Child Abuse Cases in US

Many children suffer at the hands of adults – often their own parents. They are beaten, kicked, thrown into walls, and/or burned with cigarettes. They have their heads held under the water of toilet bowls, are scalded by hot water or they are forced to stand in freezing showers until they pass out. A child could be stuffed into running washing machines or sexually molested, suffer from neglect in the forms of starvation and lack of medical attention, and still go unnoticed by outsiders. In fact, it is estimated that three children die every day in the U. S. alone from one form of child abuse or another. It is a sickening practice that has no set standard of rules to finish off the persisting problem. Different states have different methods and agencies to help prevent abuse in the home, some work quite well while others bomb – a dangerous gamble when it comes to the life or mental state of a child. The precise number of deaths each year is not known because of the extent of most fatality investigations that could be suspected as child abuse but are seen as open and shut death cases. A report from the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, however, depicts more than three million reports of alleged child maltreatment practices in the year of 1995 alone. Many more children are living with abuse rather than dying from it, too. So what steps are being taken to protect our nation's children? All states have a Child Protective Services (or CPS) system. This is the governmental system responsible for investigating reports of child abuse or neglect. In state after state, the CPS agency lacks the resources to respond adequately to the overwhelming number of reports it is legislatively mandated to investigate. All fifty states have child abuse reporting laws requiring reports of suspected abuse to be made by specified professionals and others whose work brings them into regular contact with children. Any citizen may report suspected abuse as state laws provide for reports to be made to the CPS agency or its equivalent, or to a law enforcement agency. In most states, investigations are conducted by CPS personnel, although law enforcement officers may also be involved. The basic concern of child welfare workers is for the safety of the child. Assessment of the risks involved in leaving a child with its family must be made quickly because children cannot be removed from their families arbitrarily. Once a child has been removed, the goal of child welfare agencies is to return the child to the family. Ideally, caseworkers develop a plan to provide parents with the education of the care that children need, free from abuse or neglect. This plan is not always carried out to its full intention. No state has the financial resources to provide all the services to the children and families who need them. A problem is that in state after state, CPS workers have excessive caseloads, are paid low salaries, and lack adequate training for the sensitive work involved in investigating abuse reports, and participating in decisions to remove children from their families then placing them in foster care. The turnover rate among child welfare workers is exceptionally high. A report done by the United States Department of Health and Human Services showed the rate of 30 percent to be the norm, annually. Whatever the reason – inadequate funding, unavailable services for children and families, high turnover rates, lack of training, overwhelming numbers of reports – questions are being raised about the CPS system. The system is based on the assumption that removal from a troubled family, followed by a return to the family when that can be done safely, is best for the child. A different approach to the problems created by child abuse involves Family Preservation Services (FPS). Removal of the risk, rather than the child, is the goal of Family Preservation Services. FPS programs seek to modify the home environment or behavior of other family members so that it is at least as safe for the child to remain in the household as to be removed. Family preservation is based on the assumption that out of home care hurts children, and on the recognition that most families referred to Child Protective Service can and want to learn new ways of coping with stress. Rather than breaking families apart in order to treat them, intensive family preservation services seek to protect children and heal families by keeping them whole. Specifically, FPS provides intensive services in the home to all the members of a troubled family for a relatively short time – four to six weeks. Professional staffs are usually assigned two, but no more than four, families at a time. Caseworkers are available to families twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. A worker can stay as long as necessary to stabilize the household, whether that means six, ten, or twelve hours. Ten states have initiated FPS programs by legislation including: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia. Homebuilders, an FPS program based in Tacoma, Washington, provides the longest running assessment of the effectiveness of family preservation services. From 1981 to 1994, Homebuilders saw 3,497 children. Evaluation data indicted that three months after completing the program, an average of 94 percent of the families had avoided out of home placement. Twelve-month follow up data showed that placement had been averted in 88 percent of the cases. Furthermore, the cost for Homebuilders' family services was only $3000 per case while the costs for an average foster family home placement in the state was $7586. There is a down side to the Family Preservation Service, though. The track record of FPS seems impressive, but a closer look at another side reveals it's not doing such a great job. According to the Clarke Foundation, there has never been a case of parental abuse or neglect causing serious injury or the death of a child while receiving family preservation services. But since the FPS provides services for a relatively short period of just a few weeks, there is no way of accurately predicting if after that short amount of observation that the parents are suddenly fit to care for a child. A worker only stays in the house for a maximum of twelve hours – that is not long enough to assess whether the child is in danger and the true nature of the parents. Of course no one is going to kill or seriously injure a child in front of a human services official. No studies are available that show whether the abuse reoccurred after the Family Preservation Service's four to six weeks with the family was finished. The Division of Family Services takes another approach to preventing child abuse. The staff is divided into units, working a variety of shifts and functions to best provide the services needed by the children and families. The response unit is responsible for receiving all reports of child abuse, neglect, and dependency. They determine the nature of the allegations and the appropriate response time for initiating investigation of the allegations. Once abuse or neglect is found or significant risk of its occurrence is identified, cases are transferred to the treatment unit. Workers in these units are responsible for assessing family needs and connecting the family with appropriate resources and services to address those identified areas. They are also responsible for monitoring the family's success at utilizing the available services, and communicating with various service providers to assess the ongoing safety of the children and the progress of the family. They close cases when significant progress has been achieved to eliminate or minimize the ongoing risk of abuse to the children. The Statewide Unification Unit is responsible for providing intensive reunification services for children who can potentially return home within six months. Staff work closely with the children, their natural family, and the care provider to facilitate smooth transitions and successful reunification. When the goal of returning children to their natural families is no longer appropriate, the social workers write Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) petitions, which, once approved by Family Court, allow children to become free for adoption. They develop long term foster care plans for those children whose parental rights have been terminated, but for whom adoption or returning them to the home is not an appropriate goal. They are also responsible for providing assistance throughout the adoption process to support successful adoptive placements. It has been shown that through most personal accounts, that parents never really learn to take care of their children without using abuse. Because of this, it seems quite logical to make the main focus on protecting the child, then if returning them to their family is assessed as being completely logical, that is the way to go. I propose that a system of â€Å"three strikes-your out† be implemented. With this, the parent will lose rights to the child for a short time while they go through training and counseling. If they are deemed not insane, then they may care for the child again with the warning of what will happen to them. They will have a sort of parole officer that will check up on the family annually. On the second offense, there will be further counseling, jail time, and other means of reform. If they are granted custody again, they will be checked on frequently and unscheduled. If they can not handle the child without abuse from there, the child will be put up for adoption. There are very long waiting lists for parents who would love to adopt a child and will provide a loving family that should be utilized. The state would let the new parents take care of the child financially, but would pay for counseling of that child and training for the rest of the family on how to love on the abused. If in later years, the parent has redeemed him/herself, then they will be allowed to visit and take the child on trips and be allowed to be a friend. After the child has reached the age of eight-teen the will be allowed to decide who they would like to stay with. No system for child protection is going to be full-proof. There are steps that can be taken to improve them. Any system is only as good as the people who implement it. Representative Kaye Steinmetz of Missouri is proposing legislation to require additional training for Child Protective Services workers, establish a state team to assist with investigations of difficult cases, and provide for statewide protocols to ensure proper investigations. Representative Debbie Stabenow of Michigan advocates early identification of parents at risk of becoming abusers. Michigan Perinatal Coaching project is an example of this. Developed by the state's Children's Trust Fund, the project matches parent volunteers with parents of newborns. Through the child's first year, the volunteer provides support to the parents, whether that involves advice about discipline or other areas that new parents may find difficult. A similar program called Family Skill-Builder is offered in the state of Massachusetts. It offers an in home case management series for families who are at risk of abusing and neglecting their children. It's designed to prevent child abuse and neglect and to help families function independently. Deborah Daro, director of research for the National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse, has several suggestions for legislators to consider. She maintains that states need to provide more services for victims of abuse, especially therapeutic, remedial and support services. She says, â€Å"States also need to look at the quality of foster care. Foster care ought to be more than just giving a child a place to live. † The goal in preventing child abuse should be permanency and stability for the child, whether that means a return to the family or, in some cases, termination of parental rights and adoption. The sooner that can be achieved the better. This can be accomplished by setting up time tables for review of foster care cases, and by establishing specific criteria for permanency planning and termination of parental rights. Another key in preventing child abuse is evaluating each situation case by case. Placing a child in foster care may be the best decision for that particular case, while intensive family preservation services might be best for another. The best answer may lie in a combination of the ideas of different organizations. Individual attention to each case would personalize a plan to get each family on the road to a good, stable, and loving family life in less time.

John Stuart Mill Essay

The Indian Tax Structure is quite elaborate, with clear distinction in authority between Central, State and local governments. The taxes levied by the Central government are on income (other than tax on agriculture income which would be levied by the state government), customs duties, central excise and service tax. The State government levies Value Added Tax (VAT), sales tax in states where VAT is not applied, stamp duty, state excise, land revenue and tax on professions. Local bodies levy tax on property, octroi and for utilities like water supply, drainage etc. In the last 10 to 15 years, tax system in India has been subjected to significant reforms. The tax rates have been revised and tax laws have been modified. Since April 1, 2005 many State Governments in India have replaced the sales tax with VAT. Indian Tax Structure After Independence The period after Independence was quite challenging for the tax planners. A huge black economy set in both due to Second World War and the increase in economic activity after independence. Savings and investment were encouraged through the various taxation laws by the way of incentives. There was a need for generating huge amount of revenues to fund the economic growth of the country. The tax department took great care to plan the tax structure not only with the aspect to widen the income tax base, but also to look for alternate taxes and to eradicate tax avoidance . The department was severely tested due to the high volumes of work. Some of the prominent taxes that came into existence were: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Business Profits Tax (1947) Capital Gains (1946-48 to 1956) Estate Duty (1953) Wealth Tax (1957) Expenditure Tax (1957) Gift Tax (1958). To check the growth of black money, high denomination notes were demonetized in 1946. The Income tax Act was re modified in 1961, replacing the outdated law of 1922. Income Tax Structure Post Liberalization The wave of tax reforms which started across the world in the second half of 1980’s found its way into India. As part of its policy of liberalization, India introduced tax reforms in the 1990’s. The reforms introduced in the Indian tax structure are different in comparison to other countries. The tax reforms in India took place independent of interference from any external multilateral agency unlike some other countries. But the tax reforms took place in such a way as to ensure its adherence to the prevailing International trends. During the initial stages of reforms, the restructuring of the tax structure took place with a view to increase savings and use the increased savings towards investment, to bring in equitable distribution of income and to rectify the disparities due to oligopolistic market that existed due to co existence of both private and public sector. The tax structure reform in India can be used as an example for many developing countries that are in the same path of development, due to the large size of the country and the disproportion in the socio economic condition across the country. Direct Tax Direct tax is the tax which is charged directly on the tax payer. For e. g. property tax and income tax. In other words direct tax is that tax that is deducted from one’s salary. Direct Taxation in India Direct taxation in India is taken care by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT); it is a division of Department of revenue under Ministry of Finance. CBDT is governed by the revenue act 1963. CBDT is given the authority to create and control direct taxes in India. The most important function of CBDT is to manage direct tax law followed by Income Tax department. In India the tax structure is divided amongst the central government and state government. The central government levies taxes on income, custom duties, central excise and service tax. While the state government levies tax like state excise, stamp duty, VAT (Value Added Tax), land revenue and professional tax. Local civic bodies levy tax on properties, octroi etc. Capital gains tax, personal income tax, tax on corporate income and tax incentives all come under the purview of direct tax. Direct taxes are charged on the basis of residential status and not on the basis of citizenship. The assessee are charged based upon the following factors †¢ †¢ †¢ Resident Resident but not ordinary resident. Nonresident. Direct Taxes Before Reform They had a major impact on economic policies, creation of savings and the trend of investment. There was no proportion in terms of the impact of direct taxes on the economy and there relative share in total tax revenues. The system of direct taxes was very much complex and inefficient because of the combination of high marginal rates of personal income and wealth taxation and high rates of corporate profits. The corporate tax was pretty high. It leads to large scale evasion. Members Of Parliament and Central Government Ministers get comparatively low salaries, but they are given a sitting allowance which is not taxable. Ministers, MP’s and other high ranking government officials get government allocated accommodation, where the charges are pretty less in comparison to the prevailing market rate. Growth in Direct Tax collection during the Financial Year 2008-09 Net direct tax collection during the fiscal 2008-09 stands at Rs. 338, 212 crore, up from Rs. 312, 202 crore during 2007-08, registering a growth of 8. 33 percent. Growth in Corporate Taxes was 10. 84 per cent, while Personal Income Tax (including FBT, STT and BCTT) grew at 9. 09%. Despite economic slow-down and substantial relief to noncorporate taxpayers, direct tax collections exceeded the previous year’s collection by about Rs. 26, 000 crore. Growth In Direct Tax Collection During The Financial Year 2009-2010. The net direct tax collections grew by 5. 77 per cent during the first two months of the current fiscal (2009-2010). It was Rs 24,158 crore compared to Rs 22,840 crore at the same time last year. Corporate tax grew at5. 56 per cent (Rs 8578 crore against Rs 8126 crore), while personal income tax (including FBT, STT and BCTT) grew at 5. 92 per cent (Rs 15,559 crore as against Rs 14,690 crore0. Overall refund outgo during the period increased by 26. 19 per cent (Rs 11,375 crore as against Rs 9014 crore)while refunds to non corporate taxpayers grew by 61. 7 per cent (Rs 2,149 crore against Rs 1,329 crore). Corporate Tax A company has been defined as a juristic person having an independent and separate legal entity from its shareholders. Income of the company is computed and assessed separately in the hands of the company. However the income of the company which is distributed to its shareholders as dividend is assessed in their individual hands. Such distribution of income is not treated as expenditure in the hands of company, the income so distributed is an appropriation of the profits of the company. Taxable Corporate Income The tax levied on a company’s income is based on its legal residence. Companies of Indian origin are levied tax in India, while International companies are levied tax on earnings from their Indian operations. For International companies’ royalty, interest, gains from sale of capital assets within India, dividends from Indian companies and fees for technical services are all treated as income arising in India. Tax On Distributed Profits Till 1997, a company was not required to pay any income tax on the amount of dividends declared, distributed or paid by such company. But such dividend was included in the income of the shareholders under the head â€Å"income from other sources†. The finance act 1997 brought about changes to the rule. A) Tax On Distributed Profits Of The Domestic Company The domestic company would be required to pay additional income tax on any amount declared, distributed or paid by such company by way of dividend (be it interim or otherwise) on or after 1-06-1997,be it from current or accumulated profits. Such additional income tax shall be payable @ 10 per cent of the amount so distributed. Even if no income tax is payable by the company on it total income, the additional tax would have to be paid. B) Exemption Of Dividend In The Hands Of Shareholders In view of the income tax now payable by the domestic company, any dividends declared, distributed or paid by such company, on or after 01-06-1997 shall be exempt in the hands of the shareholders. Time limit for deposit of additional income tax: Such additional tax will have to be paid by the principal officer of the domestic company within 14 days from the date of: a) Declaration of any dividend. b) Distribution of any dividend. c) Payment of any dividend, whichever is earlier. Additional income-tax is not allowed as deduction: The company shall not be allowed any deduction on account of such additional income tax under any provisions of the income tax act. Indian Budget 2008 Indian Corporate Taxation Minimum Alternate Tax To wipe out the ambiguity on adjustments relating to tax entries in the profit and loss account, it is proposed that the â€Å"book profits† be increased by an amount of DDT paid, amount of deferred tax paid and deferred tax provision debited to Profit and Loss Account. Dividend Distributing Tax In order to overcome the domino effect of DDT, it has been suggested that any dividend received by a domestic company (C1) during any financial year from its subsidiary (C2) shall be allowed to be deducted from dividend to be declared/distributed/paid by C1, to calculate DDT, if the dividends so received by C1 had been scrutinized to payment of DDT by C2. At the same time C1 must not be a subsidiary of any other company. Business Income The Budget 2008 has proposed have a weighted deduction of 125% with respect to any sum paid for scientific research to a domestic company doing scientific research and development. To remove multiple deductions, it has been proposed some Indian companies incurring the expenses would not be able to use the weighted deduction of 150 per cent as prescribed under the provisions of the Act. Income Tax In India Income tax in India is levied by the Central government and is monitored and controlled by Central Board OF Direct Taxes under Ministry of Finance in allay with the provisions of the Income Tax Act. Income earned in a given financial year is subject to tax as per the rates prescribed for that year. A financial calendar is from April 1 to March 31 of the following year. India has adopted the residential form of tax system. It means tax payers will be divided into residents or non residents. A tax payer can also be classified as ordinary residents. Residential Status An individual is resident in India if he is in India in the tax year for: †¢ †¢ †¢ 182 days or more; or 60 days or more (the period of 60 days stands changed to 182 days or more for Indian citizens or persons of Indian origins on a visit to India; and also for citizens of India who leave India for employment abroad as member of a crew of an Indian ship) during the tax year, and an aggregate of 365 days or more during the four years preceding the tax year. An individual who does not satisfy the above conditions is a non-resident. A resident is â€Å"not ordinarily resident† in India in any tax year if he: †¢ †¢ †¢. Has been â€Å"non-resident† in India in nine out of the 10 previous years preceding that year: or Has during the previous seven years, preceding that year, been in India for a total period of 729 days or less. Taxability based on status Taxability Based On Status Residential Status Indian Sourced Income Foreign Sourced Income Resident Taxable In India Taxable In India Resident but not ordinarily resident Taxable In India Not Taxable In India Non resident Taxable In India Not Taxable In India Heads Of Income Income can be divided into five categories. The income that falls within the tax component is disclosed in line with rules for a particular head and then cumulated to determine the aggregate income to be taxed. But losses under certain categories cannot be cumulated with income gained under other categories. Salaries: It covers those monetary gains that are obtained for services performed and would include wages, pension, fees and commission . Standard deduction is taken from the salary and the amount of deduction depends upon the income received. Income From House property: It involves income earned by renting residential and commercial property. Only two authorized deductions are allowed while calculating income. Profits And Gains From Business Or Profession: It covers monetary benefits gained from business or profession minus the permissible deductions, against the revenue earned. Capital Gains: It deals with gains due to transfer of assets. The duration of holding determines the classification of the asset, which then decides the method of taxation. Capital assets held for 36 months (12 months in case of shares/securities) are taken as short term assets, while all other capital assets are taken as long term capital assets. Long term assets have the advantage of lower rate of tax. Income From Other Sources: It is the remaining category of income and takes care of all income not covered by any category. Foreign Nationals The tax law in India allows for exemption of income earned by foreign nationals for services provided in India, under certain condition: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Remuneration from a foreign enterprise not conducting any business in India, provided the individual’s stay in India does not exceed 90 days and the payment made is not deducted in computing the income of the employer; Remuneration received by a person employed on a foreign ship provided his stay in India does not exceed 90 days; Remuneration of foreign diplomats, consular staff, trade officials and their staff and family; and Income of an employee or consultant of a government approved foreign charitable institutions. Payment from an International unit not having any business in India on condition that the individual does not reside in India for more than 90 days and the remuneration made is not subtracted in calculating the income of the employer. Payment obtained by a person working on an International ship under condition he does not reside in India for more than 9 days. Payment for foreign diplomats, consular staff, trade officials and their staff and family and Earnings of an employee or consultant of a government approved foreign charitable institutions. India Budget 2008 Personal Taxation Basic Tax Rates Income (INR) Up to 150,0000 150,001-300,000 300,001-500,000 Above Tax Rate Nil 10% 20% 30% *Basic exemption for women and senior citizens will be INR 180,000 and INR 225,000 respectively. Wealth Taxation In India The wealth taxation in India is known as the wealth tax act, 1957. It applies to all the citizens of the country. It is one of the most important direct taxes. It is paid on the property ownership benefits. Till a person retains the ownership of a property, he or she has to pay wealth tax based on the prevailing market rate. Even if the property is not yielding any income, Wealth tax would have to be paid. Payment Procedures Of The Wealth Tax In India An Assessee is one who pays the wealth tax. An assessee can belong to any of the following categories: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ A Company. A Hindu undivided family. An Association of Persons or a Body of Individuals. Non corporative taxpayers. A dead person’s legal representative, the executor or administrator. A non resident’s agent. For a Hindu Undivided Family the tax is considered on the income derived from joint family collections. But for a non-corporative taxpayers, whose account is audited they have to pay the wealth tax according to the existing tax rate. Chargeability To Wealth Tax In India One of the main factors for a person to pay the wealth tax in India is the persons domicile status. According to the act, the domicile status of the assessee and the domicile status of the same needed for payment of the Income Tax must remain similar. Another factor based on which wealth tax is computed is the status of the assessee, whether he is a citizen or a non citizen. For citizens the wealth of the person within India is taxed, while for non citizens the wealth of the person within India is taxed, while the wealth located outside India is not taxed. Assets On Which Wealth Tax Is Charged The assets on which wealth tax is chargeable in India are: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Residence like guesthouse, residential house, urban farmhouse and commercial property. Automobile for personal use. Precious items like jewelry, bullion, furniture, utensils. Yachts, boats and aircrafts used for non commercial purposes. Urban land under the authority of municipality or cantonment board having a population of, 10,000 and more. If the cash in hand is more than Rs 50000 for individuals and Hindu Undivided Families. Indirect tax Charge levied by the State on consumption, expenditure, privilege, or right but not on income or property. Customs duties levied on imports, excise duties on production, sales tax or value added tax (VAT) at some stage in production-distribution process, are examples of indirect taxes because they are not levied directly on the income of the consumer or earner. Since they are less obvious than income tax (because they don’t show up on the wage slip) politicians are tempted to increase them to generate more state revenue. Also called consumption taxes, they are regressive measures because they are not based on the ability to pay principle. Indirect Tax System India Indirect Taxes Pre Reforms The indirect tax structure was extremely irrational between the reforms. The Constitution gives the permission to levy a multitude of indirect taxes. But the most important ones are customs and excise duties charged by the Central government and sales tax excepting inter state sales tax to be charged by the state government. The indirect taxes levied by the centre like customs, excise and central sales tax and the major indirect taxes levied by the states and civic bodies like passenger and goods tax, electricity duty and octroi when taken together did not present a rational system. Indirect Taxes Post Reforms †¢ †¢ †¢ Even post reforms, the indirect tax regime in India is still in the early stages of growth. Both the Central and State governments charge a multitude of indirect taxes. The central government charges tax on goods at the point of import (Customs duty), manufacture (Excise duty), inter state sales (Central sales tax or CST) and on provision of services (Service tax). The state governments charge tax on goods sold within the state (Sales tax/Value Added Tax or VAT), and on the goods that enter the state (Entry tax). In the present scenario corporate would have to analyze the tax cost involved in a transaction, have enough backup documentation to support their tax positions and keep looking for ways for tax maximization. India Budget 2008 Indirect Taxes As per the Ministry Of Finance there has been significant development in planning for introducing the goods and services tax (GST) from April 1 2010. As a first step the rate of central sales tax (CST) is under proposal to be decreased to 2 per cent from April1 2008. The general rate of central value added tax (CENVAT) has been decreased from 16 per cent to 14 per cent across all goods. Custom Duties Customs regulation in India is through the Customs act. The Customs act came into existence in 1962 at a time when the â€Å"License Quota Permit Raj† system existed in the country. It came into existence to check illegal imports and exports of goods. All imports into the country would be charged a duty, to give protection to the Indian industries and to check the amount of imports with a view to secure the exchange rate of the country. Customs duty on goods imported or exported from India are levied according to the Tariff Act 1975. To monitor imports and exports, the Central government has the authority to inform the ports and airports for the unloading of the imported goods and loading of the exported goods, the location for clearance of goods imported or exported, the routes by which above goods may pass by land or inland water into or out of Indian ports. According to the custom laws, the following are the various types of duties which can be charged. Basic Duty As the name suggests, it is the normal duty charged under the Customs Act. Additional Duty This duty is levied under section 3(1) of the Customs Tariff Act and is equal to excise duty levied on a like product manufactured or produced in India. Anti Dumping Duty International sellers may at times export goods into India at prices which would be less than the prices they would be charging in their domestic market. The reason for this is to capture the Indian markets, which is against the interest of the Indian industry. This economic phenomenon is called dumping. To avoid dumping the Central government may charge additional duty equal to the margin of dumping on such articles provided the goods have been sold at less than normal price. Countries which are signatories to the GATT or countries with â€Å"Most Favored Nation Status† cannot be charged dumping duty. India Budget 2008 Custom Duty †¢ †¢ †¢ The peak rate of basic customs duty (BCD) on all agricultural products is 10 per cent. For certain industries, customs duty has been reduced. For project imports the duty has been reduced from 7. 5 per cent to 5 per cent. In place of sales tax/value added tax (VAT) the additional duty of customs at 4 per cent has been induced on power generation projects. A Countervailing Duty (CVD) of 1 per cent has been charged on mobile phones. Double Taxation Relief A condition in which two or more taxes may need to be paid for the same asset, financial transaction or income is known as double taxation. It generally takes place due to the overlapping of the tax laws and regulations of different countries. Thus, double taxation occurs when a taxpayer is charged income tax, both at his country of residence as well as in the country where the income is generated. Taking into account the laws of income tax in India, a non-resident becomes liable to tax payment in India, given that it is the place where the income is generated. Moreover, he has to additionally bear the burden of tax payment in his own country, by virtue of the inclusion of the same income in the ‘total world income’, which forms the tax base of the country where he resides. To effectively deal with the problems related to double taxation, Central Government, under Section 90 of the Income Tax Act of1961, has been certified to enter into Double Tax Avoidance Agreements (DTAA) with other countries. These agreements are meant to alleviate various problems related with double taxation. So far, India has entered into Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements with 65 countries, including U. S. A, Canada, U. K, Japan, Germany, Australia, Singapore, U. A. E and Switzerland. The tax treatises offers relaxation from double taxation, by providing release or by providing credits for taxes paid in one of the countries. Under Section 90 and 91 of the Income Tax Act, relief against double taxation in India is provided in two ways: Double Taxation Relief In India Double taxation relief in India is of two type’s Unilateral relief and Bilateral relief. Unilateral Relief Under Section 91, Indian government can relieve an individual from burden of double taxation, irrespective of whether there is a DTAA between India and the other country concerned or not, under certain conditions. Cases where a person enjoys double taxation relief as per the unilateral relief scheme are: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ If the person or company has been a resident of India in the previous year. If the person or company has paid income tax under the laws of the foreign country. The same income should be gained and received by the tax payer outside India in the previous year. The income should have been taxed in India and in a country with which India has no tax treaty Bilateral Relief Under Section 90, Indian government provides protection against double taxation by entering into a mutually agreed tax treaty (DTAA) with another country. Under bilateral relief, protection against double taxation is provided either by completely avoidance of overlapping tax or waiving a certain amount of the tax payable in India. Excise Duty Central excise duty is an indirect tax which is charged on such goods that are manufactured in India and are meant for domestic consumption. The taxable fact is â€Å"manufacture† and the liability of central excise duty arises as soon as the goods are manufactured. The tax is on manufacturing, it is paid by a manufacturer, which is then passed on to the customer. The term â€Å"excisable goods† means the goods which are specified in the First Schedule and the Second Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act 1985. The term â€Å"manufacture† refers to any process †¢ †¢ †¢ Related or supplementary to the combination of a manufactured product. Which is specified in relation to any goods in the Section or Chapter Notes of the First Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act 1985 as amounting to manufacture or Which in relation to the goods specified in the Third Schedule involves packing or repacking of such goods in a unit container or labeling or re-labeling of containers including the declaration or alteration of retail sale price on it or adoption of any other treatment on the goods to render the product marketable to the consumer. Three different types of Central Excise Duties exist in India. They are listed below: Basic Excise Duty In India Excise Duty, imposed under section 3 of the ‘Central Excises and Salt Act’ of1944 on all excisable goods other than salt produced or manufactured in India, at the rates set forth in the schedule to the Central Excise tariff Act, 1985, falls under the category of Basic Excise Duty In India. Additional Duty of Excise Section 3 of the ‘Additional Duties of Excise Act’ of 1957 permits the charge and collection of excise duty in respect of the goods as listed in the Schedule of this Act. This tax is shared between the Central and State Governments and charged instead of Sales Tax. Special Excise Duty According to Section 37 of the Finance Act, 1978, Special Excise Duty is levied on all excisable goods that come under taxation, in line with the Basic Excise Duty under the Central Excises and Salt Act of 1944. Therefore, each year the Finance Act spells out that whether the Special Excise Duty shall or shall not be charged, and eventually collected during the relevant financial year. India Budget 2008 Excise Duty †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ The general rate of CENVAT has been brought down from 16 per cent to 14 per cent. The CENVAT on many goods like cars, writing paper, printing paper and packing paper, drugs and pharmaceuticals, water filtration and purification devices, pan masala not containing tobacco etc have been decreased. For goods like anti AIDS drugs and bulk drugs, packaged tender coconut water, tea and coffee mixes, specified refrigeration equipment, etc have been exempt from excise duty. For packaged software the duty has been increased from 8 per cent to 12 per cent. The duty of 1 per cent on National Calamity and Contingent Duty has been imposed on mobile phones. Permanent Account Number (PAN) Permanent Account Number or PAN is issued by the Income Tax Office of India, to all those who are required to pay income tax in the country. Thus, taxpayers whose income is taxable are issued a Permanent Account Number, which is similar to the Social Security Number issued in United States to citizens and other legal residents. So, PAN in India is nothing, but a national identification number. The main purpose of allotting PAN card is to outline the monetary transactions of individuals and to avert any sort of tax evasion by tax payers. Apart from keeping a track on the various financial dealings of a person, a PAN is also required for many other important activities. As every individual is assigned a unique, national and permanent number as his/her PAN, the number is required while opening an account, applying for a phone line, receiving salary or other professional fees. Thus, it becomes an authentic document, proving the identity of the individual. The PAN of a person remains the same even if there is residential change of address from one state to another. Each individual entitled to a Permanent Account Number receives a PAN card, wherein the number is mentioned. The PAN follows the following structure – XXXXX1111X. The first five characters are letters; the next 4 are numerals, and the last character is again a letter. A Permanent Account Number that doesn’t follow this pattern is deemed as invalid. Moreover, the fourth character of the PAN is one of the following, depending on the type of assessee who is allotted the number. †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ C – Company P – Person H – Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) F – Firm A – Association of Persons (AOP) T – AOP (Trust) B – Body of Individuals (BOI) L – Local Authority J – Artificial Juridical Person G – Government In addition, the fifth character of the PAN is the first character in the surname of the assessee. Though PAN is generally issued to individuals to keep track of the tax payment, it can however also be issued to non-taxpayers in India. Sales Tax In India Sales Tax in India is a form of tax that is imposed by the government on the sale or purchase of a particular commodity within the country. Sales Tax is imposed under both, Central Government (Central Sales Tax) and State Government (Sales Tax) Legislation. Generally, each state follows its own sales tax act and levies tax at various rates. Apart from sales tax, certain states also imposes additional charges like works contracts tax, turnover tax and purchaser tax. Thus, sales tax acts as a major revenuegenerator for the various State Governments. Sales tax is an indirect form of tax, wherein it is the responsibility of the seller of the commodity to collect and recover the tax from the purchaser. Generally, sale of imported items and sales by way of export are not included in the range of commodities which requires payment of sales tax. Moreover, luxury items (like cosmetics) are levied heavier sales tax rates. Central Sales Tax (CST) Act that falls under the direction of the Central Government takes into account all the interstate sales of commodities. Thus, sales tax is to be paid by every dealer on the sale of any commodity, made by him during inter-state trade or commerce, irrespective of the fact that no liability to pay tax on the sale of goods arises under the tax laws of the appropriate state. He is to pay sales tax to the sales tax authority of the state from which the movement of the commodities commences. However, from April 01, 2005, most of the states in India have supplemented sales tax with a new Value Added Tax (VAT). The practice of VAT executed by State Governments is applied on each stage of sale, with a particular apparatus of credit for the input VAT paid. VAT in India can be classified under the following tax slabs: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ 0% for essential commodities 1% on gold ingots and expensive stones 4% on industrial inputs, capital merchandise and commodities of mass consumption 12. 5% on other items Variable rates (state-dependent) are applicable for petroleum products, tobacco, liquor etc. Service Tax in India Constitutional Provision Article 265 of the Constitution stresses that no service tax in India shall be charged or collected other than by the concerned authority. Schedule VII divides this subject into three different sections †¢ Union list (only Central government has power of legislation). †¢ †¢ State list (only State government has power of legislation). Concurrent list (both central and state government can pass legislation). An amendment (95th amendment) in 2003 was made to enable the Central government to decide the method of charging service tax and the means of collection of proceeds by the central government and state government. Subsequently a new article 268 A has been introduced for levy of service tax by Central government. Creation Of DGST The department of Director General (Service Tax) was created in 1997 to handle the huge workload resulting due to the increasing importance of service tax. The Director General (Service Tax) is in charge of the department and his role and authority are: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ .

Law - Juvenile Delinquents Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Law - Juvenile Delinquents - Essay Example In 2008, 180,100 juvenile arrests were made in relation to drug violations, which consisted of 15 percent of total juvenile arrests that year (Puzzanchera, 2009). These statistics further highlight that this is a seven percent reduction in drug-related arrests between 2007 and 2008. At the same time, drug violation arrests represented 11 percent of total juvenile arrests. The majority of drug-related arrests consisted of male violators compared to females. In 1994, drug violations with male offenders suddenly spiked, but have remained relatively steady since 2002 with only marginal declines year-on-year. For female violators, drug abuse arrests have also remained essentially steady since 1997, after a sudden spike in arrests around 1993, with marginal decreases year-by-year. In 2008, the states of Illinois, Maryland, and Wyoming maintained the highest arrest rates in the country (Puzzanchera, 2009). In relation to assault arrests, the volume of juvenile arrest for simple assaults rec ognized no increase or decrease from 2007 (Puzzanchera, 2009). ... For males, per 100,000 arrests, simple assault arrests were approximately totaled approximately 900. Despite male declines from 1999, 2008’s arrest records illustrate that simple assaults are dominated by male juvenile offenders. In relation to total 2008 arrests, males more than females were the most prominent offenders in all categories of violations, with 70 percent male and 30 percent female. Robbery and murder were dominated by blacks in relation to arrests made for whites and other ethnic groups for these violations. The Violent Crime Index indicates that blacks juvenile arrests were 500 percent of white juvenile arrests from 2004-2008. This has significant implications for the black ethnic group as the entire juvenile population in America in 2008 consisted of 78 percent white and only 16 percent black. Asian/Pacific Islanders made up only five percent of the juvenile population in 2008, while American Indians represented only a marginal one percent of the population. W ith these extreme ratios of approximately 5:1 for violent crime arrests between blacks and whites respectively, this indicates a potential justice abiding problem or social problem with the black population that only makes up 16 percent of the total 2008 juvenile population. Female robbery arrest rates increased 51 percent from 2002 to 2008. At the same time, the female aggravated assault arrest rates increased 80 percent from 1980 to 2008, though this was a 17 percent drop from 1999 to 2008. Larceny-theft, considered a violent crime by the Department of Justice, showed marked increases in female juvenile offenders of four percent, while male juvenile counterparts showed a large 29 percent decrease between 1999 and 2008.

Managing Environmental Issues Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Managing Environmental Issues - Research Paper Example In the pharmaceutical industry companies depend on earth’s natural resources to develop drugs used to treat diseases. Tropical rainforest are hotspots that drug companies target due to their diversity of plants and animals. The world’s largest rainforest is the Amazon located in Brazil. In these lands many instances tribal community still exist. These communities value the land and ecosystem they live in. They have used plant extracts for centuries to treat sick people. The scenario discussed in this paper deals with a company that needs to strike a deal with the government of Kenya and a tribal community to establish a drug manufacturing plant. The paper will analyze the different stakeholders, their ethical perspectives, compelling priorities, and environmental justice. Environmental justice first appeared in the 1980s (Answers, 2010). The company that wants to establish a manufacturing operation in the Aberdares Mountains, Kenya is Colney & Pitts. Colney and Pitts represent one of the stakeholders. Their intention is develop a plan for the Kikuyu tribe and conservation of the forest. The ethical perspectives that Colney & Pitts follows is an ethical extensionism. This perspective is a bridge between non-anthropocentric and anthropocentric. Anthropocentric means that humans dominate the natural environment. The industrial intention of the firm makes them a bit anthropocentric, but their vision and understanding is non-anthropocentric. Sharon Cruzan, vice president of strategic planning, is the player from Colney & Pitts that will deal with the negotiations. She was given a budget of $250,000 to help the tribe and protect the forest. The specific tree that the company is targeting is called the Prunus Africana. The firm wants to make drugs with use of the plant to battle prostate diseases. The global population of prostate patients is an external stakeholder. Their

Stereotyping of Arabs and Muslims Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Stereotyping of Arabs and Muslims - Essay Example The present paper discusses the historical development of stereotyping of Arabs and Muslims by the US media and also explores the causes behind such a development. The US media is rife with the "vilest racist" stereotyping of Arabs, with prominent publications such as the Wall Street Journal publishing articles, such as those by Cynthia Ozick, which tend to defile Arab culture and religion (Said 2). Since America came under attack by terrorists, extremely restrictive regulations have been posed on immigrants and travelers from Muslim lands (Paden & Singer 8). The September 11 incident gave rise to mass paranoia against Arabs and the mainstream media fueled this. However, the September 11 terrorist incident is not solely responsible for the negative stereotyping of Arabs. Anti-Muslim sentiments were already widespread in the US prior to the terrorist attacks. According to Shaheen, the Beirut bombing incident of 1983, which killed several Americans at the American Embassy and many US marines, along with the TWA passenger jet-hijacking incident of 1985, followed by the hostage incident in the US embassy in Iran led to Anti-Arab sentiments in Amer ica (4). Arabs were perceived as "dark-complexioned Muslim rogues, flaunting unkempt beards or moustaches" (Shaheen 4). Such stereotyped images ruled the American psyche and were further promoted by motion pictures, television shows and cartoons. According to Geyelin, Journalists tend to think and speak of them collectively, to judge the many by the egregious excess of the few. Scholars write of Arab tribalism and unsettled nomadic instincts. The suggestion is that Arabs are somehow incapable of statecraft or stable nationhood. They dress funny, carry guns (qtd in Shaheen 5). Such stereotyping of Arabs harbored prejudices against them in the American minds, which were rekindled by the terrorist attacks of September 11. The misrepresentation of Muslim

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Essay Example Scott Fitzgerald. That was when I took the time to read all the 18 pages of the short story, walking away from it in awe of the imagination of the writer and feeling robbed by the way the movie of Brad Pitt disrespected the original. The novel itself was quite interesting because it took place in an era of America that paid all too much attention to the social status of a family in the community. As with the Buttons family in the story, the image of a financially well-to-do family in the community is always coupled with an upstanding name that is cared for over generations. But that was not to be the case with Benjamin. His family became the object of ridicule for many years due to the circumstances of his birth and yet they managed to endure as a familial unit. The character of Benjamin is one whose origin story is quite complex and, in my opinion, lacking in character development and backstory. That is because even though we were introduced to Benjamin as a newborn old man, we neve r found out how such things could occur. If there was no scientific explanation for it as mentioned in the story, perhaps a backstory of a cursed birth or something would have helped. I just found it important as a reader to understand how such a pitiful life could have been bestowed upon an innocent child by the forces of the universe. Surely Benjamin's parents must have done something terribly evil to incur the anger of the gods thus being bestowed with a cursed child right? But I guess F. Scott Fitzgerald did not want to bother or perhaps bore the readers with such backstories. Which is why he also had a tendency to gloss over decades of Benjamin's life for no reason. His glossing over the life of the man-child and not paying attention to greater details of his development leaves one wondering as to why he became the sort of man that he did. It is almost like reading the life of Jesus with the missing 20 years. It just did not make any sense to me. That said, I would have to say that the story still managed to retain the interest of the reader in such a manner that these oversights could easily be forgiven. It did not remove from the enthralling tale of the life of an old man destined to die as a new born at all. It puzzled me though that the mother in the story was never mentioned as I am sure that Benjamin needed to have been born of natural means. So why was the mother not mentioned at all in the story? Did she die during childbirth? Was she driven mad by the sight of the newborn son being old enough to sit on her lap and then some? I imagined the birth would have been horribly painful for her and traumatizing and yet it was never even touched upon in the telling of the early life of Benjamin. Rather there was a concentration on the relationship of the boy and his father who did not accept him for who he was when he was born. The cruelty of a parent during that era of history seems so much that he actually wished his son were born a negro so he could hav e left him at the slave market. That part of the novel I remember reading and thinking, â€Å" What a cruel father he is to want to give away his child under the worst circumstances. He would have probably killed the child if he could have.† After reading the book another time though, I began to get the humor in the writing of Fitzgerald. In fact, one might say that the book was written tongue in cheek since the events has he related them could never take place in real life. Yet as a short story, the concept actually made sense. I mean, if it did not, then Hollywood would not have tried and failed miserably to rip it off. Towards the end of the book, when Benjamin began to grow into his baby years, I could not help

Strategic Initiative plan Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Strategic Initiative plan - Research Paper Example The launch of a new advertising campaign can be used as a strategic move to spur a sales jump in the short term. Financial planning is another important function that is correlated to strategic planning. A financial plan must be prepared to determine how much investment is needed for any initiatives or strategic projects the company desires to implement. Financial planning involves determining how to obtain the resources needed to finance a project. Some of the sources that can be used to finance a strategic plan include selling common or preferred stocks, bonds, sale of assets, and loans from financial institutions. Strategic planning and financial planning are correlated because the implementation of a strategic plan is dependent of the budget available. A financial planning technique that can be used to predict the future financial outcome of a company is pro-forma financial statements. The master budget is also used to keep track of inflows and outflows of a project. â€Å"The master budget is a summary of companys plans that sets specific targets for sales, production, distribution and f inancing activities† (Accountingformanagement, 2012). Multinational corporations often utilize strategic and financial planning to achieve the goals of the company. The company I work for has utilized strategic planning effectively in the past. Last year the company entered into a strategic marketing alliance with a competitor in order to increase the overall demand for the product. The firm also utilized strategic planning in its human resource function. Due to the increase production demand the firm had to hire an additional 25 employees. A financial planning initiative that the company performed last year was obtaining a $4 million business loan that was used for leasehold improvements, research and development, and to finance an expansion project. Large companies such as

You can decide Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

You can decide - Essay Example Some of the fossils propose a geographical diversity and a difference in characteristics are KNM-ER 1808 and Trinil 2. In 1891, an archeologist named Eugene Dubois found angular, domed, and thick-walled human skullcap with a large shelf like brow ridge near Trinil, Java (Indonesia. He decided that the skull be named Trinil2 (Dorey). Another person, Kamoya Kimeu in 1974 discovered a 1.7 million years old femur of Homo erectus KNM-ER1808 in Koobi Fora in Kenya. This female Homo erectus has an incredible distinct feature that surprised the researchers; it has an abnormal layer of bone on her thigh that shows evidence of bleeding to her death. Scientists have concluded that it is an overdose of vitamin A. The two skulls have some significant differences between them. Trinil 2 has a long, flat forehead, distinct brow ridges and have sagittal keel (Dorey). The cranium of Trinil 2 is thick brow ridges that are sharply angled rear where the neck muscles attach. When the Trinil femur is compared with KNM-ER 1808, one will see that Trinil is considerably ‘human’ while the other is more of Homo er ectus. The skeleton of KNM-ER 1808 has almost complete right femur but unfortunately lacking a head. There have numerous changes in the evolution of the hominid that have occurred. These changes have significantly contributed to the change in the proportion of the skull. Different parts of the skull in various hominids are varying proportion. The change from one hominid can be noticed in face size, shape, brain capacity and even position of occipital condyles. In this Lab report, we shall measure different proportions, calculate indices and compare them with known or commonly recognized hominines species. 2. When the location of the points are known, connect their location with lines (porion intersects lowest point of the eye orbit such that line almost touch top circle and bottom edge). As shown in the guides. The ratio uv/tv of is

Health Information Exchange Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Health Information Exchange - Assignment Example Recent legislation process undertaken at the Federal Government level has been initiated in order to ensure that significant resources are put into the development of healthcare. These legislations set the overall vision for the integration of information technology with the healthcare in order to improve the overall healthcare services delivery within the healthcare settings. The Federal IT Health Strategy is therefore focused upon delivering certain initiatives in order to accelerate the process of integrating information technology with that of the health care services. One of the central elements of the Medicaid and Medicare is the electronic health records which are now forming the critical part of the overall initiative by the government to improve healthcare IT. This paper will provide a review of the various initiatives undertaken by the Federal Government in terms of digitalization of health records and implementation of information technology besides making an evaluation in real time case study. The recent revolutionary changes in the health care industry and new demands from the industry has actually necessitated the use of technology which can help healthcare professionals to actually take benefit of the information technology. The new IT strategy for the health care industry has been hallmarked as one of the right steps in right direction to seamlessly integrate the technology with the healthcare. In order to achieve this vision, regional information networks were created in order to allow them autonomy and power to utilize all the resources necessary for using IT for healthcare. These regional networks have to work in defined governance roles in order to achieve their overall objectives and the set their own business targets. These centers were established in order to exchange information with each and have been gaining traction over the period of last few

Discussion Board Forum Essay Example for Free

Discussion Board Forum Essay Property Martin has decided to retire after many years as a deputy in a small North Carolina town and as a detective in Raleigh. Though Martin sometimes appeared to be a bumbling law enforcement officer, it turns out that he was a dutiful saver and a shrewd investor, and now he owns an interest in some prime real estate in the North Carolina mountains, as well as a second home on the North Carolina coast. Mountain Property: Martin purchased the mountain property 31 years ago as joint tenants with a right of survivorship with his friends Peter, John, and Thomas. All of the friends ha= passed away, and Martin has not been back to the property in more than 20 years. Peter had apparently indicated in his will that he was leaving his interest in the property to his son Andrew. A few years back, Andrew took out a personal loan using his purported interest in the property as collateral. When Andrew defaulted on the loan last month, the lender initiated a legal action to foreclose on the property. Martin hired an old friend with whom he used to go to church, who is now an attorney in Raleigh, to address the lender’s legal action. The matter is still pending. Remembering that a trout-filled stream ran through the property, Martin decided to do a little fly-fishing. When he drove out to the property, Martin was surprised to see smoke rising from the stone chimney of a little cabin that someone had constructed in the center of the land since the last time Martin had visited. When he approached the cabin, Martin suddenly heard a shot ring out and a bullet whiz past his head. Ducking for cover, Martin heard a familiar voice. It was Otis, from the small town where Martin had been a deputy, yelling and telling him to â€Å"Git off my land.† Gathering his senses, Martin identified himself and told Otis it was actually his land and that he had the deed to prove it. Otis replied that he didn’t care about the deed, and that he had lived on the property openly and notoriously for some 20 years, and, as far as he was concerned, it was now his. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, Martin hopped into his 1966 Pontiac GTO, which he had bought at auction from the sheriff’s office, and headed back east. He stopped in Raleigh to contact his attorney and asked him to deal with Otis’s claim as well. Coastal Property: Since his fishing trip was spoiled, Martin decided to head to his beach house in Wilmington, NC. Martin noticed several signs for a new Tar Heel Family Resort along the way. The signs all said, â€Å"Coming Soon.† Martin half-smiled as he thought about how sorry he was for whatever poor souls owned property next to that tacky place. Turning the corner to the street where his beach house was located, Martin was horrified to see several of his neighbors’ properties were being torn down and that there was a sign stating, â€Å"Future home of the Tar Heel Family Resort† positioned right next door to his beach house. When he pulled into the driveway, Martin noticed a bright orange envelope attached to his front door. Inside the envelope, Martin found a notice from the city authorities saying his property was being taken by eminent domain in order to make way for the new resort. The notice had a letter attached talking about all the new businesses and jobs the resort would bring to the community. Having just survived the encounter in the mountains and now being faced with the loss of his beach house, Martin became enraged and marched down to the city offices to challenge the city’s actions. The city attorney told Martin he was sorry, but that there was really nothing he could do about the seizure of the house. He assured that Martin would receive the full market value for his property in compensation. Martin returned to his property and placed another call to his attorney for assistance in dealing with the seizure. Personal Property: As Martin was hanging up the phone he heard a knock at the door. Upon opening the door, Martin was pleased to see a former girlfriend, Miranda. After exchanging pleasantries, Miranda told Martin that she had decided to leave the small town where they had both lived and resettle at the beach. Caught up in the excitement of the reunion, Martin invited Miranda out to dinner at the swankiest restaurant in town: the Riverboat Bistro. Embarrassed, Miranda said she wasn’t sure she had an outfit that was fancy enough for the Riverboat, but Martin assured her that even the fancy restaurants at the beach allowed casual attire, so her casual dress and his polo shirt and shorts should be fine. When he drove up to the restaurant, Martin noticed a sign that indicated valet parking was available. A young man in a neatly pressed Riverboat uniform, who identified himself as Benjamin, approached  the vehicle and asked Martin if he would like his car parked. Martin handed over his keys and walked around to the other side of the car to open the door for Miranda. Taking her arm under his, Martin proudly escorted his date into the Riverboat Bistro as the young man drove off in the GTO. When he entered the restaurant, Martin was horrified to see that everyone inside was wearing formal dress attire. He quickly ushered Miranda back out the door and looked for the valet. Not seeing the young man anywhere and noticing the sign indicating that valet parking was available was now folded up and lying under some bushes, Martin went back to the entrance and asked the hostess if she could call the valet to retrieve his car. â€Å"Valet?† asked the hostess. â€Å"We have no valet service tonight sir. Only on weekends.† â€Å"But what about Benjamin?† argued Martin. â€Å"We had a valet name Benjamin,† she responded, â€Å"but he quit yesterday. We are still waiting for him to return his uniforms.† The Wilmington police officer couldn’t help but snicker as he took the police report. â€Å"1966 Pontiac GTO, huh? Shouldn’t be too hard to find that.† On the cab ride home, Martin felt a mixture of anger and mortification. â€Å"It’s fine, Martin,† said Miranda. â€Å"I never was that fond of seafood and I’m sure your car will turn up.† Martin’s car was found three weeks later at the Classic Car Show in Mount Olive, NC. The man showing the car had purchased it from a used car lot in Kinston, NC, which had taken the vehicle from a young fellow matching Benjamin’s description, as a trade for a 1967 Mustang convertible. Neither the man who was showing the car nor the used car dealer had any idea that the vehicle had been stolen. Martin asked for the car back, but the man in possession said he was not giving it up until somebody reimbursed him for the $5,600.00 that he had paid for the vehicle. Martin placed another call to his attorney.

Abdullah Badawi’s Effect on Political Economy

Abdullah Badawi’s Effect on Political Economy 1.0 INTRODUCTION Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the fifth Malaysia’s Prime Minister (2003-2009), was born on 26th November, 1939 in Kampung Perlis, Bayan Lepas. He was greatly influenced by his family religious background and further strengthened it through the subject of Islamic Studies in Universiti Malaya, and graduated in 1964. After he was graduated from Universiti Malaya, Abdullah was working as a civil servant, including Assistant Secretary in the Public Services Department and Head Assistant Secretary in the National Operation Council (NOC) (Welsh, 2003). At that time, he also was also being a Director in the Ministry of Youth and Sports; and since 1974, Deputy Chief Secretary in the same ministry. In 1978, Abdullah resigned in the civil service and had been elected as the candidate for Kepala Batas Parliament seat For the year 1978-1987, Abdullah has won the 1978 elections for the Kepala Batas Parliament seat (Sivamurugan Rusdi Omar Mohd Azizuddin, 2010). He was then elected as Parliamentary Secretary and Deputy Minister in the Federal Territory Ministry. He was also been Minister in Prime Minister’s Department (1981-1984), Minister of Education (1984-1986), Minister of Defence (1986-1987). From the year 1987 to 1990, it was climax in Abdullah’s political leadership. The growth of Anwar Ibrahim and the presence of opposition leaders in UMNO had not feared by Abdullah (Sivamurugan Rusdi Omar Mohd Azizuddin, 2010). By this, he finally get the highest position in the party and government. He was trusted by Dr.Mahathir to offer him for involving in 1990 General Elections. He was also elected as the part of Cabinet. The support gained by Abdullah not only particularly on inner support but also because of his inner confidence and strength that had given him a trust by peoples (Sivamurugan Rusdi Omar Mohd Azizuddin, 2010).. Abdullah was served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs during 1991-1999. At that time, Abdullah also succeeded in winning back the UMNO Vice President seat in the 1996 elections after the failure to win Vice President seat in 1993 (Case, n.d). He gained the Dr. Mahathir’s trust and was finally elected as the UMNO Deputy President in 1999 and Deputy Prime Minister, the fourth under the leadership of Dr. Mahathir. In Jun 2002, Dr. Mahathir announced to retire, and announced to the public that he had given trust to Abdullah to be his successor of Prime Minister. The main objective to conduct this case study is to critically examine the political economy throughout his reign of nearly six years. The specific objectives are; firstly, to critically review Abdullah’s political performance by providing the election report between 2003-2009 and figure out the reason why the mass supported him; secondly, to interpret the international economy oil price and its problems; thirdly, to identify issues and challenges during his tenure, whether Abdullah’s political policy affects the Malaysia’s economy or vice versa or both. To complete our research, we will assess the data from books in library, journals articles, newspapers and electric sources to prove whether our argument is valid or not. The research is conducted by 3 members, everyone from each will be divided to collect sources based on their own task. Our finding will dramatically advance our understanding of political economy under the administration of Abdullah. 2.0 LEADERSHIP OF ABDULLAH BADAWI During Abdullah’s premiership, the government policies did not change much. To him, he was presiding over an individual change rather than regime change. Abdullah implemented his promise to address corruption. Abdullah is widely admired for his religious knowledge and credentials, and can confront Islamic radicals (in his own quiet way) while maintaining respect from mainstream society (McCreedy, 2003). Abdullah’s personal style—mild, incremental, consensual—will differ from the fiery tone of his predecessor (Tun Mahathir), and likely improve relations with the West (McCreedy, 2003). Not having as Mahathir aggressive personality as Mahathir had, Abdullah showed an early willingness to listen and work as a team. He attempted to bring economic liberalisation, declared war on corruption, improved governance, and opened up democratic space (Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid Muhammad Takiyuddin Ismail, 2012). To reform policy, he re-attached importance to agriculture, re-emphasized poverty eradication, highlighted human capital development, and shifted focus to regional development which was been practiced by the second Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak. Abdullah was so much emphasing on religious and he attempted to establish Islam Hadhari, a progressive approach towards understanding and practising Islam as a modern rather than conservative religion. Thus, Abdullah’s leadership style was soft-personality, but under his premiership, many plans were proved to be more than just declare. 3.0 ISSUES AND CHALLENGES FACED BY TUN ABDULLAH BADAWI 3.1 The Global Financial Crisis (2008-2009) The global financial crisis (GFC), caused by the bursting of a speculative bubble in the US housing market in 2008, affected the capital flows, trade flows, and commodity prices of the world (Athukorala, 2010). Different countries have been affected differently, depending on the nature of their financial/trade linkages with the rest of the world, the quality of financial institutions and polices. As we will see below, for Malaysia, the financial and economic development had worsened in 2008 and 2009. Our GDP remained declining in the year of 2008, ultimately 0.1% growth of GDP in third quarter of 2008. The GDP felt by approximately 3% in the fourth quarter of 2008, which was also the first time in negative territory since 2001 (figure 1) (World Trade Organization, 2011). From the data interpreting above, we could imagine that during Abdullah Badawi’s premiership, the main challenge affected by global financial crisis was the declining of GDP in Malaysia in 2008 and the exportation of Malaysia declined. 3.2 International Oil Price Crisis The second issue and challenge faced by Abdullah Badawi is international oil price crisis by 2008. The oil price has skyrocketed to levels never predicted by the strategists and economic planners, estimated from USD170 per barrel in end 2008 to USD200 in 2009 (D-8 Secretariat Istanbul, 2008). The increasing of oil price at that time also caused the price of food increased beyond the normal abilities to pay by the poor. Abdullah Badawi (2008) said that the oil price crisis was required global-level solutions, and Malaysia was needed to bring up this issue to international community to resolve together. It is undeniably that the oil price crisis also caused the most urgent challenge facing by Malaysia was the food shortage in the world. As the global oil price increased, the food price also increased, and believed to reach more than 75% since 2000 (D-8 Secretariat Istanbul, 2008). These had threatened to the Malaysia’s economic growth under Abdullah Badawi’s tenure. Thus, the methods that used by Abdullah Badawi to solve the issue were to cut off the government subsidy on fuel (since the increasing of oil price has burdened the government subsidy on fuel) and also suggested to produce or creating alternative sources of energy, such as bio-fuels and agriculture. From Table 1, fuel subsidies had raised from RM2.4bil or 3.8% of total operating expenses (OE) and 0.7% of GDP in 2001 to RM7.3bil in 2006 or 6.8% of total OE and 1.3% GDP (Ministry of Finance, 2008). While in 2007, it rose further to RM8.8bil or 1.4% of GDP (Ministry of Finance, 2008). In estimated 2008, fuel subsidies would escalate to estimate RM15.5bil or 12% of total OE and 2.3% of GDP (table 1) (Ministry of Finance, 2008). From Table 2, the petroleum product subsidy had increased from RM16.0bil in 2005 to RM16.2bil in 2007, but had decreased from 43.7% of total subsidy in 2005 to 37.3% in 2007 (Ministry of Finance, 2008). It could be said that the government had begun to cut off the fuel subsidy due to the increasing of oil price in 2007 but had put more effort on gas price subsidy due to Abdullah Badawi’s recommendation policy on replacing the fuel energy. 4.0 POLITICAL POLICY AFFECTS ECONOMY OR ECONOMY AFFECTS POLITICAL POLICY? During Abdullah Badawi’s tenure, whether his political policy had affected Malaysia’s economy or the economy had affected his political policy? Based on our research, we would critic that during Abdullah Badawi’s era, the economy had affected his politcal policy. We would provide few facts at the following to support our critical analysis. The first fact is, the rising of world oil price to between US90 and US100 a barrel is expected to force Abdullah Badawi administration on reduction in fuel subsidies in 2008. According to Asia Times (2008), the fuel and gas subsidiaries approximately cost US12bil a year. The global oil price crisis had put increasing burdens on the family budgets, especially the middle-income family from developing country. Not only that, the oil price crisis also forced governments to curtail expenditures or reallocate resources for development in order to meet the more immediate needs of societies (D-8 Secretariat Istanbul, 2008). Thus, from our analysis, we could comment that the rising of oil price had affected Abdullah Badawi to reduce or cut off the fuel subsidies policy to societies. However, we could not find any other long-term solutions yet to stabilize the price of oil in the market. Perhaps, the reduction on fuel subsidies would be the best alternatives for controlling the government exp enditures. However, Abdullah Badawi’s reduction fuel subsidiary policy had been implemented until today. It could be proven by Malaysian government now (Najib Razak’s era) is following Abdullah Badawi’s step to cut fuel subsidy on ron95 fuel (Athukorala, 2010). In our opinion, there are pros and cons on abolishing fuel subsidy in Malaysia. The pros definitely would be the Malaysia takes advantages of falling global oil price and reduce the burden of government. If cut off fuel subsidy be implemented, the oil price would be followed international oil price, thus, if global oil price reduces, then Malaysia would pay lesser to import oil (McAleavey, 2014). Moreover, abolishing fuel subsidy could benefits government because government could save up the money to use it on other field of subsidiaries. The con on abolishing fuel subsidy in Malaysia would be widen the wealth gap issues. Dismissing fuel subsidy would be benefited to high-income households instead of protecting the l ow-income workers (Palatino, 2014). Nevertheless, in our point of view, if the reduction on fuel subsidy policy would be announced and get opinion from the societies first, it would be more beneficial to both societies and government to achieve a win-win situation. The second fact that we could provide to prove that the economy had affected Abdullah Badawi’s policy is the recommendation on Bio-Fuel Policy in 2006 (D-8 Secretariat Istanbul, 2008) by Abdullah Badawi as a renewable sources of energy to encounter the increasing of oil price issue. The goal to implement this policy is to promote the use of bio fuels as an alternative to petroleum in Malaysia. Examples of bio-fuel or bio-gas could be natural gas vehicles (NGV). Based on our finding, National Biofuel Policy (NBP) provided an alternative to reduce the dependency on petroleum in Malaysia. Palm oil is used as the alternative resource to replace the depleting petroleum as it is more environmental friendly and it could produce investments for it value added-finished products. Oil palm is an energy-efficient crop and the adoption of renewable energy resources started as the crisis of increasing oil price and depletion of crude oil reserve. Palm oil contribute the largest part in Malaysia’s economic. NBP was being launched to sustain the economic growth. Few objectives were formulated to mobilize the local resources for biofuel production and explore new technology to generate energy as an alternative resources (table 2). In 2009, the use of B5 blends (Envo Diesel) of 5% diesel biofuels and 95% petroleum diesel was introduced (Majid, 2015). This was to create an environmental friendly and renewable energy resources. The use of biofuel is definitely a great idea yet the usage of diesel biofuel in Malaysia is still low. Moreover, diesel engined-vehicles is more expensive than petrol engined-vehicles. Thus, less people supported the biofuel policy. It is in fact that until today, the Najib Razak’s era, this policy was not implemented yet in Malaysia. The current prime minister could only implement the reduction of fuel subsidy policy, instead of carrying up the bio-fuel policy. Based on our research, there are a few weakness of this National Biofuel Policy which launched by Datuk Sri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in 2006. Ccsenet.org (2011) mentioned that the weakness of this policy is that the demand from market is small. There is only few diesel users compare to petrol users. Thus, the biofuel policy only benefits some of the populations. Figure 2 shows the difference of energy consumption between petroleum products and biodiesel in Malaysia. The minuscule domestic market could not gain much profits and supports from the people and lastly would fail to reach the objectives of the policy. Besides that, the biofuel infrastructure which could fulfill the basis of nation was not sufficient. People might feel interested and wish to try something which is new and environmentally friendly yet the lack of infrastructure had made the policy unsuccessful. According to Phys.Org (2009), 16 biofuel plants were built but due to low price of biofuel was not being operated. The infrastructure that being built was wasted and made the people feel not confident with the good side of biofuel. The lack of market opportunities of biofuel had also lead to the failure of this policy. Development of biofuel always related to the rain forest deforestation which lead to biodiversity loss. Malaysia has chosen a solution of land-clearing to get plant oil-palm for biodiesel. Climate changes and global warming had become the issue in few conferences and lead to the failure of this policy. Resources and skilled workers and research were not fully utilized to conduct the policy. Thus, National Biofuel Policy is indeed a good policy if we have sufficient manpower, resources and technology intelligence to make it successful and increase the nation’s economic growth. However, the lack of skilled labour and technology and high dependency towards petroleum had caused the implementation of the mandate of B5 biodiesel sale to be delayed in February 2010. 5.0 CONCLUSION The difference in Abdullah Badawi’s leadership style with his predecessor brings about cause for some to consider it as a weakness and loss of control (Utusan Malaysia, 19 September 2006). Under his tenureship, Malaysia had experienced two big challenges, which are the global financial crisis and international oil price crisis during 2008-2009. These two challenges yet never came into a long-term solutions to solve these issues until today. Therefore, in our opinion, the international oil crisis, cut off subsidiaries on oil and increased of oil prices in Malaysia perhaps are the reasons to let him lose his mass support on general election in 2008. REFERENCES Welsh, B. (2003). Malaysias transition: Elite contestation, political dilemmas and incremental change. Washington, D.C: Asia Program Special Report. Sivamurugan, P., Rusdi Omar., Mohd Azizuddin. (2010). Work with Me, Not for Me†: Malaysia under Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (2003-2009). Asian Culture and History, Volume 2, Issue 1. Case, W. (n.d). Abdullah Badawi’s first year as Malaysia’s Prime Minister. Austrialia: Griffith Asia Institute. McCreedy, A. (2003). Passing the mantle: A new leadership for Malaysia. Washington, D.C: Asia Program Special Report. Welsh, B. (2003). Malaysias transition: Elite contestation, political dilemmas and incremental change. Washington, D.C: Asia Program Special Report. Welsh, B. (2003). Malaysias transition: Elite contestation, political dilemmas and incremental change. Washington, D.C: Asia Program Special Report. Welsh, B. (2003). Malaysias transition: Elite contestation, political dilemmas and incremental change. Washington, D.C: Asia Program Special Report. http://www.energyglobal.com/downstream/refining/30102014/Malaysia-reduces-fuel-prices-1527/ http://thediplomat.com/2014/10/why-malaysia-reduced-its-fuel-subsidy/ http://www.twn.my/title2/ge/ge26.pdf APPENDIXES Figure 1: Real GDP and trade growth of Malaysia, 2008-10 Source: World Trade Organization, 2011. https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/pres11_e/pr628_e.htm Figure 2: The Difference of Energy Consumption between Petroleum Products and Biodiesel in Malaysia. Source: National Energy Balance 2012 (Retrieved from Malaysia Energy Statistic Handbook, 2014) Table 1: Malaysia’s Fuel Subsidies 2001-08 Table 2: Malaysia’s Subsidies and Financial Assistance (RM bil) 2005-07 Source: Ministry of Finance, Bank Negara, Department of Information, Malaysia CIMB/GK Research, 2008.

Catcher in the Rye Essay: The Importance of Language -- Catcher Rye Es

The Importance of Language in The Catcher in the Rye   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye has captured the spirit of adolescence, dramatizing Holden Caulfield's vulgar language and melodramatic reactions. Written as the autobiographical account of a fictional teenage prep school student named Holden Caulfield, The Catcher in the Rye deals with material that is socially scandalous for the time (Gwynn, 1958). As an emotional, intelligent, and sensitive young man, Holden puts his inner world to the test through the sexual mores of his peers and elders, the teachings of his education, and his own emerging sense of self. Throughout the years, the language of the story has startled readers. Salinger's control of Holden's easy, conversational manner makes the introduction of these larger themes appear natural and believable. (Bloom, 1990).      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   At the time of the novel, and even today, Holden's speech rings true to the colloquial speech of teenagers. Holden, according to many reviews in the Chicago Tribune, the New Yorker, and the New York Times, accurately captures the informal speech of an average intelligent, educated, northeastern American adolescent (Costello, 1990). Such speech includes both simple description and blatant cursing. For example, Holden says, "They're nice and all", as well as "I'm not going to tell you my whole goddam autobiography or anything." In the first instance, he uses the term "nice" which oversimplifies his parents' character. This wording of his phrase implies that he does not wish to disrespect them, yet at the same time he does not intend to praise them. At best he deems them as "nice and all." Holden further cuts short his description, but in a more curt manner, when he stat... ...nage angst is apparent, Salinger carefully crafted Holden's vocabulary to create a character who would be believable. As Holden's vocabulary and outlook on life demonstrate his character as a fictional persona, the realistic flavor of his vocabulary mixed with emotion unfailingly ties him to the harsh realities of adolescence and the youth of his time.    Works Cited Bloom, HB. Major Literary Characters: Holden Caulfield. Chelsea House Publishers. New York, 1990. Costello, DP. The Language of the Catcher in the Rye. Holden Caulfield. Cambridge, New York; Cambridge University Press, 1990. Gwynn, F. The Fiction of JD Salinger. University of Pittsburg Press. 1958 Salinger, JD. The Catcher in the Rye, Little, Brown and Co. Boston, 1951. Salzman, J. The American Novel: New Essays on the Catcher in the Rye. Cambridge University Press, 1991.

Galileos Life :: essays research papers

Galileo was born on the 15th of February, 1564 in Pisa. His parents were Vincenzo Galilei and Guilia Ammannati. Vincenzo, who was born in Florence in 1520, was a teacher of music and a fine lute player. Guilia, who was born in Pescia, married Vincenzo in 1563 and they made their home in the countryside near Pisa. Galileo was their first child and spent his early years with his family in Pisa. In 1572, when Galileo was eight years old, his family returned to Florence, his father's home town. However, Galileo remained in Pisa and lived for two years with Muzio Tided who was related to Galileo's mother by marriage. When he reached the age of ten, Galileo left Pisa to join his family in Florence and there he was tutored by Jacopo Borghini.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Galileo began teaching private mathematics in Florence, and then during 1585-86 at Siena where he held a public appointment. During the summer of 1586 he wrote his first scientific book The Little Balance (La Balancitta) which described Archimedes' method of finding the relative densities of substances using a balance. In the following year he traveled to Rome to visit Clavius who was professor of mathematics there. A topic which was very popular with mathematicians at this time was centers of gravity and Galileo brought with him some results which he had discovered on this topic. But even though he impressed Clavius with his knowledge on various subjects, Galileo failed to gain a job to teach mathematics at the University of Bologna. When Fantoni left the chair of mathematics at the University of Pisa in 1589, Galileo was appointed to fill the post. Not only did he receive strong recommendations from Clavius, but he also had acquired an excellent reputation through his lectures at the Florence Academy in the previous year. The young mathematician had rapidly acquired the reputation that was necessary to gain such a position, but there were still higher positions he could aim for. Galileo spent three years holding this post at the University of Pisa. During this time he wrote De Motu, a series of essays on the theory of motion which he never published. It is likely that he never published this material because he was less than satisfied with it, and this is fair for despite containing some important steps forward, it also contained some incorrect ideas. Perhaps the most important new ideas which De Motu contains is that one can test theories by conducting experiments.

Is costumer behavior a quantitative science or qualitativ

United International Business School Main Campus Brussels Prof. White Individual Assignment Student: Martinotta Lara Introduction All of us are consumers. We consume good everyday, we consume and buy products and services according to our needs, preferences and buying power. What we buy, how we buy, where and when we buy, in how much quantity we buy depends on our social and cultural background and our age and family but also on our perception, attitudes, beliefs and values, motivation, personality, and many other factors that are both internal and external to us.All this process is what we call in economics term consumer behaviour. It is important to say that we also consider before buying whether to buy or not to buy and, from which source or sellers. The marketers try to understand the needs of different consumers and having understood different behaviours require they study in their internal and external environment, they formulate their plans for marketing.I will try to develop an interdisciplinary approach of consumer behaviour starting from defining the concept moving to microeconomics methodological study and passing through the behavioural economics highly mphasizing on factors that influence the decision-making process of consumers behaviour I think two summarize more the concepts: â€Å"Customer behaviour reflects the totally of consumer decision with respect to the acquisition, consumption and disposing of goods, services, activities experiences, people and ideas by (human) decision-making†l . Customer behaviour means more than Just the way that a person buys tangible product such as cars.It also included peoples use of services, experiences and activities such as going to the doctor. Microeconomics and Behaviour economics I start with a brief overview of to microeconomics theory, which represents a starting point for examining costumer behaviour. The microeconomics theory makes the assumption that â€Å"Consumer behave rationally and given the chance they will choose the best alternative of with their level of income and preference2† Neoclassical economic coincided with the dominance of the positivist methodological position that judges a theory by its ability to make predictions that are supported by the evidence.In Microeconomics † the individual firm rationally maximizes profit through purchase decision†3. n sum the microeconomics theory balances tour elements tn consumer's available income, the price of the goods, the consumer's tastes or preferences, and the assumption of utility maximization. In such models, utility can best be thought of as levels of satisfaction, happiness or personal benefit. By using the assumption that individuals act in order to maximize personal subjective benefits, economists make costumer behaviour analyse quite simple as they â€Å"apply powerful mathematical techniques for modelling behaviour outcomes4†.The Microeconomics model of costumer behaviour often corr espond to how costumer ehave however clear and voluminous evidence from psychology has shown that the rationality assumption of standards economics are wrong. Evidence from psychology has shown that we often are irrational. â€Å"This selfish maximization principle of Homo economicus limits the application of neoclassical economics to other areas†5 Recognition of these difficulties had led to a series of new approaches to modelling the individual behaviour, mostly based on challenges to the assumption of neoclassical economics.At the end of the 20th century the strict neoclassical position came under attack from many different directions. Some of these merely suggested more complex objectives and constraints, while others took economics is new directions by putting an emphasis on uncertainty and risk†6. Simon argued that human behaviour is best modelled as aspiration-based, rather than as optimizing behaviour. In his view is important to achieve aspiration levels with s atisfactory outcomes indicating that â€Å"satisfy' behaviour is normal and optimizing behaviour is abnormal.

School Uuniforms

The years that we are in primary school is the time that we as teenagers start discovering ourselves and realize our uniqueness. With this natural fact, it is not surprising that practically every teenager nowadays attempts to stand out in the crowd as much as possible.Our appearance, clothes and style is one of best and easiest ways to express ourselves, and it definitely helps people reach an understanding of who we really are, and why. However, there has been an ongoing debate on whether school uniforms should be completely abolished in all schools, both private and public, or, on the contrary, uniforms should become a compulsory addition to all middle-level educational institutions.Despite the friction between the pros and cons, I personally stick to the idea that school uniforms should be introduced in all public and private schools, as wearing school uniforms does not make unfair comparisons between student’s incomes in terms of clothing and that it aids students in deve loping their inner qualities instead of focusing on the outer aspects of themselves in the crucial earlier years of their lives. Firstly High schools are stressful enough as it is with school work and studying, but add being bullied because of your appearance and it could become overbearing.Uniforms help students in school academically and socially. It can be beneficial to parents as well; they do not have to spend as much money on school apparel. On the other hand, many people disagree with having school uniforms, saying that it doesn't give the student the right to express their individuality. However, I think uniforms build a sense of discipline and unity and are the appropriate attire to be worn in school. That is why I strongly believe uniforms should be enforced in every school whether public or private. It can be difficult for students to â€Å"fit in† with their peers.Because of their appearance, social situation or financial background, students can be discriminated and even bullied up to the point where they do not want to attend school anymore. Uniforms establish the unity of the whole school, making everyone equal. â€Å"It feels great wearing a uniform. It makes me feel like I am part of something,† says Malika a 15 year-old attending Thomas Brown York High School. Deciding on what clothes to wear to school can be stressful in the mornings. Uniforms get rid of that hassle, of waking up earlier to pick your outfit for the day.You're ready to go as soon as you put your uniform on. Also, students carry themselves differently when they are wearing uniforms. They take school more seriously by dressing more professionally. Uniforms are also less inexpensive. As a result, Parents gain immensely by buying uniforms than individual clothing for each school year. Statistics show schools that have established the school uniform had a 52% increase in student attendance and a whopping 78% jump in passing grades. Teachers say their students are mor e focused and productive in class.This shows how uniforms can help students achieve their potential in the classroom by helping them concentrate more on their school work than their clothes. It prevents bullying and violence. It helps create a more educative and welcoming environment to students by showing equality and unity to the whole student body. The over-all idea is that uniforms are easy and efficient. Secondly School uniforms have been around just as long as schools themselves, and they play a much bigger role in education than most people think. Uniforms have been proven to promote learning and help kids stay focused in school.Many people believe putting on a uniform resembles a parent putting on a suit, and getting ready for work. This makes the students take a more serious interest in the work they are doing at school. Also, it has been proven that wearing uniforms provides less of a distraction than fashionable clothes create. With uniforms, there is absolutely no contro versy over who has the newest, coolest clothes in school. Many students of public schools believe that school uniforms should not be introduced because it is restraining people's freedom of expression and does not create diversity.One example how uniforms restrict learners are that â€Å"without the outlet of expression in their clothes, students may turn to inappropriate hair styles, jewelry, or makeup† . So by restricting students of their clothing choice, they will still find a way to show their personality in their hair, jewelry, and hairstyles. Soon schools will start regulating those as well and boom! The school controls everything that is offered to a child. A second supporting example as to why uniforms are an awful proposal are because uniforms may not be comfortable for all students nd they can not wear their uniforms outside of school, and thus, there is the double cost of both uniforms and casual wardrobe (Public School Uniforms). In school, if a child is trying t o learn, but is not comfortable with the uniforms' fabric, it would cause a great burden and distraction to one's learning. Also many families are struggling in today's economy and are trying to save as much money as they can. Having to pay for regular clothes and uniforms start to add up to the family's expenses. A third example would be that uniforms create a false sense of security.According to Rashida Khilawala, â€Å"if the student gets used to being respected for their mind and not looks, the â€Å"outside world† could come as quite a surprise to them†(Khilawala). Face the truth; the â€Å"real† world can be an ugly place to live. Even if uniforms decrease violence and everyone is treated equal, the outside world does not run as orderly and smoothly as it would in a school. Of course all parents want to protect their child from any harm, but by fooling them into a safe environment, they are put at more risk then ever. Theses are some facts as to why; many children and teens are against uniforms in public schools.