Great Depression Essays (1718 words) - U.S. Route 66, Economy

Great Depression The Great Depression Though most Americans are aware of the Great Depression of 1929, which may well be the most serious problem facing our free enterprise economic system, few know of the many Americans who lost their homes, life savings and jobs. This paper briefly states the causes of the depression and summarizes the vast problems Americans faced during the eleven years of its span. This paper primarily focuses on what life was like for farmers during the time of the Depression, as portrayed in John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, and tells what the government did to end the Depression. In the 1920's, after World War 1, danger signals were apparent that a great Depression was coming. A major cause of the Depression was that the pay of workers did not increase at all. Because of this, they couldn't afford manufactured goods. While the factories were still manufacturing goods, Americans weren't able to afford them and the factories made no money (Drewry and O'connor 559). Another major cause related to farmers. Farmers weren't doing to well because they were producing more crops and farm products than could be sold at high prices. Therefore, they made a very small profit. This insufficient profit wouldn't allow the farmers to purchase new machinery and because of this they couldn't produce goods quick enough (Drewry and O'connor 559). A new plan was created called the installment plan. This plan was established because many Americans didn't have enough money to buy goods and services that were needed or wanted. The installment plan stated that people could buy products on credit and make monthly payments. The one major problem with this idea was that people soon found out that they couldn't afford to make the monthly payment(Drewry and O'connor 559). In 1929 the stock market crashed. Many Americans purchased stocks because they were certain of the economy. People started selling their stocks at a fast pace; over sixteen million stocks were sold! Numerous stock prices dropped to fraction of their value. Banks lost money from the stock market and from Americans who couldn't pay back loans. Many factories lost money and went out of business because of this great tragedy (Drewry and O'connor By the 1930's, thirteen million workers lost their jobs which is 25 percent of all workers. The blacks and unskilled workers were always the first to be fired. Farmers had no money and weren't capable of paying their mortgages. Americans traveled throughout the country looking for a place to work to support themselves and their family (Drewry and O'connor 560-561). John Steinbeck, born in 1902, grew up during the Depression near the fertile Salinas Valley and wrote many books of fiction based on his background and experiences during that time and area of the country. One of his great works would be the Grapes of Wrath In this book, Steinbeck describes the farmers plight during the Great Depression and drought. When the rains failed to come, the grass began to disappear. As the farmers watched their plants turn brown and the dirt slowly turn to dust they began to fear what was to come. In the water-cut gullies the earth dusted down in dry little streams. As the sharp sun struck day after day, the leaves of the young corn became less stiff and erect; then it was June and the sun shone more fiercely. The brown lines on the corn leaves widened and moved in on the central ribs. The weeds frayed and edged back toward their roots. The air was thin and the sky more pale; and every day the earth paled. (qtd. Steinbeck 2-3). The farmers worst fears were realized when their corn and other crops began to die. The dust became so bad they had to cover their mouths with handkerchiefs so they could breath (Steinbeck 3- When the drought hit the Great Plains and the soil turned to dust, many farmers moved to California because they could no longer farm their land(Drewry and O'Connor 561). The drought began to affect other parts of the country. In 1930, Virginia's belt of fertile land dried up. Ponds, streams, and springs all dried up and the great Mississippi River water level sank

6 Factors in Choosing a Public vs. Private Education

6 Factors in Choosing a Public vs. Private Education What does your child need in order to succeed in attaining the best education for a promising future? This is a personal question that many parents ask themselves when choosing between a public or private education. Whats right for one child or family may not be ideal for another. To help you hone in on the best possible answer, there are generally six factors to consider.   1. What Does the Facility Offer? Many public school facilities are impressive; others are mediocre. The same is true of private schools. Private school facilities reflect the success of the schools development team and that of the school to continue to generate financial support from parents and alumni. Some private K-12 schools have facilities and amenities that surpass those found at many colleges and universities. Hotchkiss and Andover, for example, have libraries and athletic facilities on par with those at Brown and Cornell. They also offer academic and sports programs that make full use of all those resources. It is hard to find comparable facilities in the public sector- they are few and far between. Public schools also reflect the economic realities of their location. Wealthy suburban schools will often have more amenities than inner-city schools, as a rule. If your son is an aspiring football player, then a school with great athletic facilities and coaching staff should be a top priority.   2. How Many Students per Class? According to the National Center for Education Statistics report, Private Schools: A Brief Portrait,  private schools win out on this issue. Why? Most private schools have smaller class sizes, which may be ideal for a student who is easily distracted. One of the key points of private education is individual attention. You need student-to-teacher ratios of 15:1 or better to achieve that goal of individual attention. Many private schools boast class sizes of 10-15 students with 7:1 student-to-teacher ratios. Unlike private schools, a public school system must enroll almost anyone who lives within its boundaries, so generally, there are much larger class sizes- sometimes exceeding 35-40 students at some inner-city schools. However, even a large class can be a suitable learning environment if the students are well-behaved and led by a strong teacher. 3. Can the School Attract the Best Teachers? A schools ability to attract quality teachers is often tied to the salaries the school can afford to pay. Overall, public school teachers are generally better paid and have superior pension programs. Compensation varies widely, however, depending on the local economic situation and school location. For instance, teachers may earn less in Duluth, Minnesota, because its cheaper to live there than in San Francisco. Unfortunately, at some public schools, low starting salaries and small annual salary increases result in low teacher retention. Public sector benefits have historically been excellent; however, health and pension costs have risen so dramatically since the year 2000 that full-time public educators are often being forced to pay a larger share of the cost, while part-time educators may have to pay for it all. While private school compensation tends to be somewhat lower than public- again, much depends on the school and its financial resources- the often free amenities can make up for it. One private school benefit found especially in boarding schools is complimentary housing and meals, which accounts for the lower salary. Private school pension plans vary widely. Many schools use major pension providers such as TIAA. Both public and private schools require their teachers to be credentialed. This usually means a degree and/or  a teaching certificate. Private schools tend to hire teachers with advanced degrees in their subject over teachers who have an education degree. Put another way, a private school hiring a Spanish teacher will want that teacher to have a degree in Spanish language and literature as opposed to an education degree with a minor in Spanish. 4. How Much Will the School Cost You? Since local property taxes support the bulk of public education, the annual school budget exercise is a serious fiscal and political business. In poor communities or communities which have many voters living on fixed incomes, there is precious little room to respond to budget requests within the framework of projected tax revenue. Grants from foundations and the business community are essential to creative funding. Private schools, on the other hand, can raise tuition, and they also can raise significant amounts of money from a variety of development activities, including annual appeals, cultivation of alumni and alumnae, and solicitation of grants from foundations and corporations. The strong allegiance to private schools by their alumni makes the chances of fundraising success a real possibility in most cases. 5. Are There Administrative Issues? The bigger the bureaucracy, the harder it is to get decisions made at all, much less get them made quickly. The public education system is notorious for having antiquated work rules and bloated bureaucracies. This is as a result of union contracts and a host of political considerations. Private schools generally have a lean management structure. Every dollar spent has to come from operating income and endowment income. Those resources are finite. The other difference is that private schools rarely have teachers unions to deal with. 6. What Are the Expectations of Parents? Financial considerations are a major factor in determining if a public or private school is right for your family. However, you need to consider what will be expected in terms of time and commitment from you as well. Most private schools require students to be driven to and from school, and there are significant obligations for students to participate in activities outside of normal school hours. This means a lot of hours and miles for families every week to make it happen. A family needs to weigh the financial costs, time investment, and other factors. Public and private schools have their advantages and disadvantages, but with a little weighing of the pros and cons, you can easily figure out what is best for your child and for your family. Article edited by  Stacy Jagodowski

Prejudice and the Colonial Condition in Post-Colonial Caribbean Essay

Prejudice and the Colonial Condition in Post-Colonial Caribbean Literature - Essay Example This approach has also built strong prejudices towards a certain community. The stereotype about certain people, culture and community inclines towards hatred, atrocity among different community. In the research paper the racial prejudice has been discussed thoroughly in context to colonialism. For the study, the three major literary works have been taken for discussion. They are â€Å"Small Island,† by Andrea Levy, â€Å"In the Castle of My Skin,† by George Lammings and a memoir of Jamaica Kindcaid called â€Å"A Small Place.† The three novels focus on the stereotypical view and bigotry among the colonizers and colonized people. Various characters from these books are the representatives of the contemporary human psyche. It’s a struggle between masters and slaves, between hatred and helplessness, between colonizers and colonized. The writers want to focus that the colonialism is a psyche and it will take a long time to disappear it from the minds of the c olonized. Colonization suppressed self-respect, self-identity, and local religion of the native people of the colonies. With the help of other references, the paper throws the light on the racism, prejudices of both colonizers and colonized, and the colonial and post-colonial situation in the Caribbean Islands. Racial prejudice has been a sinister social disease, spread all over the world for centuries. So called advanced White people still are backward in their views, intolerant and narrow minded towards the people from other race. The racial prejudice is the consequence of the differences in hair colour, eye colour, facial structure, size of limb and most important the skin colour. Racial prejudice takes place when people are judged on the basis of their superficial character and outward appearance. In American history the racial prejudice resulted into the exploitation of black people. During Second World War, Hitler had an extreme hatred towards Jew community. It resulted into relentless atrocities towards black people and Jews. To remove this social stigma, the modern societies have drafted and enacted various laws and statute to ensure that all the people from different races should get respect and should be considered equal. The racism has become one of the hot topics for debate espe cially after the Second World War. Caribbean islands had previously been the one of the major colonies of British Empire. Much has been written on colonial condition and racial prejudice in Caribbean literature. The authors like Laura Niesen De Aruna have written about racist and imperialist current in Caribbean literature. Frances A. Della Cava and Madeline H. Engel also have given examples of racial prejudice against Blacks, Jews, and Women in their fiction. After World War II people from Caribbean island were migrating to England. The impression about England was very noble among its colonies. They called England as â€Å"Mother Country,† but when they came on the land they found that they had no value in Britain and they were been treated as aliens. Our study throws light upon the post colonial racism and racial prejudices. The stigma of racial discrimination has been reflected in post colonial Caribbean Literature. The problems of immigration, the insecure feeling, uncer tainty and biased, bigotry approach of English community towards the migrants had been the major issues depicted by the authors like Andrea Levy, George Lammings, Jamaica Kindcald and other writers. Keywords: Caribbean literature, racial prejudice, colonial conditions, bigotry, immigration During the World War II, the British colonies had no choice but to hold up with their masters, their British Empire. The colonized, for British people

State of Maryland Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

State of Maryland - Research Paper Example This technology may play a great role in better treatment of a person. It has improve the worth, protection and competence of medical records. The EHR has eliminated the effects of illegible handwriting of the doctor or other staff. One does not have to face any difficulty while reviewing the patient’s record, because all the information is clear and to the point. To enter the data in the EHR the patient have to fill a form that is downloaded to the EHR. The patient’s record is updated with every visit he makes. The result of the laboratory tests any other related diagnosis are too updated with time. Also if the patient admitted in the hospital and its discharge summaries are also noted down in the record. One can also create graphs of the patient’s blood pressure level within specific time interval, its increase or decrease in weight, height, etc. (Leading EHR Solutions from Sentinel Health, 2013) This program can save so much time, as one doesn’t have to look all through the files and find a patient’s record; it’s just a click away. The patient’s whole medical history can be accessed through the computer in the hospital, within seconds. This can help the physician to study in detail the patient’s health care history, for their better treatment. Maryland was the first state to reward incentive to the health care institutions, who are effectively implementing the use Electronic Health Record. House bill 706 (electronic health records regulation and reimbursement) was passed, as the result of which â€Å"EHR incentive program† came into being. (Electronic Health Records , 2012). The EHR incentive program gives incentives to those hospitals and professionals, who understand, implement and exhibit the correct use of the EHR program. These incentives are distributed to encourage the use of EHR in the medical and professional field. (EHR incentive program, 2012). This incentive program is available for

How has voting become less valuable as we have expanded the suffrage Essay

How has voting become less valuable as we have expanded the suffrage of our citizens - Essay Example 14th Amendment was passed in 1868 declaring all those who reside in US or being born in US as citizens of US. 15th Amendment was passed in 1870 against any kind of discrimination such as color, race or ancestral status. 17th Amendment was passed for direct elections of senators of US. 19th Amendment was passed in 1920 against discrimination on the basis of gender and 26th Amendment was passed in 1971 against discrimination on the basis of age above eighteen years. All the passed and stated amendments prove that enough suffrage has been provided to the nationals of US but with expansion of suffrage, people have shown less interest towards voting. People do not vote because they feel no change in their day-to-day lives as to whatever happens in politics. They consider their participation as invalid and valueless. People fought for their rights to vote to see some transformation in their lives that is beneficial for them. When they saw no change, their interest in voting got lessened in spite of the suffrage. Expanded suffrage has only informed people about their rights but in actuality, no practical rights were given as people are deprived of their rights due to which, they consider voting less valuable. People also try to avoid politics and remain busy in their own activities due to which, they show lacking interest towards

Toyota Contemporary Business And Management Management Essay

Toyota Contemporary Business And Management Management Essay Toyota massive recalls and quality issues have become the serious concern for the company total quality management principle Toyota Way. Toyota company overview Toyota came into existence from year 1867 with headquartered in Japan. Toyota moved its some operation in 1957 to North America sub division. The companys main primary business is in automobile production. Toyota has brand name and the company became the market leader in the auto sales. The Toyota has geographical presence around the world in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America and Middle East. The Toyota sales and production graph is shown below for geographically location of Europe. This graph shows the market position of Toyota from year 2005 to year 2009. As it is shown in the graph Toyota has major portion of market share in auto industry and the Toyota is loosing the edge of leader as the graph shows the sales in 2009 is going downward. This sales trend is not a good sign for the Toyota future and shows the some problems facing by Auto market leader. (Toyota, 2010c) Europe market Sales history Ultra Luxury Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini The auto industry overview can be summarized in the strategic groups of market makers in the auto industry are shown in the graph below. Luxury Acura, BMW, Lexus, Mercedes, Porsche Cost/ Price Mass Market Chrysler, Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagens Prestige Toyota has a long history of success and it is usually termed as the most profitable automaker and provides best auto performance in the industry. In 2007, Toyota sold 9.4 million vehicles globally only about 3,000 fewer than General motors (GM) Toyota quality issues But with series of success and market reputation, in recent years, Toyota has facing serious issues with quality, defects in cars and massive recall of different models around the world. All these issues have put a serious concern for the reliability on Toyota model. The sales have dropped and Company is facing series of law suits and challenges with more recalls. Toyota consumers are not very happy with quality issues in Toyota product. (Kageyama, 2010) Literature Review TQM concept is utilized around the world by organization to achieve the competitive advantage and to get improved financial results. (Edge man, 2006) TQM concerned about the total quality management of the organization from supplier to customer. Edward Deming provides 14points on how to implement TQM in the organization. In literature it is also used Japanese term Kaizen for the continuous improvement to achieve goals and improvement in business process. (Heizer Render, 2008, p.198-200) The points are listed as below: Create consistency of purpose Focus to bring change Build quality into product and service Build strong ties based on performance Continuous involvement in quality improvement activates Start training Emphasize leadership control and management Drive out fear Break down barrier between various departments to promote open communication. Respect workers Provide support, help and understanding Remove barriers Promote education and program of improvement Put everybody in workforce in the transformation track To analyze the problems with Toyota, lets contrast the Toyota TQM program named Toyota way with these 14 principles to determine the reasons for the quality issues. Toyota way is guiding principles prepared by the president of Toyota Group Fuji Cho (2003). The principle states that these principles are tools for people and the principles are more centric for people suggestion that actually bring the improvement and quality in production and service.( Fuji Cho, 2003) 14 principles of Toyota Way Comparison with Deming Theory Make decision based on long term strategy even in case of short term loss This is according to Deming principle of quality improvement. Right process will produce the right result Use pull production to produce only what is needed basically lean production strategy Level out work and eliminate waste Toyota laid the foundation of building first time right quality so that it does not need any future fix This is according to Deming principle of quality improvement Standardized task for continuous improvement and employee empowerment In accordance with Six Sigma and Deming Principle of TQM Use visual control so that no problems left unseen Use reliable and tested technology to serve people and process Develop leadership quality in employees and add value to organization This is according to Deming principle of quality improvement People should follow your company philosophy Respect and help networks of partners and suppliers to improve This is according to Deming principle of quality improvement Solving the problems from root Make decision slowly but implement it fast Learning organization with continuous improvement This is according to Deming principle of quality improvement and Six Sigma implementation steps The various components of TQM to make the effective TQM program are listed below: First component of continuous improvement is already taken care by Toyota Company. Toyota principle also focuses on eliminating the waste and utilizing lean production system. Toyota philosophy is to produce in amount which is needed. Just in time will eventually helps to cut the costs of quality, improves quality and lastly, better quality ends up with less inventory and better control over system. The next component of TQM is Six Sigma and it is focused on strategy to bring customer satisfaction. It describes the process, design, product in high capabilities and in more statistical sense. Sigma and its symbol means standard deviation and this particular component is used to minimize the production defect. Six Sigma Process: Source Dilioa.2009 Six Sigma has five step implementation process abbreviated as DMAIC. It means define, measure, analyze, improves and control the quality process. The diagram shown below illustrates the process of Six Sigma Six Sigma Management Kit Toyota has utilized this component of employee empowerment. Toyota has a strategy to involve the employees in every step of transformation. The main focus is given on the process improvement and providing more responsibilities to employees and authority so that they perform better. Next component of Benchmarking defines the standardization of process, service, cost and practices. The benchmarking development process involved determine what needs to benchmark, form a team and identify benchmarking partners, collecting information and analyze if the process is correctly define in terms of benchmarking and lastly, match the process to the level of benchmarking (Heizer Render, 2008, p.201). Toyota did implement the standardization of process but, the internal benchmarking should be more consistent and inclined to remove any barrier in case of different geographical sub division like Toyota has around the world. Taguchi concept believes in the fact that quality issues arise because of poor design of product or process. The concept also aimed to improve the quality by utilizing quality robustness, quality loss function and target oriented quality. Robustness means consistency in the production process to meet the consumer demand. Quality loss function is a mathematical relationship illustrated by equation L = D2C Where L = Loss to society D2 = Square of distance from targeted value or quality C = Cost of deviation at the specification limit In other words, this function identifies all cost related with poor quality and show how the cost increase as the product quality align with customer needs. The diagram shown below illustrates the distribution of specification of products produced. Target oriented quality is mechanism to bring the product to target quality through continuous improvement in process. (Heizer Render, 2008, p.203) The Taguchi Loss Function The last component of TQM is to have proper knowledge and training of using TQM tools. There are seven TQM tools defined as Check sheets, Scatter Diagram, Cause and effect diagrams, Pareto Charts, flow charts, Histograms and Statistical process control (SPC). (Heizer Render, 2008,p.204) Conclusion Toyota lacks several Deming principles and six sigma implementation steps in its program Toyota way. There is no education and training program for the employees. Also, there is no communication strategy within the various sub division of the organization. There is no program to remove the barrier and to provide openness in the work environment. The company principle lacks behind in providing any vigorous education program to bring change in form of quality improvement. Toyota way principle has also not catered fully all the aspects of six sigma component in their guiding principle. Recommendation Based on the analysis of TQM and Six Sigma concept Toyota needs to bring some major strategic changes in there processes to handle the quality defects and recall issues. Toyota needs to revise its Toyota Way program to focus more on the quality management. Although, its process and product whose standardization effect the performance. But, after this analysis it can be recommended that it is people who run those processes and they also need to give special attention for the standardization service to bring quality in product. Toyota has already undertaken the need for quality process, but it should also bring knowledge propagation, education and training for employees to bring consistency and quality in their work. The controls and performance measurement program should be made more vigorous to meet the customer expectation and gain the competitive edge as before Toyota has. The knowledge and training of TQM tools and other education program to increase the quality performance of Toyota product should be provided to employees on regular basis. The other issues related to quality improvement can be resolved by increasing the frequency of communication and company strategic philosophy in different geographical regions around the world. The company has already taken crucial steps to handle this problem by executing these three major steps. First, Toyota has unleashed the program Toyota way which consists of its core-value and respect for people principles. Toyota has also announced to provide massive training program around the world in various production facilities. In the last effort Toyota has emphasized on the facilitation of knowledge transfer and learning across its all sub division. (Toyota, 2010a) To sum up, Toyota is on the right track to fix the quality problems and company needs to have better control and supervision of this improvement process. Toyota restricting effort is in accordance to the Total quality management principle and it would benefit Toyota to regain the confidence of customer and improve quality standards in its production. Toyota has renowned name in auto industry and this research report supports the Toyota actions to correct the quality issues.

A Society Without Morals - The Great Gatsby Essay examples -- F. Scott

The streets are paved with gold has long been the allusion of the United States of America meaning that America is the land of opportunity and wealth for anyone. However what people fail to understand when they manage to get to America is that, although it is the land of opportunity, an individual is not able to magically go from dirt poor to filthy rich, they have to work for it. Even after working for it many people are disappointed not because they did not get more money, they just did not as much as the expected. In the 1920s this was because of all the illegal activity that was happening through out the country, mainly bootleggers such as Jay Gatsby. With illegal activity comes lack of moral conscience such as marrying for money or not staying faithful in a marriage like Daisy Buchanan, Tom Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson. F. Scott Fitzgerald clearly expresses the failures of American society during the 1920s in his novel The Great Gatsby through the characters of Gatsby, Myrtle, Tom, and Daisy. The fact that Gatsby was so desperate money in order for him to be able marry Daisy that he broke the law to get it and was able to avoid punishment is an obvious example of the failures of society. Gatsby has been in love with Daisy for five years and she has loved him, but because of his lack of money and him going off to war, Daisy picked Tom Buchanan, a wealthy man, instead. Once he returned to war, he realized he would have to make a great deal of money to win Daisy back. To do this, he decided to start up ?drug-stores? where he became a bootlegger. The reader knows that Gatsby is a bootlegger because of Tom Buchanan, who finds out excatly what Gatsby?s ?drug stores? really were. This is evident when Tom says, He...bought u... ...n world at the same time. The Great Gatsby conveys the message to the reader the many faults in American society during the Roaring Twenties. These flaws are quite evident throughout the novel but most strong through the character of Gatsby, Myrtle, Tom, and Daisy. Those four characters easily display to the reader just how much lack of care there was in during the 1920s. Failure in marriage and bootlegging, although just isolated examples, are very prevalent in The Great Gatsby . Of course, money is the center of every flaw, money causes Gatsby to break the law it causes Daisy to marry into unhappiness, and causes Tom to have a wife that has never love him. Just because The Great Gatsby is centered in a 1920s society, no one can overlook its importance on today?s society. Works Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Macmillan, 2008.