10 Facts That Private Schools Want Parents to Know

10 Facts That Private Schools Want Parents to Know If you are considering sending your child to private school, here are 10 facts about private schools which all prospective parents should know. The data and information provided here should answer most if not all of your biggest questions. 1. Private Schools Educate About 5.5 Million Students According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there were approximately 33,600  private schools in the U.S. in 2013-2014. Together, they served approximately 5.5 million students in grades pre-kindergarten through 12 and the postgraduate year. Thats about 10% of students in the country.  Private schools cover just about every need and requirement you can imagine. In addition to college prep schools, there are special needs schools, sports-focused schools, art schools,  military schools, religious schools, Montessori schools, and Waldorf schools. Thousands of schools focus on high school and offer college preparatory courses. About 350 schools are residential or boarding schools. 2. Private Schools Offer Great Learning Environments Its cool to be smart in a private school. The focus in most college preparatory schools is on getting ready for college studies. Advanced Placement courses are offered in most schools. You will also find IB programs in about 40 schools. AP and IB courses require well-qualified, experienced teachers. These curricula are demanding college-level studies which allow students with high scores in the final exams to skip freshman courses in many subjects. 3. Private Schools Feature Extracurricular Activities and Sports as an Integral Part of Their Programs Most private schools offer dozens of extracurricular activities. The visual and performing arts, clubs of all kinds, interest groups and community service are just some of the extracurricular activities you will find in private schools. Extracurricular activities complement the academic teaching which is why schools emphasize them - they are not something extra. Sports programs combine with academic work and extracurricular activities to develop the whole child. Most private schools require their students to participate in some sport. Teachers are also required to be involved in coaching a sport. Because sports and extracurricular activities are such an integral part of a private school program, you rarely see cuts in these areas as we have seen in public schools when budgets get tight. 4. Private Schools Provide Constant Supervision and Have Zero-Tolerance Policies One of the appealing aspects of sending your child to private school is that she cannot fall through the cracks. She will never be a number at a private school. She wont be able to hide in the back of the class. In fact, many schools use the Harkness style discussion format for classroom teaching. 15 students sitting around a table have to be involved in the discussions. Dormitories in boarding schools typically are operated family-style with a faculty member being the surrogate parent. Somebody is always around keeping a watchful eye on things. Another feature of private schools is that most have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to serious infractions of their rules and codes of conduct. Substance abuse, hazing, cheating, and bullying are examples of activities which are unacceptable. The result of zero tolerance is that you can be assured that you are placing your children in a safe environment. Yes, she will still experiment but she will understand that there are serious consequences for unacceptable behavior. 5. Private Schools Offer Generous Financial Aid Financial aid is a major expense for most schools. Even in tough economic times, schools have made assisting families who want to send their children to private school a top priority in their budgets. Several schools offer a free education if you meet certain income guidelines. Always ask the school about financial aid. 6. Private Schools Are Diverse Private schools got a bad rap in the early part of the 20th century as being bastions of privilege and elitism. Diversity initiatives began to take hold in the 1980s and 1990s. Schools now proactively search for qualified candidates regardless of socioeconomic circumstances. Diversity rules in private schools. 7. Private School Life Mirrors Family Life Most schools organize their students into groupings or houses. These houses compete with each other for all kinds of things besides the usual sports activities. Communal meals are a feature of many schools. Teachers sit with students developing close bonds which are such a valuable feature of private school education. 8. Private School Teachers Are Well-Qualified Private schools value teachers who have degrees in their chosen subject. Typically 60 to 80% of private school teachers will have an advanced degree as well. Most schools require their teachers to be licensed to teach. Most private schools have 2 semesters or terms in their academic year. Many prep schools also offer a PG or post-graduate year. Some schools also offer study programs in foreign countries like France, Italy, and Spain. 9. The Small Size of Most Private Schools Allows Plenty of Personal Attention Most college prep schools have about 300 to 400 students. This relatively small size allows students plenty of individual attention. Class and school size matters in education, as it is important that your child not fall through the cracks and just be a number. Small class sizes with student-to-teacher ratios of 12:1 are fairly common. The larger schools usually include prekindergarten through 12th grade. You will find that they actually consist of 3 smaller schools. For example, they will have a lower school, a middle school, and an upper school. Each of these divisions will often have 300 to 400 students across four or five grades. Personal attention is an important part of what you are paying for. 10. Private Schools Are Sustainable More and more private schools are making their campuses and programs sustainable. It has not been easy for some schools because they had older buildings which were not energy efficient. Students in some private schools even compost waste food and grow some of their own vegetables. Carbon offsets are part of sustainability efforts too. Sustainability teaches responsibility within the larger global community.   Edited by  Stacy Jagodowski

Texts often represent women as victims in a patriarchal society. Discuss.

Texts often represent women as victims in a patriarchal society. Discuss. The female perspective is a critical element that has been persistently neglected throughout cultures due to the prevalence of the patriarchy. This has meant that literature itself manifests as a male institution, shaped by men's minds and voices who view the female experience as trivial and unworthy of consideration. Therefore, being unable to express their own perspectives and discriminated against in their writings, women are a marginalized group. But, in their portrayal, are they truly victims of a patriarchal society? Certainly Sylvia Plath's Daddy (1962) paints a despairing picture of suppression and inner anguish, a woman driven mad by the men in her life - though is this really the case? For Ania Walwicz challenges this concept of a helpless damsel in distress by subverting the traditional fairytale in Little Red Riding Hood (1982), thus undermining masculine values about women and their sexuality. Through the examination of these two texts, the extent of women's victimizatio n by a patriarchal society can be determined.An engraving from the Cyclopedia of Wit and Humor.

MIS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

MIS - Essay Example edman), globalization has entered a whole new phase and this reality can be judged from the speed with which technology is connecting different countries in a way which is also suppressing the distinguishing characteristics in terms of religion, race, culture, or language. My career might be working in the petroleum field in Saudi Arabia and globalization would surely influence my career as well. The fact that I belong from a different country and might be working in a totally different part of the world full of people speaking different language and following different cultures and values is not scaring me in a way it would have had globalization not been such a profound phenomenon presently. Also (according to Friedman), globalization has changed the world in a way that is eliminating the distinguished characteristics and a more harmonious working environment is made consequently at different workplaces around the globe. As countries continue advancing technologically, the world is also getting smaller in response. In an insightful and riveting piece titled In the Next Industrial Revolution, Atoms Are the New Bits, (Anderson) also discusses how the world is rapidly changing as globalization took its toll a few years back and how business should be able to boom both locally and globally by carefully leveling the playing field. Though revolution cannot be brought in a single day yet, by leveling the playing field and embracing creative ideas from local people like Local Motors did, the manufacturing future could be drastically changed. Local Motors let the common public design transportation and out ruled the global auto manufacturing giants. (Anderson) emphasizes that the future is not about relying on globally recognized manufacturing companies, rather the future should be majorly about trusting on local individual innovators with brilliant ideas so that business could flourish locally. What is now seen as big can lose to what was seen as small in the past only

Philosophy Reflective Writing Assignment (Five questions, Five Research Paper

Philosophy Reflective Writing Assignment (Five questions, Five Resposes for each, 500 words for each response - Research Paper Example I did not have to stay up so late and it certainly was not in my best interest; however I still chose the course of action. However, once you make that decision you are responsible for whatever happens as a result of that action or behavior. The idea that mankind has no free will is overall, both, frightening and dangerous perspective. If people are guided by a hand of fate and destiny then no matter what actions you take in the end you will always find yourself exactly where you were always going to be. In other words your actions are irrelevant, what will be, will be, regardless of one’s efforts or goals. This could easily breed generations of laziness. Why bother to try when it will all turn out the same no matter what we do. It, also, speaks to a lack of responsibility and accountability in our actions. In determinism for example, our decision are not really our own. We choose the only way we can give the choices before us. In other words, when a man kills another, the mur derer is not rally responsible; he had no choice but to as he did. No one would ever be held truly accountable for their actions (Greenstreet 1).We make choices, everyday, on subjects both simple and grand, and we are responsible for those decisions and their outcomes. ... What, biological imperative are we justifying in these cases. If they are not responsible for their actions then how can we detain them or isolate them from the population. Many pedophiles admit that they know that their desire for children is not right, but blame their natural inclination as outside their control. But, they know the laws and ethics, yet they choose to continue to do hurtful and harmful things to chidden. Anything but free will releases them of that responsibility and that is not a worthwhile world to create or participate in. In the question it asks if it is a fair trade to exchange free will for paradise or have free will knowing bad things may happen as a result. Whether something is good or bad is relative to those involved. The cat failing to catch the mouse perceives this outcome as bad, while the mouse thinks of it as pretty good. So every action, behavior, and choice has the potential to have good and bad results, regardless of intention or purpose, to differ ent people all at the same time. (final word count 572) Response 2 First and foremost, it is never going to be okay to sacrifice, lose, or in some way, cost the lives of others. In most cases those situations result not in if the decision is right, or good, but on how it rates on a scale as â€Å"lesser of two evils.† The alternative to that choice was much, much worse. However, when asked is it acceptable to allow the loss of one life in order to save the lives of 1000s? Yes, honestly, it is something that happens every day, usually voluntarily (Rosenstand). Many heroes, rescuers, and brave individuals have sacrificed themselves to save others. Assassination as a viable practice of resolving problems carries a whole other set of issues involving the taking of lives. However,

The Modigliani-Miller Proposition I Theory (MM I)

The Modigliani-Miller Proposition I Theory (MM I) 1. Introduction According to many research of corporation finance, the capital structure decision is one of the most fundamental issues facing to the executives and management level. The corporate finance is a specific area of finance dealing with the financial decisions corporations make and the tools as well as analysis used to make these decisions. The discipline as a whole may be divided among long-term and short-term decisions and techniques with the primary goal being maximizing corporate value while managing the firms financial risks. Capital investment decisions are long-term choices that investment with equity or debt, and the short-term decisions deals with the balance of current assets and current liabilities which is managing cash, inventories, and short-term borrowing and lending. Corporate finance can be defined as the theory, process and techniques that corporations use to make the investing, financing and dividend decisions that ultimately contribute to maximizing corporate value.Thu s, a corporation will first decide in which projects to invest, then it will figure out how to finance them, and finally, it will decide how much money, if any, to give back to the owners. All these three dimensions which are investing, financing and distributing dividends are interrelated and mutually dependent. The capital structure of a company refers to a combination of debt, preferred stock, and common stock of finance that it uses to fund its long-term financing. Equity and debt capital are the two major sources of long-term funds for a firm. The theory of capital structure is closely related to the firms cost of capital. As the enterprises to obtain funds need to pay some costs, the cost of capital in the investment activities is also the main consideration of rate of return. The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is the expected rate of return on the market value of all of the firms securities. WACC depends on the mix of different securities in the capital structure; a change in the mix of different securities in the capital structure will cause a change in the WACC. Thus, there will be a mix of different securities in the capital structure at which WACC will be the least. The decision regarding the capital structure is based on the objective of achieving the maximization of shar eholders wealth. With regard to the capital structure of the theoretical basis, most well-known theory is Modigliani-Miller theorem of Franco Modigliani and Merton H.Miller (1958 and 1963). Yet the seeming simple question as to how firms should best finance their fixed assets remains a contentious issue. 2. Modigliani-Miller Proposition I The Modigliani-Miller Proposition I Theory (MM I) states that under a certain market price process, in the absence of taxes, no transaction costs, no asymmetric information and in an perfect market, the cost of capital and the value of the firm are not affected by the changed in capital structure. The firms value is determined by its real assets, not by the securities it issues. In other words, capital structure decisions are irrelevant as long as the firms investment decisions are taken as given. The Modigliani and Miller (1958) explained the theorem was originally proven under the assumption of no taxes. It is made up of two propositions that are (i) the overall cost of capital and the value of the firm are independent of the capital structure. The total market value of the firm is given by capitalizing the expected net operating income by the rate appropriate for that risk class. (ii) The financial risk increase with more debt content in the capital structure. As a result, cost of equity increases in a manner to offset exactly the low cost advantage of debt. Hence, overall cost of capital remains the same. The assumptions of the MM theory are: 1. There is a perfect capital market. Capital markets are perfect when investors are free to buy and sell securities investors can trade without restrictions and can borrow or lend funds on the same terms as the firms do investors behave rationally investors have an equal access to all relevant information capital markets are efficient no costs of financial distress and liquidation there are no taxes 2. Firms can be classified into homogeneous business risk classes. All the firms in the same risk class will have the same degree of financial risk. 3. All investors have the same view for the investment, profits and dividends in the future; they have the same expectation of a firms net operating income. 4. The dividend payout ration is 100%, which means there are no retained earnings. In the absence of tax world, base on MM Proposition I, the value of the firm is unaffected by its capital structure. In other words, regardless of whether a company has liabilities, the total risk of its securities holders will not change even the capital structure is changed. As the weighted average cost of capital unchanged, so must the same as the total value of the company. That is VL = VU = EBIT/ requity where VL is the value of a levered firm = price of buying a firm that is composed of some mix of debt and equity, VU is the value of an unlevered firm = price of buying a firm composed only of equity and EBIT is earnings before interest and tax. Whether or not the company has loans or the loans for high or low, investors are all accessible through the following two kinds of investment on their own to create the desired type of earning. 1. direct invested in the companys stock borrowing 2. if shares of levered firms are priced too high, investors will try to take advantage of borrowing on their own and use the money to buy shares in unlevered firms. The use of debt by the investors is known as homemade leverage. The investors of homemade leverage can obtain the same return as the levered firms, therefore, for investors; the value of the firm is not affected by debt-equity mix. The MM Proposition I assumptions are quite unrealistic, there have some implications, (i) Capital structure is irrelevant to shareholder wealth maximization. (ii) The value of the firm is determined by the firms capital budgeting decisions. (iii) Increasing the extent to which a firm relies on debt increases both the risk and the expected return to equity but not the price per share. (iv) Milton Harris and Artur Raviv (1991) illustrated the asymmetric information that firm managers or insiders are assumed to possess private information about the characteristics of the firms return stream or investment opportunities. They will know more about their companies prospects, risks and values than do outside investors. Then it cannot fulfill the assumption of perfect market. Based on the inadequate of MM Proposition I, Franco Modigliani and Merton H.Miller revised their theory in 1963, which is MM Proposition II. 3. Modigliani-Miller Proposition II The Modigliani-Miller Proposition II Theory (MM II) defines cost of equity is a linear function of the firms debt/equity-ratio. According to them, for any firm in a given risk class, the cost of equity is equal to the constant average cost of capital plus a premium for the financial risk, which is equal to debt/equity ratio times the spread between average cost and cost of debt. Also Modigliani and Miller (1963) recognized the importance of the existence of corporate taxes. Accordingly, they agreed that the value of the firm will increase or the cost of capital will decrease with the use of debt due to tax deductibility of interest charges. Thus, the value of corporation can be achieved by maximizing debt component in the capital structure. This theory of capital structure for the study provided an important and analytical framework. According to this approach, value of a firm is VL = VU = EBIT (1-T) / requity + TD where TD is tax savings. MM Proposition II is assuming that the tax s hield effect of each is the same, and continued in sight. Leverage firms are increased in interest expense due to reduced tax liability, has also increased the allocation to the shareholders and creditors of the cash flow. The above formula can be deduced from the company debt the more the greater the tax saving benefits, the greater the value of the company. The revised capital structure of the MM Proposition II, pointed out that the existence of tax shield in a perfect capital market conditions cannot be reached, in an imperfect financial market, the capital structure changes will affect the companys value. Therefore, the value and cost of capital of corporation with the capital structure changes in different leverage, the value of the levered firm will exceed the value of the unlevered firm. MM Proposition theory suggests that the higher the debt ratio is more favorable to corporate, but though borrowing adds an interest tax shield it may lead to costs of financial distress. Financial distress occurs when promises to creditors are broken or honored with difficulty. Financial distress may lead to bankruptcy. The trade-off theory of capital structure theory in MM based on the added risk of bankruptcy and further improves the capital structure theory, to make it more practical significance. 3.1 Trade-off Theory of capital structure According to Myers (1984), a firm that follows the trade-off theory sets a target debt to value ratio and then gradually moves towards the target. The target is determined by balancing the tax benefits of using debt against costs of financial distress that rise at an increasing rate with the use of leverage. It so predicts moderate amount of debt as optimal. But there is evidence that the most profitable firm in an industry tend to borrow the least, while their probability of entering in financial distress seems to be very low. This fact contradicts the theory because if the distress risk is low, an increase of debt has a favorable tax effect. Under the trade-off theory, high profits should mean more debt-servicing capacity and more taxable income to shield and therefore should result in a higher debt ratio. 3.2 Pecking Order Theory of capital structure The pecking order theory stems from Myers (1984) argues that adverse selection implies that retained earnings are better than debt and debt is better than equity. Firms prefer internal finance and if external finance is required, firms issue debt first and issue equity only as a last resort. The pecking order explains why the most profitable firms generally borrow less because they have low target debt ratios but they dont need outside money. As in Baskin (1989), asymmetric information affects capital structure by limiting access to outside finance. Managers know more than outside investors about the profitability and prospects of the firm. Information problems are particularly acute with common stock, announcement of stock issue can drive down the stock price. 4. Conclusion The capital structure decision is one of the most fundamental issues in corporate finance. Regardless of which kind of capital structure, to achieve one of the most optimal capital structures, the company should be mixture of equity and debt and it cannot only focus on equity or debt. Equity is a cushion and debt is a sword, debt is always cheaper than equity, partly because lenders bear less risk and partly because of the tax advantage associated with debt. In general, there are differences in the capital structures of different industries; they are having their own characteristic. The most important thing is the companys liquidity is sufficient or not. In making the decision of how to allocate the fund in which type of assets, the company has to consider and compare the different factors such as NPV, IRR and payback period. In evaluating the NPV, IRR and payback period, cash inflow is fund of the vital element. Therefore the company should know how to obtain the financing and how t o invest it. They should carefully to allocate their resources to maximize the firm value. References: Baskin, J. (1989) An empirical investigation of the pecking order hypothesis, Financial Management, Vol. 18, pp.26-35 Harris, M. and Raviv, A. (1991) The theory of Optimal capital structure, Journal of Finance, Vol. 48, pp.297-356 Merton H. Miller. (1977) Debt and Taxes, Journal of Finance, Vol. 2, pp.261-275 Modigliani, F and Miller, M.H. (1958) The cost of capital, corporation finance and the theory of investment, The American Economic Review, Vol. 48, pp.261-97 Modigliani, F. and Miller, M.H. (1963) Corporate income taxes and the cost of capital: A correction, The American Economic Review, Vol. 53, pp.433-443 Myers, S.C. (1977) Determinants of corporate borrowing, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 5, pp.146-75 Myers, S.C. (1984) The capital structure puzzle, Journal of Finance, Vol. 39, pp.575-592

African-American Studies Essay

The aspect of African-American Studies is key to the lives of African-Americans and those involved with the welfare of the race. African-American Studies is the systematic and critical study of the multidimensional aspects of Black thought and practice in their current and historical unfolding (Karenga, 21). African-American Studies exposes students to the experiences of African-American people and others of African descent. It allows the promotion and sharing of the African-American culture. However, the concept of African-American Studies, like many other studies that focus on a specific group, gender, and/or creed, poses problems. Therefore, African-American Studies must overcome the obstacles in order to improve the state of being for African-Americans. According to the book, Introduction to Black Studies, by Maulana Karenga, various core principles make of the basis of African-American Studies. Some of the core principles consist of 1)history, 2)religion, 3)sociology, 4)politics, and 5)economics. The core principles serve as the thematic â€Å"glue† which holds the core subjects together. The principles assist with the expression of the African-American Studies discipline (Karenga, 27). The core principle of history is primary factor of African-American Studies. History is the struggle and record of humans in the process of humanizing the world i. e. shaping it in their own image and interests (Karenga, 70). By studying history in African-American Studies, history is allowed to be reconstructed. Reconstruction is vital, for over time, African-American history has been misleading. Similarly, the reconstruction of African-American history demands intervention not only in the academic process to redefines and reestablishes the truth of Black History, but also intervention in the social process to reshape reality in African-American images and interests and thus, self-consciously make history (Karenga, 69). African American History or Black American History, a history of African-American people in the United States from their arrival in the Americas in the Fifteenth Century until the present day. In 1996, 33. 9 million Americans, about one out of every eight people in the United States, were African-American. Although African-American from the West Indies and other areas have migrated to the United States in the Twentieth Century, most African- Americans were born in the United States, and this has been true since the early Nineteenth Century. Until the mid-20th century, the African-American population was concentrated in the Southern states. Even today, nearly half of all African-Americans live in the South. African-Americans also make up a significant part of the population in most urban areas in the eastern United States and in some mid-western and western cities as well . Africans and their descendants have been a part of the story of the Americas at least since the late 1400s. As scouts, interpreters, navigators, and military men, African-Americans were among those who first encountered Native Americans. Beginning in the colonial period, African-Americans provided most of the labor on which European settlement, development, and wealth depended, especially after European wars and diseases decimated Native Americans (http://encarta. msn. com). Thus, history plays a role in the way African-Americans have shaped the world over time. The core concept of African-American religion has always played a vital roles in the African-American life since its beginnings in Africa. Religion is defined as thought, belief, and practice concerned with the transcendent and the ultimate questions of life (Karenga, 211). The vast majority of African Americans practice some form of Protestantism. Protestantism’s relatively loose hierarchical structure, particularly in the Baptist and Methodist denominations, has allowed African Americans to create and maintain separate churches. Separate churches enabled blacks to take up positions of leadership denied to them in mainstream America. In addition to their religious role, African American churches traditionally provide political leadership and serve social welfare functions. The African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first nationwide black church in the United States, was founded by Protestant minister Richard Allen in Philadelphia in 1816. The largest African American religious denomination is the National Baptist Convention, U. S. A. , founded in 1895. A significant number of African Americans are Black Muslims. The most prominent Black Muslim group is the Nation of Islam, a religious organization founded by W. D. Fard and Elijiah Poole in 1935. Poole, who changed his name to Elijiah Muhammad, soon emerged as the leader of the Nation of Islam. Elijiah Muhammad established temples in Detroit, Chicago, and other northern cities. Today, Louis Farrakhan leads the Nation of Islam. A small number of African American Muslims worship independently of the Nation of Islam, as part of the mainstream Islamic tradition (http://encarta. msn. com). Presented with the fact that African-American religion is predominately Judeo-Christian, the tendency is to view it as â€Å"white religion in black face†. However, the rooting of the two religions varies due to the historical and social experiences (Karenga, 212). African-American over time has somewhat declined in its power. The church was once the sole basis of the community, especially to those in need. Today, this is speculated to be the link in the decline in the bonding of the African-American community. The core principle of African-American sociology integrates the various aspects and social reality from an African-American perspective. African-American sociology is defined as the critical study of the structure and functioning of the African-American community as a whole, as well as the various units and processes which compose and define it, and its relations with people and the forces external to it (Karenga, 269). African-American sociology involves the study of family, groups, institutions, views and values, relations of race, class and gender and related subjects. The African-American community, like other communities, is defined by the sharing of common space. Parts of its common space, however, are bounded areas of living, such as ghettos, which not only close African-Americans in the community, but simultaneously shuts them out from the access and opportunities available in the larger, predominately Caucasian society (Karenga, 302). The concept of isolation creates areas of poverty. Socially, isolation in ghettos prevents the cycle of diversity society, allowing prevailing stereotypes to surface. The immense concentration of African-Americans is a reason for disadvantages, such as joblessness, poverty, etc. Statistics suggest that the employment rate issue is an essential on among African-American women. The average rate of unemployment among African-American women in the 1980’s was 16% and was higher for African-American men (Giddings, 350). Thus, the concept of diversity prevents African-Americans from thriving socially. The core concept of African-American politics can be defined as the art and process of gaining,maintaining and using power (Karenga, 311). The institution of politics has played a role in the African-American community since the 15th amendment was passed, allowing African-American men the right to vote (Constitution). In order to obtain political power, however, there are eight bases: 1) key positions in government 2) voting strength 3) community control 4) economic capacity 5) community organization 6) possession of critical knowledge 7) coalition and alliance and 8) coercive capacity. In order to attain these, African-Americans must unite, for unity strengthens weak groups (African-Americans) and increases the power of others (Caucasians) (Karenga, 363). Over time, African-Americans have made substantial strides in politics. Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, who ran for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988, brought exceptional support and force to African-American politics. In 1989, Virginia became the first state in U. S. history to elect an African- American governor, Douglas Wilder. In 1992, Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois became the first African-American woman elected to the U. S. Senate. Today, Moseley-Braun is a candidate for the Presidency of the United States (Franklin, 612). There were 8,936 African-American office holders in the United States in 2000, showing a net increase of 7,467 since 1970. In 2001, there were 484 mayors and 38 members of Congress. The Congressional Black Caucus serves as a political alliance in Congress for issues relating to African- Americans. The appointment of African-Americans to high federal offices? including Colin Powell (chairman of the U.S. Armed Forces Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1989-1993; Secretary of State, 2001-present), Ron Brown (Secretary of Commerce, 1993-1996), and Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas? also demonstrates the increasing power of African-Americans in the political arena (http://encarta. msn. com). Despite the advances of African-Americans in the political scene, the rate of voting has immensely declined compared to 40 years ago. According to statistics, less than 20% of African-Americans between the ages of 18 and 24, the most vital voting age group, voted in the last 40 years (http://www. rockthevote.org ). African-American voting’s disappointing decline over time has become a setback in regards to power, for politics control most of the issues that concern society, such as healthcare, housing, and employment: issues that the African-American community are in need of improving. The core concept of economics is defined as the study and process of producing, distributing (or exchanging) and consuming goods and services. Economically, African-Americans have benefited from the advances made during the Civil Rights era. The racial disparity in poverty rates has narrowed to some extent. The African-American middle class has grown substantially. In 2000, 47% of African-Americans owned their homes. However, African-Americans are still underrepresented in government and employment. In 1999, median income of African American household was $27,910 compared to $44,366 of non-Hispanic Caucasians. Approximately one-fourth of the African-American population lives in poverty, a rate three times that of Caucasians. In 2000, 19. 1 % of the African-American population lived below poverty level as compared to 6. 9% of Caucasians population. The unemployment gap between African-Americans and Caucasians has grown. In 2000, the unemployment rate among African-Americans was almost twice the rate for Caucasians. The income gap between African-American and Caucasian families also continue to widen. Employed African-Americans earn only 77% of the wages of Caucasians in comparable jobs, down from 82% in 1975. In 2000, only 16. 6% of African-Americans 25 years and older earned bachelor’s or higher degrees in contrast to 28. 1% of Caucasians. Although rates of births to unwed mothers among both African-Americans and Caucasians have risen since the 1950’s, the rate of such births among African-Americans is three times the rate of Caucasians (DeBose, 1). Thus, the state of African-American economics have flourished over time, yet remains in a state of improvement. Whether one talks about poverty, incomes, jobs, etc. , all imply and necessitate the concern with economics in the African-American community (Karenga, 355). Conclucively, the possibility of problems arising towards the discipline of African-American Studies are rooted in the birth of the discipline itself (Karenga, 476). The mission of the discipline, problematic administrators, and campus opposition are examples of obstacles that often attempt to prevent the missions of African-American Studies. However, African-American Studies has continued to defend its stance over time. Thus, as long as there is an African-American culture, the quest for knowledge in the African-American studies field will remain. Works Cited DeBose,Brian. â€Å"Reclaiming the Mission†. Nov. 2002 . Franklin, John Hope. From Slavery to Freedom. Nashville, TN: McGraw-Hill, 2000. Giddings, Paula. When and Where I Enter . New York:Perrenial, 1984. Karenga, Malauna. Introduction to Black Studies. Los Angeles: University of Sankore Press ? Third Edition, 2002. http://encarta. msn. com http://www. rockthevote. com.

The Past, Present and the Future of the Internet

THE PAST, PRESENT AND THE FUTURE OF THE INTERNET; AND HOW IT’S AFFECT THE ENVIRONMENT. Abstract The present paper connotes problems with the uses of the internet nowadays and the implication of it especially to the environment. This research will start from the early stage of the internet, then goes to the current IT industry and lastly what do we aspect in the future based on what we already achieved today. This research also is conducted purposely to make people understand the risk of it as this issue is not having been discussed openly with others.There is no argument for the rapid development in IT industry will make the life getting easier, but we also need to know behind the curtain about this technology as human invention will never get perfect. Table of content Page 1) Introduction4 2) Literature review6 3) Methodology8 4) Findings / Data Analysis9 5) Discussion on Findings13 6) Conclusion15 7) References17 8) Appendix 18 1) INTRODUCTION 1. Background of Study Internet is disruptive. Largely for better, internet has disrupted the way we travel, communicate, conduct business, produce, socialize and manage our homes and lives.This disrupt ability has potential to reduce our dependence on dirty energy and make society cleaner, more efficient and powered renewability. Parts of our individual lives are becoming more efficient even as we consume more. Internet can enable us to cut down on energy intensive practice by allowing us to work from home with teleconferencing and telecommuting tools. Now we can read our electricity use in real time and manage it better accordingly. We also can stream music on the internet instead of taking up space on our hard drive.Nevertheless, as we applaud the positive, visible impacts and measurable, game changing potential of internet, we also need to pay attention to what is behind the curtain. The internet sector has a choice to make as the demand for internet based product and service has grows exponentially. In the U nited States, Europe and particularly in developing economies such as India and China, so does amount of data we produce globally. 2. Statement of problem The increasing of uses of internet rapidly consumes more energy for them to provide the service.It is a good sign of our technology. Unfortunately, most of Internet Company facilities are still use coal based energy to power up their data centre and its office. This problem should not take lightly as million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) had been release in the air as a result of us who are using the internet uncontrolled every day. With the releasing the large amount of CO2 to the air, it will decrease our ozone layer that can result many damaged and catastrophic to the earth such as climate change, global warming and skin cancer.So this problem can contribute to be cause of many disasters that we already face these days. 3. Objective of study I. To find out the usage of internet and digital device from the past to the future. I I. To understand the impact of rapid developing technology and the internet to the environment. 4. Research questions The research questions that have been formulated for this study are: I. Does use of internet can contribute to pollution? II. How much damaged of this technology to the environment? 2) LITERATURE REVIEWThe internet history was started from 29 October 1969, when the first message in ARPANET (Advance Research Project Agency Network) between computers at UCLA (University California, Los Angeles) to another computer in Stanford Research Institute. The first message that had been sent is a word ‘LOGIN’ but the computer at UCLA suddenly crashed and only word ‘LO’ that had been sent. In early development, there’re only 4 computers in the network which is UCLA, Stanford, UTAH and University of California, Santa Barbara. Now, we have millions of computers including portable device that can access the internet in one time (Prouser, 2011).After 40 years since the first message in ARPANET, now we get the benefit from it. After countless of development, internet nowadays can be access almost everywhere. The internet technology was rapidly evolved faster than automotive industry. The device that we use to access the internet also becomes more powerful. Now, we can get faster speed access, increased of storage capabilities, and broader device connectivity such as hand phone and tablet PC besides of desktop computers and laptop (Neolabels, 2010). The number of internet user was reached to 3 billion users in 2010 (Cisco, 2011).To support the huge amount of users, there are currently about 44 millions servers in the world. This amount of servers were contribute about 2% of carbon emissions or the same average of aviation industry or medium size country such as Argentina and Sweden (Forrest, Kaplan, & Kindler, 2008). This is because, according to Gary Cook & Jodie Van Horn (April 2011), â€Å"The technologies of the 21st century are still largely powered by the dirty coal power of the past, with over half of the companies rated herein relying on coal for between 50% and 80%of their energy needs.This means the internet industry also producing carbon emissions like other company despite that we did not realize it† (p. 5). they also claims that we have generated 1. 2 zettabytes of digital information with our tweets, YouTube videos, Facebook status updates, iTunes downloads, emails and other data transfers. In another study, Koomey (2008) finds out that worldwide electricity used by data centres are doubled from 2000 to 2005. The data centre's that house this explosion of digital information currently consume more than 3% of US electricity, and approximately 1. % to 2% of global electricity, growing at a rate of approximately 12% annually. Greenpeace ( March 2010) had release their report called Make IT Green; claims the electricity consumption of data centres may be as much as 70% higher than previously predicted. The combined electricity demand of the internet globally is 662bn kWh and would rank the fifth among countries beating electricity consumption in India, Germany, Canada, Brazil and United Kingdom. According to the information that taken from the web publication from Cisco, ‘networking solutions sub solution’ retrieved from http://www. mashable. om (2010) by; Internet traffic is projected to approach 1 zettabyte per year in 2015; that is equivalent of all the digital data in existence in 2010. Regionally speaking, traffic is expected to more than double in the Middle East and Africa, where there will be an average of 0. 9 devices per person for a projected population of 1. 39 billion. Latin America is close behind, with a 48% increase in traffic and an estimated 2. 1 devices per person among a population of 620 million. 3) METHODOLOGY The research is mainly focus on IIUM students in all major from different background of kuliyyah.This is because to make it ea sy and not bias only to specific student or specific respondent. Unfortunately, the research did not include respondent of the outside of IIUM because of a few limitation. The respondents were also selected from the mahallah to respond the questionnaires. 1. Population and Sampling Approximately the questionnaires that were been delivered to the IIUM students are about 20 questionnaires. By using random sampling, they were distributed the questionnaire to the student and then take it back after they finish with the questionnaire. 0 respondents were selected from male student and 10 more respondents from the female student around the IIUM campus and mahallah. 2. Instrumentation and Data Collection The data about uses of the internet is gathered by making the survey. In the survey, the data was collected by answering a set of questionnaire which consists of 8 questions. The survey question, the students were asked about their own experience and how regularly they are on using internet in their basic life every day. The survey form is divided to two sections which are section A and B. ection A is for responded personal information and section B is for closed-ended questions. 4) FINDINGS / DATA ANALYSIS 1. Findings 2. Data analysis Based on the survey made during the research, the first question which is determine whether they are using the internet or not, the result shows that all or 100% of the respondents are using the internet. This is because the policy and method on the IIUM itself in encouraging their student to use internet. They need to use the internet at least for register their subject for new semester in their year of study.Other than that, the students also need to use the internet to search the source of their assignment and learning throughout the semester. The second question was to determine how frequent the respondent to access the internet in one week. Based on my survey, at was it is clearly shows that most of them, which consist of 58% are a ccessing the internet every day. It was left others option by far which is only 26% of respondent are accessing in 4 to 6 days a week, followed by 2 to 3 days, 11% and lastly once a week which is 5%. From this question,The next question that was asked in the survey was the time they spent every day on the internet. Most of them spent their time on internet about 1 to 3 hours a day. It was followed by respondent that only spent less than 1 hour which consists about 30% and lastly, only 10% of them are surfing more than 3 hours a day. Social network are the most often website that the respondent visit compare to the other type of website. There is 50% of them are spent their time surfing on the internet by visiting to social network such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, BlogSpot, and online game. 5% of the respondents are frequently use internet for multimedia website such as YouTube, Vivo, and also music download website. The third place goes to was on instant messaging which contribut e about 15% of the respondent. They prefer to use Yahoo Chat, Google Talk or Facebook chat when they are on-line. Unfortunately, only 10% of them are using the internet for check their e-mail. This result shows that respondent are using the internet for entertainment and socialize rather than use it for something that really beneficial to them. The next question that was asked in the survey was the number of devices that they have.This question is to prove that in the future, the number of device on every person is increasing. In the survey, the result found that most of them have at least one or two device which consists of 45% and 40% respectively. This result was influence of many students at least has laptop or desktop on them besides of cell phone that also can access the internet. Only 5% of them did not have and 10% have 3 or more device that can access the internet. The types of device that respondent have been asked on the question number six in the survey. As expected, mos t of them, which is 95% have laptop or desktop which can access the internet.Hand phone was on the second place which consist 13 respondent or 65% of the respondent have this device that can access the internet. Only 15% and 10% of them have tablet PC and other device such as music player and gaming device. The result on question seven was surprising. From the survey, only 8 respondents hear about the pollution that can occur from the uses of the internet which consist only 40% of them. Other respondents never heard about this topic ever before. From this question, we can see that there are still a lot of people that are not aware about this issue.This is because the pollution effect is we barely can see in naked eye. Also, this pollution is majorly consumed by IT Company rather than a person. The question number eight that was asked in the survey is about the source of information that respondent get about the issue. From the survey, we can conclude that the respondent majorly hear d about this issue from newspaper or magazine which contributes about 33%, followed by from internet which is 25%. Both source, which is from friends and educations or lecture are only consist about 17%. Lastly, 8% of the respondent had heard this issue from other resource such as advertisement and seminar. ) DISCUSSION ON FINDINGS The finding shows that majorly students in IIUM have the experience in using the internet. The finding is very contrast if we done this research back to 10 years before. In that day, only a few of student who have the computer and it can be categorized as a luxury item (Leiner B, Cerf V, Clark D, (2001). This situation is parallel to the point that the development of IT technology is faster than other technology such as automobile and builds construction. The time IIUM student spent on the internet also very long. Most of them spent their time about 1 to 3 hours a day.By the time passed, they do not realized how they are wasting their time in front of the ir laptop every day only for checking their Facebook, reading about gossip on the blog, even watching videos on Youtube. This is the reflect on the example that Allah stated in al-Quran: â€Å"By Al-Asr (the time). Verily! Man is loss. Except such as have faith, and do righteous deeds, and (join together) in the mutual teaching of Truth, and Patience and Constancy† (p. 601). With the amount of device that respondent have in this day, there is not impossible that the users of internet will be quadruple in 2015.The increase of smart device in the market and more affordable electronic device that use and can access the internet, slowly increase the chance for the people to connect to the internet in the future. This theory also being supported by Odlyzko (2000) who forecasted the explosive growth in small mobile devices, which will often have small storage and low bandwidth over wireless links, and thus will be most useful if they can get data from local storage. This model also allows for easy integration with special hardware for intellectual property protection. Unfortunately, there is still a small amount of us that aware about this issue.This might be the lack of information that can be spread to the people as a clear lack of transparency from major IT brands is the one biggest reason behind this imprecision. (Teske, 2010). The other reason is this pollution is not majorly contributed from the users. The pollution are majorly contribute from the IT company that use a huge amount of energy to power up the system. They need that energy to fulfill the demand needed by users. 6) CONCLUSION In conclusion, this research has investigated the revolution of the internet from the beginning to the present, until what we aspect in the uture and the effect of the most rapid developing technology to the environment. As mentioned earlier in the introduction, the purpose of this study was to find out usage of internet and digital device from the past to the future an d to understand the impact of rapid developing technology and internet to the environment. The results of the investigation show that there are no sign of decreasing in internet development in current time or in the future. The technology was continuously evolve and every day, more people start using internet in their daily life.Despite of all effort that big tech company done to minimize the effect, there is still possibilities that the pollution that cause from internet uses become worse as the users are increasing from day to day. The limitation of this research is in the methodology which is I only done the data collection around the IIUM and not outside. This will make the data value are not really accurate. As we all know, there are still people do not use internet in their entire live especially some people that live in the village or some area that did not have internet coverage area.Based on the findings and conclusions of the study, here are several recommendations to be c onsidered. Firstly, as for the big tech company that provide internet service and using data centre, they can use other energy source to power it up rather than rely heavily to coal based energy. For example, even though Facebook Company relies heavily on coal energy, their data centre was powered up by mixing it with wind and solar energy, saving about 2. 5 million kWh per year or 1,065 tonnes of CO2. Other method is by using virtualizing.Virtualizing is a method of running multiple independent virtual operating systems on a single physical computer. It is a way to maximizing physical resources to maximize the investment in hardware. For example, from 200 servers, we can reduce it to only 25 servers by using this method. It can save thousands of energy per year and reduce the cost of maintenance. As for the user, we can contribute by minimizing the uses if internet by reducing the time that we consume to surf the internet and also only access the internet when we really need to acc ess it. 7) REFERENCE Al-Quran, Surah Al-Asr: 1-3.Cook, G. (2011). How dirty is your data? A look at the energy choices that power cloud computing. Amsterdam. Greenpeace International. Cisco (2010). Networking solutions sub solution. Retrieved from http://www. mashable. com Forrest, W. , Kaplan, J. M. & Kindler, N. (2008). Data Centers: How to Cut Carbon Emissions and Costs. McKinsey & Company. Greenpeace (2010). Make IT green: cloud computing and its contribution to climate change, Greenpeace International. Koomey, G. (2008). Worldwide electricity used in data centre. Environment Research Letters. IOP Publishing. Leiner, B, et al. (2001).The past and future history of the internet. Communication of the ACM. Neolabels (2010). Digital life: today and tomorrow. Retrieves from http://digitallife. neolabels. com Odlyzko, A. (2000). The history of communications and its implications for the Internet. AT Labs Research. Prouser. (2011). Where the internet was born. Retrieved from http://www . reuters. com/news Teske, S. (2010). Energy [r]evolution: a sustainable world energy outlook. Greenpeace International, European Renewable Energy Council (EREC). 8) APPENDIX SURVEY ABOUT THE USERS OF INTERNET AMONG THE IIUM STUDENTS SECTION A AGE: |LEVEL OF STUDY : | |GENDER : |NATIONALITY : | SECTION B 1) Do you use the internet? Yes No *(if yes, the survey ends here) 2) In a week, how many days do you spend in the internet? Once A Week2-3 Days A Week 4-5 Days A WeekEvery Day 3) In average, how much time do you spend in the internet? Less than 1 hour1-3 hoursMore than 3 hours 4) What type of website do you often visit when surfing the internet? Social NetworkMultimedia E-MailInstant Messaging 5) How many device(s) do you have that can access the internet? Not HaveOne TwoThree or More 6) What kind of devices do you have that can access the internet? Laptop/Desktop PCHandphone Tablet PCOthers: _____________ 7) Do you ever heard about the pollution that occurs from the uses of the in ternet? Yes No 8) If yes, where do you hear about this? Newspaper/MagazineFriends InternetEducations/Lectures Others: _____________ SURVEY ENDS HERE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION