The Role Of Indian Fdi On Nepalese Economic Growth

3. Data and Methodology Present paper utilizes the annual data of GDP, Indian FDI, level of Investment and Export in real terms from the period 1989/90 to 2013/14. The concerned variables are transformed into logarithm and hereafter these are denoted by ã€â€"LnGDPã€â€"_t,ã€â€"LnFDIã€â€"_t ã€â€"LnIã€â€"_t and ã€â€"LnXã€â€"_t . Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) is the main econometric methodology used in this paper to examine the role and impact of Indian FDI on Nepalese economic growth. The FMOLS of economic growth of Nepal on Indian FDI augmented with level of investment and export has been used to find the magnitude of long run relationship between the variables under study. GDP is taken as the proxy for Nepalese economic growth. Some attention is necessary while employing FMOLS test. The variables under study must be cointegrated. So before applying the FMOLS we examine the cointegration by method of Johansen’s (1990) cointegration test. Prior to employing the Johansen’s Cointegration test we perform unit root test using ADF method. FMOLS method was designed by Phillips and Hansen (1990) to estimate the cointegrating regressions. This method employs a semi-parametric correction to eliminate the problems created by long run correlation between cointegrating equation and stochastic regressors innovations. This method is used to modify the least squares to account for serial correlation effects and for the endogeneity in the regressions that result from the existence of cointegratingShow MoreRelatedThe Role Of Indian Fdi On Nepalese Economic Growth1491 Words   |  6 Pagestesting stationarity, co-integration and causal relationships among the variables for time series data-set. Present study employs secondary data on the concerned variables such as Indian FDI flows, structure of Indian FDI, Nepalese GDP, investment and export from FY 1988/89 to 2013/14. The necessary data are taken from Economic Survey 2013/14 and Department of Industry, Nepal. The data are transformed into real terms taking 2005/06 as the base year and data sets in real terms are converted into logarithmicRead MoreEnhancing Indian Fdi : Role, Prospects And Challenges Essay949 Words   |  4 PagesAbstract Title: Enhancing Indian FDI: Role, Prospects and Challenges to Nepalese Economy †¢ Author (s) name(s): Rajendra Adhikari, Arjun Kumar Baral (Ph.D) †¢ Organization of the author(s): Mechi Multiple Campus, Bhadrapur, Jhapa, Nepal; Post Graduate Campus, Biratnagar, Nepal Research Question FDI as key components of economic globalization plays prominent role in stimulating economic growth through capital formation, technology transfer and enhancing employment opportunities in the developing countriesRead MoreForeign Direct Investment As A Key Component Of Economic Globalization894 Words   |  4 PagesForeign Direct Investment as a key component of economic globalization could play a prominent role in stimulating economic growth through capital formation, technology transfer and enhancing employment opportunities in the developing countries like Nepal. Nepal and India both have liberalized foreign investment policies that would help promote FDI in Nepal (Dahal et.al. 2004). Despite significant liberalization of the foreign investment regime and the introduction of attractive investment incentivesRead MoreImpact of Fdi and Economic Growth19761 Words   |  80 PagesForeign Direct Investment and Economic Growth in South Korea and Policy Lessons for Nepal (A Master Degree Dissertation) Submitted by: Raj Kumar Rai MSc. International Finance Student Ref No: M00235713 Submitted to: Middlesex University Business School, London 2008/09 September 25, 2009 London, United Kingdom I Abstract Foreign direct investment (FDI) is taken as one of the key factor of rapid economic growth and development. FDI, it is believed to stimulateRead MoreIndia s Foreign Policy Decision Making2203 Words   |  9 Pageseconomy and keeping rising position in the central Asia. Foreign Policy Choices of Nepal If we focus on the foreign policy choices of Nepal we find geographic interference in her policy making. If geographical realities are domestic compulsions, Sino-Indian relation is the most significant external outcome in the foreign policy of Nepal. The Tibet issue has a weird psychological subtext in Nepal. (Pandey, D. R. 1999) Nepal follows the policy of non-alignment and the five principles of Panchaseel. NepalRead MoreArticle: Performance Appraisal and Performance Management35812 Words   |  144 Pagesmotivating, training and development (Rao and Pareek 2006). This conflicts with evaluation of past performance and distribution of rewards based on past performance. As to evaluate appraisers‟ performance the appraiser challenges to play opposite roles as both monitors and judges of performance and as an understanding counsellor (Randell 1994). Here, the managers are reluctant to make negative judgments on individual‟s performance as it could be de-motivating leading to appraise accusations of lack The Role Of Indian Fdi On Nepalese Economic Growth tools and approach as the main analytical methods. It includes OLS regression after testing stationarity, co-integration and causal relationships among the variables for time series data-set. Present study employs secondary data on the concerned variables such as Indian FDI flows, structure of Indian FDI, Nepalese GDP, investment and export from FY 1988/89 to 2013/14. The necessary data are taken from Economic Survey 2013/14 and Department of Industry, Nepal. The data are transformed into real terms taking 2005/06 as the base year and data sets in real terms are converted into logarithmic forms hereafter these are denoted by ã€â€"LnGDPã€â€"_t,ã€â€"LnFDIã€â€"_t ã€â€"LnIã€â€"_t and ã€â€"LnXã€â€"_t . Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) is the main econometric methodology used in this paper to examine the role and impact of Indian FDI on Nepalese economic growth. The FMOLS of economic growth of Nepal on Indian FDI augmented with level of investment and export has been used to find the magnitude of long run relationship between the variables under study. GDP is taken as the proxy for Nepalese economic growth. Some attention is necessary while employing FMOLS test. The variables under study must be cointegrated. So before applying the FMOLS we examine the cointegration by method of Johansen’s (1990) cointegration test. Prior to employing the Johansen’s Cointegration test we perform unit root test using ADF method. FMOLS method was designed by Phillips and Hansen (1990) to estimate the cointegratingShow MoreRelatedThe Role Of Indian Fdi On Nepalese Economic Growth1252 Words   |  6 Pagesthe annual data of GDP, Indian FDI, level of Investment and Export in real terms from the period 1989/90 to 2013/14. The concerned variables are transformed into logarithm and hereafter these are denoted by ã€â€"LnGDPã€â€"_t,ã€â€"LnFDIã€â€"_t ã€â€"LnIã€â€"_t and ã€â€"LnXã€â€"_t . Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) is the main econometric methodology used in this paper to examine the role and impact of Indian FDI on Nepalese economic growth. The FMOLS of economic growth of Nepal on Indian FDI augmented with level ofRead MoreEnhancing Indian Fdi : Role, Prospects And Challenges Essay949 Words   |  4 PagesAbstract Title: Enhancing Indian FDI: Role, Prospects and Challenges to Nepalese Economy †¢ Author (s) name(s): Rajendra Adhikari, Arjun Kumar Baral (Ph.D) †¢ Organization of the author(s): Mechi Multiple Campus, Bhadrapur, Jhapa, Nepal; Post Graduate Campus, Biratnagar, Nepal Research Question FDI as key components of economic globalization plays prominent role in stimulating economic growth through capital formation, technology transfer and enhancing employment opportunities in the developing countriesRead MoreForeign Direct Investment As A Key Component Of Economic Globalization894 Words   |  4 PagesForeign Direct Investment as a key component of economic globalization could play a prominent role in stimulating economic growth through capital formation, technology transfer and enhancing employment opportunities in the developing countries like Nepal. Nepal and India both have liberalized foreign investment policies that would help promote FDI in Nepal (Dahal et.al. 2004). Despite significant liberalization of the foreign investment regime and the introduction of attractive investment incentivesRead MoreImpact of Fdi and Economic Growth19761 Words   |  80 PagesForeign Direct Investment and Economic Growth in South Korea and Policy Lessons for Nepal (A Master Degree Dissertation) Submitted by: Raj Kumar Rai MSc. International Finance Student Ref No: M00235713 Submitted to: Middlesex University Business School, London 2008/09 September 25, 2009 London, United Kingdom I Abstract Foreign direct investment (FDI) is taken as one of the key factor of rapid economic growth and development. FDI, it is believed to stimulateRead MoreIndia s Foreign Policy Decision Making2203 Words   |  9 Pageseconomy and keeping rising position in the central Asia. Foreign Policy Choices of Nepal If we focus on the foreign policy choices of Nepal we find geographic interference in her policy making. If geographical realities are domestic compulsions, Sino-Indian relation is the most significant external outcome in the foreign policy of Nepal. The Tibet issue has a weird psychological subtext in Nepal. (Pandey, D. R. 1999) Nepal follows the policy of non-alignment and the five principles of Panchaseel. NepalRead MoreArticle: Performance Appraisal and Performance Management35812 Words   |  144 Pagesmotivating, training and development (Rao and Pareek 2006). This conflicts with evaluation of past performance and distribution of rewards based on past performance. As to evaluate appraisers‟ performance the appraiser challenges to play opposite roles as both monitors and judges of performance and as an understanding counsellor (Randell 1994). Here, the managers are reluctant to make negative judgments on individual‟s performance as it could be de-motivating leading to appraise accusations of lack

The quot;Patriot Actquot; Essay - 928 Words

The September 11 terrorist attacks led to the Patriot Act, which was a law passed just six weeks after the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were hit. This Act was passed by the Senate the day before by a vote of 98-1. The Bush Administration considered this Act a form of anti-terrorism weapon.* Despite his opinion many citizens consider this Act unconstitutional and a violation of our rights. In addition, some felt that their privacy was being invaded and soon coming to an end. On the other-hand some consider this Act reasonable due to the safety it would bring the citizens because many lives are threatened here in America. The Patriot Act expands the powers of the Executive Branch, such as search, surveillance, and INS powers†¦show more content†¦Once there, they are allowed to seize any item that they consider valuable as evidence and sometimes they do not even need to notify the owner. The Section of 218 is scheduled to expire on December 31,2005. When the Su preme court was encountered with the case of United States v. United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan they rejected President Nixons executive power to conduct warrantless wiretaps and now it is been done. The Bryant letter declares that As commander-in-Chief, the President must be able to use whatever means necessary to prevent attacks upon the United States.* In my opinion this Act is reasonable if used under self defense. If the governments heightened interest in self-defense justifies the use of deadly force, then it certainly would also justify warrantless searches.* The First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and political association are put in jeopardy as well by dying entry to non-citizens on the basis of ideology and by the creation of domestic terrorism. These actions have taken place to reduce or eliminate terrorist activities. 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Unilever Transporters and Incoterms Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Unilever Transporters and Incoterms. Answer: Introduction: The purpose of the paper is to analyse the effectiveness oftransport management in three areas namely, Incoterms, selection of careers andmanagement of relationship with transporters. The transporters carry out functions of supplying raw materials and distribution of finished products. The multinational companies depend on these transporters both get raw materials and to distribute their products globally. The paper studies these role the transporters play for the multinational companies considering Unilever Singapore as the example of the multinational company. Unilever is one of the leading fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) manufacturing companies in the world with its headquarters in London and Rotterdam. The product portfolio of the company can be divided into four categories namely, food and drink, home care, personal care and water purifiers. Unilever is the manufacturer, marketer and owner of leading international brands like Axe, Magma, Cornetto, Dove, Ponds, Lux and Pureit. The company has recently strengthened its Ayurvedic and wellness segment, Lever Ayush. The main markets of Unilever are America, Europe, Asia and Australia. The main competitors Unilever in the food products segment is Nestle while the main competitor in the home and skin care segment is Procter Gamble. Companies like LG compete with Unilever in the water purifier market. The organisational goal of Unilever is to offer more beneficial products to its consumers and operate sustainably to reduce pollution. The strategies of Unilever to operate globally consists of collaborating with suppliers and distributors in all its markets to ensure production of high quality products. The company applies acquisition strategies to dominate important markets like Asia (unilever.com, 2017). Incoterm selection consideration: Unilever Singapore applies effective transportation facilities, which enables it to transport materials from raw materials to its factories and finished goods to all its markets all over the world. The company has operations through the world in more than a hundred countries and is one of the largest manufacturer and marketer of FMCG goods. This requires the company to purchase raw materials from all over the world and distribute its finished goods to its markets. This international operation brings the company under the jurisdiction of International Commercial Terms or Incoterms, which is laid down by the International Chamber of Commerce or ICC (iccwbo.org, 2017). Unilever Singapore following its parent company adopts two strategies to make its transportation of goods more cost effective, fast and convenient namely, centralised supply chain management or SCM and centralisedlogistics management system called Ultralogistik. Centralised Supply chain management of Unilever: Unilever follows a centralised SCM to transport raw materials from all over the world, which requires it to comply with Incoterms of various countries like Singapore. Transportation of raw materials from different markets across the world involves high costs, risks and expenditure to manage the risks like insuring the goods. This requirement of quality sourcing of materials all over the world and control costs necessitates the multinational company to use Incoterm pricing methods to operate economically. The company primarily follows two popular price terms while importing goods as perm International Commercial Terms namely, CIF and FOB (Stapleton, Pande O'Brien, 2014). Unilever imports raw materials from all over the world using the Free On Board (FOB) method. The suppliers or sellers of the raw materials pay the expenses like freight and insurance and clear the goods at the port export. This shows that sellers load the ship according to the requirement of the buyer, Unilever (Nugroho, 2015). Thus Unilever can gain using FOB because it allows the company to take advantage of the differential freight rates to import raw materials from all over the world(Appendix). Centralised Distribution Chain Management: Unilever caters to customers all over the world, which requires it on hold, and manage distribution chains in all the markets. The distribution chain of Unilever is called Ultralogistik, which operates all over the world. The company sells its products to distributors and stockists, which also includes foreign distributors. The company sells and exports its products to overseas distributors using the CIF system. The Cost Insurance and Freight or CIF refers to the system when seller must pay the expenditure to export the goods to the destination markets. This analysis shows that using the CIF system, Unilever can decide the amount of expenditure it wants to spend on exporting the products. Moreover, according to the CIF system, the risk is transferred to the buyer after the goods the load onto the ship. This shows that when the goods are loaded on the ships, the risk is transferred from Unilever to the buyer (Nugroho, 2015). This analysis shows that Unilever is able to transport goods to and from different parts of the world using the Incoterms price rates to buy and sell goods all over the world. It can be recommended that the company must use the freight differences between countries as per Incoterm to buy raw materials at the lowest rates and sell the finished goods to the distributors at a higher rate. Carrier selection criteria: The transportation goal and needs of Unilever is to obtain high quality raw materials from all over the world at lower rates and transport the finished goods to the distributors at high rates to earn high profits. Thus, these carrier selection criteria play very important role when the company chooses its suppliers and transporters. The following are the transportation goals of the company: High quality raw materials: The first career selection criterion is to obtain variety of raw materials at cheaper rates. The multinational companies like Unilever Singapore require producing a variety of finished products, which they sell in the global market to earn revenue. As shown in the figure below, these companies as a result aim to acquire cheap but high quality raw materials from all across the world to produce this high quality finished products. For example, Unilever obtains raw materials like palm oil from Asia and cocoa butter from African countries. Thus, company requires transporting all these materials to its factories spread all over the world. An efficient transportation enables Unilever to transport these raw materials to its production plants at economic rates, which in turn enables it to reduce its cost of production. This helps Unilever to earn higher profit margin by cutting down production cost (afa?k Badal, 2013). Global distribution of the finished products: The second criterion of selecting carriers or transporters, which Unilever considers, is that they should enable the company to distribute the finished products throughout the world. Unilever manufactures diverse products like skin care products, food products and electronic products, which requires massive investment from it. The transport goal of the company is to distribute these goods all over the world to be able to sell them to a huge consumer base. This ensures that Unilever is able to gain high returns on the amount it invests to manufacture and market these products (Walker, 2016). High competitive advantage in the global market: The third criterion, which Unilever considers while selecting carriers, is, retention of high competitive advantage, which it owns internationally. The capacity of Unilever to transport raw materials at lower costs and finished goods all over the world decides its profit making power and global competitiveness. Unilever faces threats from both local and international FMCG firms from all its markets. This analysis shows, that its power to mobilise raw materials towards production and finished goods towards the consumer markets gives it competitive advantage over its rivals. Thus, the transport goal of Unilever over here is to gain competitive advantage in the global market (Huang, 2017). An analysis shows that Unilever has three transportation goals, obtain high quality raw materials, and ensure global distribution of its products and retaining its high global position. As per Incoterms, it requires to incur immense expenditure to transport the raw materials and the finished, both of which are perishable. The company has to invest a huge amount of money to insure the goods against the risks like spoilage and shipwreck. Thus, one can recommend that Unilever should use transporters who can provide it with ships with modern storage facilities at economic rates. This would enable Unilever to minimise the expenditure to transport the inventories and finished goods. The company would also be able to minimise the loss of goods due to shipwrecks and spoilage. It can also be recommended that the Unilever can gain shares of its important transporters. This would enable the company to gain transportation facilities from these companies at more economic rates. Career Relationship Management: Unilever maintains healthy professional relationship with all its transporters throughout the world. The following are the transportation goals or needs which the multinational company seeks to achieve by maintaining a steady business relationship with these transporters: Maintaining command over the raw material sources: Unilever maintains healthy relationships with the transporters supplying raw materials to maintain command over the raw materials sources. As pointed out, one of the criteria Unilever takes into account while selecting transporters is to maintain its hold over the international market. Hojnik and Ruzzier (2016) points out that this competitive advantage today depends large on the ability to obtain high quality raw materials from the suppliers and transporters. Unilever has powerful competitors all over the world that manufacture similar products hence, compete to obtain the similar kinds of raw materials. For example, Beaute Naturelle in Singapore manufactures and exports beauty products, thus competing with Unilever Singapore. The beauty products range Naturlle offers under the brand name SES competes with brands like Lakme and Ponds, which Unilever owns (mybeautenaturelle.com, 2017). Moreover, they use the similar raw materials. Analysis of the discussion shows that, this intense c ompetition in the FMCG market necessitates Unilever to maintain strong relationship with the transporters so that it can obtain raw materials of higher qualities than these competitors can, so that its finished products lead the markets. Maximum international market penetration: Unilever requires maintaining strong relationship with the transporters to distribute and sell its finished products all over the world. Chowdhury, Simu and Uddin (2016) point out that the competitive advantage of companies is dependent on their capacity to distribute their products all over the world as shown in the figure below. Unilever has to compete with international competitors like Procter Gamble in the perusal care segment and with Nestle in the food product segment. It must be pointed out that these two competitors are present in all the significant markets like Europe and North America. J. Contractor (2013), states that the multinational companies are increasing their presence in the emerging markets to maximise their revenue generation by catering to the increasing demands of these markets. Moreover, the local companies in the markets also compete with Unilever. This intense competition requires Unilever maintain strong relationship with the transporters to transport its finished products all over the world at economic prices (Huang, 2017). Sustainability: The third goal of Unilever to maintain healthy relationship with the transporters is obtain sustainability. Starik and Kanashiro (2013) points out that it has become very important for the multinational companies to gain sustainability. Sustainability has several implications like producing finished goods which are eco-friendly, adopting production methods which are less polluting and operating in ways to minimise expenditure. However, it must be pointed out that sustainability production methods and finished goods require Unilever to obtain sustainable raw materials from all over the world, which are far more expensive than their inorganic counterparts are. It can once again be reiterated that competitors of Unilever are also competing with it to obtain sustainability (Johnson, 2015). Kumar et al. (2017) further points that fake organic raw materials usage of which in finished goods is capable of damaging the market reputation of the manufacturing companies are widely available in t he market. This analysis shows that Unilever requires maintaining strong relationships with the transporters and suppliers of organic raw materials to ensure that it is able to acquire authentic eco-friendly raw materials. This would lead to minimum waste products, thus minimising the wastemanagement expenses of the company. The company would be able to use these authentic raw materials to manufacture high quality products for which it holds a high position in the international market (Wen, Yang Peng, 2017). The analysis shows that Unilever requires maintaining strong relationship with the transporters to obtain high quality raw materials, to achieve global market penetration of its finished goods and obtain authentic organic raw materials. It can be recommended that the multinational company should maintain strong relationship with multiple transporters in all its markets. One can also recommend that the company should aim to acquire some of its main organic raw materials transporter. This would ensure that the company has deeper access to organic raw materials at more economic rates. Conclusion: One can conclude from the above findings that multinational companies like Unilever require maintaining healthy relationships with transporters all round the world. They require following the Incoterms to acquire materials and distribute their finished goods globally. Unilever should maintain centralised selection criteria to acquire transporters. It should also maintain healthy long term relationship with these transporters. References: Chowdhury, M. A., Simu, T. H., Uddin, M. B. (2016). Performance Evaluation of LeadingFMCG Company in Sylhet Metro City: a Case Study on Selected Products of Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (RB) in Sylhet Region.Journal of Governance and Innovation,2(1). Hojnik, J., Ruzzier, M. (2016). The driving forces of process eco-innovation and its impact on performance: insights from Slovenia.Journal of Cleaner Production,133, 812-825. Huang, J. (2017). Sustainable Development of Green Paper Packaging.Environment and Pollution,6(2), 1. Incoterms - Incoterms 2010 Rules | Future Generali General Insurance. (2017).General.futuregenerali.in. Retrieved 20 November 2017, from https://general.futuregenerali.in/commercial-insurance/marine-insurance/incoterms Incoterms rules 2010 - ICC - International Chamber of Commerce. (2017).ICC - International Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved 18 November 2017, from https://iccwbo.org/resources-for-business/incoterms-rules/incoterms-rules-2010/ Contractor, F. (2013). Punching above their weight The sources of competitive advantage for emerging market multinationals.International Journal of Emerging Markets,8(4), 304-328. Johnson, M. P. (2015). Sustainability Management and Small and Medium?Sized Enterprises: Managers' Awareness and Implementation of Innovative Tools.Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management,22(5), 271-285. Kumar, V., Agrawal, T. K., Wang, L., Chen, Y. (2017). Contribution of traceability towards attaining sustainability in the textile sector.Textiles and Clothing Sustainability,3(1), 5. Nugroho, B. (2015). The use of CIF Incoterms in Indonesias import declarations.World Customs Journal, 91. Our products services | My Beaute Naturelle. (2017).Beaute Naturelle. Retrieved 18 November 2017, from https://mybeautenaturelle.com/our-products-and-services/ Our vision. (2017).Unilever global company website. Retrieved 18 November 2017, from https://www.unilever.com/about/who-we-are/our-vision/ afa?k, D., Badal, T. (2013). The economic efficiency of forest energy wood chip production in regional useA case study.Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis,61(5), 1391-1398. Stapleton, D. M., Pande, V., O'Brien, D. (2014). EXW, FOB OR FCA? Choosing the right Incoterm and why it matters to maritime shippers.Journal of Transportation Law, Logistics, and Policy,81(3), 227. Starik, M., Kanashiro, P. (2013). Toward a theory of sustainability management: Uncovering and integrating the nearly obvious.Organization Environment,26(1), 7-30. Starik, M., Kanashiro, P. (2013). Toward a theory of sustainability management: Uncovering and integrating the nearly obvious.Organization Environment,26(1), 7-30. Walker, W. T. (2016).Supply chain architecture: a blueprint for networking the flow of material, information, and cash. CrC Press. Wen, Z., Yang, F., Peng, M. (2017). Traceability System of Agricultural Products for Small and Medium-sized Farmers: Motivation Perspective.DEStech Transactions on Environment, Energy and Earth Science, (apeesd).

Weimar Republic Essays - Interwar Period, Chancellors Of Germany

Weimar Republic A path to a dead end: the Weimar Republic's inevitable failure and the rise of Hitler to power. There were various factors that contributed to the failure of the Weimar Republic of Germany and the ascent of Hitler's National Socialist German Workers Party into power on January 30, 1933. Various conflicting problems were concurrent with the eventuation of the Republic that, from the outset, its first governing body the socialist party (SPD) was forced to contend with. These included the aspect of German imperialism, the unresolved defeat of 1918, financial collapse and the forced struggle against the activities of the National party as well as inflation. Other factors which influenced the failure of Weimar were the structural weaknesses induced by the constitution and the basic lack of support for the Republic among the German people particularly amongst the elite. All in all, these aspects were the major causes which doomed the Weimar republic to ultimate failure and the eventual ascent of Hiller's nationalist party to power. The new socialist government of Weimar (SPD), whose constitution was adopted on July 30, 1919, entered a situation they by no means created. The period during which they were appointed to rule was associated with defeat and misery, and when disorder was nationwide. The situation then, was that of revolution. However, rather than to make a socialist revolution they co-operated with the liberals and with the catholic centre party to lead Germany in a reformed version of her old self. In June 1919, they voted to comply with the treaty of Versailles (the vindictive settlement imposed by the Paris peace conference). However, the signing of the Treaty served to promote protest and unrest amongst the soldiers, sailors and the German people generally, and democracy thus resulted in becoming an alien device. The imperial army, for instance, never got over the humiliation of surrender which they felt was a ?stab in the back' by their own countrymen. The sailors at Kiel mutinied in a last despe rate effort on October 28 and On November 9, 1919, the streets were filled with crowds marching to demonstrate at the centre of Berlin. Similarly, even before the contingency of these incidents, the centre party, a liberal group who were the coalition government of the acting SPD formed by Phillip Scheidemann, resigned rather than sign the Treaty of Versailles. Besides, German patriotism was strong, in particular because the German people believed they had fought a defensive war and were told their soldiers were ?unconquered in the field.' Therefore, the humiliating Treaty came as a rude shock to the German people who, correspondingly, blamed the politicians for betraying the soldiers in signing the armistice and saw them as compounding their treason by accepting the peace settlement. They spoke of the ?November criminals' and protested ?A nation of seventy million suffers, but does not die.? These factors propagated in the promotion of anti republican feeling, the conclusions of which were clearly reflected in the results of the election of June 1920. To illustrate, the SPD lost nearly half its seats (many to the USDP) and the right wing parties (DVP and DNVP) increased their share at the expense of the democrats. ?Defeated on the battlefield, defeated at the conference table, defeated at the polls, the republic embarked on its uncertain c areer.? Furthermore, compliance with the Treaty of Versailles meant that Germany would have to make reparation payments it could scarcely afford. This fact placed a heavy strain on the already suffering economy of Germany which was bankrupted by four years of war thus ensuing in the ascend of inflation and the occasioning of the respite of payments by Germany in 1922. ?In January the already traumatic climate in Germany was exacerbated by its evasiveness and reluctance to pay overdue reparations.? The French reacted by occupying the Ruhr, a major industrial area of Germany, in January 1923. This was felt a grave humiliation by the German people and eventuated in widespread discontent. ?The economic distress caused by the French occupation of the Ruhr and the German passive resistance was enormous.? Consequently, workers in the Ruhr mines and factories resisted by striking. However, Germany's currency was already fragile, and in face of the occurring circumstances

Clatonia Joaquin Dorticus Improves Photo Developing

Clatonia Joaquin Dorticus Improves Photo Developing Clatonia Joaquin Dorticus was born in Cuba in 1863 but made his home in   Newton, New Jersey. Little is known of his personal life, but he left an enduring legacy in innovations in developing photographic prints. He may or may not have been of Afro-Cuban descent. Photographic Print Inventions by Clatonia Joaquin Dorticus Dorticus invented an improved photographic print and negative wash machine. During the process of developing a photographic print or negative, the product is soaked in several chemical baths. The print wash neutralizes the chemicals in each bath process, so that the time the chemicals effect a print can be exactly controlled. Dorticus believed his method would eliminate over washing that could soften the photograph too much. The design would prevent the prints sticking to the side of the tank. His design saved water with an automatic register and automatic water shutoff. Using a removable false bottom on the washer and protected the prints and negatives from leftover chemicals and sediments in the tank. He filed for this patent on June 7, 1893. It is cited by examiners in five more patents for photographic film and print washers filed over the next 100 years. Dorticus also invented an improved machine for embossing photographs. His machine was designed to both/either mount or emboss a photographic print. Embossing is a method or raising parts of a photograph for a relief or 3D look. His machine had a bed plate, a die, and a pressure bar and bearings. He filed for this patent on July 12, 1894. It was referenced by two other patents in the 1950s. The patents for these two inventions were published only days apart in the spring of 1895, although they were filed about a year apart. List of Patents Issued to Clatonia Joaquin Dorticus Clatonia Joaquin Dorticuss other inventions included an applicator for applying color liquid dyes to the soles and heels of  shoes,  and a hose leak stop. #535,820, 3/19/1895, Device for applying coloring liquids to sides of soles or heels of shoes#537,442, 4/16/1895, Machine for embossing photographs#537,968, 4/23/1895, Photographic print washer#629,315, 7/18/1899, Hose leak stop Life of Clatonia Joaquin Dorticus Clatonia Joaquin Dorticus was born in Cuba in 1863. Sources say his  father was from Spain and his mother was born in Cuba.  The date at which he came to the United States is not known, but he was residing in Newton, New Jersey when he made several patent applications. He may also have gone by the first name of Charles rather than the uncommon Clatonia. He was married to Mary Fredenburgh and they had two children together. He is often noted on lists of   black American inventors  although he was listed in the 1895 New Jersey census as a white male. He may have been of Afro-Cuban descent with a light complexion. He died in 1903 at only 39 years of age. Not much else is known, and many short biographies note this. Learn more about the invention of photography and photo developing.

Using Verb Tenses in Chinese

Using Verb Tenses in Chinese Western languages such as English have several ways to express tense. The most common are verb conjunctions which change the form of the verb depending on the time frame. For example, the English verb eat can be changed to ate for past actions and eating for current actions. Mandarin Chinese does not have any verb conjugations. All verbs have a single form. For example, the verb for eat is Ã¥ Æ' (chÄ «), which can be used for the past, present, and future. Despite the lack of Mandarin verb conjugations, there are other ways to express timeframes in Mandarin Chinese. State the Date The simplest way to  clarify which tense you are speaking in is to directly state the time expression (like today, tomorrow, yesterday) as part of the sentence. In Chinese, this is usually at the beginning of the sentence. For example: æ˜ ¨Ã¥ ¤ ©Ã¦Ë†â€˜Ã¥ Æ'è ± ¬Ã¨â€šâ€°Ã£â‚¬â€šÃ¦Ëœ ¨Ã¥ ¤ ©Ã¦Ë†â€˜Ã¥ Æ'çÅ' ªÃ¨â€šâ€°Ã£â‚¬â€šZuà ³tiÄ n wÇ’ chÄ « zhÃ… « rà ²u.Yesterday I ate pork. Once the timeframe is established, it is understood and can be omitted from the rest of the conversation. Completed Actions The particle ä ºâ€  (le) is used to indicate that an action occurred in the past and has been completed. Like the time expression, it can be omitted once the timeframe has been established: (æ˜ ¨Ã¥ ¤ ©)我å Æ'è ± ¬Ã¨â€šâ€°Ã¤ ºâ€ Ã£â‚¬â€š(æ˜ ¨Ã¥ ¤ ©)我å Æ'çÅ' ªÃ¨â€šâ€°Ã¤ ºâ€ Ã£â‚¬â€š(Zuà ³tiÄ n) wÇ’ chÄ « zhÃ… « rà ²u le.(Yesterday) I ate pork. The particle ä ºâ€  (le) can also be used for the immediate future, so be careful of its usage and be sure to understand both functions. Past Experience When you have done something in the past, this action can be described with the verb-suffix  Ã© Å½ / è ¿â€¡ (guà ²). For example, if you want to say that you have already seen the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (è‡ ¥Ã¨â„¢Å½Ã¨â€" Ã© ¾ /Ã¥  §Ã¨â„¢Å½Ã¨â€" Ã© ¾â„¢ - wà ² hÇ” cng long), you can say: 我å · ²Ã§ ¶â€œÃ§Å"‹é Å½Ã¨â€¡ ¥Ã¨â„¢Å½Ã¨â€" Ã© ¾ Ã¦Ë†â€˜Ã¥ · ²Ã§ » Ã§Å"‹è ¿â€¡Ã¥  §Ã¨â„¢Å½Ã¨â€" Ã© ¾â„¢WÇ’ yÇ jÄ «ng kn guà ² wà ² hÇ” cng long. Unlike the particle ä ºâ€  (le), the verb suffix guà ² (é Å½ / è ¿â€¡) is used to talk about an unspecific past. If you want to say that you saw the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon yesterday, you would say: æ˜ ¨Ã¥ ¤ ©Ã¦Ë†â€˜Ã§Å"‹è‡ ¥Ã¨â„¢Å½Ã¨â€" Ã© ¾ Ã¤ ºâ€ Ã¦Ëœ ¨Ã¥ ¤ ©Ã¦Ë†â€˜Ã§Å"‹å  §Ã¨â„¢Å½Ã¨â€" Ã© ¾â„¢Ã¤ ºâ€ Zuà ³tiÄ n wÇ’ kn wà ² hÇ” cng là ³ng le. Completed Actions In The Future As mentioned above, the particle ä ºâ€  (le) can be used for the future as well as the past. When used with a time expression such as 明å ¤ © (mà ­ngtÄ «an - tomorrow), the meaning is similar to the English perfective. Take for instance: 明å ¤ ©Ã¦Ë†â€˜Ã¥ ° ±Ã¤ ¼Å¡Ã¥Å½ »Ã¥  °Ã¥Å'â€"ä ºâ€ Ã¦ËœÅ½Ã¥ ¤ ©Ã¦Ë†â€˜Ã¥ ° ±Ã¤ ¼Å¡Ã¥Å½ »Ã¥  °Ã¥Å'â€"ä ºâ€ Mà ­ngtiÄ n wÇ’ jià ¹ huà ¬ qà ¹ TibÄ›i le.Tomorrow I will have gone to Taipei. The near future is expressed with the combination of the particles è ¦  (yo - to intend); Ã¥ ° ± (jià ¹ - right away); or Ã¥ ¿ « (kui - soon) with the particle ä ºâ€  (le): 我è ¦ Ã¥Å½ »Ã¥  °Ã¥Å'â€"ä ºâ€ WÇ’ yo qà ¹ TibÄ›i le.Im just going to Taipei. Continuing Actions When an action is continuing to the present moment, the expressions æ ­ £Ã¥Å" ¨ (zhà ¨ngzi), æ ­ £ (zhà ¨ng) or Ã¥Å" ¨ (zi) can be used, along with the particle å‘ ¢ (ne) at the end of the sentence. This can look something like: 我æ ­ £Ã¥Å" ¨Ã¥ Æ'é £ ¯Ã¥â€˜ ¢WÇ’ zhà ¨ngzi chÄ «fn ne.I am eating. or 我æ ­ £Ã¥ Æ'é £ ¯Ã¥â€˜ ¢WÇ’ zhà ¨ng chÄ «fn ne.I am eating. or 我åÅ" ¨Ã¥ Æ'é £ ¯Ã¥â€˜ ¢WÇ’ zi chÄ «fn ne.I am eating. or 我å Æ'é £ ¯Ã¥â€˜ ¢WÇ’ chÄ «fn ne.I am eating. The continuative action phrase is negated with æ ² ¡ (mà ©i), and æ ­ £Ã¥Å" ¨ (zhà ¨ngzi) is omitted. The å‘ ¢ (ne), however, remains. For example: 我æ ² ¡Ã¥ Æ'é £ ¯Ã¥â€˜ ¢WÇ’ mà ©i chÄ «fn ne.I am not eating. Mandarin Chinese Tenses It is often said that Mandarin Chinese does not have any tenses. If tenses mean verb conjugation, this is true, since verbs in Chinese have an unchangeable form. However, as we can see in the above examples, there are many ways to express timeframes in Mandarin Chinese. The main difference in terms of grammar between Mandarin Chinese and European languages is that once a timeframe has been established in Mandarin Chinese, there is no longer any need for precision. This means sentences are constructed in simple forms without verb endings or other qualifiers. When talking to a native Mandarin Chinese speaker, Westerners may get confused with this lack of continuous precision. But this confusion arises from the comparison between English (and other Western languages) and Mandarin Chinese. Western languages require subject/verb agreements, without which the language will be glaringly wrong. Compare this with Mandarin Chinese, in which a simple statement can be in any timeframe, or express a question, or be an answer.

Concrete is a very common construction material. In Concrete Design, Essay

Concrete is a very common construction material. In Concrete Design, you learn the positives and negatives using concrete during construction - Essay Example Such use of concrete only serves to cater for the short and medium term needs and in some cases the long term solutions like the Los Angeles River Revitalization Project (Anthony, 2014). However, due to a change in time, tastes, functionality and the development of green initiatives in structures and building spaces, most of the built environment may require retrofitting. Concrete main advantage in construction is its ability to last the entire life cycle of a structure. It does not corrode easily and gains strength over time. However, the difficulty in retrofitting of concrete structures is the primary disadvantage of the use of concrete. Retrofitting of concrete structures is expensive, results in a lot of construction waste, and requires specialized equipment like the jackhammers(Anthony, 2014). Therefore, in order to make a concrete structure easier to retrofit the conceptualization, planning and design stage of the structures have to be clearly well thought out. This means the developers and the architects have to consider both the short and long-term uses of the structures. In addition, alternatives can be found in parts of structures that do not require concrete. For example, columns, pillars, beams require the use of concrete, on the other hand, wood or steel can be used for partitioning and floors. Flint, A. (2014, November 18). Ushering in an Era of Concrete Destruction. Retrieved from Atlantic Citylab Web site:

Blow. A Film Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Blow. A Film Analysis - Essay Example The character of Jung was portrayed by Johnny Depp. The film highlighted George Jung’s life as a drug dealer. It included the onset of his life as a dealer of marijuana in California until his climactic success in the setting up of the cocaine market in America. As a person, there were two major facets of his life, one was his family and another was his job. During the early part of his life, Jung’s father can be considered as a positive influence for him especially through the lessons that he had taught young Jung. He was a moral and hard working person who gave importance to integrity. This can be considered as one of the reasons that Jung grew up to be a person who works hard for his dream. Although this was the case, the young Jung had been a witness to the failure that occurred to his father in terms of his job which is followed by problems in his marriage. The movie explored the issue of drug abuse and the effects of illegal drug transactions. Although this was the main and apparent subject matter, one of the implied issues in the film is parenting. Being a parent had been one of the most important factors that affected the characters in the movie.Upon watching the movie Blow, there were different lessons that had been perceived. One was the importance of the guidance of the parents to the children. Another was the importance of choosing the goodness over other things such as money, influence and material comfort. As what George Jung said in the film, choosing money over loved ones was never worth it.

Situation Assessment of Various Response Teams Essay Example for Free

Situation Assessment of Various Response Teams Essay Situation Assessment of Various Response Teams Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Effective response to incidences obliges an appropriate planning approach that is founded on the disaster evaluation of the situation (Schwartz, 2013). Such a situation obliges a reaction on the planned emergency management process that is applied to the organization. This is aimed at ensuring that perilous assets of an organization are safeguarded from probable hazards (Salmon, Stanton, Jenkins Walker, 2011). Before the planning and the execution of the response, the assessment of the situation provides the requisite data for examination. This data assists in the evaluation of the usefulness of the existing emergency response tactics used by the organization. This prior situational assessment entails defining the needs and urgencies of the emergency response tactics that are utilized by the organization.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For effective decision-making, planning and control of the whole process, situational management becomes a vital element for application (Comfort, 2004). This management helps in undertaking of all the phases of disaster response through facilitating ease of planning and orchestrating of effective recovery strategies. This memo sets to describe the steps that one would take to conduct the assessment as the starting point. It also discusses the key success factors in the management of large, multi-agency as well as multi-jurisdictional response programs. Further, it discusses numerous ways of determining success of the response. In addition, the memo entails an elucidation of how drills and tests that precisely evaluate the key factors for response can be designed. Steps That One Would Take To Conduct the Postmortem   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The first step, in undertaking the assessment, is defining objectives followed by terms of reference. In this step, the assessor ruminates on the reasons of the assessment practice. The objectives of the assessment activity, the questions that require answers and the entailed activities are defined. The required outcomes from the assessment are specifically determined at this step. The assessor is advised to be realistic as possible when carrying out this activity. As Comfort (2004), gauging the minimum amount of information that is required to attain the necessary output is vital to this step. The assessor then thinks about the end user of the information obtained from the assessment and, in this case; the senior government officials concerned with the disaster event response.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The next step involves choosing the kind of assessment to be applied. There are usually three types of assessment that can be applied namely; rapid, detailed and continual assessments (Salmon, Stanton, Jenkins Walker, 2011). Rapid assessment is executed during major disruptions such as after the occurrence of an earthquake. Detailed assessment is carried out on various occasions such as after a rapid assessment, on the situation where detailed information is required and when the situation under scrutiny keeps on changing gradually. Continual assessment is done after a detailed assessment has been carried out. According to Schwartz (2013), this kind of assessment involves updating information on the current situation and demanding for the relevant feedback from the involved is vital.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The third step is deciding on whether or not to involve partners in the assessment. At point, an individual decides on whether to undertake the assessment on their own or with partners. Partners may either be internal or external depending on the sensitivity of the assessment being carried out and needs of the assessment (Comfort, 2004). When internal partners are involved, their capacities and roles should be considered. Also, their actual roles in the exercise should be defined precisely. Involving external partners call for a joint assessment that has some benefits. These benefits are; improved coordination and cooperation in the planning, efficient use of resources and reduced assessment fatigue (Jensen, 2011). A joint assessment calls for appropriate divisions of responsibilities as per the agreement of the partners.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the next step in undertaking a detailed review of the secondary information, every assessor is obliged to undertake a comprehensive review of the available secondary information on the subject of assessment (Comfort, 2004). The information entails the background information, and the information in direct relation to the issues identified in terms of reference (Salmon, Stanton, Jenkins Walker, 2011). It also involves the information pertaining to the sources and type of latest changes. This information helps in grasping the initial idea of the assessment and the related problems that the assessor might experience.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The other step is the collection of information pertaining to the ongoing responses of the team. At this point, choosing the best method of collecting the actual information pertaining to the performance of the various response teams is vital (Schwartz, 2013). This is so because the correct methodology ensures that only the right information pertaining to the situation is obtained. This endeavor obliges for gathering all the appropriate means in terms of resources, logistics, human and time (Jensen, 2011). In the possession of these resources, all the needed information can be obtained with ease. After compiling, the information pertaining to the assessment activity is presented to the recipients, in this case, the senior government officials. The presentation must be simple and should present a detailed understanding of the activities of various response teams. The Key Success Factors   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are several basic success factors that are evident in response programs. These factors ensure that emergency operations fulfill the projected aims and objectives of alleviation, reaction and recovery (Comfort, 2004). The main aim of incident response is to ensure a rapid and effective recovery from a security event. In addition, the response gears towards decreasing the impacts inflicted by the threat or disruption to normal functioning of facilities where the incidence has occurred. A systematic approach plan executed in line with the standard measures of corporeal security is applied with an aim of mitigating the probability of reoccurrence of the event.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the crucial success factors, towards managing large, multi-agency and multi-jurisdictional response programs, is inter-agency communication (Salmon, Stanton, Jenkins Walker, 2011). This type of communication is done on the basis of a collective framework. As Jensen (2011) asserts, collaboration among agencies is crucial in guaranteeing effective disaster response. For this reason, the communication among these agencies should be flexible to guarantee a consistent communication framework. This framework ensures that the collaboration between the private sector and the government is at its best for effective management of national calamities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This happens regardless of the magnitude, geographical location and causation of the disaster. Also, the joint system of information management assists in enhancing public communication by relaying the information pertaining to a disaster accurately and in time to the public (Jensen, 2011). This cross-communication facilitates the meeting of various response team communicators whose aim is to develop, organize and deliver a common message relating to the event. Such meetings facilitate the elimination of delivery of dissimilar information relating to an event by the government and non-governmental agencies. The purpose of inter-agency communication is not only to facilitate effort coordination of various jurisdictions, but also guarantees joint decision-making framework. The framework is founded on the goals and aims, mete tactics and plans, public communications, and the primaries during the occurrence of the event (Schwartz, 2013). This aids in improving the efficiency of readiness for a disaster and the response of various agencies. This way, successful response to an event, the recovery from that event and prevention of its reoccurrence is guaranteed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The second key success factor is effective reporting procedures of the disaster event. The procedures, of reporting a disaster event, are vital in enhancing the efficacy of response actions to the event (Comfort, 2004). An efficacy reporting procedure is grounded on the fundamental facets of effective communications that guarantee to extend to the largest audience possible. The reporting of the disaster event must be fast enough so as to mitigate any probable losses that may emanate from the event (Kellams, 2007). For this reason, utilization of effective reporting networks and procedures which manifest minimum constraints. These procedures are obliged to conform to the evacuation policies usually applied when all physical security bounds have been entirely overwhelmed (Kellams, 2007). These policies advocates for adequate communication of the incident, suppression of the destruction imposed by the event and mitigation of eminent risks thr ough safeguard crucial assets.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The third key success factor is effective management of resources. Effective response programs oblige for effective management of resources. This exercise primarily starts with the identification of the resources that are available at all levels of jurisdiction (Schwartz, 2013). The identification is followed by classifying, transmitting, tracking and reception of resources. All these activities call for effective management so as to facilitate timely delivery of these resources and prevention of wastage. This way, the preparation, reaction and recovery process of the disaster event is effectively carried out devoid of impediments (Comfort, 2004). Resource management should also entail the various agreements among several agencies who form response teams for effective resource mobilization. This way, the effect brought about by the disaster event is minimized, and the recovery strategies become more effective.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The fourth basic success factor is enhanced public communication. At this point, crucial media relations should be cultivated in ensuring effective communication of the disaster event to the public (Kellams, 2007). During initial stages of reacting to disaster and recovery operations, the involved teams should are obliged to establish communication channels that are capable of reaching the victims with swiftness. In most cases, effective public communication is usually realized through the use of low-price and low-tech networks (Kellams, 2007). This is so because they are believed to be the most effective and are easily accessed by the victims of a disaster event. Some examples of such cheap communication channels that can be used are; megaphones, community radios and the Systems of Public Address. Measuring the Success of the Response   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A given response to a disaster event is said to be successful only if it achieves its primary aims and objectives (Kellams, 2007). In all instances, the primary aim and objective of all response programs are to mitigate the potential damage affiliated with the event on human life and belongings by emphasizing on safety. In determining the success of the response, several variables can be used as discussed below.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The first way, of measuring the success of the response, is through the analysis of the depth of losses incurred after the event and comparison of it to the recovery depth (Kellam, 2006). The extent of loss is measured through the number of sustained fatal injuries, the minor injuries, and the reported total deaths. This is followed then by identification of the magnitude of loss affiliated with the event in terms of property (Comfort, 2004). This way, it is easier to assess the achievement of the response and recovery attempts put in place by the collaborating multi-agency teams. Effective responses to disastrous events are always geared towards minimizing the impacts of the event and to aid in the realization of the best possible recovery plan. Also, these responses aim at preventing such disasters in the future. Assessing the initial possibility of the occurrence of the losses incurred compared to the assessment of the future occurrence of such an event is crucial. This is so because, it becomes easier to determine the success of the response (RodriÃŒ guez, Quarantelli Dynes, 2006).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The second way through which the success of the response is determined is through the evaluation of the level of collaboration between all the stakeholders. In the case of a disaster event, the stakeholders are the public, the government, as well as the response agencies (Comfort, 2004). Successful responses to events depend on the level of collaboration of all the above-mentioned stakeholders. This is so because each of the collaborators must take their part seriously and execute it with utmost articulation for a successful response program. For this reason, there must exist an effective communication channel among the stakeholders (Sadovich, 2007). This ensures that each fulfills their part without intruding into other stakeholder’s jurisdiction.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The stakeholders who have a common picture of the event and who worked tirelessly together throughout the whole response program is an indication of a successful response program (Gardner, 2013). This collaboration can only be guaranteed through effective communication among the stakeholders that in turn ensures effective resource management, sharing of responsibilities and planning of activities. When the above mentioned three activities become effective, the success of the response program is guaranteed. For this reason, establishment of the level of collaboration is an important measure of the success of response programs (Sadovich, 2007).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The third measure of the success of the response is an assessment of the time of distraction of the normalcy of the response. As Gardner (2013) asserts, a successful response to a disaster event usually occurs within the shortest time possible to guarantee minimum distraction of the operation of vital facilities during its execution. The minimum disruption is guaranteed through effective communication, better allocation of tasks among the multi-agency teams and effective allocation of resources. If a response program takes long to be accomplished, it means that there is a problem with one or even more of the three aforementioned perspectives. A prolonged response program may create a lot of disruptions of the critical facilities. To this end, the program may be termed as ineffective and thus unsuccessful. When all aspects of implementation of the program are well coordinated, there is minimum disruption of the crucial infrastructure (Gardn er, 2013). When this minimum disruption occurs, the response program is said to be successful. For this reason, the magnitude and duration of the disruption of crucial facilities is one of the metrics for assessing the success of a response program. Designing Drills and Tests for Evaluating Key Success Factors   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The primary use of drills and tests is to evaluate the perilous success factors in the implementation of disaster response program. For this reason, the drills and tests are developed in accordance with the objectives and aims of the response program. First, the evaluation of inter-agency communication during the implementation response program necessitates an examination of the roles and accountabilities of different agencies that are collaborating. For this reason, individual contribution of the agencies must be accounted for during the evaluation of the success of inter-agency collaboration (Gardner, 2013).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Secondly, it is a must that the communication platforms used by different agencies in the process are evaluated. This way, it becomes easier to know different communication platforms that were used by different agencies who were collaborating. The agencies may have used a single platform of communication, or each may have used their independent platform. In most cases for national incidences, the use of a universal platform is encouraged. This is so because it is associated with prominence in managing emergency incidences. To this end, communication platforms are vital ingredients in designing drills and tests. To add on this, the preparedness to disaster is improving because of the use of uniform procedures in response teams reinforced by the application of the universal language. The standardization aspect also emphasizes on the use a set of universal techniques and information systems (Gardner, 2013). The two are developed to boost the operation of entities during the implementation of the response program. In addition, the two aspects serve as a strategic methodology that is used to facilitate effective management of operations during the program. The process of evaluating the efficiency of inter-agency teamwork and communication considerably rest on flexibility of appropriate implementation (Gardner, 2013). This flexibility relies on the progress of a chain of command that the government and non-governmental agencies adopt during the management of the occurrence.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Evaluation of efficient program response is carried out by assessing the base on which the channels of communication used are oriented (Jensen, 2011). These communication channels should be in line with the evacuation policies and techniques. For this reason, communication as a drill and test of evaluating the basic success factor of the response program is designed to conform to the laid down policies and techniques. The reporting of the disaster event should be done based on the real time of occurrence. The accuracy in reporting procedure and of the relayed information pertaining to the event is highly emphasized (Jensen, 2011). In evaluating the success of this factor, we base our information magnitude of the target population of the reporting. For this reason, a critical assessment of communication channels that were utilized during the response and their respective effectiveness in reaching the prospected audience is vital. Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In conclusion, this memo describes the steps that one would take to conduct assessing the performance of several response teams during a disaster event. These steps are; definition of objectives followed by terms of references, choosing the type of assessment to be used and deciding on involvement of partners. Other steps are; review of the secondary information, collection of information pertaining to the ongoing response and the presentation of the findings as well as recommendations to the officials. Also, the memo discusses some key success factors in managing large, multi-jurisdictional, as well as multi-agency response programs. These factors are universal framework inter-agency communication, efficient reporting and techniques, public communication and effective management of resources. Further, there is a discussion of various measures success of the response programs. These measures are the extent of loss caused by the disaster, t he level of collaboration during the program, and the duration of the disruption of normal operation of crucial infrastructures. Further, the last section discusses on how drills and tests, of evaluating key success factors, can be designed. This process, as discussed above, involves analyzing the roles and responsibilities bestowed on various agencies forming the team, and an evaluation response techniques and policies. References Comfort, L. (2004). Coordination in Rapidly Evolving Disaster Response Systems: The Role of Information. American Behavioral Scientist, 48(3), 295-313. doi:10.1177/0002764204268987 Gardner, S. (2013). Multi-Site Disaster Response and Coordination Best Practices. Rxresponse.org. Retrieved 21 January 2015, from http://www.rxresponse.org/news/blog/multi-site-disaster-response-and-coordination-best-practices Jensen, J. (2011). The Current NIMS Implementation Behavior of United States Counties. Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 8(1). doi:10.2202/1547-7355.1815 Kellams, C. (2007). NIMS and Homeland Security Field Guides. Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 4(1). doi:10.2202/1547-7355.1321 Rodriguez, H., Quarantelli, E., Dynes, R. (2006). Handbook of disaster research. New York: Springer. Sadovich, J. (2007). Review Disaster Resilience: An Integrated Approach. Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 4(4). doi:10.2202/1547-7355.1397 Salmon, P., Stanton, N., Jenkins, D., Walker, G. (2011). Coordination during multi-agency emergency response: issues and solutions. Disaster Prevention and Management, 20(2), 140-158. doi:10.1108/09653561111126085 Schwartz, K. (2013). Testimony before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security Governmental Affairs: The Boston Marathon Bombings. Source document

Response to Speech Titled An American Success Story -- Nakasian

Dear Mr. Nakasian, Your speech has been capable of showing people your thoughts and ideas on â€Å"An American Success story†. In â€Å"An American Success storyâ€Å", you tell your audience that forty years ago you entered America through a U.S. District Court in New York. I believe that the U.S. District Court is in the same area as the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. You spoke of applying and receiving your American Citizenship, then going through an honored ceremony. Also you spoke of the meanings and feelings that this Certificate has expressed on you, which showed your public viewers. Well as much as your viewers see this speech, personally I do not agree with you on some levels of your speech being a well rounded and believable description of â€Å"An American Success Story†. You state only your experiences not knowing what anyone else went through nor giving any examples of anyone else’s experiences. Mr. Nakasian, my opinion of you is constructed of an idealistic person who wants to believe everything that comes out of your mouth. In your speech of an â€Å"American Success Story†, you speak about cherishing your certificate for forty years. You announced your meaning of this certificate as a very special item to you because no other country offers as much as this certificate guarantees. Also you spoke of escaping discrimination by coming to America and having the guarantee of religious beliefs and personal freedom. You set down experiences about yourself, how you went through a poor life and then becoming orphaned shortly after arriving in the United States. In your speech, you discussed your dream of becoming a lawyer and making progress: educationally, professionally and economically. Also an interesting point you have made to y... ...sion as shows, movies, commercials and so on. Also it is harder for immigrants to find a job, especially if they have accents. For example, even immigrants with an education who have an accent have closed doors to job opportunities because they are not of the same kind and an accent make’s it harder to identify someone. Think about it people will not always be nice to you in this world, maybe you were just hit with a simple bit of luck. Many things in American society is not as always great as people might seem to think they are, which gives people a different vibe about America such as you Mr. Nakasian. Although people know there is no country that provides each person with better opportunities than America. I just do not completely agree with your presentation, as the United States being an ideal country because people don’t give us enough information.

Having a Healthy Life

Health is the optimal aim that every person is looking for. However, having a healthy life is not easy. Researchers believe that more than half of disease is linked to individual's behaviors (Ryan ; Sawin, 2009). People can reduce the probability of being sick or living with chronic symptoms by engaging in health behavior and controlling their desires and habits (Ryan ; Sawin, 2009). From this perspective and by reviewing a ten years peer-reviewed published papers, Ryan, a post-doctoral student, was thinking of developing a theory that assists individuals to reach a sustainable change in their unhealthy behaviors.Integrated Theory of Health Behavior Change (ITHBC) is an example of descriptive midrange theories that concentrate on practice. In contrast, grand theories are more generalized and not focused on practical section (Ryan ; Sawin, 2009). ITHBC is compiled from multi concepts from deferent theories. For instance, the theory of reason Action which focus on intention, health belief model, and social cognitive theory that consider environmental factors to impact behavior change (Ryan ; Sawin, 2009). ITHBC is a patient-centered intervention that is more effective than standardized interventions in facilitating health behavior change.ITHBC assumed that behavior change is a repeated, changeable theory. Also, it is mandatory to have a desire and to be motivated by behavioral change. In addition, self-evaluation maintains progress and social support influences individual's desire. The theory has a short-term outcome which is engagement in healthy behavior, and it has a long-term outcome which is health improvement (Ryan & Sawin, 2009)The Primary constructs of ITHBC are knowledge and beliefs, self-regulation skills and abilities, and social facilitation. All the three components assist to emerge in a behavior of self-management which is the proximal outcome in order to reach the distal outcome which is good health status. Knowledge and beliefs construct is composed of behavior-specific knowledge, self-efficacy, outcome expectancy and goal congruence. The construct of self-regulation skills and abilities comprises the processes of decision-making, planning for and engaging in specific behaviors, self-monitoring and reflective thinking, self-evaluation, goal setting, and the management of physical, emotional, and cognitive responses associated with health behavioral change. Social facilitation contains the concepts of social support, social influence and active collaboration related to health outcomes among individuals, relatives and health practitioners (Ryan & Sawin, 2009). The study of testing the Integrated Theory of Health Behavioral Change for postpartum weight management aimed to investigate the relationship between the constructs of the ITHBC and how they influence weight self-management of women after giving a birth. (Ryan et al., 2011). The sample size was 250 postpartum women. Only 179 women completed the follow-up questionnaire and they were, African American, Latina, and White women, and they were classified based on their weight into normal weight, overweight, and obese.The strength of this paper is by giving a view of weight self-management after having a baby requiring active engagement and management. Further, The THBC is a good tool in framing weight self-management in the context of health behavior self-management, and it supports the impact of race on weight self-management. In contrast, the weak points are the study constructs need a tool to measure the components of the theory for postpartum weight management. In addition, it did not test the whole theory constructs like the distal outcome.

”I am Australian” by Bruce Woodley Essay

Poem Analysis – I am Australian by Bruce Woodley and My Country by Dorothea Mackellar The two poems that I have chosen to analyse are â€Å"I am Australian Written by Bruce Woodley and Dobe Newton and â€Å"My country† written by Dorothea Mackellar. Both poems portray the love for the country and the sense of belonging as both of these writers are Australian born bush poets. The poem â€Å"I am Australian† relates to the concept of belonging to and national identity. Repetition of ‘I Am Australian’ reinforces this, imagery of the environment and creates a link between the nation and the self, and thus the person is intimately connected to the country. The Poem is about celebrating diversity in Australia, between the people and the land. The second poem â€Å"My Country† by Dorothea Mackellar portrays the beauty of the Australian outback landscape and she declares her love of the country. It was written in order to inform people about the beauty and the wilderness of this country. Both of these poems relate to the theme of belonging t o the country Australia. The techniques I will be using for analysis are rhyme, language, imagery and form. In the ‘I am Australian’ song which goes – â€Å"we are one, but we are many† it can be seen as an expression of cultural inclusion. It tells us the story of a nation of immigrants .The first stanza is like an extended metaphor for example, I came from the dreamtime From the dusty red-soil plains I am the ancient Heart All of these create a visual representation in the readers mind about the country. Repetition of â€Å"I am Australian† reinforces this, imagery of the environment and creates a link between the nation and the person thus one feels connected to the country. I believe the song is about celebrating diversity in Australia, between the people and the land. It describes the people as being an aborigine, a digger’s daughter, a battler, a bushy and so on. It describes the land as being as diverse as the people, but one common thing they all have in common is they are Australian. The verses of the song speak with pride of the values, traditions and accomplishments of the Australia, including our proud indigenous history. In the second poem ‘My Country’, Dorothea Mackellar portrays the beauty of her country; Australia. Dorothea Mackellar uses imagery technique like alliteration, for example, â€Å"for flood and fire and famine to characterise rural Australian Life and  repetition of words or phrases like â€Å"core of my heart, my country!† to show a sense of belonging. The poem is full of metaphors, for example â€Å"an opal-hearted country†. Some metaphors include personification. For instance, she uses â€Å"her† for nature and regards nature as a mother or woman. Moreover, this illustrates her love of Australia. Australia is not just a piece of land to this poet; she has a relationship with this land, and that is why she refers to it as if it were a person. In her poem Dorothea personifies Australia.† She portrays Australia as beautiful because of this wildness. This is conveyed in the phrase â€Å"my love is otherwise† that concludes the stanza on England, and the phrase â€Å"I love a sunburnt country† that introduces the following stanza on Australia. This illustrates her love of Australia. Australia is not just a piece of land to this poet; she has a relationship with this land, and that is why she refers to it as if it were a person. Dorothea’s poem uses language in a way that differs from our ordinary expression whereas Woodley and Newton use free verse and there is chorus. In â€Å"I am Australian, there is more focus on outback whereas â€Å"my country† is more about Mother Nature. Dorothy uses more personification than Woodley and Newton. Moreover, Woodley and Newton have made reference to real life Australian life identity such as Ned Kelly, Matilda, Clancy and Albert Namajera which alludes to Australian Identity Whereas Dorothea mostly uses personification. In conclusion, I have found that both of these poems refer to typical Australian lifestyles such as, being free, living around native Australian icons and having an Australian Identity and have a sense of belonging to Australia. This key point is to be proud of being an Australian which will help to have a positive Australian identity. Both writers show their pride of belonging to Australian.

What was life like for the first humans Essay Example

What was life like for the first humans Essay Example What was life like for the first humans Essay What was life like for the first humans Essay First humans were extermely resistant. When we think of todays „low temperaturesâ€Å" which vary from -10 degrees celsius to 0, we already freeze. First humans lived in ice age on much worse temperatures. If were hungry we would go to store and buy some food. Our ancestors had to hunt for several days, and they used elementary tools. There was a possibilty that they would not bring anything home, or that theyd not come home. Their life was very hard and we cannot even imagine it.In the beginning first humans ate meat and plants they found. As time went by they started hunting, and they discovered that meat they would hunt is tastier than the meat they would found. Therefore they started hunting more and almost stopped searching for left-over meat. When first humans discovered fire, some of them dropped a part of meat onto fire and that someone tasted it – and found out that it is even more delicious. In meantime they discovered that seeds grow if planted to earth, and that seed will grow into tree full of crops. Thats how agriculture was developed. Later on they domesticated animals. First humans had good solutions concerning food, but food should be hunted. Thats where weapons appear.They were forced to make their own weapons, so they took stones and shaped them. In the beginning they used plain stones, which didnt show up as the best weapon. In some fight, one stone broke, so hunter took a part of stone and attacked the animal – and what wonder, he caught it easily. From that moment on they start manufacturing weapons, but stone wasnt just used for fight – it was used for clothes and shoes manufacturing and for agriculture. Various types of shaped stones was made. Later on theyd tie a stone for a tip of a wood and they got new weapon – today known as the spear.;There was one factor left in jigsaw of survival and that was shelter. People needed something to be open to one side and closed from other three sides, to be waterpr oof and to protect from weather and animals. First solution was the cave. The cave had its advantages and disadvantages. Advantages were that it offered shelter, but disadvantage was that some animals lived in caves.   Some caves were so deep that it would take days to be searched and earthquakes could happen which would tear the cave apart. However caves were their best choice and if first humans had all three parts of jigsaw – food, weapons and shelter, they would be able to survive.From everything written above we can see that life for early humans was very tough and difficult and that we cant even imagine that kind of life.   They survivived by living in communities, helping each other and sharing daily business. These people continued to fight and if they didnot we would not stand here today.

Whats a Good PSAT Score for 2016 Expert Analysis

What's a Good PSAT Score for 2016 Expert Analysis SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you took the PSAT in October of 2016, then you got your scores back in mid-December, just before winter break. Your PSAT score report gives you a few different score types, including your total scores, section scores, and Selection Index. With all this data, how can you sort through the numbers to figure out what is a good PSAT score? This guide will go over the full scoring system of the PSAT so you know exactly what makes a good score. Let’s start with a quick glossary explaining the various types of PSAT scores on your score report. Types of PSAT Scores: A Glossary At first glance, your PSAT score reportcan look pretty confusing. You’re going to see all sorts of scoresdescribing how you did. If you don’t know what each type of score means, then you’ll be left with little understanding of how you performedon the PSAT. There will be six main pieces of data on your PSAT score report: your scaled total scores, section scores, raw scores, subscores, Selection Index, and percentiles. Here’s what all of these terms mean: Scaled total scores: your total scores on the PSAT that range between 320 and 1520. Half of the total score comes from the Math sections, and the other half comes from Evidence-based Reading and Writing (i.e., the Reading and Writing and Language sections together). Scaled section scores: two scores, one for Math and one for Evidence-based Reading and Writing, both of which fall between 160 and 760. Section (test) scores: three scores, one for Math, one for Reading, and one for Writing and Language, all of which fall between 8 and 38. Subscores: seven scores that all range between 1 and 15. Subscores tell you how you did on certain types of questions, some of which appear across two or more sections of the PSAT. You’ll get a subscore for questions that fallinto these seven categories: Command of Evidence, Words in Context, Expression of Ideas, Standard English Conventions, Heart of Algebra, Problem Solving and Data Analysis, and Passport to Advanced Math. Raw scores: three scores, one for each PSAT section, that represent the number of questions you got right. The ranges for raw scores vary by section. You can get a maximum raw score of 48 for Math, 47 for Reading, and 44 for Writing and Language. Selection Index: one score that ranges from 48 to 228. Your selection index is the sum of your three section scores between 8 and 38 multiplied by 2 ((section score + section score + section score) x2). The National Merit Scholarship Distinction uses Selection Index to award Commended Student and Semifinalist status. Percentiles: your ranking, represented as a percent, compared to other test-takers. Percentiles tell you what percentage of other students you scored the same as or better than. If you score in the 80th percentile, then you scored the same as or better than 80% of other test-takers. So, there you have it, all of the data on your not-so-straightforward PSAT score report. Out of all of these different score types, are any more important than others? If you find yourself confused about the different types of PSAT scores, scroll back up to review the definitions above! Which PSAT Scores Are Most Important? All of these PSAT score types are useful in different ways, but the most important ones for understanding how you did are your scaled total and section scores. As you saw above, you can score a max of 1520 on the PSAT or 760 in each section. While the Reading and Writing and Language sections are separate when you take the PSAT, they’re combined to bring you one scaled section score. Because these two sections unite, your total scores are made up of half math and half verbal. The other important piece of data for students competing for National Merit distinction is the Selection Index. NMSC sets a different cutoff for each state to decide who becomes Commended Student and Semifinalist. The top 1% of scorers in each state are named Semifinalists, and they couldmove on to become Finalists and win scholarship money. Finally, your non-scaled section scores, raw scores, and subscores are most useful for giving you detailed insight into how you did on the PSAT. These scores reveal how you did on each section and question type. This kind of understanding is especially helpfulwhen you go on to study for the SAT, as they show your strengths and weaknesses as a test-taker. By looking at these scores, you can figure out where you most need to improve, whether, for instance, you need to work on the Writing and Language section or more specifically, â€Å"Command of Evidence† questions. By the way, your section scores and scaled scoresaren't totally unrelated. You can easily convert your section scores between 8 and 38 to your scaled scores between 160 and 760. To get your verbal scores, add your Reading and Writing and Language section scores together and multiply by 10. To get your math scaled scores, simply multiply your section scores by 20. To get your total scores, add your two scaled section scores together. Consider this example, where the student gota 28 in Reading, a 32 in Writing and Language, and a 34 in Math. Test Section (Test) Score Scaled Section Score Total Score Reading 28 (28 + 32) * 10 = 600 600 + 680 = 1280 Writing and Language 32 Math 34 34 * 20 = 680 The different score ranges aren’t completelyrandom, but rather are related to one another. Now that you have the tools to sort through your PSAT score report, let’s go back to our original, million-dollar question: what makes a good score on the PSAT? Read on to find out. As you can see, the different PSAT scores aren't totally unrelated. They fit together like pieces in a puzzle. What Makes a Good Score on the PSAT? Before we can answer thequestion of â€Å"what’s a good score on the PSAT,† we first need to define what we mean by â€Å"good.† Good is a subjective term, and everyone will have their own personal goals for the PSAT. To help us find some answers, let’s define good in three ways. First, â€Å"good† can mean that you scored better than 50% or more of other test-takers. Based on this definition, we can use percentiles to figure out what makes an above-average PSAT score. Second, we can define â€Å"good† PSAT scores as scores thatqualifyfor National Merit. Actually, qualifying for National Merit means that you got excellent, amazing, near-perfect PSAT scores. We’ll discuss what you need to get in greater detail below. Finally, we’ll consider what colleges are looking for in terms of SAT scores. The PSAT is a very similar test to the SAT, so your score can help you figure out whether you’re on track to getting the scores you need for your colleges of choice. Starting with our first set of criteria, let’s consider PSAT percentiles. How do PSAT scores correspond to percentiles? One person's favorite activity could be another person's nightmare. What makes something good, like a PSAT score, can be subjective. How Do PSAT Scores Correspond to Percentiles? Full Chart Percentiles compare your scores to those of other test-takers. If you score in the 75th percentile, then you scored the same as or better than 75% of other students. The remaining 25% scored better than you. The highest possible percentile on the PSAT is the 99th percentile. You don’t have to get a perfect PSAT score to land in the 99th percentile. We don’t yet have percentile data for the October 2016 administration of the PSAT, but we can look at percentiles from the 2015 PSAT. They don’t change much, if at all, from year to year. Here’s the full chart that shows how PSAT scaled section scores compare, usingpercentiles. PSAT Section Score Reading and Writing Percentile Math Percentile 760 99+ 99+ 750 99+ 99+ 740 99+ 99 730 99+ 98 720 99 98 710 99 97 700 99 97 690 98 96 680 98 96 670 97 95 660 96 94 650 95 93 640 94 93 630 92 92 620 91 90 610 89 89 600 86 88 590 84 86 580 82 83 570 79 80 560 77 78 550 74 74 540 71 70 530 67 66 520 63 61 510 59 59 500 54 55 490 50 50 480 47 45 470 43 39 460 39 36 450 35 33 440 32 27 430 28 23 420 25 19 410 23 16 400 21 14 390 18 11 380 15 8 370 11 6 360 9 5 350 7 4 340 5 3 330 4 1 320 2 1 310 1 1 300 1 1 290 1- 1 280 1- 1 270 1- 1 260 1- 1 250 1- 1 240 1- 1 230 1- 1- 220 1- 1- 210 1- 1- 200 1- 1- 190 1- 1- 180 1- 1- 170 1- 1- 160 1- 1- As you can see, percentiles work slightly differently for Math and Evidence-based Reading and Writing, with Math being a little more competitive at most score levels. For instance, a verbal score of 700 ranks in the 99th percentile, whereas you’d need a 740 in math to score in the 99th percentile. This variation happens because more students get top scores in the math section than they do in the verbal section. For the most part, though, the two section scores correspond to percentiles in a similar way. Using this chart, let’s pick out what you have to score in each section to get a â€Å"good† PSAT score in a higher than average percentile. Using percentiles is a competitive, but useful way of figuring out what makes a good score on the PSAT. What Is a Good PSAT Score Based on Percentiles? If we define a good score as one that's competitive, we can use percentiles to figure outout what scores rank higher than the majority of other test-takers. To rank in the 50th percentile, you’d need a 490 in both sections. What about to rank in the 70th, 80th, 90th, or even 99th percentiles? Here are the section scores you’d need to score higher than the majority of other students. Percentile Reading and Writing Score Math Score Composite Score 70% 540 540 1080 80% 580 570 1150 90% 620 620 1240 99% 700 740 1440 Oddly enough, you’d have to score slightly higher in the verbal section than the math to make it into the 80th percentile. To make it into the 99th percentile, though, you’d have to score 40 points higher in math than in verbal. If you’re a strong test-taker aiming for National Merit, then a good PSAT to you would be one that qualifies for Commended Student or Semifinalist. Read on to learn what is a good PSAT score for National Merit distinction. What’s a Good PSAT Score for National Merit? The National Merit Scholarship Corporation distinguishes students who get top scores on the PSAT. Students who score in the top 3% to 4% are named Commended Students, and students who get top 1% scores are named Semifinalist. NMSC doesn’t rely on percentiles, though, but on itsSelection Index. Each state has its own Selection Index cutoff that students need to make to qualify for National Merit. Before showing you all of the cutoffs, let’s review how your Selection Index score is calculated so you understand where it comes from. Being named a National Merit Commended Scholar or Semifinalist is a very impressive distinction to have on your college applications. How Is Selection Index Calculated? You can easily calculate your Selection Index score once you know your section, or test, scores between 8 and 38. You simply add your section scores for Reading, Writing and Language, and Math together, and then multiply the entire sum by 2. Let’s say you got a 35 in Reading, a 32 in Writing and Language, and a 37 in Math. Here’s how you would figure out your Selection Index. Section Score Sum x 2 Selection Index Score Reading 35 (35 + 32 + 37) x 2 = 208 Writing and Language 32 Math 37 Once you add together and double your section scores, you get a Selection Index of 208. Does this score qualify for National Merit Semifinalist? That all depends on where you live. Keep reading for the full chart that shows the qualifying cutoff scores for National Merit in each state. Qualifying PSAT Scores for National Merit, State by State This chart shows the Selection Index score you need to qualify for Semifinalist in everystate. While National Merit Scholarship Corporation hasn’t released the full list of cutoffs, they do tell interested individuals what scores they need for their own state. This list, therefore, was crowdsourced from individuals across the country. If you think any cutoffs are in error, let us know in the comments! You can also verify your own state's cutoff by calling NMSC at (847) 866-5100. Here’s the full list of state cutoffs to qualify for National Merit Semifinalist. State PSAT Cutoff for NM Semifinalist Alabama 215 Alaska 213 Arizona 219 Arkansas 213 California 221 Colorado 218 Connecticut 220 Delaware 218 DC 222 Florida 217 Georgia 219 Hawaii 217 Idaho 214 Illinois 219 Indiana 217 Iowa 215 Kansas 217 Kentucky 215 Louisiana 214 Maine 214 Maryland 221 Massachusetts 222 Michigan 216 Minnesota 219 Mississippi 212 Missouri 216 Montana 210 Nebraska 215 Nevada 214 New Hampshire 216 New Jersey 222 New Mexico 213 New York 219 North Carolina 218 North Dakota 209 Ohio 217 Oklahoma 213 Oregon 219 Pennsylvania 218 Rhode Island 217 South Carolina 215 South Dakota 209 Tennessee 218 Texas 220 Utah 215 Vermont 215 Virginia 221 Washington 220 West Virginia 209 Wisconsin 215 Wyoming 209 Average score 216 On average, students need a Selection Index of 216. If you live in Washington, DC, Massachusetts, or New Jersey, then you need to meet the highest cutoff of 222. If you haven't taken the PSAT yet and are aiming for National Merit, then I'd recommend setting your target scores at least two to five points higher than your state's cutoff on this list. The cutoffs can fluctuate a bit from year to year, depending on how students do on the PSAT. Once you’ve found your state’s cutoff, how can you figure out what scores you need to qualify for National Merit? Your Selection Index cutoff for National Merit depends on whereyou live in the country. How to Calculate Your Target Scores for National Merit This section is for students that haven't taken the PSAT yet and are aiming for National Merit. You read above how to convert your PSAT section scores into the Selection Index. If you know what Selection Index you’re aiming for, all you need to do is work backwardto figure out your target section scores. Remember how you needed to add your section scores together and then multiply by two to get your Selection Index? Working backward just means dividing your Selection Index by two and then further splitting that quotient into three. Let’s say you live in New Hampshire. To qualify for National Merit, students who took the PSAT in 2015 needed a Selection Index of 216. Our first step, then, is to divide 216 by 2. 216 / 2 = 108. Now you know that your section scores in Reading, Writing and Language, and Math need to add up to 108. You could split 108 into three to reveal that you need a section score of 36 in each of the three sections. 108 / 3 = 36 However, not everyone is equally strong at math and verbal sections. You might aim a little higher in math and a little lower in Reading and Writing and Language. As long as your section scores still add up to 108, you’ll still get a Selection Index of 216 and potentially qualify for National Merit. Once you understand what total section scores you need, you can distribute your target scores among the three PSAT sections however you want. Set realistic goals for yourself based on your own math, reading, and writing skills. Of course, only a small group of students are aiming to become National Merit Semifinalist. Only 16,000 of the 1.6 million who take the PSAT will receive this distinction. A good PSAT score is also one that shows you’re on track to achieving your SAT goals and getting into college. Let’s consider our third and final piece of criteria for defining a â€Å"good† PSAT score by thinking about your own personal college goals. Qualifying for National Merit is like getting a gold medal in the PSAT. What Is a Good PSAT Score for College? The PSAT is extremely similar to the SAT, and your performance can help predict how you’ll do on the SAT. Almost everyone improves when they take these tests more than once, sothe PSAT is a useful trial run. You'll likely score higher on the SAT than you would if you'd never taken the PSAT. You can use your PSAT score report to see your current scoring level and findout where you can improve to hit your target SAT scores.To figure out your target SAT scores, you should do some college research. Find schools that you’re interested in, and look for the average SAT scores of accepted students. This piece of data will help you set your own SAT goals. Once you know what scores you need to get into your colleges of interest, you can use your PSAT score report to design a study plan. Pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses, and write down a personalized SAT study plan that targets your weak areas. You can set aside a certain amount of time for studying depending on how many points you’re seeking to improve. Here’s an estimate of how many hours you need to study to achieve variousscore improvements. 0-50 SAT composite point improvement: 10 hours 50-100 point improvement: 20 hours 100-200 point improvement: 40 hours 200-300 point improvement: 80 hours 300-500 point improvement: 150 hours+ If you’re already scoring close to your target SAT scores, then you can feel satisfied with your PSAT scores. If you fell below by a few hundred points, then you need to kick your test prep into gear and devote several hours a week to getting ready for the SAT. If you have months to prepare, then you can definitely see a big improvement in your scores and skills as a test-taker. Your PSAT score report offers a useful starting point for your SAT prep. Whether or not you think you got a good score on the PSAT, you can still achieve a good score on the SAT with enough commitment. In closing, let’s go over the key points you need to remember about what makes a good score on the 2016 PSAT. What scores do you need to be a competitive applicant to your dream school? The PSAT can help you work towards them. 2016 PSAT Scores: Key Takeaways If you took the PSAT in 2016, then you will get your scores back in mid-December. Your PSAT score report might look confusing at first glance, but now you understand what all of its scaled scores, section scores, and subscores mean. Any students aiming for National Merit will also search out their Selection Index score to get a sense if they qualified. If you haven't taken the PSAT yet, you can use the cutoffs to set goals for your scores. Everyone has their own definition for what is aâ€Å"good† PSAT score. You might think a good score is one that is higher than that of most other students. You can use percentiles to figure out what makes a good score on the PSAT. If you’re a high-achieving student who has spent time prepping for the PSAT, then good to you might mean receiving National Merit distinction. National Merit is extremely competitive and only goes to the top scorers across the country. Finally, scoring well on the PSAT relates to your plans for taking the SAT and getting into college. You might have a certain goal based on your eventual college applications. Even if you fall short of it, you can spend boost your SAT performance through studying. Taking the PSAT is a valuable experience that will help you get ready for the SAT.In the end, you decide what makes a good score for you based on your own personal goals and plans. What’s Next? If you are named National Merit Semifinalist, how do you move on to become Finalist and win scholarship money? Check out this full guide to learn how to become a National Merit Finalist. How many hours should you devote to SAT prep? This guide will help you figure out how long you need to study for the SAT. What’s the best way to prepare for the SAT? Check out our ultimate SAT prep study guide for the best resources to get ready for the test. 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