A Critical Review essays

A Critical Review essays For years our nation has been debating over the benefits that coeducational schools have versus non-coeducational schools. There are many different perspectives on the subject. Some people believe that girls face harsh environments while seated next to boys in the classroom. The author of The Trouble With Single-Sex Schools, Wendy Kaminer feels otherwise. She argues that the experiments and information supporting the hazards of coed schools can be demolished with a minimal amount of effort. I highly disagree with Kaminer that single-sex schools are really the contributing factors to girls low self-esteem. Through my own personal experience I realize that coeducational schools might be the right place for some young women, but these schools are not the safest place for all. Wendy Kaminer tells us in very gratifying tones of the beginnings of womens education. She says that while the schools may have favored typical gender roles, they did spark the idea of women as citizens. She feels that in the early years single-sex schools were the only known choice. She thinks that many of the current feminists are crazy for accusing coed schools of discouraging girls achievement. To her the main focus should be on whether the establishment of all-girls schools is advancing or destroying civil rights and social equality. I really enjoyed her introduction. She glorifies women as winning their rights and pushing on towards greater victories such as education and the right to vote. She makes women feel very proud to have come this far. And yet underneath her wholehearted happiness for her own sex, she seems to feel that womens rights have gone to far. She seems to despise the very women she was praising earlier. At the start of her essay she informs us of the many triumphs women overcame to obtain these rights, making us believe she will take the side of her fellow woman. ...

Biography of Alfred Nobel, Inventor of Dynamite

Biography of Alfred Nobel, Inventor of Dynamite Alfred Bernhard Nobel (October 21, 1833–December 10, 1896) was a Swedish inventor, chemist, and businessman known for inventing dynamite and establishing the Nobel Prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiology or Medicine, Peace, and Literature. Fast Facts: Alfred Nobel Occupation: ChemistKnown For: Inventor of dynamite; established the Nobel PrizesBorn: October 21, 1833 in Stockholm, SwedenParents: Immanuel and Karolina NobelEducation: Private teachers in St. Petersburg and lab work in Paris (no formal degree)Died: December 10, 1896 in San Remo, Italy Early Life Alfred Nobel was born October 21, 1833 in Stockholm, Sweden, one of 8 children born to Immanuel and Andriette Nobel. The same year Nobel was born, his father, a building constructor, went bankrupt due to financial misfortune and a fire that destroyed much of his work. In 1837, Immanuel left Stockholm for Russia, establishing himself in St. Petersburg as a successful mechanical engineer providing equipment for the Russian Army. Immanuel’s work included explosive mines, which would detonate when a ship hit them. These mines worked by using a small explosion to set off big ones, an insight which would be important to inventing dynamite. Immanuel’s family joined him in St. Petersburg in 1842. There, Nobel was educated by private teachers, learning the natural sciences, languages, and literature. One of Nobel’s chemistry teachers was Professor Nikolai Zinin, who first told Nobel about nitroglycerine, the explosive chemical in dynamite. Though Nobel was interested in poetry, his father wanted him to become an engineer and sent him abroad to study chemical engineering. Nobel never obtained a degree or attended a university. However, he worked in the lab of Professor Jules Pà ©louze in Paris. Mass Production of Nitroglycerine In 1847, the Italian chemist Ascanio Sobrero discovered nitroglycerine. Though the explosive power of this chemical was much greater than gunpowder’s, it was incredibly difficult to handle and could explode unpredictably. Because of this, people avoided dynamite. In 1852, Nobel came back to work in his father’s business, which was successful because it worked with the Russian Army. In 1856, however, the Crimean War ended and the army cancelled its orders, leading Nobel and his father to look for new products to sell. Nobel and his father had heard of nitroglycerine from Professor Zinin, who had shown them nitroglycerine some time at the beginning of the Crimean War. They began working on nitroglycerine together.  One idea, for example, was to use nitroglycerine to improve explosives for Immanuels mines. However, Immanuel was not able to achieve any notable improvement. Nobel, on the other hand, made significant strides with the chemical. In 1859, Immanuel was facing bankruptcy again, and returned to Sweden with his wife and another of his sons. Meanwhile, Nobel stayed in St. Petersburg with his brothers Ludvig and Robert. However, his brothers soon focused on rebuilding the family business, eventually turning it into an oil empire called The Brothers Nobel. In 1863, Nobel returned to Stockholm and continued working with nitroglycerine. One year later, he filed a patent for the blasting cap, a detonator that could be ignited by lighting a fuse. This invention revolutionized the field of explosives, and was integral to the development of modern explosives. Nobel’s new blasting technique garnered significant attention from mining companies and the state railways, which began to use it in their construction work. However, a series of explosions involving the chemical- including one which killed Nobel’s brother Emil- convinced authorities that nitroglycerine was extremely dangerous. The use of nitroglycerine was banned in Stockholm, and Nobel continued to manufacture the chemical on a barge on a lake near the city. Despite the high risk involved in using nitroglycerine, the chemical had become essential to mining and railway construction. In 1864, Nobel began the mass production of nitroglycerine in Stockholm, founding companies throughout Europe. However, several accidents with nitroglycerine led authorities to introduce regulations restricting the manufacture and transport of explosives. Invention of Dynamite Nobel continued looking for ways to make nitroglycerine safer. During his experiments, he found that combining nitroglycerine with kieselguhr (also called diatomaceous earth; mostly made of silica) formed a paste which allowed the chemical to be shaped and detonated on command. He patented this invention in 1867, calling it â€Å"dynamite† after the Greek word for power (dynamis). The demand for Nobel’s dynamite surged. Since the user could control the explosions, it had many applications in construction work, including tunnel blasting and road building. Nobel continued building companies and laboratories all over the world, amassing a fortune. He developed other explosives as well, such as blasting gelatin- which had even more explosive power- and ballistite, a smokeless gunpowder. Though dynamite was Nobel’s main business, he also worked on other products, such as synthetic leather and artificial silk. Later Life and Death At the age of 43, Nobel advertised himself in a newspaper: â€Å"Wealthy, highly educated elderly gentleman seeks lady of mature age, versed in languages, as secretary and supervisor of household.† The Austrian countess Bertha Kinsky answered the call, but two weeks later she returned to Austria to marry Count Arthur von Suttner. Nobel and Bertha continued to correspond with one another even as she became increasingly critical of the arms race and he continued to work on explosives. He may have justified his decision to Bertha with the rationale that he could create something so destructive and terrible that it would stop all wars forever. Alfred Nobel died of a stroke on December 10, 1896 in San Remo, Italy. The Nobel Prize After Nobel died in 1896, his will stated that his fortune should be used for prizes in five categories: physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. (The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, also known as the Nobel Prize in Economics, was established much later, in 1968.) His will was executed by two engineers, who formed the Nobel Foundation to coordinate Nobel’s finances and award the prizes. Nobel’s choices for scientific prizes may have been influenced by his background in science and invention. The founding of the peace prize may have been influenced by the peace activist Countess Bertha von Suttner, or his guilt for creating a material that was so destructive. After Nobel’s death, Bertha was awarded the 1905 Nobel Peace Prize for her work. Sources Jorpes, J. Erik. â€Å"Alfred Nobel.† British Medical Journal, 1959, pp. 1–6.Livni, Ephrat. â€Å"The Nobel Prize Was Created to Make People Forget Its Inventors Past.† Quartz, 2 Oct. 2017, qz.com/1092033/nobel-prize-2017-the-inventor-of-the-awards-alfred-nobel-didnt-want-to-be-remembered-for-his-work/.Ringertz, Nils. â€Å"Alfred Nobel - His Life and Work.† Nature Reviews - Molecular Cell Biology, vol. 2, 2001, pp. 1–4.

Managing Diversity in the Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Managing Diversity in the Company - Essay Example In exploring the article about managing diversity, I will start by outlining the reasons why I chose this article. The main reason why I chose this article is that it gives a comprehensive discussion of the issue of diversity in organizations. In addition, my choice of the article emanates from the fact that it has discussed current issues affecting diversity by describing diversity in the 21st century. The article is appealing in its discussion and is relevant to management issues and why diversity should be part of any formal organization. Moreover, my choice of the article was determined by the fact that it has outlined various frameworks and approaches, which are essential to valuing and managing diversity. My interest in the article was also driven by the range of topics that are discussed. For example, the article has provided a description of terms such as workforce diversity, cultural diversity, affirmative action, valuing diversity, equal employment opportunities, as well as multiculturalism. All these topics are crucial in enhancing the reader’s understanding of diversity in organizations.I also chose the article because it discusses the importance of diversity in both private and public organizations. Moreover, the article has provided the advantages that accrue when there is diversity in organizations. In the article, the author has discussed the many positive effects of diversity and the benefits that an organization derives from embracing diversity. In addition, the article is relevant to the issue of managing diversity since it has provided the conceptual values, as well as perspectives of diversity from various parts of the world. For example, from the article, one can derive that institutions in the American context are more concerned with the protection of the rights of minority groups. The dominance of the majority towards the minority is seen to hinder diversity in organizations.

Meeting Organisational Development Needs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Meeting Organisational Development Needs - Essay Example Furthermore, T&D when imparted consistently provides many other advantages to the organisation such as boosting the morale of employees, increase their level of productivity, guarantee satisfaction of work, maintaining quality and consistency in work along with reduced expenses (Olaniyan & Ojo, 2008). The report will give a brief overview on the requirements in designing an effective Learning and Development (L&D) as a part of the T&D program of the organisation and will try to devise a few methods to conduct L&D in organisation in a successful manner. In order to promote quality L&D within organisational framework, organizations employ a range of techniques for identification of the L&D needs of its middle level managers. The tools provides sufficient information on how organisations can find out the L&D needs of employees and consequently, provide successful L&D, as per their identified and specific needs. The needs identified by organizations among its middle level managers indicated their search for recognition and need for becoming a future potential manager. Hence, to carve out their future leadership potential, organizations tend to employ such tools that can assist middle level managers to meet their required objectives. Although there are many tools that can be used to assess the L&D needs, still organizations that want to focus upon HR development needs can consider not adopting certain methods. These can be use of ‘Consensus techniques’ and ‘Learner centred analysis’, which are less challenging methods to develop the L&D needs. These techniques can be prohibited by organizations as they focus more upon the analysis of their self-learning requirements and synthesize information with the assistance of experts. Organizations can further deduct these techniques One of the tools organizations can use to

Methods of Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Methods of - Research Paper Example Approximately 76% of firms in different geographical areas use social networking to achieve their marketing strategy. Retailers have achieved 133% increases in profit through the mobile market and thus they promote social media. An approximated 40% of United States shoppers usually use their Smartphone to buy products online and thus becoming a need than a want. There is a gap that exists while investing in social media marketing. Messages are shared in the social network concerning the brands and services offered by a certain firm and thus they are passed from user to user. This means that the company only posted once in the site for example, in the Facebook which has millions users. The messages and images of the brands are available to the third person without his or her request that he or she wants the brands but they are going to be posted. This means that the firm that posted the brands once does not need to keep on monitoring who has been interacting with their site. Through t he use of social media they can use the strategy of winning a prize or the first individual who can share and like the brands in the firm can win a prize or get the brand of his or her choice at a discounted rate. This is a gap that many companies have never thought about it but play a significant role in social media marketing. Based on the research done by Mangold and Faulds (2009), though investing in social media is costly, it plays a significant role in marketing for example, brand awareness is attained. Social media is a tool that creates competition in the market since different companies use the technology to advertise their products through such media. For example the use of Facebook, YouTube, twitter, Google and LinkedIn among others. One of the notable aspects to note while educating an individual who want to use social media marketing is that it is generally expensive. However, in reality it plays a significant role in making sure that awareness of the

The Plyometric Training In Badminton

The Plyometric Training In Badminton PHYSICAL TRAINING IN SPORTS Physical fitness is a very important factor affecting performance in sports. As in the preparatory phase of periodization plan for any training programme, the physical fitness is always the first to be developed before focusing into other training factors such as technical training, tactical training, and psychological training. Physical fitness contributes to sports performance. It serves as a foundation that leads to high performance level in sports (Bompa Haff, 2009). Many researchers have studied various types of physical fitness training, such as balance training (Myer, 2005; Myer et al., 2006), agility training (Miller et al., 2001; Young et al., 2001; Holmberg, 2009), sprinting training (Markovic et al., 2007), resistance training (Candow Burke, 2007; Sturgess Newton, 2008; Hamberg-van Reenen et al., 2009), circuit training (Chtara et al., 2008; Duncan et al., 2009), interval training, and plyometric training (Gehri et al., 1998; Swanik, 2002; Spurrs et al., 2003; Turner et al., 2003; Myer, 2005; Miller et al., 2006; Myer et al., 2006; Saunders et al., 2006; Salonikidis Zafeiridis, 2008; Vescovi et al., 2008; de Villarreal et al., 2008; Meylan Malatesta, 2009; Thomas et al., 2009; Ebben et al., 2010; King Cipriani, 2010; Rubley et al., 2011) and many studies found that physical training served the purpose of improving various physical attributes, such as flexibility, functional performance, muscular control, muscular power, distance runni ng performance, running economy, strength performance, explosive power, vertical jump, initial acceleration, speed, and agility (Gehri et al., 1998; Swanik, 2002; Spurrs et al., 2003; Turner et al., 2003; Kotzamanidis, 2006; Miller et al., 2006; Saunders et al., 2006; Markovic et al., 2007; Chtara et al., 2008; de Villarreal et al., 2008; Jullien et al., 2008; Salonikidis Zafeiridis, 2008; Vescovi et al., 2008; Meylan Malatesta, 2009; Thomas et al., 2009; Walklate et al., 2009; Sà ¡ez-Sà ¡ez de Villarreal et al., 2010). PHYSICAL TRAINING IN BADMINTON Badminton is a highly competitive dynamic sport. At elite level, it is suggested that badminton is characterized by repetitive efforts of alactic nature and great intensity which are continuously performed throughout the match (Cabello Manrique Gonzà ¡lez-Badillo, 2003; Lees, 2003; Faude et al., 2007; Sturgess Newton, 2008). Badminton players are required to be able to move in multiple directions while smashing and receiving a shuttlecock at high speed. The speed of a shuttlecock can be up to 421kph (Guinness World Record, 2009). Badminton players are often required to perform speed, agility, flexibility, endurance, and strength capabilities at their limit. It is proposed by Badminton Association of England (2002) that the off-court type of fitness training for badminton can include strength training, aerobic training, speed and agility training, flexibility training, core stability training, and circuit training. As an explosive sport, badminton performance can be enhanced from resistance training. Effective resistance training programme requires a systematic process of analysis, implementation and evaluation to ensure maximum adaptation and improvement. The prescription of resistance training methods can enhance badminton specific performance in jump smashes, lunges, and quick change of direction (Sturgess Newton, 2008). AGILITY IN SPORTS Agility is an essential element for many sports. It is an ability that involves a rapid whole body movement with changes of direction or velocity in response to a stimulus. In many competitive sports such as badminton, the players do not perform at their own pace and move, but are performing in response to the shuttlecock, the opponent, or the partners. As such, agility in badminton is not completely an independent factor (Young et al., 2002; Sheppard Young, 2006; Young Farrow, 2006; Jullien et al., 2008). Little and William (2005) proposed that agility is a specific physical attribute that is fundamentally important to sports performance for three reasons. First, developing agility will provide a strong foundation for muscular control and motor skill function, thereby establishing overall performance in badminton. Second, good agility enable players to move fast in balanced and stabled manner, and this proper movement mechanics and this may reduce injury risk. Finally, as an athlete matures, a heightened ability to quickly change directions will enhance overall performance in both proactive offensive and reactive defensive circumstances. According to Young and Farrow (2006) and Vescovi (2008), agility is important as many sports such as badminton performed on a court require high-speed total body movements. Many of these movements are in response to the motion of the shuttlecock, opponents, or partner. As such, quick movements are very important. Deterministic Model Of Agility Performance The multifactorial nature of agility has been represented by a deterministic model in Figure 2.1 which indicating the various factors contributing to performance in sports included badminton (Young et al., 2002). The model (Figure 2.1) indicated the agility can be affected by perceptual and decision making factor, and change of direction speed. Perceptual and decision making is one of the main factors affecting agility. The factors affecting perceptual and decision making included visual scanning, anticipating, pattern recognition, and knowledge of the condition. Leg muscle qualities Change of directional speed Young and Farrow (2006) noted that agility is affected by the change of directional speed. Change of directional speed is influenced by the techniques, straight sprinting speed, and leg muscle quality. Techniques to change direction and change velocity quickly are expected to be influenced by the position of the body while running. A forward lean is required to accelerate, a backward lean to decelerate and stop, and a sideward lean to produce a lateral change of direction. These body positions are necessary in order to produce forces to the ground to evoke reaction forces in the desired direction. The technique of body lean enables badminton player to make quick adjustments of strides to accelerate and decelerate, to the running posture to execute a quick change of direction. Such quick adjustments of posture and positioning of limbs is clearly a skill that requires training. This can be developed by plyometric training (Meylan Malatesta, 2009). Leg muscles quality is exclusively responsible for change of directional movements. The available research provides little support that leg muscle strength, power, and reactive strength are major contributors to agility performance. However, a rationale was made to suggest that plyometric training program involving jumping exercises that contain single leg lateral takeoffs, such as bounding in a zigzag pattern could potentially be beneficial to change of directional speed development (Robinson Owens, 2004; Miller et al., 2006; Sheppard Young, 2006; Young Farrow, 2006; Markovic et al., 2007; Thomas et al., 2009). Good quality of leg muscle in badminton helps to reduce time taken from ready position to move to receive a shot. AGILITY CONTRIBUTION IN BADMINTON Motion analysis of a typical badminton match reveals that there are many changes in direction and it requires the athlete to be very agile in all directions (Cabello Manrique Gonzà ¡lez-Badillo, 2003; Sturgess Newton, 2008). Notational analysis of European players during international tournaments indicated that badminton can be characterized by repetitive, short-duration, high-intensity efforts with high-frequency movement (Cabello Manrique Gonzà ¡lez-Badillo, 2003). Badminton is the fastest sport among the racket games with the speed of the shuttlecocks capable of travelling up to 421kph. This means in the court area of approximately 34m2 for badminton singles, the shuttlecock will take not more than 0.15 second to pass through the entire badminton court which is 13.4m in length (Olympics ABC, 2007). As a sport with such a high speed, agility plays a very important role to contribute to the performance. In an elite badminton match, the competition can be played up to more than 60 minutes, and the total running distance can be covered up to 6km. But the energy spent for both players were not the same. When a player is more agile and faster than opponent, he can get into favourable position to play the shot to move opponent around in the badminton court which will lead to greater radius of movement for the opponent. In another word, throughout the match, the player who have better agility are having advantage and spending less effort and energy compare to the less agile opponent. Olympic ABC (2007) also proposed that a player need approximately 0.32 to 0.36 second to move from a ready position towards the shuttle and approximately 0.486 seconds to react to the coming shot. This lead to an idea that a badminton player needs about 0.8 second to react to a shot and move to receive the shot. In this condition, agility is a critical factor affecting the performance. Time taken to react to the coming shot is affecting by the perceptual and decision making factor, while the time taken to move from a ready position towards the shuttle is affecting by the agility, which have the direct relationship with the change of direction speed. Good agility and fast action to move from ready position enable a badminton player to return the shot in a favourable position and have advantage over opponent. PLYOMETRIC TRAINING IN IMPROVING AGILITY Plyometrics are training techniques used by athletes in all types of sports to increase strength and explosiveness (Chu, 1998). Plyometric training programme involving jumping exercises that could potentially be beneficial to agility development (Robinson Owens, 2004; Miller et al., 2006; Young Farrow, 2006; Thomas et al., 2009). Plyometric drills usually involve stopping, starting, and changing directions of movement in an explosive manner. These movements are components that can contribute to developing agility (Young et al., 2001; Miller et al., 2001). Previous studies found that plyometric training, when used in a periodized manner, can contribute to agility gains (Miller et al., 2006; Thomas et al., 2009). Agility is an explosive movement which can be referred to running speed and changes of direction ability. Fast running speed and quick change of direction contribute to good agility. Explosiveness is affecting the running speed and change of direction ability. Thus, improvement in explosiveness leads to agility development. Plyometrics have been proven to be an effective method to improve on explosiveness (Markovic et al., 2007; Chtara et al., 2008). By enhancing balance and control of body positions during movement, agility theoretically should improve (Miller et al., 2006; Young Farrow, 2006). Plyometric activities have been used in sports such as football, tennis, soccer or other sports event (Yap Brown, 2000; Robinson Owens, 2004). These sports are intermediate sports which require rapid whole body movement with changes of direction or velocity in response to a stimulus, which is similar to badminton. CONCLUSION Physical fitness is a very critical factor affecting sports performance. It contributes to sports as the foundation that leads to high performance level in sports. Plyometric is one of the physical training which leads to the gain of various physical attributes which included speed, power, and agility (Miller et al., 2006). In badminton, a player requires high-speed total body movements. Many of these movements are in response to the motion of the shuttlecock, opponents, or partner. Agility permits badminton player to start quickly and efficiently, move in the correct direction, and to change direction or stop quickly to make a play in fast, smooth, efficient, and repeatable manner, in response to a stimulus. A competitive badminton match can be played up to more than 60 minutes, agility allow a player to be in the favourable position quickly to play the shot to move opponent around in the badminton court which will lead to greater radius of movement for the opponent. In another word, agility leads to the advantage of lesser effort and energy spent than the less agile player (Olympic ABC, 2007). Young and Farrow (2006) noted that agility is affected by change of directional speed. Quality of leg muscles is exclusively responsible for change of directional speed. Good quality of leg muscle and good agility in badminton helps to reduce time taken from ready position to move to receive a shot. This enables a badminton player to return the shot in a favourable position and have advantage over the opponent. Agility refers to running speed and changes of direction in an explosive manner. Fast running speed and quick change of direction is the key to good agility, which is affected by explosiveness. Thus, improvement in explosiveness should lead to agility development. Plyometrics has been proven to be effective and efficient in developing explosiveness (Robinson Owens, 2004; Miller et al., 2006; Young Farrow, 2006; Markovic et al., 2007; Chtara et al., 2008; Thomas et al., 2009). Plyometric drills involve starting, stopping, and change of movement directions explosively. These movements contribute to agility development (Young et al., 2001; Miller et al., 2001). Previous studies showed that plyometric training, when used in a periodized manner, can contribute to agility gains (Miller et al., 2006; Thomas et al., 2009). In addition, plyometric training which enhances balance and body control during movement promotes improvement in agility (Miller et al., 2006; Young Farrow, 2006).

Childhood Memories in Once More to the Lake by E.B. White Essay

Once More to the Lake For many people there is a sweet scent, an inviting image, the familiar sound of laughter that bring them back to a place full of childhood images. In â€Å"Once More to the Lake†, author E.B. White longs to bring his audience back to one of the most memorable places in his childhood, a camp on a lake in Maine, starting in about 1904. He shows the reader how he feels he has replaced his own father and is playing the same role he played nearly forty years earlier. White directs his essay at an anonymous audience. Read by children, it is yet another â€Å"when I was your age† story, but to an adult or parent he is quite successful in provoking old forgotten memories. The author assumes his audience will, at least somewhat, empathize with him. White describes his surroundings so well that one needs no prior knowledge of the lake to feel as though they are truly there. He thoroughly describes the sights, discussing the woods around the cabin, the cool and motionless lake, the cottages sprinkled on the shore, the old farmhouse where the campers gather to dine. White also ...