Traveling With a Companion Essays - Culture, Tourism, Travel

Traveling With a Companion Traveling alone or with a companion ? Whe n I always start to think about traveling, I think about the destination and who I should travel with. There many tasks I should do to prepare for traveling. Some of my friends and relatives have previous experience in traveling to many places around the world. I prefer to travel with a companion rather than travel alone where we can share our experience, save money and have more fun. First, sharing our experience is one of the reasons that I prefer to travel with a companion . Traveling is not an easy activity. Before we travel, we should organize many things like hotel, transportation, restaurants and the places that we are going to go . My companion and I can share these tasks and use our experience to make the trip easy. Second, saving money is another reason why I prefer to travel with a companion. Some Traveling agencies offer special prices for travelers as group. Also paying for hotels, eating food in restaurants and using transportation are more cheap as group than in individually. Traveling with a friend can make the trip less expensive and save a lot of money. Third, another reason why I prefer to travel with a companion is that we can have more fun. When I travel with a companion, we can talk and do some activities. I tried both experience traveling alone and with group. I had more fun when I traveled with a comp anion than traveling alone. S ome people may be like to travel alone and have more freedom. However, traveling is not easy activity and traveling with a companion can help you in many task s , save your money and enjoy the trip . You don't know what is going to happen in trip. We also feel safer when we travel with a companion that h e/she can help me if something unexpected maybe occurs during the trip where we don' t know anyone and away from our families and friends . For these reasons, I always chose to travel with someone than I travel by myself. There are always a lot benefits from traveling with a companion are available for us. The trip can be easy, unexpansive and enjoyable. The advantages of the traveling with someone are always put traveling with a companion first and best idea for traveling plan.

Essay Sample on Slavery and Its Consequences for Labor Force

Essay Sample on Slavery and Its Consequences for Labor Force Origin and Consequences of the Shift in Labor Force and Slavery Slavery in the past was an emerging trend that was used by super powers and some countries that had a vast control in the world. The developed states were in a better position of taking control into the world, including states like Virginia. Such possessions included economic muscles and increased arms and ammunition in their defense. Virginian colonial society during the 17th century was a dominant, as reflected from the performance and increased labor. The people in control of the slavery gained enough advantage and increased their activity in slavery. This was a cheap form of getting labor as opposed to hiring expensive and trained labor. Though the slaves were equal beings, they were made to execute certain activities and work for longer hours without their consent1. Apparently, the people in Virginia were the only advantaged people as they accrued more interests. On the other hand, the people affected in the slave trade were the slaves taken from other countries. Slavery originated in the ancient times when European sailors started routine traveling with ship that had sufficient technology to avoid tidal waves during their movement. During their routine travel, the European sailors came in contact with other races, especially Africans in the west coast of Africa. This was a factor that increased the interaction between the different races as they often came into contact. There were various exchanges that made the Europeans to be more inclined to the Americans as opposed to the Africans. In later progressions, the Americans and Europeans discovered it was prudent to explore the land as the Africans were not increasing the use of the land and Atlantic as a whole. The exploration of Atlantic increased the activities in the land, increasing the number of visits from other societies. In the end, the people who were involved in the exploration decided to embark on further exploration of the African continent. The Americans were deeply engraved in looking for more labor and other resources to assist in their development. This led to increased transportation of people from the African countries to the American states. Similarly, there were some slaves who were forcibly taken to other countries colonized by the Americans. The Virginia society was in dire need of labor to increase its productivity in the region, as it was a most developing state. In essence, they needed more slaves to ensure that they had more laborers to increase on their productivity. There were various routes that were used to make the slave transport a success to the United States and other regions. First, they crossed the Sahara to transport the slaves, via the red sea and into the Atlantic territory, while others were exported through the Indian Ocean. It is denoted that many of the slaves that were exported to these countries were captured during the war against the superpowers. However, the countries had a large influence over the war and ended up winning. To make matters worse, there are some Africans who induced the slave trade in the ancient times. Opportunistic Africans discovered that slave trade was the order of the day and decided to make returns from it. Some Africans created links with the people in control of the slave trade and captured fellow Africans2. They decided to increase the trade by selling the Africans to be deported to other countries. This is a factor that increased the population status of the United States, including Virginia. The slavery trade was increased due to labor shortage in the Virginian state. The Virginian state increased their investments in the economy as they needed an improvement in their operation. In essence, there were many openings for labor, which was insufficient in the country. To avail the labor, the people responsible had to look for other channels that would give sufficient labor. They opted to transport people from other countries since such countries had surging populations. In the end, they landed to take Africans as they were regarded as less volatile and violent. Similarly, the Africans were not advanced and did not have the technological know-how to fight back. There was little opposition from Africans in regard to slaver and forced deportation to other countries. This was due to the stringent measures that were indulged by the overseeing countries. The developing countries had invested a large amount of cash in the economy and had to increase the operation. However, the operational costs were increasing with each passing day. To make the operational costs to reduce, these countries had to reduce their expenditure, especially in regard to resource development. In averting the costs and expenditure, the countries opted for cheap labor. Since their current population was earning a lot higher, there was need for an external solution to such a problem. The countries reverted to importing slaves that would give cheap labor. The countries explored African states and other states in search of the cheap labor, which was quite successful. In the end, the countries had more resources in terms of labor while reducing their costs in manufacturing and production. There are several issues that were emerging in regard to slavery and forced labor, especially in the countries that were concerned. To begin with, there are a number of deaths that were resulting from the slavery. There are some slaves that did not adapt to the climate of the new countries. It is evident that people who do not adapt to change in climate will always have difficulty in living. In the end, there were many people who died due to disease manifestation and allergic reactions. The people in Virginia were forced to increase their working hours in their region to ensure that there was increased performance especially in the economic production and development. There was shifting of the slaves from place to place, making them to encounter newer and harsh conditions with different environments. Subsequently, they had to put up with such conditions, resulting to adverse health conditions. In the end, they developed health conditions, making their lives a struggle. This resulted to deaths and repetitive diseases since they could not get better treatment. This was an effect that drastically reduced the population of Virginia in the United States. Secondly, there were a number of people who died as a result of exhaustion, fatigue and lack of sleep. The slaves in Virginia were required to work for longer hours to ensure they performed well in their duties. The countries n charge needed to increase their production from the slaves, making them to work even harder. With such treatment, it was obvious that the people who were involved had little chances of survival. Apparently, many died while working for the slave countries.

Learn How to Conjugate Réunir (to Reunite) in French

Learn How to Conjugate Rà ©unir (to Reunite) in French At first glance, you might guess that the French verb  rà ©unir  has something to do with reuniting and your hunch would be correct. Technically, it means to reunite and a conjugation is required to get it into the present, past, or future tense. This lesson focuses on the most common and useful forms of  rà ©unir  so you can start using it in French conversations. The Basic Conjugations of  Rà ©unir Rà ©unir is a regular -ir verb and that does make it a little easier to learn than some French verbs. It uses one of the common conjugation patterns, so if you have studied words like remplir (to fill), you already have a head start. The first step is recognizing the verb stem, which is  rà ©un-. Then, using the chart, you can learn which ending to add that corresponds to the subject pronoun and the tense you need. This will help you learn the basic forms of the indicative mood, which are used most often. For example,  je rà ©unis  means I am reuniting and  nous avons rà ©nissions  means we reunited. Present Future Imperfect je runis runirai runissais tu runis runiras runissais il runit runira runissait nous runissons runirons runissions vous runissez runirez runissiez ils runissent runiront runissaient The Present Participle of  Rà ©unir As with most regular -ir  verbs, the ending  -issant  is added to the stem to produce the  present participle. This results in the word  rà ©unissant. Rà ©unir  in the Compound Past Tense In French, the passà © composà © is the compound past tense. It requires an auxiliary verb and the past participle rà ©uni. To form it, begin by conjugating  avoir  into the present tense according to the subject, then add the past participle. For instance, this leaves us with  jai rà ©uni  for I reunited and  nous avons rà ©uni  for we reunited. More Simple Conjugations of  Rà ©unir A few more basic conjugations should round off your essentials list for  rà ©unir. You can use  the subjunctive  whenever the act of reuniting is uncertain or  the conditional  when its dependent on something else.  The passà © simple  and  the imperfect subjunctive  are both literary forms, so youll find these in written French. Subjunctive Conditional Pass Simple Imperfect Subjunctive je runisse runirais runis runisse tu runisses runirais runis runisses il runisse runirait runit runt nous runissions runirions runmes runissions vous runissiez runiriez runtes runissiez ils runissent runiraient runirent runissent The French imperative  is used for direct and often assertive statements. The most important rule you need to know is that the subject pronoun is unnecessary in this circumstance. You can shorten  tu rà ©unis  to  rà ©unis. Imperative (tu) runis (nous) runissons (vous) runissez

MENTORS AND TEACHERS ARE VITAL TO THE PREPARATION OF THE NEXT Essay

MENTORS AND TEACHERS ARE VITAL TO THE PREPARATION OF THE NEXT GENRATION OF PRACTITIONERS - Essay Example (Nakamura, 2009) In this regard, a mentor must create a level of trust with students whereby they feel free to ask questions, disagree with the point and do not feel de-motivated. Mentoring creates an environment of learning, which not only helps develop long-term relationship between the mentee and the mentor; however, also helps understand the subject at hand more effectively. Initially, it looks as if only mentee is the one, who gains from the â€Å"role model† in front of him, but in the long-run, mentoring and teaching in action, foster and continue mutual growth. It ensures constructive improvement in the learning process. (Wragg, 2004) In practice, when mentor demonstrates his skills to deal with patients, colleagues, and other people around him, mentee is encouraged to be like him. Therefore, mentors are intellectual professionals in their capacity and experience who guide, assist, and assess students’ performances. Mentoring is usually used as a tool to quickly achieve results whether it is used in a business to train a new staff or in a school to describe the class room management tactics to a new and inexperienced teacher. (Kerry, 199 5) Mentoring can be seen as a process whereby trained educators and learned professionals promote one-to-one learning. In all fields of practice, such as, healthcare education, business; mentoring and teaching through an interactive approach, empower learners to be competent and feel motivated because in this way, they acquire a chance to immediately evaluate their previous performance and improve in their future. (Ritchie, 2007) Mentors through good communication skills, environment of encouragement and trust amongst each other guarantee commitment to learn. For example, in a hospital when mentors guide novice nurses and medical staff regarding patient’s history and prescription, it shows that there is someone who cares about what

Why has the Employee relationships changed from 1900' to today and Essay

Why has the Employee relationships changed from 1900' to today and what does this mean to contemporary organisations - Essay Example The concept today applies to a broader, extensively multidimensional and a major function of strategic managers in companies, rather than being confined to the Human Resource Department (HRD) functions. Industrial relationship, in its earlier days of the 1900s was concerned about the management of association existing amid the trade unions and the authoritative managerial bodies, which further offered organisations with a greater control on managing negotiations, industrial conflicts and consultations. Although the inherent meaning, basic tenets and rudimental values of this particular managerial doctrine remains the same over the past century, its dimensions have become much vibrant and multifaceted, embracing the external as well as internal elements of strategic management including social, political, economic and legal contexts of the national and international realms along with the working culture, organisational values, motivational needs of the workers, ranging upto financial and strategic goals of the company (Sing & Kumar, 2011). Based on this concern, this essay hereby intends to examine and obtain a critical understanding of the changes witnessed in the concept of employee relationship since the 1900s to the current century and its implications on contemporary organisations. Employee Relationship in 1900s In general terms, ‘employee relationship’ can be understood as a practice or a theory that is principally allied with the management and with the regulations of employee relationship. It operates more as an array of necessary abilities and attitudes of the employees rather than a specific management function. Employee relationship is concerned about preventing and controlling the conflicts within workplaces, either at individual levels or at the group levels that are often likely to arise due to the inefficiency of an organisation (Brown University, 2013). It is worth mentioning in this context that there are many factors, which have co ntributed to the changes in employee relationship since the past era to the recent times. Employee relationship during the 1900s was highly influenced by the then continuing industry trends, which rooted since the mid nineteenth century. In the twentieth century, the factory system became the dominant mode of production in most of the developed and Western countries (Sing & Kumar, 2011). In the plight of political turmoil and rapidly changing social constructs, employment relationship in the twentieth century was characterized by the emergence of labour unions. Since the colonial days labour unions had a well-earned reputation for being cruel, antisocial and some even criminal. Accordingly, with increased number of labours in the extremes of the spectrum and fewer in the middle, the labour market became much polarized by the mid 1900s (European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, 2011). The labour market polarisation had a deep impact on the employment relationship in the twentieth century context, whereby the notion followed by governmental bodies (including trade unions) and employers was shifting from liberalism (that developed in the early 1900s) to neo-liberalism structures in the later-half of the twentieth century. Correspondingly, the twentieth century labour market was also facing significant turmoil in terms of protests against exploitation, which was further backed by political groups along with the then uprising social communities (Kalleberg, 2009; Clarke, 1995). With the increasing pace in the liberalism reforms of the early 1900s,

Music Role of a Composer Essay Example for Free

Music Role of a Composer Essay A person who creates the music the music we listen to by writing a piece of music for theatre, radio, film, TV and computer games where music is needed is known as composer. Composing of music has played a vital role in the lives of composers making others to be considered as princes of music like Josquin and Palestrina yet others had unique styles of composing their music. The roles of a composer are to create music by creating situations in which sounds will basically be. A composer has to devise strategies to ensure coordination of elements of performers set into motion. This is achieved by ensuring that proper notation of music has been done in order to accurately direct musicians. The task of a composer is to write an original piece of music fitting for a specific mission after which the composition will then be performed by musicians. The music composed might be having lyrics or just instrumental. Furthermore, it can be either in the form of country, classical jazz or even folk. The work of composer improved a great deal between 900 to 1820. in the 900’s, composers used to create music in that there is a solo singer and choirs or more probably in an Organum style . In the process of change, music styles became more complex and multiple parts were used for different instruments and this help to bring harmony. The recorder, lute and the invention of printing press that brought about standardization of musical notation. Later the Organum was modified into the modern harmony of today by use of a figured bass to accompany a melody. The introduction of keyboard in equal temperament enabled different keys to be used without alteration. Finally, during the classical period, the composers fostered for loyalty or nobility of the time. The composers of the time were offered with creative tools to build many accredited pieces of music given that the concept of music was abstract and detached allowing them to explore the music industry. Josquin Desprez (1440-1521) was the master of composing in his time . He created his music with careful words which were of marvelous simplicity and sophistication. Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827) was the instrumentals in bringing into being the romantic music era. These two men brought about great change in the musical industry and meaning to composers without fear of experimenting. References Fulcher, J. The Composer as an Intellectual. Music and Ideology in France 1914-1940. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005 Smith J. Carlson B. The Gift of Music: Great Composers and Their Influence. Crossway, 1995

The Removal of the Cherokee Essay -- American History Native Americans

The tragedy of the Cherokee nation has haunted the legacy of Andrew Jackson"'"s Presidency. The events that transpired after the implementation of his Indian policy are indeed heinous and continually pose questions of morality for all generations. Ancient Native American tribes were forced from their ancestral homes in an effort to increase the aggressive expansion of white settlers during the early years of the United States. The most notable removal came after the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The Cherokee, whose journey was known as the '"'Trail of Tears'"', and the four other civilized tribes, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole, were forced to emigrate to lands west of the Mississippi River, to what is now day Oklahoma, against their will. During the journey westward, over 60,000 Indians were forced from their homelands. Approximately 4000 Cherokee Indians perished during the journey due to famine, disease, and negligence. The Cherokees to traveled a vast distance under force d uring the arduous winter of 1838-1839.# This is one of the saddest events in American history, yet we must not forget this tragedy. In order to understand the lack of morality on the part of the United States, the actions taken by the group in favor of removing the Indians and their opponents needs examining. The seeds of the Indian Removal Act of 1830 are rooted in colonial times and continued to grow during the early years of the American republic. To comprehend this momentous tragedy we must first examine the historical background of the Indian '"'problem'"' and seek rationale for the American government"'"s actions. This includes looking at the men who politically justified the expulsion of the Cherokee nation and those who argued against it. The Cherokee lived along the eastern part of the Tennessee River thriving in the bottomlands from Virginia southward, and built their houses in villages, which were separated by daylong walks. Their houses were made of wood and stone, fields planted, nuts and berries gathered, game cured, and tobacco was smoked. The Cherokees predominantly relied upon hunting as their sole source of food, and lived peacefully with the Creek tribe, with whom they shared hunting grounds. Their hunting grounds extended from the Mississippi River to the Blue Ridge Mountains and from Central Georgia all the way north to Ohio River. The Cherokee"'"... ...what everyone wanted; they had become learned in the arts and their magazine The Cherokee Phoenix was popular and appreciated amongst men of all classes. The Cherokee had done what was required of them, yet Emerson felt that the government was entering a new realm of existence, one whereby public sentiment was unimportant, and the lives of men could be discarded upon a whim. The cries from Americans did not stop President Van Buren from giving General Winfield Scott orders to remove the Cherokees. The Cherokees, despite their grossly horrific predicament, still were proud. They were once a great people, and they maintained that they would remain that way. The removal of Indians from their lands can never be wiped away from the pages of history. By far the events surrounding The Indian Removal Act of 1830 is one of the darkest episodes of our nation. The men in charge of America during the 1820s and 1830s were expansionists, with no regard for whom they were expanding upon. We can not undo the mistakes of the past, the Cherokee will never be able to regain their lands nor the rightful peace and respect they deserve, not only as men, but as the original American ancestors.

Of Mice and Men Characters Review Essay

John Stienbeck was born in California in 1902. He went to University but could not afford to stay. After he left University he needed money to live so he done many jobs such as Waiter, Broke horses for the Army and he was also a Ranch Hand. In the end he wanted to be a writer so that he could highlight the conditions of the poor in America. In the 1930’s America was suffering from depression. The change of climate in America meant that a lot of farming land was destroyed so farm owners employed migrant workers, which were paid very low wages and kept in very poor conditions. People were only employed when there was work on the farm. Most of the workers were solitary people with no homes or families. Loneliness plays a big part in this story. Stienbeck uses two main words in this story, Soledad and Solitaire. He uses these words because they both have something in common with loneliness. Solitaire is a one-player card game that all the ranch hands played. Soledad is the name of the main town in the story, the name means Lonely in Spanish. Throughout the story George always uses the quote â€Å"guys like us are the loneliest guys in the world†. Candy Candy is one of the lonely people in this story. He is old and disabled because he has only got one hand, this was due to an accident with a machine on the farm. Candy’s job is a swamper. A swamper is basically a cleaner, he tidies up the ranch. He does this job because no one else was prepared to do it, and because he is old and he needs money and somewhere to live. Candy will be doing this job until he cannot work no more due to his age, which will be very soon. Candy had a dog. The dog was old, smelly and on it’s way to the grave. The dog had no teeth so it could not eat and was very much like Candy. The dog was shot and Candy feels this will happen to him when he cannot work anymore. George has a travelling companion called Lennie, George and Lennie’s dream is to own a ranch. George tells Candy about his dream of owning the ranch. This changes Candy’s life because Candy believes that they will own a ranch of their own and be able to do what they want. He now had hope for the future and that he would live with his friends and have security and would die a happy man. Candy works for Curley who has a wife. Curley’s wife is killed by Lennie. When Candy finds Curley’s wife laying on the floor, he gets very angry and start swearing at her saying that she had ruined his life forever because Lennie will now be killed by Curley and this will mean that they will not be able to own their own ranch. When all the ranch workers leave Candy feels sorry for Curley’s wife because she was lonely and was never able to go out anywhere and needed someone to talk. Candy says â€Å"poor bastard† because he feels sorry for her. Candy’s future now has been ruined because he is too old to work at the ranch and he will soon be sacked and will probably die a homeless man. Candy was put in the story to add a bit of variety among the characters. Crooks Crooks is another lonely person in the story. He is a coloured man living in a racist society and he is also disabled. His job is a Stable Buck, this is someone who looks after the horses and cleans out the stables. Crooks is treated very badly by the other ranch hands because he is coloured and the ranch hands are white. He is not allowed to go into the bunk house and he is not allowed to join in activities they do. They also make him sleep in the stable with the horses. Crooks has a very bad life in the story because he just stays in the stable and does not get to socialise with the other ranch hands. His room is just a small area in the stables with all his possession over the floor in his room unlike the ranch hands who have small boxes over their beds for their possessions. Crooks has many possessions such as magazines, a hairbrush, a flannel, soap and other small personal items. This shows that he is a very clean man and he taught himself how to read and write. When Lennie enters into Crooks’ room he acts very violently at first. Crooks says, â€Å"you got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here but me†, later in the conversation Crooks starts confusing Lennie by saying things like â€Å"s’pose George don’t come back no more. S’pose he took a powder and just ain’t coming back. What’ll you do then.† This starts to upset Lennie. Crooks tells Lennie about his childhood. His childhood was remembered as him playing with white children when there was no racism in America, but his dad hated him playing with white children because in the end the white children would grow up hating black people. Crooks only has one dream in life and this is to live in a non-racist society, like when he was a child playing with the white children. When Lennie tells Crooks about his dream about the ranch, Crooks says â€Å"you’r nuts. I see hundreds of men come by on the road and on the ranch with their bindles on their backs and that same damn thing in their heads. Nobody never gets to heaven and nobody never gets no land, it’s just in their head.† When Curley’s wife entered Crooks room he reacted in a very angry way because he did not like her. She always insulted them and Crooks had had enough of this, he says, â€Å"I had enough. You got no right coming in a coloured man’s room.† Even after saying this Curley’s wife threatened him, then Crooks just backed away and went silent. Now he has no future because he will just be living in a racist society, scared and lonely. I think Crooks was put in this novel to add a glimpse of racism in society. Curley’s Wife Curley’s wife is one of the loneliest people in this story. She wears long dresses, has long blonde hair, would always have her fingernails painted and would always eye up the ranch hands. This shows us that she is a slut. She does not have a name in this story because she does not have any independence and she is owned by Curley. Curley’s wife is lonely because she has no one to talk to because Curley is always too busy, he has no time for her, every week he goes to the whorehouse, she does not love him and he does not love her. Curley treats her very badly; he has no respect for her. Her life on the ranch is very bad because she just stays at the ranch with no one to talk to. Most of the time she goes around the ranch looking for Curley but she is not really looking for him she just wants to chat to people. She had no respect from anyone, just like all women in the 1930’s. The only reason she married Curley was to get away from her mum because her mum did not let her do her own thing. Curley’s wife’s dream was to get away from the ranch and be in the pictures or theatre. She once had the chance to do this but her mum stopped her going. In the end loneliness kills Curley’s wife because as she had no one to talk to so she decided to talk to Lennie and this is what caused her death. I think Curley’s wife was put in this novel to add a woman in the story as she was the only one in the story. The American Dream The American Dream meant a better life for George, Lennie and Candy because they would live on their own ranch and not have anything to worry about. The dream would also mean companionship for Candy because he would not be lonely anymore because he would have George and Lennie to be with. In the end no one’s dreams come true because loneliness ruins their lives. Loneliness kills Curley’s wife, it gives Candy no future or security and for Crooks it gives him no hope because he will always be living in a racist society.

Dissertation on Teamwork and Customer Service Quality Essay

1.0 INTRODUCTION This chapter includes the background of the study, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, objectives of the study, research questions, and scope of the study, significance of the study, limitations of the study and operational definition of terms. 1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY Phil (2002) team working is a group of people who work together towards a shared and meaningful outcomes in ways that combine their individual skills and abilities and for which they are all responsible. He added that a real team does not just happen but an organization has to work at it, create it, maintain and sustain it for the development and provision of quality standards and expectations to the customers. Organizations need teamwork in order to promote innovation and synergy, improve their goal achievement, promote professional development of team members, achieve time reduction targets and get cross-boundary ownership of tasks and problems. Ronald (2004) argues that customer service depends on the expectations of the individual customer. However, all attempts to define customer service tend to focus on the relationships at the buyer/seller interface. He further added that to achieve the customer service levels expected, an organization need to ensure that for each of these two categories: the systems, measurements and the people are in place to respond to each customer group or market. Juran (2000) says that quality is the degree of excellence that is fitness for the purpose. It can also mean the degree in which customer requirements are met. Quality is built at every stage and teams solve problems where everyone is responsible for the quality of the product. A customer is a person or an organization that buys goods or services from the shop, business, etc on a regular basis. Woods et al (2001) assert that customer service quality as the satisfaction of the agreed customer requirements. This means that the total customer service quality is the mobilization of the whole organization to achieve quality, continuously and economically. National curriculum Development Centre is an arm of the Ministry of Education and sports responsible for the Inter-alia development of curricula and related materials for various levels of education. The National curriculum Development Centre was established by NCDC act chapter 135, laws of Uganda Revised Edition 2000 whose history is decree No 7 of 1973. Baale(2010) a curriculum specialist in math for secondary at NCDC, team working is very crucial in the development and review of curriculum that result into the satisfaction of parents, stakeholders, learners, teachers and the general public. He emphasized that team work cannot be avoided when developing curriculum as it includes a panel composed of members from different areas such as subject specialists, practicing teachers, teachers associations, UNEB representative, ESA representative, teacher trainers especially from some Universities and employers or parents. Team work comes when a subject curriculum is being developed. In this case a panel of 18 members from various institutions sits and develops the curriculum. Baseline survey is conducted from parents, teachers and sometimes from learners which result into child based curriculum. Then pilot study of selected teachers from few schools is done and cluster meetings held by teachers who carried out pilot study. The education system preparation trains all teachers about the developed curriculum and NCDC specifies instructional materials to the ministry of education that are purchased and sent to schools where implementation starts. In a period of 5- 10 years the developed curriculum is supposed to be reviewed. Enyutu (2005) stated that available test results from a wide variety of sources had demonstrated prior to the curriculum review that a majority of Ugandan children entering primary school were failing to achieve adequate literacy and numeric standards. Dropout rates were high with only 22% of the 1997 P1 cohort progressing through to P7 in 2003. NAPE test results in 2003 indicated that only approximately 20% of P6 students achieved basic standards of literacy. The combination of these two pieces of information suggested that of the 1997 P1 entry cohort, only 4-5% achieved basic literacy. NAPE testing also revealed very large and unacceptable regional differentials particularly between Kampala and the north of Uganda. Bearing in mind the enormous efforts and the substantial investments in primary education made by the government of Uganda with strong support from its development partners over the past 10 -15 years, these outcomes were disappointing. In all cases the proposals in these related areas have been discussed with senior staff in the Ministry of education and sports departments concerned and with the agencies and development partners directly involved in primary education in Uganda and there has been a very large measure of agreement on the way ahead. Nevertheless, the primary review team did conclude that there were significant flaws in the current primary curriculum and a failure to provide both sufficient time and an adequate syllabus concentration on the achievement of early literacy and numeracy in lower primary grades was by far the most important problem that needed to be addressed. Failure to achieve basic literacy and numeracy in any language in lower primary grades inevitably has a devastating impact on educational quality and student performance in all other subjects. Failure to achieve early literacy was clearly the issue of greatest concern to parents and the wider community that emerged from the primary curriculum review research. It was also perceived to be one of the major causes of drop- outs. National Curriculum Development Centre seems to be using teamwork when executing its functions. It is against this ground that the researcher will investigate how teamwork at NCDC meets customer requirements. 1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Many organizations are focusing on teamwork as a measure to improve the quality of their services delivered through brainstorming, innovation and creativity. Amidst these efforts results are not achieved due to poor coordination, lack of commitment by top management and limited funds. To address these short comings of teamwork visa-a-vie customer service quality in non profit making institutions one needs to access the level of involvement of all stakeholders in order to achieve overall performance levels (Tony 2005). NAPE (2003) report shows poor performance of children in literacy and numeracy skills in either local languages or in English due to insufficient orientation, training and support provided to teachers before the implementation of the curriculum. School supervision by the district inspectorate outside urban areas was almost everywhere insufficient to ensure good school management, the effective delivery of curriculum and regular teacher attendance. Therefore it is the interest of the researcher to know whether customer service quality is achieved through teamwork. 1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: The purpose of the study will be to examine the impact of team work on customer service quality using National Curriculum Development Centre located at Kyambogo as a case study. 1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY: The research objectives will be: i. To find out the benefits of using team work in organizations ii. To examine the appropriate team work techniques used in organizations to achieve customer service quality iii. To establish the level of customer service quality at National curriculum Development Centre 1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS i. Are there benefits of team work gained by National curriculum Development Centre? ii. What team work techniques does National curriculum Development Centre use to achieve customer service quality? iii. What is the level of customer service quality at National curriculum Development Centre? 1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY The scope of the study will cover the subject, time, geographical and sample scope. 1.6.1 The subject Scope: The research will be limited to the impact of team work on one hand as the independent variable and customer service quality as the dependent variable. It will also focus on the achievements of team work at NCDC towards the development of curriculum for educational institutions in the country. 1.6.2 The Geographical Scope: The study will be carried out at National Curriculum Development Centre which is located at Kyambogo near Banda Trading centre off Kampala-Jinja road. NCDC will be an ideal case study because its core values include Respect and Team work, availability of well documented data, commitment to quality and Excellence. 1.6.3 The Time Scope The study will consider an operational time frame of a period of 2 years i.e. from the year 2010 to date. 1.7 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY: The study is expected to be beneficial in the following ways: i. The study guides planners and policy makers in making factual decisions on serving customers which ensures that all the customers, shareholders and management needs are met satisfactorily. ii. To the academicians, this research gives recommendations for future research and may act as a reference for the entire world regarding contributions of team work on performance of organizations. iii. The study helps the government and customers to identify how team working at NCDC develop curriculum that is relevant to the future career of the learners. 1.8 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS: Team work is working together towards a shared and meaningful out come in ways that combine their individual skills and abilities and for which they are all responsible. Customer service is the satisfaction of agreed customer requirements. Quality is the degree of excellence that is the extent to which something is fit for its purpose. CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 INTRODUCTION This chapter consists of what other people have said about the researched problem. The researcher therefore reviews some of the related literature for the better insight of the problem. The chapter includes definition of key terms, impact of team work on customer service quality, benefits of team work in organizations, team work techniques and the level of customer service quality. 2.1 DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS Team work is a group of people who work together towards a shared and meaningful out come in ways that combine their individual skills and abilities and for which they are all responsible Phil (2002) .He added that real team does not just happen but an organization has to work at it, create it, maintain and sustain it for the development and provision of quality standards and expectations to customers. Ronald (2004) argues that customer service depends on the expectations of each individual customer. However, all attempts to define customer service tend to focus on the relationships at the buyer/seller interface. He further added that to achieve customer service levels expected an organization need to ensure that for each of these categories; the systems, measurement and people are in place to respond to each customer group or market. Michael (1999) stated quality as satisfying customers’ and stakeholders’ needs by means of sufficient mutually agreed deliverables that ,meet all the agreed requirements and specifications every time, on time and in affordable manner. It can also mean meeting the requirements of the deliverables that satisfy the needs which have been identified and agreed upon by customers, stakeholders and contractors. 2.2 IMPACT OF TEAM WORK ON CUSTOMER SERVICE QUALITY According to Baguley (2002), team work has a great impact on customer service quality. He raised the following points; Efficiency: Team working is important if people are to continue to be efficient members of the organization. Efficiency is whereby employee’s performance is improved up to the standards of the organizational goals. Team working helps employees to achieve maximum efficiency in their current jobs. It also helps the organization to meet its targets for developing and keeping people with the right skills to meet future needs. It applies to all levels of employees in an organization that is the strategic level, tactical level and operational level. Improved customer service: Team working involves different members of the organization working together and combining their individual skills and abilities to come up with something that is either a product or a service that will be highly accepted by the customers (Baguley, 2002). Innovation and Creativity: Sometimes teams of employees work together to develop new products or services through contributing and combining their different ideas and skills. This helps organizations to have new services for customers that eventually improve on its performance and create and sustain customers (Baguley, 2002). Allan Woods et al (2001) stated that team working requires meetings of teams, sections or departments to understand clearly who does what and ensure reliability which is the single most important aspect of delivering outstanding customer service. The teams organize themselves to take the advantage of the individual skills team members bring with them, work together as a group in ways that bring out the best results and every member of the team must be accountable to each other for the success of the whole team. Team working makes it possible to define and insist upon the maintenance of the standards on behalf of the customers and clients as most of the times customers do not specify their needs by referring to the teams’ attitudes or reliability standards but complain bitterly when the team falls below their perceived standards. Michiel and Harold (1997) observed that cross functional teams are used in new product development to shorten development cycle times, improve quality and reduce development costs. These goals are attained because the functional areas perform their tasks in groups rather than each functional area performing its task and passing the project off to the next functional area and the key functional groups usually design engineering, manufacturing, quality assurance, purchasing and marketing work on the new product and development simultaneously. Baguley (2002) said that team working involves integrating individual skills like problem solving, communication, inter personal skills, decision-making and functional skills for the desired out comes. He further added that a good executive team provides a model for everybody in the organization that encourages cooperation and commonality of purpose at all levels of the organization. An assembly team, erection team, machine shop team add value by creating tangible out comes or products which are specific and clearly defined by others and such products meet the expectations of customers. Bradfield et al (1998) are of the view that direct competition is one of the factors that make companies form development teams. They further stated that to be effective, production has to provide a means by which an organization can focus its resources to meet the needs of their chosen customers efficiently. First it is important to know where you are starting from, second is the decision on where you wish to go in future and the outcome should be a commitment by the organization to a deliberate policy on which customers to serve with products or offerings. Woods et al (2001) further observed that the essence of team working skills lies in good communication and open approach to people and ideas and that all communication skills should be used in promoting good customer service. They also noted that for any organization to meet the needs of customers there is need for team work to obtain feedback from customers and colleagues (both within and outside the organization) as well as about the need to establish planning cycles. Each cycle of planning and doing should therefore reduce the amount of uncertainties being faced and obtain feedback not simply from planning but by doing. Adair (1990) argues that innovation calls for a special form of creativity which he called team creativity. He said that all organizations are teams or at least they are potentially so. For effective production and marketing of goods and services these days, delivery on time, at the required quality and at a competitive price calls for a high performance team work. But to improve these existing products or to develop new products and services requires a different order of teamwork (team creativity). Organizations that practice team creativity will survive and prosper while those that do not will decline and disappear. All employees need to participate as each person at work has approximately 10,000 million brain cells, together with a full range of mental faculties, analyzing, synthesizing and valuing abilities. In all of us these processes can take place intentionally on a conscious plane of thought and also less intentionally in our un conscious minds, giving us insights, intuitions, brain waves, gut feelings, intimations and the occasional pear of a genuinely new idea. As a general principle people with a â€Å"hands- on† involvement in any product or service providing they have a modicum of interest in their work will tend to have new ideas for doing it better. The important thing from the motivational perspective is the feeling of being really part of the enterprise with a full share of responsibility in developing the quality of the product or service. Developing a quality team takes hard work because development of team skills, time and patience is not something you can decide to have one day, then achieve overnight. The entire organization is part of the same team working toward meeting the requirements of its customers. Whether management, front line or behind the scenes employees, everyone’s work contributes to the end result. There are also specific work unit teams (departmental) with specific goals and assignments. Teams working together can and should be responsible for identifying problems not previously recognized; finding the root causes of problems; suggesting who should work on problems; solving manpower assignments and scheduling improvements; and providing communication throughout the organization. To be effective, teams in the workplace must develop standards and skills, and then implement ongoing training and coaching to ensure they are put into practice (Anand, 1997).

SAT Prep Tips for Last Minute Studying and Cramming

SAT Prep Tips for Last Minute Studying and Cramming SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips CRAMMING FOR THE SAT - WEEKS, DAYS, OR HOURS LEFT TO STUDY. WHAT TO DO? So the SAT's coming up, and you need to cram for the test. You might have a few weeks, or even a few days left. You might be able to spend just 10 or fewer hours studying. If you're wondering how to best make use of your time before the test, this article's for you. First of all,consider delaying the test.If you've spent fewer than 40 hours studying for the SAT up to this point, it's very unlikely that you'll get the highest score possible on your upcoming SAT test. Instead, consider delaying your SAT to a later date and committing to studying early for the SAT in the meantime. This is especially true if you're a junior in high school or below - you'll have many more chances to take the SAT, and you want to put in a serious effort before your SAT so you can get the highest score possible. This isn't so that you minimize the tests that you take (schools don't really care how many times you took the SAT), but rather so that you don't waste time waiting for your score to arrive, hoping it'll be good enough. Instead you should put that time toward serious preparation. Note that this doesn't apply if this is the last time you can take the SAT - you might be a senior with this test as your last chance, or you might need it in time for a scholarship. If you're still committed to taking the test, here are ourtop two tips for doing as well as you can: #1: Take a Practice Test It's vital that you get comfortable with the format of the SAT, the way it asks questions, and its length. This is especially true if you've never taken a full-length SAT, or if your last test was over two months ago. The College Board has a free SAT practice test with answer explanations. Here's how to make the most of this practice test: Print out the testso you can practice writing on paper. Follow the timingstrictly.You need to get used to two things - the 4-hour length of the test, and the time given for each section. The SAT will cut you off when the section ends, with no allowances. Grade your test and calculate your SAT score. If you followed the test conditions strictly, your score on the real test is going to be pretty close to this score. Again, use this to help decide whether you want to delay your test. Review each section in detail and figure out why you missed each question. This is the most important part of taking this practice test. The SAT practice test (link again) contains answer explanations for each question. Your goal is to figure out why you missed the question, and how you won't miss it again in the future. All of the above should take at least 6 hours - around 3 hours to take the practice test, and 3 hours to review the test. #2: Guess Strategically If you're scoring below 600 on a section, here's a simple strategy that can potentially earn you a lot of points:skip the most difficult questions. To score a 500, you should skip 1/3 of all questions. To score a 600, you should skip 1/5 of all questions. This might seem crazy. Aren't you leaving points on the table if you don't try to answer all of the questions?Since there's no penalty for wrong answers on the SAT, you shouldput something down for every question, but that doesn't mean you need to spend time thinking about the answer. If you're scoring around a 600 when trying every question, it's unlikely that you'll be getting the most difficult questions correct. These questions also take the most amount of time since you'll spend minutes trying to make sense of what the question is asking. By skipping the hardest questions, you'll be able to spend more time on the easier questions that you're more likely to get right. As a rule of thumb, if you're spending more than 30 seconds on a question while making zero progress, make a guess and move on to the next one. You should take one to two hours to learn this strategy and make sure you're comfortable applying it. What Now? If you follow the two steps above, within 10 hours you'll be far ahead of where you started out. You probably won't get the best score you possibly can, but you might do well enough. What if you want to take the test again?Here at PrepScholarwe recommend that you put inat least 40 hours of dedicated SAT prep. You also need tostudy in the right wayso that you don't waste your time. PrepScholar is an online test prep program that creates a customized study program that's unique to you. It learns your personal strengths and weaknesses and creates a complete, comprehensive study plan that will give you exactly what you need to study to earn the most points. Behind the program is our team of dedicated education professionals who are committed to helping you solve your problems, whether it has to do with not knowing what to study, not being motivated to study, or having problems fitting prep into your schedule. Learn more about PrepScholar. Like this article? Get our free Ebook Guide to the SAT!

100 of the Most Common Kanji Characters

100 of the Most Common Kanji Characters With three different ways of writing, the Japanese language may seem intimidating to new students. Its true that memorizing the most common kanji symbols and other scripts takes time and practice. But once youve mastered them, youll discover a means of written communication unlike anything youll see in the English language. There are three writing systems in Japanese, two phonetic and one symbolic, and all three are used in tandem. Kanji Symbols Kanji is symbolic, or logographic. It is the most common means of written communication in the Japanese language, with more than 50,000 different symbols by some estimates. However, most Japanese can get by with using about 2,000 different kanji in everyday communication. A single kanji character can have multiple meanings, depending on how it is pronounced and the context in which it is used. Hiragana and Katakana Hiragana and katakana  are both phonetic (or syllabic). There are 46 basic characters in each. Hiragana is used primarily to spell words that have  Japanese roots or grammatical elements. Katakana is used to spell foreign and technical words (computer is one example), or used for emphasis. Romanji Western characters and words, sometimes called romanji,  are also common in modern Japanese. Typically, these are reserved for words derived from Western languages, especially English. The word T-shirt in Japanese, for example, consists of a T and several katakana characters. Japanese advertising and media frequently use English words for stylistic emphasis.   For everyday purposes, most writing contains kanji characters because its the most efficient, expressive means of communication. Complete sentences written only in hiragana and katakana would be extremely long and resemble a jumble of letters, not a full thought. But used in conjunction with kanji, the Japanese language becomes full of nuance. Kanji has its historical roots in Chinese writing. The word itself means Chinese (or Han) characters. Early forms were first used in Japan as early as A.D. 800 and evolved slowly into the modern era, along with hiragana and katakana. Following Japans defeat in World War II, the government adopted a series of rules designed to simplify the most common kanji characters to make them easier to learn. Elementary school students have to learn about 1,000 characters. That number doubles by high school. Beginning in the late 1900s, Japanese education officials have added more and more kanji to the curriculum. Because the language has such deep historical roots, literally thousands more kanji have evolved over time and are still in use. Common Kanji Characters Here are 100 of the most frequently used kanji in Japanese newspapers. Newspapers give a great representation of the best and most useful kanji to learn because you are more likely to come across these characters in day-to-day use.   æâ€" ¥ sun ä ¸â‚¬ one Ã¥ ¤ § big Ã¥ ¹ ´ year ä ¸ ­ middle ä ¼Å¡ to meet ä º º human being, people æÅ" ¬ book æÅ"ˆ moon, month é• · long å› ½ country å‡ º to go out ä ¸Å  up, top Ã¥   10 生 life Ã¥ ­  child 分 minute æ  ± east ä ¸â€° three è ¡Å' to go Ã¥ Å' same ä »Å  now é «Ëœ high, expensive 金 money, gold 時 time 手 hand è ¦â€¹ to see, to look Ã¥ ¸â€š city 力 power ç ± ³ rice è‡ ª oneself å‰  before 円 yen (Japanese currency) Ã¥ Ë† to combine ç «â€¹ to stand 内 inside ä ºÅ' two ä ºâ€¹ affair, matter ç ¤ ¾ company, society 者 person Ã¥Å" ° ground, place ä º ¬ capital éâ€"“ interval, between ç” ° rice field ä ½â€œ body Ã¥ ­ ¦ to study ä ¸â€¹ down, under ç› ® eye ä ºâ€ five Ã¥ ¾Å' after æâ€" ° new 明 bright, clear æâ€" ¹ direction éÆ' ¨ section .Ã¥ ¥ ³ woman å… « eight Ã¥ ¿Æ' heart å›› four æ °â€˜ people, nation Ã¥ ¯ ¾ opposite ä ¸ » main, master æ ­ £ right, correct ä » £ to substitute, generation è ¨â‚¬ to say ä ¹  nine Ã¥ °  small æ€  to think ä ¸Æ' seven Ã¥ ± ± mountain Ã¥ ®Å¸ real å… ¥ to enter 回 to turn around, time Ã¥   ´ place 野 field éâ€"‹ to open ä ¸â€¡ 10,000 å… ¨ whole Ã¥ ®Å¡ to fix Ã¥ ® ¶ house Ã¥Å'â€" north å… ­ six å•  question è © ± to speak æâ€"‡ letter, writings å‹• to move Ã¥ º ¦ degree, time çÅ"Å' prefecture æ ° ´ water Ã¥ ®â€° inexpensive, peaceful æ °  courtesy name (Mr., Mrs.) å’Å' harmonious, peace æ” ¿ government, politics ä ¿  to maintain, to keep è ¡ ¨ to express, surface é â€œ way ç› ¸ phase, mutual æ„  mind, meaning ç™ º to start, to emit ä ¸  not, un-, in- å…š political party

Generation of electricity using Biomass in Nova scotia, Canada Term Paper

Generation of electricity using Biomass in Nova scotia, Canada - Term Paper Example People are deeply at odds over the proposal, for many support this idea when some others question the viability and sustainability of this project. Evidences suggest that today many countries are successfully generating electricity from biomass to resolve their electricity crises. Referring to the shortcomings of other major electricity generation techniques and the available resources of Nova Scotia, it can be argued that electricity generation from biomass will be a potential proposal for the region. This paper will discuss why Nova Scotia must generate electricity from biomass to meet its power needs and to make electricity cost affordable to its people. 2. Discussion 2:1. Potentiality of generating electricity from biomass â€Å"Biomass is biological material derived from living, or recently living organisms† (Biomass Energy Centre). Biomass is a broader term that represents diverse fuels derived from agriculture and food wastes and timber. Sewage sludge and animal manure may also form biomass fuel whereas it is also derived from trees. Considering the regeneration capacity of trees, it seems that biomass fuels are renewable. In the context of rapidly deteriorating non-renewable energy resources, the biomass fuels have a vital role to play in the electricity generation. ... Currently, lumber or other wood wastes are burnt in most biomass power plants. According to Augustine and Bockenhauer, in direct combustion power plants, biomass fuel is burnt direct in boilers which in turn provide steam for steam-electric generators. Under the biomass gasification process, biomass is initially converted into methane which is capable of fuelling steam generators, fuel cells, and combustion turbines. The major benefit of biomass gasification over direct combustion is that â€Å"extracted gasses can be used in a variety of power plant configurations† (Power Scorecard). The major argument against biomass fuelled power plants is that they cause air emissions. Although this argument is valid and has many environmental reasons to justify, it is not sufficient to abandon the concept of biomass fuelled electricity. Air emissions can be reduced by carefully choosing fuel and technology. There is a common perception that electricity generated using renewable technologi es is more expensive than the electricity generated from fossil fuels. Although it may be true in the case of wind energy and solar energy, electricity generation using biomass is cost-effective. In addition, this technique is considered to be greenhouse neutral. This feature is really advantageous in the context of current global warming and climate change issues. According to the findings of US Energy Information Administration, biomass fuelled power plants assist the agriculture industry to solve waste disposal problems. In terms of availability, biomass is better than other renewable technologies such as solar energy. Since biomass is easy to convert into high energy portable fuel forms like gas or alcohol, electricity can be easily generated from biomass without the application of