook; Dustin Moskovitz, Eduardo Saverin, and Chris Hughes. In short, the disputes about the ownership of the idea of facebook created lot of negative publicity to facebook. What made Facebook a success today? According to Shih (2009), â€Å"right this moment at least 150000000 people are interacting with friends and talking about the brands on facebook†(Shih, 2009, p.i). The success of facebook primarily lies in its ability to attract business people towards it. Business has realised the potentials of facebook quickly in conducting its marketing campaigns successfully. Facebook users normally share their ideas and opinions about the new products they might have purchased recently and this type of publicity is even better than word of mouth publicity for business people. So they have shown increased interests in posting marketing ads in facebook which helped facebook to grow considerably. Marketers can make use of targeted ads to reach specific segments of customers using facebook and that also with a minimal spending for advertising. Facebook ads are more effective and cheaper than other

E-Marketing Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

E-Marketing - Case Study Example This is an essential component of implementing any marketing strategy by each of the above practitioners. However, with the extension of the 4Ps to envisage 7Ps, there was a better reflection of the market with the inclusion of people, processes, and physical evidence (Chaffey, 2009). Therefore, the product mix strategy is the total number of product lines that consumers enjoy from a specific company. Google provides industrial services as a form of its products. Some of the services include the provision of an advertising platform and the search technology service. Their products are categorized into business, advertising, and Google store solutions. The company uses the List price strategy, in order to determine the prices of its products. Prospective consumers are offered with the basic price or the normal price. In promotion, Google offers its search results with no accompanying advertisements, which attracts most users. Google applies the expansion strategy as the major product mix strategy. The internet is Google’s place, where it offers the consumers the ability to utilize their services online. Being the largest search engine the company ensures that it makes its brand name the core product. The fundamental features of the products that Google prod uces meet the needs of the consumer. Positioning of the company’s product in the internet market is the main source and determinant of the profits enjoyed by the company. For instance, it acquisition and partnership with a part of Yahoo has made it to have a market share of over 80 percent. Therefore, the position of Google as a company is the image that its products project. This image is compared to the competitive products and other products offered by other competing companies (Fernandes, Gouveia & Pinho, 2012). Facebook came into existence in the year 2004. Since then, the company has grown to be the largest social internet connectivity site that

Ripe Figs Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ripe Figs - Research Paper Example Although she had to wait only for a few months, she would go into the garden to see how ripe the figs were, to know how much time was left for her to go down the Bayou-Lafourche. The narrator called her â€Å"as restless as a humming-bird†, dancing out to the fig trees to know the condition of the figs. When she would see them ripening, this would â€Å"made her sing and dance the whole long day†. This showed that Babette felt as if she would speed up the natural process of ripening of the figs, by checking out everyday how they were. And every day, she would come back â€Å"disconsolate†, which means that she would feel frustrated enough when she would see that the figs were ripening very slowly. When Maman Nainaine told her that the fips were ripening fast, she said, â€Å"I think they have ripened very late† (400). Her impatience had made her feel that she had waited very long for the figs to get ripened. So, we see that Babette had the weak point of im patience, which made her feel as if time was moving slowly for her. In contrast, Maman Nainaine had a very patient personality. She was practical enough to know that figs take ample time to get ripened. She had told her god-child to wait to go to her cousins, till the figs get ripened. She was in no hurry, which depicted her calm personality. She wanted to make things go according to her wishes. She patiently waited for the ripening of the figs, when Babette would go down to the fig trees every day. In contrast to Babette’s personality, the narrator has called her â€Å"as patient as the statue of la Madone†. This comparison gave a saintly touch to her personality. For her, time had move very fast, like when she said, â€Å"how early the figs have ripened this year!† This was because she was waiting for nature to complete its natural course of action. Hence, we see that

Cipd Recording Essay Example for Free

Cipd Recording Essay Organisations need to collect data in order to comply with regulations such as minimum wage, working time directive, health and safety and even health and safety. 2) Keeping training and performance records on employees enables management to assess individual productivity and performance and allows them to help the employee reach there full potential and in turn increase productivity. Two Types Of Data Collected and How Each Supports HR Practices 1) Statutory Records Such as tax, national insurance contributions, sickness and SSP, hours worked and accident book. These types of records ensure that the HR department complies with all regulatory requirements 2) Organisational Records – Such as Recruitment and Selection records, absence, staff turnover records, learning and development records. These types of records are essential for the HR department and allows them to monitor staffing levels and recruit when necessary, monitor staff sickness to ensure productivity is not being affected and also to if there is anything the organization can do to cut down on sickness levels and records to ensure that staff are maintaining a high level of efficiency through learning and development activities. Two Methods of storing records and benefits of each Manual System: Filing Cabinet – Files are easily accessible and doesn’t require a computer to be turned on. Manual system cannot be affected by loss of power or hackers cannot access a manual filing system from another computer Computerised System: The benefits of a computerised filing system are numerous, and include reduced costs to the company, benefits to the environment, increased ease of sorting, finding, and moving documents. Another benefit is that it allows the office to operate in a smaller environment, because a great deal of space is not required for storing documents in a paper filing system. Two Essential Items of UK Legislation relating to Recording and Storing HR Data Data Protection Act 1998 The Data Protection Act 1998 applies to most personnel records, whether held in paper or computerised format. Under the Data Protection Act, data must not be kept any longer than is necessary for a particular purpose. Computerised systems are covered by the law, as are certain manual systems: to be covered, manual systems must be organised into a relevant filing system. Subject to certain exceptions as detailed in Schedule 7 of the Data Protection Act, employees have the right to access their records and the employer is under an obligation to ensure that the data is accurate. Before releasing such data to a third party, the employer must seek the permission of the individual concerned. The Information Commissioner has issued an Employment Practices Data Protection Code in four parts: †¢ Part 1: Recruitment and selection †¢ Part 2: Employment records †¢ Part 3: Monitoring at work †¢ Part 4: Information about workers health. In the event that employment contracts/accident record books and other personnel records are needed for the purpose of a legal action, the riginals must be made available if possible  or the employer must explain what happened to the original documents backed up by what is known as a statement of truth. When employers really no longer need to keep certain data, destruction must take place securely and effectively, for example by shredding. Freedom of Information Act (2000) NI The Freedom Of Information Act gives people the right to ask any public body for information they have on any subject you choose. Also, unless theres a good reason, the organisation must provide the information within 20 working days. You can also ask for all the personal information it holds on you. The act applies to all public authorities including: †¢ government departments and the Northern Ireland Assembly †¢ local authorities †¢ health trusts, hospitals and doctors surgeries †¢ schools, colleges and universities †¢ publicly funded museums †¢ the police †¢ many other non-departmental public bodies, committees and advisory bodies Any person can make a request for information under the Act there is no restrictions on your age, nationality, or where you live. You can ask for any information at all but some information might be withheld to protect various interests which are allowed for by the Act. If this is the case, the public authority must tell you why they have withheld information. If you ask for information about yourself, then your request will be handled under the Data Protection Act; if you ask for information about other people (third parties), the Freedom of Information Act will apply. However, disclosure of personal information which would breach anyone elses rights under the Data Protection Act is not permitted.

The Minimum Wage Debate Essay Example for Free

The Minimum Wage Debate Essay Minimum wage laws set legal minimums for the hourly wage paid to certain groups of workers (Gorman). Minimum wage laws were invented in Australia and New Zealand with the purpose of guaranteeing a minimum standard of living for unskilled workers. In the United States, workers are generally entitled to be paid no less than the statutory minimum wage. In the United States, amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act have increased the federal minimum wage from $.25 in 1938 to $7.25 in 2013. Some states and municipalities have set minimum wage levels higher than the federal level, with the highest state minimum wage being . 19 per hour in Washington State as of 2013 (Wikipedia). President Barack Obama’s call for increasing the minimum wage during his State of the Union address has renewed debate among policy experts, politicians and economists, who argue that if enacted the proposal could either drive up unemployment or create more stability for America’s poor. President Obama wants to increase the minimum wage from its current $7.25 to $9.00 an hour, which he said would reduce the number of people in America who work full time but who live in poverty. President Obama states â€Å"this single step would raise the incomes of millions of working families; it could mean the difference between groceries or the food bank; rent or eviction; scraping by or finally getting ahead. For businesses across the country, it would mean customers with more money in their pockets† (White, 2013). This paper will examine President Obama’s proposal to increase the minimum wage by evaluating the history of the minimum wage, the people affected by the minimum wage, the economic way of thinking, and the writer’s perspective of the debate. In conclusion, this paper will provide an alternative to President Obama’s call for an increase in the minimum wage. - The Minimum Wage The minimum wage has a strong social appeal, rooted in concern about the ability of markets to provide income equity for the least able members of the work force. The obvious solution to this concern is to redefine the wage structure politically to achieve a socially preferable distribution of income. Thus, minimum wage laws have usually been judged against the criterion reducing poverty (Wikipedia). Minimum wage laws were also proposed as way to control the increase the spread of sweat shops in manufacturing industries. Sweat shops employed large number of women and young workers, paying them substandard wages. The sweatshop owners were thought to have unfair bargaining power over their workers, and a minimum wage was proposed as a means to make them pay their workers fairly. Eventually, the focus changed to helping people, become more self-sufficient. Today, minimum wage laws affect workers in most low-paid fields of employment (Wikipedia, 2013). There is great disagreement as to whether the minimum wage is effective in attaining its goals. From the time of their introduction, minimum wage laws have been controversial politically, and have received much less support from economists than from the general public. Despite decades of experience and economic research, debates about the costs and benefits of minimum wages continue today. - Literature Review Researching the minimum wage resulted in an abundance of scholarly reviews as well as opinionated news articles which provided the pros and cons of the minimum wage increase proposed by President Obama in his State of Union Address. David Neumark and William Wascher evaluates the effects of the â€Å"Minimum Wage and Employment† states there is a wide range of existing estimates and, accordingly, a lack of consensus about the overall effects on low-wage employment of an increase in the minimum wage. However, the oft-stated assertion that recent research fails to support the traditional review that the minimum wage reduces the employment of low-wage employment of low-wage employment is clearly incorrect. They characterize economist in the debate as those economists who claimed the low-wage labor market at the time as â€Å"marginalists† and those who claimed that it was not as â€Å"institutionalists† (Wascher, 2006). Their findings resulted in studies that provide evidence of positive employment effects of minimum wage, especially from those studies that focus on the broader groups (rather than a narrow industry) for which the competitive model predicts disemployment effects. They also found that studies that focus on the least-skilled groups provide relatively overwhelming evidence of stronger disemployment effects for these groups. Also, John Schmitt reviews evidence on eleven possible adjustments to minimum-wage increases that may help to explain why the measured employment effects are so consistently small. He states that the most important channels of adjustment are: reductions in labor turnover; improvements in organizational efficiency; reductions in wages of higher earners; and small price increases. His report found that little or no employment response to modest increase in the minimum wage and evidence on a range of possible adjustments to minimum-wage increases that may help to explain why the measured employment effects are so consistently small (Schmitt, 2013). As mentioned, online articles from Newsweek, Wikipedia, and Deseret News provided background information as well as opinions that determined the direction in which the writers would approach in this paper. - The people affected by the Minimum Wage Minimum wage workers tend to be young. Although workers under age 25 represented only about one-fifth of hourly paid workers, they made up half of those paid the federal minimum wage or less. Among employed teenagers paid by the hour, about 21 percent earned the minimum wage or less, compared with about 3 percent of workers age 25 and over (See Table I). About 6 percent of women paid hourly rates had wages at or below the prevailing federal minimum, compared with about 3 percent of men. (Of minimum wage earners overall, 67 percent are women, and 33 percent are men). The percentage of workers earning the minimum wage did not vary much across the major race and ethnicity groups. About 5 percent of white, black, and Hispanic hourly-paid workers earned the federal minimum wage or less. Among Asian hourly paid workers, about3 percent earned the minimum wage or less. Among hourly paid workers age 16 and over, about 10 percent of those who had less than a high school diploma earned the federal minimum wage or less, compared with about 4 percent of those who had a high school diploma (with no college) and about 2 percent of college graduates. Part-time workers (persons who usually work less than 35 hours per week) were more likely than their full-time counterparts to be paid the federal minimum wage or less (about 11 percent versus about 2 percent). About 7 in 10 workers earning the minimum wage or less in 2012 were employed in service occupations, mostly in food preparation and serving related jobs. Among the states, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennes see and Oklahoma had the highest proportions of hourly-paid workers earning at or below the federal minimum wage (about 6 percent). The percentage of workers earning at or below the Federal minimum wage was lowest (1 percent or less) in Alaska, California and Oregon (Rampell, 2009). Table 1. Employed wage and salary workers paid hourly rates with earnings at or below the prevailing federal minimum wage by selected characteristics, 2012 annual averages| Characteristic| Number of workers (in thousands)| Percent distribution| Percent of workers paid hourly rates| | Total paid hourly rates| At or below minimum wage| Total paid hourly rates| At or below minimum wage| At or below minimum wage| | | Total| At minimum wage| Below minimum wage| | Total| At minimum wage| Below minimum wage| Total| At minimum wage| Below minimum wage| AGE AND SEX| | | | | | | | | | | | Total, 16 years and over| 75,276| 3,550| 1,566| 1,984| 100.0| 100.0| 100.0| 100.0| 4.7| 2.1| 2.6| 16 to 24 years| 14,909| 1,797| 862| 935| 19.8| 50.6| 55.0| 47.1| 12.1| 5.8| 6.3| 16 to 19 years| 4,044| 854| 484| 370| 5.4| 24.1| 30.9| 18.6| 21.1| 12.0| 9.1| 25 years and over| 60,367| 1,753| 704| 1,049| 80.2| 49.4| 45.0| 52.9| 2.9| 1.2| 1.7| Men, 16 years and over| 37,113| 1,263| 567| 696| 49.3| 35.6| 36.2| 35.1| 3.4| 1.5| 1.9| 16 to 24 years| 7,454| 673| 333| 340| 9.9| 19.0| 21.3| 17.1| 9.0| 4.5| 4.6| 16 to 19 years| 1,922| 366| 207| 159| 2.6| 10.3| 13.2| 8.0| 19.0| 10.8| 8.3| 25 years and over| 29,659| 591| 235| 356| 39.4| 16.6| 15.0| 17.9| 2.0| 0.8| 1.2| Women, 16 years and over| 38,163| 2,287| 999| 1,288| 50.7| 64.4| 63.8| 64.9| 6.0| 2.6| 3.4| 16 to 24 years| 7,455| 1,124| 529| 595| 9.9| 31.7| 33.8| 30.0| 15.1| 7.1| 8.0| 16 to 19 years| 2,122| 489| 278| 211| 2.8| 13.8| 17.8| 10.6| 23.0| 13.1| 9.9| 25 years and over| 30,708| 1,163| 470| 693| 40.8| 32.8| 30.0| 34.9| 3.8| 1.5| 2.3| RA CE AND HISPANIC OR LATINO ETHNICITY| | | | | | | | | | | | White (1)| 59,180| 2,760| 1,185| 1,575| 78.6| 77.7| 75.7| 79.4| 4.7| 2.0| 2.7| Men| 29,691| 984| 444| 540| 39.4| 27.7| 28.4| 27.2| 3.3| 1.5| 1.8| Women| 29,490| 1,776| 741| 1,035| 39.2| 50.0| 47.3| 52.2| 6.0| 2.5| 3.5| Black or African American (1)| 10,049| 533| 277| 256| 13.3| 15.0| 17.7| 12.9| 5.3| 2.8| 2.5| Men| 4,522| 183| 85| 98| 6.0| 5.2| 5.4| 4.9| 4.0| 1.9| 2.2| Women| 5,527| 350| 193| 157| 7.3| 9.9| 12.3| 7.9| 6.3| 3.5| 2.8| Asian (1)| 3,403| 117| 48| 69| 4.5| 3.3| 3.1| 3.5| 3.4| 1.4| 2.0| Men| 1,568| 39| 16| 23| 2.1| 1.1| 1.0| 1.2| 2.5| 1.0| 1.5| Women| 1,835| 78| 32| 46| 2.4| 2.2| 2.0| 2.3| 4.3| 1.7| 2.5| Hispanic or Latino (1)| 14,404| 718| 337| 381| 19.1| 20.2| 21.5| 19.2| 5.0| 2.3| 2.6| Men| 8,114| 295| 127| 168| 10.8| 8.3| 8.1| 8.5| 3.6| 1.6| 2.1| Women| 6,290| 423| 210| 213| 8.4| 11.9| 13.4| 10.7| 6.7| 3.3| 3.4| FULL- AND PART-TIME STATUS| | | | | | | | | | | | Full-time workers (2)| 54,745| 1,261| 501| 760| 72.7| 35.5| 32.0| 38.3| 2.3| 0.9| 1.4| Men| 30,052| 491| 197| 294| 39.9| 13.8| 12.6| 14.8| 1.6| 0.7| 1.0| Women| 24,693| 770| 304| 466| 32.8| 21.7| 19.4| 23.5| 3.1| 1.2| 1.9| Part-time workers (2)| 20,411| 2,286| 1,063| 1,223| 27.1| 64.4| 67.9| 61.6| 11.2| 5.2| 6.0| Men| 6,998| 772| 370| 402| 9.3| 21.7| 23.6| 20.3| 11.0| 5.3| 5.7| Women| 13,413| 1,513| 693| 820| 17.8| 42.6| 44.3| 41.3| 11.3| 5.2| 6.1| Footnotes: (1) Estimates for the above race groups (White, Black or African American, and Asian) do not sum to totals because data are not presented for all races. Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. (2) The distinction between full- and part-time workers is based on hours usually worked. These data will not sum to totals because full- or part-time status on the principal job is not identifiable for a small number of multiple jobholders. Full time is 35 hours or more per week; part time is less than 35 hours.| NOTE: Data exclude all self-employed persons whether or not their businesses are incorporated (U. S. D. o. Labor, 2013). - Economic Thinking When considering the debate about President Obama’s proposal to increase the minimum wage, it can be framed around select guideposts of economic thinking. The first guidepost that can be applied to the minimum wage debate is â€Å"beware of the secondary effects: economic actions often generate indirect as well as direct effects† (Gwartney, 2013). The direct, immediate effect of increasing the minimum wage is an intended one, but secondary effects, or unintended consequences also present themselves. The law of demand states that the quantity demanded will decrease as the price of the good increases, with all other variables holding steady at constant. In this case, according to the law of demand, an increase in the price of labor, the minimum wage, will cause a decrease in the amount of available positions in the job market. The higher minimum wage will draw more workers into the market, but simultaneously, the higher price of labor will cause employers to offer less employment opportunities for lower skilled workers. Opponents of this viewpoint argue that an increase in the minimum wage will have a more positive secondary effect: $18 billion injected into the economy, along with 100,000 new jobs by 2015, supporting economic growth (White, 2013). President Obama’s proposal to increase the minimum wage appeals to a moral sense; people prefer to see fairness in the job market when it comes to wages. The conservative side of the argument echoes the law of demand. The true test of an economic theory is its ability to accurately predict, another guidepost of economic thinking. The law of demand is a strong one, but considering the changes in other economic variables, it cannot be considered absolute. In New Jersey, the number of fast food jobs actually increased after an 18 percent increase in the minimum wage was instituted (White, 2013). - 2 Sides of the Debate (the writers’ perspective) Increases in the minimum wage have consistently fallen behind inflation, so that in real terms the minimum wage is substantially lower than it was in the 1960s. Meanwhile, worker productivity has doubled. If the current minimum wage seems low, raising it would cost jobs. But there’s evidence on that question. And while there are dissenters, the great preponderance of the evidence points to little if any negative effect of minimum wage increases on employment (Krugman, 2013). It is also important to understand how the minimum wage interacts with other policies aimed at helping lower-paid workers, in particular the earned-income tax credit. The tax credit is also good policy. But it has a well-known defect, some of its benefits end up flowing not to workers but to employers, in the form of lower wages. And guess what? An increase in the minimum wage helps correct this defect. It turns out that the tax credit and the minimum wage aren’t competing policies; they are complem entary policies that work best in tandem (Krugman, 2013). President Obama’s wage proposal is good economics. It is also good politics; a wage increase is supported by an overwhelming majority of voters. Yet G.O.P. leaders in Congress are opposed to any rise. Why? They say that they’re concerned about the people who might lose their jobs, never mind the evidence that this won’t actually happen. We will learn that an increase in wages will restore strength to the economy. We will see room that even more increases in wages will improve the economy. Social costs of labor will be better covered and the economy will work better. The US economy is a mature economy, and that means that labor needs to be paid more of the % of national income as real GDP increases. The real job creators are the bottom 90 percent, including those right at the bottom who would benefit from a minimum wageconsumers, those who spend nearly all of their income on real goods and services and hoard very little of it. And truth be told, without spending there are no sales; without sales there are no profits; without profits there is no demand for workers; without demand for workers there is no job creation; and without job creation there is no recovery. Overall raising the minimum would help some family live a little better and not stress as much with paying for food and utilities. It will help build a sense of pride and self-esteem†¦ after all is this not the land of opportunity (Krugman, 2013). The minimum wage makes it harder for unskilled workers to gain the labor market experience and on-the-job training that would raise their productivity and future pay. Unskilled workers are less attractive with a higher minimum wage because they produce less per hour and th eir hiring diverts more senior workers from revenue producing activities to training and supervision (Shemkus 2011). Firms will only invest in human capital if they expect to receive a return on their investment. Firms will not pay for general skills if workers are likely to leave before firms recoup their investment costs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that 69% of jobs started by workers age 18 to 24 last less than a year. Turnover is even higher for teen age workers. Young workers must therefore pay for the general (often informal) training they receive by accepting a lower wage (Shemkus, 2011). The good news is that once these workers have some experience and training they can command a higher wage. A higher minimum wage encourages firms to hire already trained and experienced workers, eliminates some opportunities for experience and training, and puts an even bigger burden on our vocational schools to train unskilled workers. The effects on employment rates would be exactly the opposite of those supporters foresee. A higher minimum wage, they claim, would be too heavy a burden on employers, especially small business owners. And those employers, in turn, would be unable to hire as many people an undesirable result when unemployment continues to hover at about 8 percent (Shemkus, 2011). When legislators raise the price of low and unskilled labor, it is usually low- and unskilled laborers who end up paying the price, increasing the minimum wage has not proven to be effective at lowering the poverty rate. Multiple studies have demonstrated little to no relationship between a higher minimum wage and reductions in poverty. So it looks like the minimum wage will probably be staying right where it is for some time to come (Shemkus, 2011). - Conclusion In conclusion, the writers’ personally support the President’s call to increase the minimum wage to $9 per hour. However, the writers’ must realistically look at both sides of the debate and recommend an alternative that will ease the minds of US citizens, politicians, and economists (on both sides of the debate). We recommend continuing to allow individual cities and states to mandate the minimum wage deemed necessary for the citizens of their jurisdiction. The Department of Labor states that there are 4 states that have a minimum wage set lower than the federal minimum wage and 19 states (plus DC) with minimum wage rates set higher than the federal minimum wage. There are 22 of the states that have a minimum wage requirement that is the same as the federal minimum wage requirement. The remaining states do not have an established minimum wage requirement (D. O. Labor, 2013). With this said, the Federal minimum wage law will always supersede state minimum wages w here the federal law minimum wage is greater than the state minimum wage. In those states where the state minimum wage is greater than the federal minimum wage, the state minimum wage prevails (D. O. Labor, 2013). This recommendation would protect the minimum wage employees in less than statutory minimum wage states, while granting the federal government a reprieve until the economy get back on its feet. Along the same line, the writers’ also recommend allowing states to regulate their citizen’s minimum wage, the minimum wage would be linked to a consumer price index. This linkage would increase the minimum wage each year. Currently, there are 10 states (AZ, CO, FL, MO, MT, NV, OH, OR, VT, and WA) which already have this recommendation in place (D. O. Labor, 2013). The economy in these states has not been affected by the increase each year. Employees earn enough to live on in their prospective state and the employer’s bottom line is not affected because their charges for products or services are also increased due to inflation. - References Gorman, Linda.). Minimum Wages. Retrieved April 4, 2013, 2013, from http://www.econlib.org/cgi-bin/printcee.pl Labor, Department Of. (2013). United States Department Of Labor, Wage and Hour Division. Retrieved April 30, 2013, from http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm Labor, United States Department of. (2013). Characteristics Of Minimum Wage Workers: 2012. Retrieved April 12, 2013, from http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2012.htm Rampell, Catherine. (2009). Who is affected by a higher minimum wage? Retrieved April 17, 2014, from http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/who-is-affected-by-todays-minimum-wage-hike/ Schmitt, John. (2013). Why Does the Mininmum Wage Have No Discernible Effect on Employment? (pp. 2-24): Center for Economic and Policy Research. Wascher, David Neumark and William. (2006). Minimum Wages And Employment: A Review Of Eveidence From the New Minimum Wage Research. National Bureau of Economic Research, NBER Working Paper No. 12663, 2-432. White, Mercedes. (20 13). The great minimum wage debate: how Obamas proposal to increase the minimum wage will impact the economy. Retrieved March 27, 2013, from http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865573603/The-great-minimum-wage-debate-how Wikipedia.). Minimum wage in the United States. Retrieved April 15, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_wage_in_the_United_States Wikipedia. (2013). Minimum Wage. Retrieved April 14, 2013, 2013, from