The Process of Decision Making Essay Example for Free

The Process of Decision Making Essay Making tough decisions is a process that takes time and practice, knowing how to make effective decisions can make all the difference when facing a tough choice. About a year ago I decided to go back to college and finish my degree, and this is a choice I am very proud of. The steps to making decisions can be whatever the decision maker wants them to be, but there is a process to follow. The first thing I did was assessed the financial situation I am in and realized that it was never going to get any better if I did not do something about it, next I looked into different university’s and technical colleges, as well as kept in mind the hours I would be available to go to campus and attend lecture classes, I then realized that online campus was the best choice for me and my family I do not have to spend time away from them. That is when I made my choice to attend University of Phoenix, I then discussed my choice to my family to make sure I had their support and get any feedback. I then called the admissions department and enrolled, I really have not evaluated the results since I know this is the right thing to do and I can see the results. I feel that my process was very similar to the book my only difference was that I did not generate alternative solutions since going back to school was the only solution, and I did not evaluate the decision. I really do not think that the outcome would be any different if I used the steps the way they are in the book â€Å"(1) identify and diagnose the problem, (2) generate alternative solutions, (3) evaluate alternatives, (4) make the choice, (5) implement the decision, and (6) evaluate the decision† (Bateman Snell, 2011, pg. 89. )

Contracts and Change Orders in a Small Business :: business, contracts, customers,

I began to use change orders in business because customers always want more than they have paid for, and the longer you work with a customer the more they feel entitled to free services. A change order takes place after an original contract has been signed by both parties, and additional work is required. A change order is most often used in construction and service trades when more work must be performed than originally agreed to, because conditions arise that were not originally known to either party. A change order does not nullify the original contract, on the contrary, it adds to the original scope of work and cost of the project. I knew a contractor who owned a motor yacht with a small dinghy attached. The dinghy was named Original Contract, and the yacht was named Change Order. I started a business named AAA Computer Repair. Unaware of what services the customers would require, an hourly rate was charged that began when I arrived at the place of service, with a minimum of one hour for a service call. The charges per hour did not vary at all, for all services provided, including installing software, fixing hardware, or software training. Most service calls required less than one hour of time and customers were willing to pay for the one hour rate of service without any questions or disputes. However, I began to develop long term relationships with many of the clients, especially if they required software training. A decision was made to design a software training package, which would allow for a more manageable hourly rate and defined what was included in an eight hour training package. The more time spent with each client, the more work was acquired for their businesses, home offices, and preparing computers for college. A general contract was creat ed for seven services provided, after speaking with a lawyer to make sure the contract would be legally enforceable. "A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more competent parties to perform or avoid performing, certain acts that they have a legal right to do and meet certain legal requirements (pg. 79)." The description of the services performed the cost of the specific service, the hours involved, and a place for all parties to sign and date.

Petrarch and Wyatt Compared

In the world of poetry, imitation occurs at every turn. Many poets will take an original form of poetry and copy the style. This can be said about Sir Thomas Wyatt who attempts to mimic Petrarch's form; when the symbols, tone, images, rhyme, and setting in Wyatt's poem â€Å"Whoso list to hunt† are compared to Petrarch's Rime 190 it becomes apparent that he failed to embody the essence of Petrarch in his writing. Symbolism plays a large role in most poems. â€Å"A pure-white doe in an emerald glade/Appeared to me, with two antlers of gold† (Petrarch lines 1-2) is a perfect example of symbolism is poetry. Petrarch is not actually talking about a white deer with golden antlers, he's talking about a beautiful woman with golden hair. Wyatt also uses a deer as a symbol: â€Å"Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind† (Wyatt line 1) a hind is a deer and Wyatt is also using the deer as a symbol for a woman. This is the first similarity, or imitation, between Wyatt and Petrarch. The second symbolism the two poems share is the collar around the doe's neck. In Petrarch's poem it says â€Å"I spied on her neck, â€Å"No one dares touch me†,/Graven in topaz and diamond stones,/†For Caesar wills I should always run free. † (Petrarch lines 9-11). In Wyatt's poem it says: â€Å"And graven in diamonds in letters plain/There is written, her fair neck round about,/†Noli me tangere, for Caesar's I am,/And wild to hold, though I seem tame† (Wyatt lines 11-14). The two are similar only in the idea of a collar and Caesar. Petrarch's doe's collar claims she is free while Wyatt's doe's collar claims she is property. Although many strive to assimilate famous poets, sometimes they fall flat. Such is the case of Sir Thomas Wyatt's attempt to parallel Petrarch's tone. In Petrarch's Rime 190, the tone is reverence towards a woman's purity and beauty in the lines â€Å"A snow white doe in an emerald glade/To me appeared, with antlers soft of gold† (Petrarch lines 5-8). Wyatt's tone is more of sexual desire for an unavailable good looking woman who isn't necessarily pure: â€Å"Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind† (Wyatt line 1) hints that this woman is chased by a large amount of men for her looks (also hinting that she isn't pure); â€Å"But as for me, helas! I may no more† shows Wyatt's sexual desire for this woman and his disappointment in her unavailability to him. Petrarch's woman is a pure and beautiful woman while Wyatt's is a sexy, impure temptress. Another aspect Wyatt did not compare to Petrarch is visual imagery. Petrarch has a very beautiful way of using visual images which he proves with the lines one through four: â€Å"A snow white doe in an emerald glade/To me appeared, with antlers soft of gold,/And leapt two streams, under a laurel's shade,/Near sunrise, in the winter's bitter cold. (Petrarch lines 1-4). The closest visual image in Wyatt's version is â€Å"And graven in diamonds in letters plain† (Wyatt line 11) which is still very far away from being good visual imagery. Rhyme is a defining point of Petrarch's poetry with a rhyme scheme of abba abba cde cde. Wyatt kept the rhyme scheme of the octave but changed the sestet to cdd cee. â€Å"There is written, her fair neck round about,/Noli me tangere, for Caesar's I am,/And wild to hold, though I seem tame. (Wyatt line 12-14) is an example of the changed rhyme scheme. Wyatt also resorted to eye-rhyme which is also shown in the quotation for the words am and tame. Petrarch's poems held firm to the original rhyme scheme of abba abba cde cde and each rhyme is a complete rhyme rather than Wyatt's lazy eye-rhyming. Petrarch's rhyme scheme, however, is almost always only visible in the Italian form and it loses rhyme scheme when translated into English. Una candida cerva l'erba/Verde m'apparve, con duo corna d'oro/Fra due riviere, all'ombra d'un alloro,/Levando ‘l sole, a la stagione ascerba† (Petrarch line 1-4) this Italian passage from the poem follows the abba format of rhyming with perfect rhymes which his whole poem follows without using a single eye-rhyme. The setting of Petrarch's Rime 190 is beautifully described in the very first stanza: â€Å"A snow white doe in an emerald glade/To me appeared, with antlers soft of gold,/And leapt two streams, under a laurel's shade,/Near sunrise, in the winter's bitter cold. (Petrarch lines 1-4). The reader automatically knows that the poem takes place in a forest with two streams. On the other hand, Wyatt's poem has no setting to show for. There are almost no descriptive aspects of his poem. After analyzing these five aspects of poetry, it becomes clear that Wyatt's imitation of Petrarch only goes so deep. Wyatt merely used Petrarch's ideas but failed to perfect Petrarch's unique and beautiful language; where Petrarch shows beauty, Wyatt shows nothing. Wyatt took a pure form and warped it into something not as good as the original.

Discuss the causes of World War I Essay

The most prominent factors which led to World War 1 were nationalism, militarism, imperialism, the Balkan and Morocco crises, and the alliance system. As luck would have it, these factors either started in response to, or because of each other. The alliance system was one of the last factors to emerge before the war. The alliance system was a main cause of World War 1; it came into play because of a few factors, and did not cause the war alone. Nationalism, the love and support of one’s country, has always existed. During this time, nonetheless, it took part in the culmination of one of the most famous wars in history. As so much pride was devoted to countries, it made the potential for peace between past rivals less likely. It also meant that most nations, particularly the great powers, would rather fight a war than back down from a rival’s diplomacy. Since no country felt easy about fighting in a war alone, nationalism was a contributing factor to the alliance system. Allies provided a lot of ease with the growing militaries in almost every country. Militarism, a policy of aggressive military preparedness, in this period of time gave all countries great reason to feel the heavy weight of a looming war. Great Britain had a naval policy to have the largest military force hands down. That, along with the predominate feeling of war, provided countries with a strong reason to create an incredibly strong military force. This led to an arms race, which made the impending war seem certain. The military planning in some countries also caused an increased fear of war. Military machines were being developed; each country was appointing a staff of experts. The greatest problem with this was the fear that the expert would precipitate war under a looming timetable. The alliance system was born from these two factors. If two or more countries are allied with each other they have a better chance of defeating their common enemy if war was declared. They also have a higher likelihood of winning if they have alliances providing support. Imperialism is defined as the control of people by another politically, economic exploitation, or the imposition of culture on another group. This not only played a large part in the creation of the alliance system, but it  also created enemies for many countries, which were grounds for war. For example, Austria wanted to dominate the Balkans in order to check for propaganda coming from Serbia. Germany supported Austria in its Balkan policy because it wanted to exploit the rich resources of Asia Minor, and had to have a peaceful route through the Balkans to get there. In this way, it led to the alliance of Germany and Austria when war was in the near future. Imperialism led countries to have conflicting national interests as well, which also led to war. Each country thought they were right and wanted to convert other cultures to be more like their own. With nationalism, militarism, and imperialism all showing a large presence at the same period, a solid ground was formed for the alliance system to build itself on. The Dual Alliance between Germany and Austria was formed, the Triple Alliance between Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Italy was created, and the Triple Entente was created between France, Russia, and Great Britain. Although the Triple Entente was not an official alliance, they all maintained a very close understanding, and were viewed by many as a threat. The crises in Morocco and the Balkans had a devastating result because it was one right after the other. The 3rd Balkan crisis led to what most would say was the immediate cause of the war. It was what caused the most damage, possibly only because it was followed soon after the first two. On June 28, 1914, the Black Hand, a Bosnian revolutionary, assassinated the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Francis Ferdinand. In retaliation, Austria decided to end the South Slav separatism, and issued an ultimatum. Austrian officials must be allowed to collaborate in the investigation and punishment of the assassinators. Austria, with the support of Germany, then declared war against the Serbs, since they had refused the ultimatum. Then, on August 1, 1914, Germany demanded that Russia’s military mobilization cease, and when Russia refused, Germany declared war. Russia then declared war on France, convinced that it would enter anyway. Germany was devastated when Great Britain entered the war. As one country declared war on another all alliances were brought into the war, and the First World War soon took place, thus, the alliance system  holds the greatest responsibility for the breakout of a world war. However, the alliance system might have never occurred had it not been for nationalism, militarism, and imperialism. Furthermore, the Morocco and Balkan crises did not directly cause the war, but they were used as justification for the war to begin. That’s why, many factors contributed to the formation of the alliance system, which led to tension between enemy countries, and the third Balkan crisis paved the way for the Great War to begin. Western Civilization: Since 1500, Chapters 13-29, Vol. 2 : Jackson J. Spielvogel (Paperback)Wikipedia

Definition and Examples of Aphorisms

Definition and Examples of Aphorisms An aphorism is a  tersely phrased statement of a truth or opinion or a brief statement of a principle. This is also known as (or similar to) a  saying, maxim, adage, saw dictum, and precept. In The Advancement of Learning (1605), Francis Bacon noted that aphorisms go to the pith and heart of sciences, leaving out illustrations, examples, connections, and applications. In the  article Rhetorical Technique and Governance, Kevin Morrell and Robin Burrow observe that aphorisms are a highly flexible, powerful rhetorical format that can support claims based on logos, ethos, and pathos (Rhetoric in British Politics and Society, 2014). Examples and Observations The word aphorism was first employed by Hippocrates to describe a collection of concise principles, primarily medical, beginning with the famous, Life is short, art is long, opportunity fleeting, experimentation dangerous, reasoning difficult. . . . Eventually, the term was applied to statements of principles in law and agriculture and extended to other areas.(G. A. Test, Satire: Spirit and Art. University Press of Florida, 1991)Sits he on ever so high a throne, a man still sits on his bottom.(Montaigne)If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.(attributed to Jackie Moms Mabley)I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.(often attributed to Voltaire, the words are in fact Tallentyres summary of Voltaires attitude toward Helvetius after the burning of the latters writings in 1759)All men should strive to learn before they die, what they are running from, and to, and why.(James Thurber)The first rule of Fight Cl ub is, you do not talk about Fight Club.(Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden, Fight Club) An idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup.(H.L. Mencken)Expect nothing. Live frugally on surprise.(Alice Walker)Your children need your presence more than your presents.(Jesse Jackson)We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be.(Kurt Vonnegut, Mother Night, 1961) A Five-Part Definition of Aphorism James Geary, in his best-selling  The World in a Phrase [2011],  gives a five-part definition of the form. It must be brief. It must be definitive. It must be personal. (I like his corollary: This is what distinguishes the form from proverbs, for instance, which are really worn-out aphorisms that have had the identity of the original author rubbed away through repeated use.) It must be philosophical. And it must have a twist.(Sarah Manguso, In Short. Harpers, September 2016) The Manipulative Power of Aphorisms Anything that can educate can also manipulate, and anyone selling anything to the public, dictators, CEOs, advertising executives, knows the power of easy-to-remember expressions. I, for one, still believe that It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken. Effective ad copy, of course, doesnt have to be true; it simply has to be catchy. But a well-honed aphorism not only stops us in our tracks; it impedes our moving forward. Even if we dont immediately buy into it, it can still deliver a wallop: There is no female Mozart because there is no female Jack the Ripper, Camille Paglia tells us. Is this worth discussing? Or are we being bamboozled by the phrases conspicuous symmetry? True or not, some aphorisms make it hard to imagine anything better ever being said on the subject. . . . And herein lies the danger as well as the appeal of the aphorism. A statement can be so well put that its cogency is entirely dependent on its formulation, but as soon as we reflect on it we may come to another conclusion.(Arthur Krystal, Too True: The Art of the Aphorism. Except When I Write: Reflections of a Recovering Critic, Oxford University  Press, 2011) The quoting of an aphorism, like the angry barking of a dog or the smell of overcooked broccoli, rarely indicates that something helpful is about to happen.(Lemony Snicket, Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Cant Avoid. HarperCollins, 2007) The Lighter Side of Aphorisms I have been testing the  aphorism, A watched pot never boils. I have boiled the same amount of water in this kettle 62 times. In some cases I have ignored the kettle; in others, I have watched it intently. In every instance, the water reaches its boiling point in precisely 51.7 seconds. It appears I am not capable of perceiving time any differently than my internal chronometer.(Lt. Commander Data in Timescape.  Star Trek: The Next Generation, 1993)

Spaying and Neutering

Spaying and Neutering Spaying and Neutering Spaying and Neutering By Maeve Maddox A local public service announcement invites listeners to telephone for further information â€Å"about spay and neutering.† A Web search finds numerous examples of the verb spay joined with the participle form: This vet clinic in SW Portland offers low-cost spay and neutering for cats and dogs. Pet Spay and Neutering Program–Just Fix It [USDA] provides a list of programs in each state that provides low cost or free spay and neutering services for cats. Several institutions and organizations offer help for pet spay and neutering or low-cost service.   The present participle of the verb spay is spaying. The examples should read â€Å"spaying and neutering†: This vet clinic in SW Portland offers low-cost spaying and neutering for cats and dogs. Pet Spaying and Neutering Program–Just Fix It [USDA] provides a list of programs in each state that provides low cost or free spaying and neutering services for cats. Several institutions and organizations offer help for pet spaying and neutering or low-cost service.   An easy way to avoid misusing the word spay in announcements of this kind would be to use only the word neuter. Unlike spay, which refers to the removal of an animal’s ovaries, the word neuter can mean either â€Å"to castrate† or â€Å"to spay.†    The past and present participle forms of the verb spay are frequently mispronounced and misspelled: Incorrect: I got my cat spaded and she got [a] hernia from the stitches. Correct : I got my cat spayed and she got [a] hernia from the stitches. Incorrect: I am contemplating  spading  and declawing my kitten when she turns 6 months old.   Correct : I am contemplating  spaying and declawing my kitten when she turns 6 months old. The past tense forms of both verbs–neuter and spay–end in -ed: neutered and spayed. The words are pronounced [nyoo-terd] or [noo-terd]) and [spayd]. Speakers who mispronounce and misspell the word spayed as spaded are perhaps confused by the existence of the word spade [spayd], which functions as both noun and verb. The verb spade (to dig) has a past form in -ed: If you did not plow or  spade the  garden site in the fall, turn the  soil  in spring as soon as it is dry enough to work. The Alcotts thrived as Bronson  spaded the  earth for his acre of garden. An interesting etymological fact is that both words–spay and spade–derive from spatha, the Latin word for a broad-bladed sword. The verb spay entered English from French espeier, â€Å"to cut with a sword.† Its earliest meaning in English was â€Å"to kill a deer with a sword,† as in these directions in a 1425 hunting manual: â€Å"spay him [the deer] even behind the shoulder forward to the heart.† The same manual also uses spay to mean removing the ovaries of an animal. The word spay got its name from the cutting aspect of a sword, whereas the word spade got its name from a sword’s tapered shape. It may help to keep the words spay and spade apart by remembering that animals are spayed with delicate medical instruments having no resemblance to broad garden implements. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Words for Facial ExpressionsHomonyms, Homophones, Homographs and HeteronymsPractice or Practise?

Hair ans Fiber Analysis Relating to Homicides Research Paper

Hair ans Fiber Analysis Relating to Homicides - Research Paper Example â€Å"Anthropology is the study of humans, their culture and their biology. Anthropology can be divided into the study of human biology and human culture† (Houck & Siegel 183). This includes the study of the past and present elements and features of a given social classification of people. Forensic anthropology therefore seeks to merge the concept of anthropology with forensic sciences which provides evidence based on the unique features of a given perpetrator of a murder. This means that forensic anthropology makes the use of social grouping and classification to match the features of a given suspect to provide the broad classification of the possible perpetrator of a given crime. Aside being used in courts, forensic anthropology may be of use in the investigation of human rights abuses like genocides and the examination of mass graves to attain further details of crimes (Haviland et al 10). Details of skeletal anatomy can help establish various social classifications of vict ims like age, sex, population affiliation and stature of deceased (Haviland et al 10). The differences between people can be attributed to several factors and situations. This is the main essence of anthropology. It seeks to study our differences based on our unique features and skeletal structures. Forensic anthropology therefore try to apply our differences based on dominant findings in relation to â€Å"... human evolution, paleopathology (study of bone diseases in antiquity), physiology and morpoplogical adaptatiosn to various environmental conditions and osteology (study of bone structures† (Brickley & Ferllini 5). These differences ultimately lays the foundation for the identification of differences amongst people. This provides the basis for the classification of victims and their murderers. This can therefore become the basis for the identification of these people in a competent court of judicature and the ultimate conviction of such perpetrators. However, the use of forensic anthropology in a court of law can come with difficulties. This is because there is the need for some standards to be observed in the usage of external evidence in a trial which can determine the future of a suspect. It is therefore necessary for some safeguards to be erected to prevent the misuse of anthropology in court cases and the broad generalizations of situations that could potentially cause the miscarriage of justice. This paper examines the use of hair and fiber analysis, a sub-unit of forensic anthropology as evidence in court. It examines the components of hair and fiber analysis in homicide cases and its appropriateness as evidence in court. It looks at the various cases where it has been used and its limitations in court cases. In arriving at this end, two major landmark cases will be examined: the OJ Simpson Trial (1994) and the Daubert Case (1993). Hair & Fiber Analysis in Homicide â€Å"Hair and fiber analysis are important to examine a victim and events t hat took place at the place of murder through to the place of dumping the body† (Houck 123). This implies that hair and fiber analysis can provide important components of a murderer in a case that can enable the identification of such a criminal to come much easier. Hair and fiber analysis provide a way through which the hair of the perpetrators of a murder which fell off at the scene of the crime